The Four Functions of Management

The Four Functions of Management

This paper will serve to explain the four functions of management. Before a person can understand the four functions of management, they must understand what management is and how one becomes an effective manager.

Management is the organizational process that includes strategic planning, setting objectives, managing resources, deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve objectives, and measuring results. Good managers do those things both effectively and efficiently (Snell, 2011). Managers are effective when they achieve organizational goals. They are efficient when the goals are achieved with minimal waste of resources.

The foundation has been built for what management is, but how does one become an effective manager? An effective manager takes responsibilty for ensuring that each individual person within the department succeeds and that the team or unit achieves results. Successful managers require both talent and skill. Managerial skills can be developed through training and experience.

The four functions of management are; planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. These four fundamentals will aid in developing a successful manager. Let's look at each one of these in more detail.

Planning is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve these goals. Planning activities include analyzing current situations, anticipating the future, determining objectives, choosing corporate and business strategies, and determining the resources needed to achieve the organization's goals (Snell, 2011).

Planning means looking ahead and plotting out future courses of action to be followed. It is a preparatory step. Planning is a detailed program regarding future courses of action.

At Mattress USA this step is not followed at all. The owners are not forward thinkers and do not stay ahead of the curve. When the management should be looking ahead and planning for the future, they are reminiscing about the past. When they do plan ahead, it is so far ahead that it has no meaning to the business.

Organizing is the function of management that follows planning. It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources takes place. Organizing activities include; attracting potential employees, specifying job requirements, grouping jobs into work units, allocating and monitoring resources, and creating conditions where all these things can work together to achieve success.

Today's successful businesses incorporate personnel and administrative duties in their everyday management. Effective managers will be using new forms of organizing, and viewing their people as perhaps their most valuable resources. These types of companies build organizations that