Four functions of management

There are four main functions of management, which include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All of these functions play a critical role in making an organization achieve all goals and objectives efficiently. Let us discuss each of these functions in some detail in order to know the relationship that exists between all of these functions.

Planning

Planning holds an utmost importance in the overall process of management. It means recognizing organizational goals and developing proper strategies to meet those goals. If we talk about planning from business point of view, we can say that planning not only includes setting measurable and realistic goals for the future but also includes development of strategies to meet those goals. For proper planning, managers need to consider many factors, such as, availability of resources, assessment of organizational environment, assessment of customers’ demands, future trends of the market, and proper use of capital. As Tatum (2011) states, “Like any type of business planning, project planning is about gaining the most benefit while making the wisest use of available resources” (p. 1). Proper planning provides many benefits to the organizations, such as, reduction of risks, completion of tasks within deadlines, avoidance of confusions, and correct use of resources.

Organizing

Organizing is the second function of management that means to organize different organizational activities in such a way that they work in a sequential manner. Once managers are done with planning to do something, the need for organization of tasks and activities arises. Managers need to bring together all resources in such a way that they work in collaboration with each other to achieve desired goals. The function of organizing includes many core activities, such as, communicating goals to employees, identifying the resources, classifying the resources, assigning tasks to employees based on skills, and delegating the authorities.

Leading

Leading is the third function of management that comes after organization of tasks. It means to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals. The function of leading plays a critical role in ensuring success of a business by injecting the sense of responsibility and dedication in the minds of employees. Managers of large businesses play the role of leaders for their subordinates. The main objective of leading is to increase the level of employee productivity in order to increase the overall organizational productivity.

Controlling

Controlling is the last function of management and comes after managers are done with planning, organizing, and leading. This function is very critical in the success of any particular project because it deals with the assessment of the organizational performance and project related activities in order to know whether the performance and organizational activities are going in the right direction or they need some changes to produce desired results. Controlling in many organizations is viewed as a follow-up process in which managers compare planned set of actions and guidelines with the overall organizational or project-based performance to ensure proper alignment between the performance and organizational goals.

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‘Systems Approach’ To Management

The systems approach to management says that all systems are interrelated and work together to achieve any particular business goal or objective. The main concepts included in the systems approach to management include synergy, sub-system, open or closed system, feedback mechanisms, defined boundaries, input/output system, and consideration of the whole system. The systems approach to management puts a dynamic and influencing impact on the overall business. For example, it helps managers get an in-depth view of the business processes. Similarly, it helps in forecasting consequences of the planned actions. It also helps an organization achieve its goals ad objective in a timely and efficient manner. Moreover, this sort of system warns managers and employees against the adoption of piecemeal approach in solving critical business problems (Akrani, 2011).

How Can Controlling Help Managers In Becoming More Efficient?

Controlling help managers in becoming more efficient by making them able to check the system and take appropriate actions to reduce the flaws and make the system more efficient and reliable than before. In case of strategies, if managers find some flaws, they take corrective measures to make the strategies successful for the organization. Managers usually do two types of controlling which include corrective controlling and preventive controlling. Corrective controlling improves organizational performance for its alignment with the actual performance standards, whereas preventive controlling deals with the prevention of undesired performances from occurring. Some of the core managerial tasks involved in the function of controlling include determining performance standards and guidelines, measuring actual and expected performances, comparing actual and expected performances, identifying the differences between the two levels of performances, and taking corrective measures to improve the performance of the organization.