Throughout history human needs have resulted in the emergence of new arts and crafts; some emerged sooner
and some later. For instance, farming, weaving and cookery were among the first to emerge. Then there was metalwork and surgery both of which have very long histories, as man needed weapons to hunt and to defend
himself, and surgeons to heal his wounds. Painting seems to be an art that is as old as mankind and music – at least in the form of primitive songs of worship or war – may be just as old. Some areas of expertise developed far later, management being one that emerged with the 20th century, in 1903 to be exact. It emerged simultaneously with the development of large organizations. The question here is what made the world run, company’s function, armies operate,...before then? The answer would be “leadership” which requires charisma and inspiration. But management is a craft that can be taught and learnt, a science that can be defined and encoded, something anyone can learn. At least this was the general belief until a few years. Today, some
scholars maintain that a really effective manager, one who is outstanding, needs to have some inborn talent as well as an appropriate education.

Large organizations gradually emerged to satisfy certain needs: raise production and efficiency, make optimum use of resources, lower the costs... Gradually, as management took shape, theories about it were developed and “schools” of management were founded. The first school of significance which had great effect on management as a science was founded by the outstanding scholar, Taylor. He began by developing techniques
to reduce inefficiency in work performance. He devised the contractual system of work in which fees are paid against work done irrespective of the number of hours or days spent on the job. As a result efficiency increased by leaps and bounds. The most important achievement of Taylor was that he showed the way to investigating how work is done, what methods can be developed to improve its performance and make it both simpler and specialized, to eradicate errors and increase production.

As time went by new management needs arose and new solutions were proposed. But how can we describe management today? Management entails planning, guiding, decision-making, controlling and supervising the
administration of an organization as well as resolving the day to day problems it faces. Most important of all it entails predicting the future threats and opportunities and planning ahead to ward off the first and take full advantage of the second. A manager’s first and foremost duty is to use his or her organization’s human resources, as the most important asset of the organization, to the best advantage and to take care of them – i.e. the employees – the best way possible. He must accept the employees as they are and not try to change their personalities but only try to correct their behaviors.

Finally, a good manager must be brave vis-à-vis difficulties and problems. The world only listens to men who are strong-willed, determined and daring! Today most scholars agree that, although management has certain principles that apply to all conditions, it must be “contextualized”, that is to say it must be adapted for the
environment in which it is to operate. For instance, the sort of informality and intimacy that one finds among personnel in US companies, say, may not be at all suitable to conditions in Iran where managers may be well advised that, while caring for their personnel and having a genuine fondness for them, they should keep a distance and avoid intimacy and informal relationships with them.

Now that foreign direct investment is gaining ground in Iran, it may be time for scholars to prepare Iranian people as to how they can work with foreign managers, and teach these managers how they should work with Iranians. For example, Iranians do not have the same sense of time and promptness as Germans, say. Being late by fifteen or even thirty minutes for an appointment is not so important in Iran. This may infuriate a European manager in Iran who cannot tolerate tardiness for a meeting and may consequently hurt an Iranian
counterpart, someone of the same rank and stature. This European manager must insist that his subordinates always be on time in his workplace but he cannot and must not try to change the personalities of these people who may continue to be late for appointments in their private lives. The same European manager must also
show patience when people coming to visit, or hold a meeting with him, arrive a little late!