Foundations Of Management

Management involves the process of achieving the objectives of the business organization by bringing together human, physical, and financial resources in an optimum combination and making the best decision for the organization while taking into consideration its operating environment.1 Most organizations, from small to large, have developed and implemented their management philosophies in the form of a business plan. The business plan is a roadmap for the company to follow its processes with efficiency and effectiveness. The business plan is the vision and direction the company wishes to take in order to be successful. The basic functions of management are characterized in four unique areas. The four functions of management are: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Using these four functions provide the company with tools useful for monitoring strategic, tactical and operational decisions, regardless of the organization’s age.

Planning

Planning is the most important part of the management foundations. Planning sets the groundwork for aligning the other three foundation areas to the business plan.

Planning is determining at what point the company is at, where it needs to go and how to get there. Planning closely parallels with the use of personnel resources to the task at hand. As the business climate changes, positive or negative to the company, so does the planning process. Today, many companies used a planning theory called SWOT, or strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

While working for UPS in the mid 1980’s, ground package delivery competition against them was very limited. UPS did not see a need to improve its’ ground business because it had a high percentage of the market share. As ground delivery companies emerged or improved their service, UPS had to re-examine its’ strategic planning process. Emerging competitors such as DHL, FedEx, RPS and the USPS simply offered the appearance of better value than UPS.

Organizing

Organizing is coordinating the many resources available or needed to execute the planning process. Organization starts with structuring departments or work groups, his or her functions with that organization, what specific expectations are they required and how can they all inter-relate towards the company goals.

Organization accomplished properly can determine the efficiency of the company and relate to the effectiveness of the plan. While working as a manager for a retail chain, the company plan was to improve customer quality concerning product damage by delegating the assignment to the distribution group. The theory of poor product quality was misidentified as originating at the distribution site. The actual product quality issues started at the supplier. Instead of the middle decision maker in this process, the procurement group should have been assigned cross functionally with distribution to improve the product quality.

Leading

The third function of management is leading. There are many different ways to lead people towards their goals. To be successful, management has to inspire their workers to want to do their best for themselves and the company. So often, people do not get involved in the decision or idea process because they are not lead properly. Management has to communicate effectively, motivate behaviors and get involved daily on a personal level to gain understanding and sincerity form their team. According to Carnegie (1936) “A