Functions of Management

Essay by ladydivaUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, February 2009

download word file, 5 pages 4.6

If asked the question, "What makes a good manager?", the answers would probably vary from person to person. If asked the question, "What makes a successful business?", more times than no, a good and effective management team would top the list of answers. Management is an area of business that has been studied in great detail for many decades. It is through these studies and research that the four functions of management have been identified. In today's business environment, managerial teams on all levels must successfully combine planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in order to overcome the challenges of constant change and increasing competition. This paper will give an account of how the four functions of management are used in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a hospital in the Middle Georgia area.

Merriam-Webster OnLine (2008) defines management as the act of managing; the conducting or supervising of something.

For the sake of this paper and future business discussion, I will use the definition provided by Bateman and Snell (2008) that tells us that "management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals" (pp. 19). The difference between a good manager and a great manager is the ability and finesse to do both. "The functions of management uniquely describe managers' jobs. The most commonly cited functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling" (Barnett, 2006, para. 1). Despite the constant changes of the business environment, successful managers still use these four functions of management as the foundation for organizational success.

According to Bateman & Snell (2008), planning involves setting goals and deciding in advance what is needed to insure the successful achievement of those goals. Reflecting back upon the management team of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the planning stage of the...