5 Functions of Management

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT
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(30 August, 2012)
Introduction
Successful managers are those leading their organizations to predetermined targets by the use of available means. To accomplish this, there need to be guidelines, procedures, as well as resources. To attain this target, managers have to recognize five major functions that they have to play effectively; they include planning, leading, organizing, staffing, and controlling. Each of these functions helps managers in specific ways especially in their day-to-day managerial roles. The five ns have to be given equal and adequate amounts of time to ensure success (Gary, 2007). This is because they are all necessary elements in the development and success of any organization. As an effect, this essay critically analyses the application of these five managerial functions at my working place.
Planning
This managerial function deals with setting of company`s ultimate objectives, steps and tasks in a suitable manner. According to Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy (2008), planning is the fundamental function of any manager, as it is his/her responsibility to chalk out future actions, and make decisions in advance concerning the best action to take. The aim of planning is to state what should be done, how it should be done, and when it should be done. Gary (2007) defines plan as a systematic thought about ways and means that can be used to accomplish a predetermined goal. Various types of planning include tactical, strategic and contingency.
At my working place, managers have been setting strategies with the aim of accomplishing the set goals according to the predetermined standards. To do this, the management has been ensuring the availability of resources like raw materials, human resources, and technology availability. It has been of great help especially in bridging the gap from where the company is, and where it should be in future. As an effect, the managers have been assigning chores and goals to different employees who will undertake them or pass them down depending on the management hierarchy. Other activities that have involved managerial planning at my work place including, taking decisions and plans that ensure attainment of organization`s vision and mission by the CEO, and apart f making policies especially those concerning employees by the Human resource and the operation managers.
Organization
Organization is another managerial function that involves putting together planned goals to ensure an integrated system, and assigning them to employees. Managers obligated to actively participate in activity identification, grouping of identified activities, assigning duties and tasks, responsibility creation and authority delegation, apart from coordinating authorities and relationships in the company. At my work place, it is the responsibility of financial and human resource managers to organize for financial and human resources respectively, while it is the responsibility of the operation manager to organize for raw materials and tools to ensure a productive relationship that leads to the attainment of the company`s goals.
Organization as a managerial role has played a bigger part in command establishment, and work coordination at my work place. This is because it has created a framework that deals with assembling all production factors together. To ensure success of this framework, our CEO has been on the forefront of creating an organized plan and prioritized steps throughout the production process.
Staffing
Staffing is the third managerial function, it entails manning the company`s structure with the use of proper and effective selection, evaluation as well development of personnel with the aim of filling roles assigned to the workforce. According to Thomson Learning (2008) staffing is a very important managerial function especially in the current environment full of technology advances and human behaviour complexity. The main reason of staffing is putting the right person on the right job just like having square pegs in ‘square holes, and round pegs in round holes` (Gary, 2007). Tim states that staffing elements include manpower planning, training and development, appraising performances, promoting and transferring, and remunerating (Hellen, 1998).
At my work place, it is referred to as human resource planning, and is done by following a laid out procedure. First, th...