Lock management is a crucial aspect of database systems that ensures data integrity and consistency during concurrent access. It involves controlling access to data by using locks, which prevent multiple transactions from modifying the same data simultaneously. This helps avoid conflicts and ensures that each transaction can complete without interference from others. There are different types of locks, such as shared locks and exclusive locks, each serving specific purposes. Shared locks allow multiple transactions to read data simultaneously, while exclusive locks prevent any other transaction from accessing the data until the lock is released. Effective lock management is essential for maintaining the reliability of database operations.