Management is a science and an art that enables the organization to reach its purpose by bringing together human resources with production resources such as time, money, technology, materials, space and energy. Whether for profit or not, management is a strategic function that all businesses must have in order to reach their goals.

Turning inputs into outputs is called a process, and the structures that carry out the process are called organizations. Management's duty is to ensure the organization reaches its purpose efficiently and effectively. Comparing inputs measured in money or other measurable units with outputs in money or metric terms determines the system's efficiency. Comparing inputs and outputs in terms of values that cannot be counted — such as performance, satisfaction and quality — determines the system's effectiveness. To put it differently: efficiency means doing a job right, while effectiveness means doing the right job.

Management is responsible for ensuring the system obtains maximum output with minimum input. The difference between output and input gives us the added value. In that case, what is expected of effective management is to produce as much added value as possible.

In our country, efforts to produce high value-added products are increasing by the day. High value-added products are of critical importance for the development of the economy. In our country, which in the past exported raw materials, semi-finished goods and unprocessed agricultural products, the aim today is to produce final products that create high added value. The aim is thus to balance exports and imports in the national economy while also reducing the current account deficit. To put it concretely: the resources that enter our country from exporting a truckload of hazelnuts can leave our hands by importing just a single microchip. Therefore, focusing on producing high-technology final products in demand, or processed agricultural products, means businesses are exercising effective management.

To obtain added value, the system's dynamics must be steered correctly. Within this framework, managers have two options for increasing added value. The first is to reduce inputs while keeping outputs constant. The point to watch here is that the decrease in inputs must not cause outputs to fall as well. In other words, work done in the name of cost reduction must never compromise on quality.

The other way to increase added value is to increase outputs while keeping inputs constant. At this stage, one must intervene in the process that turns inputs into outputs. The areas open to intervention are human resources, materials, equipment and methodologies. By intervening in the right direction in any one or several of these elements, quality, satisfaction or performance can be increased. In this way, the elements determining the product's value are improved and output can be increased.

One of the indispensables of effective management is the Performance Management System. So that human resources can be directed toward the organization's purpose, performance criteria can be defined and employees' performance kept under control. Furthermore, performance criteria are also quite necessary for the reward system. Effective management should do everything in its power to develop human resources. Both professional trainings and personal development trainings should be provided. Management should also embrace the principle of motivation-boosting teamwork, which will reflect positively on employees' performance.

Another element of effective management is "Strategic Planning". After conducting internal and external environment analyses, top management should define a mission and vision for the business. Then the organization's purpose and strategic goals should be defined. After the strategies stating how these goals will be reached are set out, the activities to be carried out and the critical success factors belonging to those activities should be defined. In this way, organizations should be managed not with day-to-day decisions but with decisions taken with a long-term perspective and strategic thinking.

There can be no talk of effective management without managing information correctly. A manager must be able to reach the right information at the right time and in the right place. And the only way to achieve this is to integrate a management information system into the business. Today, thanks to the rapid development of information technologies, companies able to follow technology can manage their resources with ERP software packages. An important point to note here: buying and installing a software package is not enough to establish a management information system. The transition to a management information system starts with choosing the right software, continues with installing the chosen software correctly, and is completed by continuously checking and improving the established system.

In conclusion, the effectiveness of the organization is only possible with effective management. And effective management is possible by developing human resources, having a strategic plan, managing information correctly, with a corporate structure and with leader-managers. Organizations that can fulfill these conditions can produce high value-added products by reducing their inputs and increasing their outputs.

Author: Atakan Genç