Four Functions Of Management

The success of a business lies in the hands of its manager or managers. All in all, their actions will determine the effectiveness of a company. In order to achieve victory they need to adhere to the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. With the growing global competitiveness of today's industries, companies need to be more innovative in using these four functions in order to complete tasks. If they are able to successfully perform these four functions within their organization he or she will have a better chance of succeeding with his or her overall goals and the competition.

The first function of management is planning. The action of planning may seem simple: What is the goal and how are we capable of achieving the assignment? Simple when one thinks about the idea of planning , but not so simple to conquer it. Much thought needs to be put into this process in order to be competent. In this stage companies need to determine the plan of action for their goal, the steps they will take to obtain it, and the resources they have at hand. In present day, companies have described this process as "delivering strategic value" (Bateman, Thomas & Snell, Scott, 2004). Generally, this means that managers think of the plan and the ways in which employees can carry out the plan of action. Managers need to use their brains to determine what it is that consumers are looking for and how can they surpass the competition. This proves to be one of the most important factors of management.

The second function of management is organizing. This process begins after the plan is decided. Now, it is time to put this plan into action and decipher what it will take to do so. Some major responsibilities of this function are to delegate tasks, assign teams, pull together resources, and set ground rules for every one to abide by. Unlike history, companies today are finding that they need to be flexible and understanding with their employees, and they need to use them as their biggest asset to achieve their goals.

After the goal is planned and organized it is now time to lead the team to accomplish the task to the best of their abilities. Leading a group takes much more than just pointing in the right direction. Leading also includes getting employees pumped up and giving them confidence and drive they deserve in order to complete the tasks at hand. This type of leadership requires close contact with the organizations members. A leader sets the atmosphere of the team, so that if a leader puts out negative vibes it will not motivate members to be there best.

The last function, which proves to be the absolute most important is controlling. Planning, organizing, and leading are very important functions, but in order make sure the task is completed, and done correctly, control must be clearly present. If a business does not take this function seriously, the outcome could be disastrous. The first three functions are essential to accomplishing tasks but this function allows an evaluation of the task to determine if it is working or not. If the evaluation proves that the task is not being completed correctly, changes can be implemented to achieve the goals