1.4 Management Functions

Management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizational resources.

According to the functions approach managers perform certain activities to efficiently and effectively coordinate the work of others.

Henri Fayol is the first to write about the management functions.

Management Functions can be classified as

Planning

Organizing

Leading

Controlling

Planning

Planning means defining goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and sues of resources needed to attain them.

A lack of planning or poor planning can hurt an organization performance involves defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities.

1.4 Management Functions

Organizing. Organizing involves arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organization's goals.

Leading.

Leading involves working with and through people to accomplish organizational goals.

Leading is the use of influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals.

Leading means creating a shared culture and values, communicating goals to employees throughout the organization, and infusing employees with the desire to perform at a high level.

In an era of uncertainty, downsizing, international competition, and a growing diversity of the workforce, the ability to shape culture, communicate goals, and motivate employees is critical to business success.

Controlling:

Controlling means monitoring employee's activities determining whether the organization is on target toward its goals, and making corrections as necessary.

Managers must ensure that the organization is moving toward its goals.

New trends toward empowerment and trust of employees have led many companies to place less emphasis on top-down control and more emphasis on training employees to monitor and correct themselves.