Apparatus and a related method for managing entities in a complex and, in general, geographically distributed system, such as distributed data processing system. The management approach is defined in terms of a generalized model having management modules integrated into a single cooperative system by a management director kernel. The management modules include presentation modules to provide an interface with users who manage the complex system, access modules to provide an interface with managed entities or devices, and function modules to define various functions that may be performed in controlling or monitoring the managed entities. If the complex system being managed is large, a managed entity and an associated access module may be located on one physical system, while a presentation module is located on another physical system, close to the user, and a function module being used might be located on yet another physical system, for reasons of processing convenience. The present invention provides a convenient mechanism, consistent with the management model, for forwarding procedure calls between management modules located on different physical systems, through management director kernels located on different physical systems. Two types of remote procedure calls are disclosed, one to forward procedure calls for invoking primitive functions, each on a single managed entity, and a more powerful remote procedure call for invoking higher-level functions relating to user-defined domains of multiple managed entities.