'Management is a science.' Do you agree? Give any three reasons in support of youranswer.

Yes, management is a science. Here, it is important to apply the characteristics of science tomanagement in order to find out the validity of the answer. Following are the main points:

(i) Systematised Body of Knowledge: It is necessary for science to be a systematised bodyof knowledge. Management is also a systematised body of knowledge because it has its owntheory and principles which are developed by the management experts after years ofresearch.

(ii) Principles Based on Experimentation: After applying this characteristic of science tomanagement, we find that development of management took years for the collection offacts, their analysis and experiments. In other words, management came into existencebecause of the continuous and encouraging labour of the theorists and various peopleconcerned.

(iii) Universal Validity: Scientific principles are based on truth and they can be applied atevery time and in every situation. Thus, its universal application is possible. In the field of management too, managerial knowledge and principles of management are considered to be based on truth and they, too, can be applied anywhere and in every situation. But the principles of management are not as exact as the principles of science as their application may not yield the desired results always.