Analysis Of The Four Functions Of Management example essay topic

Functions of Management Report This report is an analysis of the four functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, and controlling) and how they are applied to Aventis Pharmaceuticals. The analysis will address how the four functions are applied across three linked levels: our Global Systems Management organization, my manager and my own position. Background Aventis Pharmaceuticals (Aventis) is a rapidly evolving global organization. It is the eighth largest pharmaceutical company in the world including a significant presence in the United States.

Via these and many other smaller mergers Aventis has inherited many information systems that had been used to support research and operations. To manage and eventually merge these many systems Aventis created the Global Systems Management group, comprised of staff from its strategic geographic locations. The team is charged with designing, integrating and managing a unified set of improved information solutions that will facilitate operations and corporate compliance with federal regulations. My supervisor leads the group of managers that coordinate these efforts and my position is one of these managers.

My role is a Program Manager, whereas I manage multiple global projects employing cross-functional teams. Management Functions - Aventis Pharmaceuticals The four management functions apply to my organization in the following ways. Planning. Planning is a critical step in the Aventis corporate roadmap and focused business model. For the Global Systems Management (GSM) group planning is necessary to ensure technology solutions are available in a timely fashion to continually support new initiatives and ongoing operations.

The group plans for new information solutions or changes to existing systems using business impact analysis tools that process risk scenarios against business needs and cost models. This is a meticulous exercise as the pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated by the US federal government and bound by strict policy and procedure to ensure quality and validation of information systems. Results from the impact analysis is incorporated into the three-year strategic technology plan and also used to realign budget forecasts. Organizing. Aventis accomplishes organizing by adopting similar models of other pharmaceuticals.

At the highest level the organization is structured according to its major geographic locations: United States, France, Germany and Asia-Pacific. Peer relationships exist between these locations and a senior management team governs the entire enterprise. The next lower level of organization is by function. Each geographic location supports functional business units for drug research and innovation, commercial operations, industrial operations, and technology operations. Within each of these business units are structured management teams, each accountable for operations and support of the other regional business units. Leading.

Leading is accomplished at Aventis via mentoring and example. Managers are required to attend certain internal training classes that function to raise awareness and spread knowledge about effective leadership. Managers are trained and encouraged to respect their team hierarchies while maintaining high visibility and active involvement in daily operations. Managers and other supervisors actively engage with associates to help resolve issues, encourage dialogues, and participate as part of project teams. Controlling. Controlling is a critical part of Aventis.

As a heavily regulated industry that is subject to frequent audits by the Food and Drug Administration there needs to be sufficient evidence of product and operational quality control available at all times. As an example, Aventis controls its manufacturing processes by adhering to strict environment standards, automated inventory management and extensive associate training and monitoring. Standard Operating Procedures exist for the many information solutions to govern all documents used for FDA drug submissions and the internal audit teams perform routine checks to ensure compliance. Management Functions - My Manager The four management functions apply to my supervisor in the following ways. Planning.

My manager accomplishes planning by evaluating upcoming resource needs and preparing for any constraints. He employs project scheduling tools and spreadsheet forecasting forms to best decide priority for projects and what manager should be assigned. Organizing. My manager uses the power of information technology to maintain a high level of organization. Projects, resources, budgets and schedules are all maintained in a single database. The database is linked with the Aventis email system so as updates about current or planned initiatives are received the information is collected and added.

Leading. My manager is an accomplished leader, repeatedly demonstrating his ability to face difficult issues, work with the team to resolve problems, and be accountable when a wrong decision is made. Controlling. My manager controls his projects and subordinates by establishing annual and quarterly goals and conducting timely reviews to track progress. The program managers that report into him also are required to submit weekly status reports on assigned engagements and escalate issues when deemed necessary. Management Functions - My Position The four management functions apply to my position in the following ways.

Planning. I accomplish planning through the use of budget analysis spreadsheet forms and project scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project. For each project I manage I plan out a specific route for execution and compare that to other scheduled projects to anticipate conflicts or constraints. Organizing. In my position I remain organized by maintaining consistent and updated documentation about the projects and resources I am managing. All of my projects are organized according to priority and anticipated duration, and shared resources are cross referenced and detailed in a separate matrix.

Leading. I lead my project teams by providing clear direction and establishing realistic goals. I develop sound project schedules and clear documentation to demonstrate that I have the ability to execute and understand and articulate the objectives. Controlling. All of my projects are tracked with my scheduling tools and my project teams are required to provide weekly status reports for assigned tasks.

I control my engagements by facilitating regularly scheduled meetings with focused agendas, allowing a forum to present problems and discuss solutions. Recommendations Currently the same management team from US marketing does not always know about what the strategy is with the German marketing team. It is recommended that Aventis improve its organizational management by establishing better communications between like business units from different geographical regions. The processes my supervisor and I use to track project budgets are antiquated resulting in numerous cost overruns. We should revisit the embedded formulas and revise based on current budget forecasts. This report showed how important the four management functions are to Aventis and how they are applied at various levels.

The organization uses the functions to establish global strategy and define operational boundaries. My supervisor employs the four functions to facilitate the group he controls and manage individuals running the numerous global technology initiatives. In my position I apply planning, organization, leading and controlling to keep my teams and myself balanced and focused while we collectively work to reach our objectives. Dressler, G. (2002) Management: Leading people and organizations in the 21st century. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.