MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS OR THE PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT
There is enough disagreement among management right on the classification of the managerial functions. Some classified these functions in to four types, some in to five and some other in to six or seven. The terminology is also not always alike different authors offering different names for the same functions of management. Newman and summer recognize only four functions namely, Organizing, Planning, Leading and controlling. Henri fayol identities five functions of management, Viz. Planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Luther Gulick states seven such functions under the catch word POSDCORB, Which stands for planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting.
Warren Haynes and Joseph Messy classified management functions in to decision making, organizing, staffing, planning, controlling, communicating & directing. Koontz & O’donnell divide these functions in to planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
Planning:
Planning is the function that determines in advance what should be done. It is looking ahead and preparing for the future. It is the process of deciding the business objective and charting out the methods of attaining those objectives in other words. It is the determination of what is to be done, how and where it is to be done, who is to do, It and how resolve are to be evaluated. This is done not only for the organization as a whole work for but for every division, department or sub unit of the organizations. Thus planning is a function which is performed by manager at all levels, top-middle and supervisory. Plan made by top management for the organization as a whole may cover periods as long as five or ten years. Plans made by middle or first line managers cover much shorter. Such plans may be for the next day work for example, or for a two-hour meeting to take place in a week.
Organizing:
To organizing a business is to provide it with everything useful to it’s functioning, personally, raw materials, tools, capital. All these may be divided in to two main section, the human organization and the material organization. Once managers have established objective and developed plan to achieve then, they must design and develop a human organization that will be able to carry out those plans successfully. According to Allen, this organization refers to the structure which resolves from identifying and grouping work, defining and delegating responsibility and authority, and establishing relationship. Staffing may also be consider and important function involved in building the human organization. In staffing the manager attempts to find the right person for each job. Staffing fix a managers responsibility to recruit and to make certain that there is enough manpower available to fill the various positions needed in the organizations. Staffing involves in selection and training of future managers and encouraging a highly discipline approach to work among them, even it requires taking punitive majors. It also necessity a suitable system of compensation staffing obviously can not be done once and for all since people are continually living, getting fired, retiring & dyne. Obtained too, the change in the organization create new position, and these must be filled.
It should be noted the different objectives required different kinds of organization to achieve them. For example and organization for scientific research will have to be very different from one for manufacturing bicycle. Producing bicycle requires assembly line technique where as scientific research team of scientist and experts n=in various discipline. Such people can’t be organize on and assembly line basis.
Directing:
After plan have been made and the organization has been establish and staffed, the next step is to move towards is define objectives. These functions can be called by various names leading, directing, motivating, actuating and so on. But whatever the name to identify it, it carrying out this functions the manager explain to his people what they have to do and haves them do it to the best of their ability. Directing thus involves three sub functions communications, leadership and motivations. Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from one person to another. Leadership is the process by which a manager guide and influences and the work of his subordinate. Motivation means arousing desire in the mind of workers to give their best to the enterprise. It is the act of stimulating or inspiring workers. If the workers of an enterprise are properly motivated they will pull their weights. Effectively, give their loyalty to the enterprise and carry out their task affectively. Two broad categories of motivations are financial and non-financial. Financial motivation take the form of salary, bonus, profit sharing etc. while non financial motivation take the form of job security, opportunity and advancement, recognition, price etc.
Controlling:
The manager must ensure that performance occurs in conformity with the plans adopted the instruction issue and the principles establish. This is the controlling function of management and it involved three elements .
- Establishing standards of performance
- Measuring current performance and comparing it against the establishing standards.
- Taking action to correct any performance that does not meet those standards
In the absence of sound control there is no guarantee that the objective which have been set will be release. The management may go on committing mistakes with out knowing them. Control complies event to conform plans.
Innovating:
These days it is not necessary for an organizations to grow bigger. but it necessary that it constantly grows better. This make innovation and important function of managers. A frequent exhortation is innovated or evaporate innovation means create in new ideas which may improve a product, Process or practice. Thus HUL’s in expensive single use shampoo sachets. Eureka forbes direct to house sell force and ITC e-Choupls, Which now benefits hundreds of Indian farmers across the country by providing the real time information and higher farm gate price their commodities, are example of innovation in packaging distribution and business model respectively.
Representing:
A manager is also require now a day to spend a part of his timing representing his organization before various outside group which have some stake in the organization. This stakes holders can be government officials, labor unions, financial institutions, suppliers, customers etc.They wield influence over the organization. A manager must win their support by affectively managing the social impact of each organization.
It should be understood that every function has two dimensions, substantive and procedural. Substantive dimension is what is being done, process is how it is done. The above definition and function of management only have use identify at a manager does but they tell us little about how he does.
