The Management Functions For Todays Manager Management Essay

We use management skills in our everyday life. The key role of a manager is to delegate task to their staff to be effective with a high level of productivity to enhance the profits of the organization’s operation. In order to succeed, we must have a clear understanding of the four elements of management. The four principles are used to enhance the effectiveness at the different levels of management. With the proper use of the four functions and interaction with employees you will increase the chances of success, also lower the cost, include time, recourse and money. Fayol (1946, cited in Fells 2000, p. 346) categorises management into five major elements: planning, organizing; commanding, co-ordinating; and controlling. Today, it has been reduced into 4 :planning. Organizing ,leading, and controlling. Any organization, whether new or old , small or big need to run effectively and achieve the company goals and objectives . For this purpose, they had developed and implemented their own management concepts and culture. These basic four management elements that allow any organization to promote the strategy , plan and make future decisions. It have been wildly used as a important tool or guide to success. This essay will discuss and examine these 4 concept for today’s management based on Fayol’s theory.

Planning is the first step of the four functions in the management process. Simply, It is selecting priorities and goals, objectives, etc, and how will achieved. Those goals. It is the foundation tool of management. Planning includes identifying goals, methods, dates for completion of tasks and responsibilities. For example ,strategic planning, project planning, advertising planning, etc. Managers use this process to plan for the future development. It’s very common that a lack of planning leads to the failure of a project in any organization. A plan ensures that activity and all team members know what and when they can expect it. Nobody will notice if timings are no longer follow and the project or task get delayed, or over cost, too expensive to get profits without a plan. In order to deal with a group of decisions, planning function is directed toward gaining a well-informed output from the group of decisions a s a whole, and the process of management activities is the characteristic task of planning over time (Alderson,1959). Whether it’s for today or past, planning is a fundamental and important element of any management process.

Organizing is the second function. It Is the management process that deals with arranging the organizational resources that they help in achievement of goal. Structuring the work of the organization is very important to reach the objective in the planning process, Organizing is a about delegating task and responsibilities to individual that work together to accomplish the goals. Bateman (2002) describe that manager must know their levels, and then they can organize the most valuable resources of the company, their employees. This process can be achieved by management team put staff in different division department, and then provide the training program for their employees, putting the group together into a productive team. Management should organize all the resources in order to implement action it made in the planning process. management will decide the organizational structure through the process of getting organized. Then establish and maintain relationships, also allocate necessary resources (Burchielli & Bartram 2009). To decide the organization structure, managers should look at the different division or apartment ,the corporation of staff, find out what is the appropriate way to deal with the tasks within the company. Management must divide up the task that needs to be done, and delegate responsibilities( Dauten et al.1958).

Leading

Leading is the third element .It Is the management function through which a manager set the standards, then compares the performance of staff against these standards , If required, corrective action must be taken. (Burchielli & Bartram 2009) It is setting direction and influencing team members to follow that direction. Without an good and efficient leader, Subordinates won’t stimulate a high performance from them. Hence, effective leading can boost morale, so an employee will not get discouraged easily. For example, instead of telling an employee that boss needs a project to be done immediately, an good Leader (manager) may directly involved in the task by giving positive action, asking opinions or discuss with their subordinates. A team work effort that the leader is directly involved, ensures the task is being accomplished. Managers should put focus on motivating employees. Because employees who are highly motivated normally go above their job performance. Furthermore, reward or incentive programs typically be used based on job performance. As the second tools of the management function, leading is the skill that today’s managers must have.

Controlling

Bateman(2002) states that controlling is the function or process of “monitoring job performance and making needed changes if necessary ” It is the function that make sure the organized plans are being implemented correctly and properly .It includes establishing performance standards, evaluating and reporting job performance. Furthermore, management team shouldn’t lower standards in an effort to solve performance problems. Through controlling, managers can identify or figure out any potential problem, analyses them and take the necessary preventative action. Controlling is a process that is used to establish performance standards, measuring and reporting, comparing, and taking corrective action if necessary (Vijayakumar 2009). It also provides the opportunity to monitor changes and to implement any corrections There may be difficulty conceptual problem in controlling process because it’s wide scope, it involve all of the management planning and thinking, to plan is a real sense to control, also organizing is to control. Manager must not only manage the operation, but also re-formulate the policies, objectives, procedures if necessary.

Conclusion

The four functions of management are inter-related and are important for all the different levels of management today. Having a clear understanding of the management functions and the skill to use the functions will have a strong impact on the businesses operation from planning and then move on to organizing (Vijayakumar 2009). If the management team effective use of the management functions, they will be able to make right and well-informed decisions. By organizing, the structure has been created for the organization, the management team will lead their employee and help the whole team understand the responsibility and role that they play in the development of the company. A manager cannot be effective without these four functions.

Reference List

Alderson, W 1959, ‘perspectives on the planning process’, Journal of the Academy of Management, Vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 181-186, retrieved 4 August 2010, Business Source Complete Database.

Bateman, S 2002 Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World 5th ed, McGraw Hill Companies, Boston.

Burchielli, R & Bartram, T 2009, ‘What helps organizing work? The indicators and the facilitators of organizing’, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 687-707, retrieved 5 August 2010, Business Source Complete Database.

Dauten, J, Gammill, H, & Robinson, S 1958 ‘Our concepts of controlling need re-thinking’, Journal of the Academy of Management, Vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-55, retrieved 5 August 2010, Business Source Complete Database.

Fells, MJ 2000, ‘Fayol stands the test of time’, Journal of management history, Vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 345-360, retrieved 3 August 2010, E-journals Database.

Vijayakumar, U 2009, ‘Top management control functions for information system in small and medium enterprises’, Informatica Economica, Vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 109-115, retrieved 5 August 2010, Business Source Complete Database.