The Four Functions of Management: Planning, leading, controlling, and organizing.

Essay by shanbananaA+, December 2005

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Four Functions of Management

A manager's role is to lead his or her organization to clearly stated objectives. In order to do this the manager must use all his or her resources in an organized attempt to achieve those goals. This will require the manager to lead, plan, organize, and control the company or organization's employees. Each manager within an organization will have different roles and responsibilities-based on his or her position within the organization. From the team leader who has a more hands-on task of the day-to-day responsibilities of the organization, to the Chief Executive Officer who also has the day-to-day responsibilities of the organization but also evaluates and sets out the goals for the organization. In order for the manager to become effective in all roles of management, he or she needs to have good communication, time management as well as public relation skills.

The planning function incorporates the vision, mission, objective and goals of an organization; this is the first step in the four functions of management.

In order for a successful manager to obtain these goals he or she needs to evaluate where the company or organization wants to go, and how the company will get there. This will require the manager to make decisions based on what the company or organization wants to happen in the future. This is the initiation function in management that embodies the other four functions. To encourage flexibility and initative within the organization the manager will often leave the how to those individuals responsible for carrying out the plan.

"Organizing is the process of developing an orderly way for bringing together the physical and human resources that are essential to accomplish the goals for the organizaiton" (Montana & Charnov, 2000, pg 182). A manager can not properly organize without knowing...