What Management Is: 8 key ideas
The core ideas of What Management Is, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 8
Management is a general discipline
Magretta, a former editor at Harvard Business Review, explains management as a practical discipline that matters to everyone, not just executives.
She presents its core ideas in plain language. Her aim is to make management easy to grasp.
- IDEA 2 OF 8
Organisations exist to create value
Magretta argues that the purpose of any organisation is to create value for people outside it, such as customers or citizens.
In her view, a group that forgets this outward purpose turns inward and loses touch with the people it serves.
- IDEA 3 OF 8
Business models tell a story
Magretta describes a business model as a story of how an organisation works: who the customer is and how value is delivered.
In her account, a good model also has to make sense in numbers, so that the story and the money fit together.
- IDEA 4 OF 8
Strategy makes choices
Magretta explains that strategy is about choosing how to be different from competitors.
In her account, a firm that copies its rivals in every way gives customers no reason to prefer it.
- IDEA 5 OF 8
Structure supports purpose
Magretta explains how organisation design should serve the strategy.
In her account, how people are grouped, who reports to whom and how decisions are made should all follow the strategy and not become ends in themselves. Structure that fights the purpose wastes effort.
- IDEA 6 OF 8
Measurement guides action
Magretta argues that measuring the right things helps organisations understand performance.
In her account, numbers help show whether a plan is working, but the wrong numbers can mislead, so choosing what to measure is itself an important decision.
- IDEA 7 OF 8
Mission and values matter
Magretta describes how a clear mission guides decisions.
In her account, a clear mission tells people what the organisation is for, which helps them make choices without waiting for orders. It gives work meaning.
- IDEA 8 OF 8
Everyone manages
Magretta argues that management skills are useful to anyone working with others.
In her view, anyone who has to get things done with and through other people, whether in a team, a club or a family project, uses the same basic ideas.
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