The family is a socially recognized unit of two or more people staying together by marriage, kinship or legal ties, who are economically and emotionally inter- dependent. In a society family as a unit interacts with other social groups, rather than its individuals. Family is the most important, smallest and earliest social environment with which the human being first interacts. In a family each individual member interacts and communicates with each other in close relationship such as husband-wife, father-mother, father- son/ daughter, mother-son/ daughter, brother- sister so on. The family develops a common culture derived both from the general society as well as from the background of the parents joined together through marriage. Thus every member of the family is a representative of his family when he/she interacts with other members of the society.
Management is primarily concerned with the creation and use of resources in daily living. The family’s relation to the economy is of great significance. The acquisition and use of resources by the family will also be affected by the social group. When a family identifies its managerial responsibilities in a house, it is in a position to develop its own conceptual framework of the managerial process. By this it improves the utilization level of its resources and enhances the quality of living and thereby increasing the satisfaction of its members.
The family has undergone several changes with the advancement of civilization. The changes in the family system and culture are more due to industrialization. The self sufficient families in the olden days are now more interdependent on others with the increased mobility and changes in its way of earning and living. One of the most important changes in the family structure is the emergence of the nuclear family system. Family is the link between its members and the social structure or the society. While functioning in a particular society, the members learn to work and cooperate with others in the larger social group, while doing so the social values are learnt. Within the family also each individual member is constantly learning to work together with cooperation to achieve the set goals.
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