Our Objectives The Four Functions Of Management example essay topic

Planning Organizing, Leading and Controlling The whole point of having a well-organized business is to make the operation run smoothly. When a business is well organized, everyone understands his or her duties and responsibilities. The lines of communication move information to the decision-makers or managers and allows for making better and timelier decisions. Functions Of Management In today's business world managers follow certain rules that help them be better at their job and also contribute to the success of the business. The functions of management are established to help managers see the business operations with more clarity and understanding. This report will look at the four functions Planning, Organizing, Directing and Controlling.

Now it is a common practice to define management in terms of above four words, which are referred to as the four functions of management. Hence management is nothing but Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling to make sure our objectives or tasks are achieved Management, therefore help us immensely to achieve our objectives. Commonly management is always referred to as a process meaning that is an ongoing continuous, systematic way to doing things. To achieve our objectives the four functions of management: Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling have to be carried out on an ongoing systematic way for some period of time depending on the type of objective.

Planning Planning implies that we must think through our goals and actions in advance and decide, What to do? and How to do? Planning is based on a logical or systematic way rather than hunch. Planning should produce a picture of our desirable future. We may have long term plans or what we desire to be in another five to ten years in future time.

To achieve long term plans we must develop medium term plans for two to three years of duration. Still to achieve medium term plans we must prepare short term operational plans deciding what we should do on a day to day basis, to achieve our medium term plan and finally thereby achieve our long term plans. Organizing Mere planning will not help us achieve our objectives unless we organize things by allocating work to be done and resources among various people in a proper way so as achieving of our plans are made easy. Leading In management we deal mostly with humans than machines. Therefore to achieve our objectives we have to motivate and lead people who are relevant to achievement of our objectives.

When we lead people, motivate them and constantly communicate with them, they will be interested in carrying out what had been allocated to them. Unless people are properly led they will not do the intended task. People need to be constantly motivated and directed to perform the intended task we expect out of them. Then achievement of our objective will be certain. Controlling Controlling, is that we must ensure that all our planning, organizing and leading in fact move us towards the established objectives. This is, while planning, organizing and leading are carried out as a process, it must be ensured that we measure the ongoing performance of the task and compare such current performance with the established objectives, to see whether we are heading towards the right directions.

If it is clear, that our objectives may not be achieved then some corrective actions must be taken to ensure that we are in fact heading in the right directions to achieve the objectives which were predetermined. Conclusion According to John P. K otter in his book, A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs From Management (The Free Press, 1990), managers must know how to lead as well as manage. Without leading as well as managing, today's organizations face the threat of extinction. Management is the process of setting and achieving the goals of the organization through the functions of management: planning, organizing, directing (or leading), and controlling.

A manager is hired by the organization and is given formal authority to direct the activity of others in fulfilling organization goals. Thus, leading is a major part of a manager's job. Yet a manager must also plan, organize, and control. Generally speaking, leadership deals with the interpersonal aspects of a manager's job, whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal with the administrative aspects. Leadership deals with change, inspiration, motivation, and influence. Management deals more with carrying out the organization's goals and maintaining equilibrium.

The key point in differentiating between leadership and management is the idea that employees willingly follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to. Leaders may not possess the formal power to reward or sanction performance. However, employees give the leader power by complying with what he or she requests. On the other hand, managers may have to rely on formal authority to get employees to accomplish goals.