Introduction

Management has had a long and honorable tradition in the business community. The health care system usually has large numbers of staff who report only to central management and which complicate the chain of command and authority. Communication is used in the controlling process by establishment of a management information system. In nonprofit organizations there is no overall direction from the top down and as a result the lower echelons have different objectives and different ways of approaching the organizational objectives from those in top management. Gradually the idea that management was a science began to be advocated and attempts were made to quantify management principles. The modern manager must consider his/her objectives, the available technology, organization, human resources, environment, and his/her own managerial skills and those of others in determining a course of action which will be modified by the contingencies which arise in each of the elements.