Functions of Management

For any business to be a success there is a need for effective management. Without management one has no direction; however without employees one has no need to give direction. An effective management team will make sure that their employees are aware that they are a big part of the company. Management can be defined as creative problem solving which is achieved through the four functions of management known as planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

The first function of management is planning defined according to Thomas and Snell (2007) as “the management function of systematically making decisions about the goals and activities that an individual, a group, a work unit, or the overall organization will pursue.” Planning is the foundation area of management and is the base which all the other areas of management should be built upon. This stage requires management teams to evaluate where the company is presently at and where they would like it to be in the upcoming years.

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Then a proper course of action is determined and implemented to reach the company’s goals and objectives. Planning is a continuous course of action that is followed by the function to organize.

The management team’s next responsibility is to organize all its resources before they can put into practice the course of action they decided. At this stage an essential step is to assign tasks and to set deadlines. In a department setting the department manager needs to be able to delegate task for each employee to accomplish. However, this stage is hardest for the managers who have a tough time relying on others. “It takes a leap of faith to believe that others not only have the capacity to step up but that they also have the commitment to make whatever contribution is required,” (Gunn, 2004).