Functions of Management

Management

It includes:

Management of business and profit making private and government run organizations.
Management of non-profit making organizations.
Management of trusts, societies, associations, charitable organizations.
Management of governmental organizations.
Management of NGOs.
Management of educational organizations e.g. universities, colleges, schools.
Management of day care units.
Management of hospitals and other health care organizations.
Management of sports related organizations and clubs.
Management of religious organizations.

Management for any organization is a function of organizing and channeling the people together to accomplish desired goals.

In common understanding, management is also referred to the body or group of persons who perform the various functions of management.

Mary Parker Follett was the first to define management as the art of getting things done through people.

Hierarchical Levels of Management

Top management (including the members of the board of directors of the company- responsible for strategic management).
Senior management (or upper management; normally, the heads of various departments- responsible for operations management).
Middle management (responsible for operational management).
Junior or lower management (they include supervisors, team leaders or, foreman etc- responsible for transaction control)

Functions of Management or Management Functions

Management consists of the functions given below. It is based on Henri Fayol's thinking on the functions of management.

Planning: generating plans of action for immediate, short term, medium term and long term periods.
Organizing: organizing the resources, particularly human resources, in the best possible manner.
Staffing: positioning right people right jobs at right time.
Directing (includes leading, motivating, communicating and coordinating): Communicate and coordinate with people to lead and enthuse them to work effectively together to achieve the plans of the organization.
Controlling (includes review and monitoring): evaluating the progress against the plans and making corrections either in plans or in execution.

Every manager at every level of hierarchy of an organization has to carry out these management functions irrespective of the nature and size of the organization. The functions are interrelated and these may be done by a manager quite concurrently. This means that the functions are not necessarily carried out sequentially and it is not necessary to complete one function fully before the next function is undertaken.

Each of these functions is explained in some detail below.

1. Planning

Planning is decision making process.
It is making decisions on future course of actions.
Planning involves taking decisions on vision, mission, values, objectives, strategies and policies of an organization.
Planning is done for immediate, short term, medium term and long term periods.
It is a guideline for execution/implementation.
It is a measure to check the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization.

2. Organizing

Organizing involves determination and grouping of the activities.
Designing organization structures and departmentation based on this grouping.
Defining the roles and responsibilities of the departments and of the job positions within these departments.
Defining relationships between departments and job positions.
Defining authorities for departments and job positions.

3. Staffing

It includes manpower or human resource planning.
Staffing involves recruitment, selection, induction and positioning the people in the organization.
Decisions on remuneration packages are part of staffing.
Training, retraining, development, mentoring and counseling are important aspects of staffing.
It also includes performance appraisals and designing and administering the motivational packages.

4. Directing

It is one of the most important functions of management to translate company's plans into execution.
It includes providing leadership to people so that they work willingly and enthusiastically.
Directing people involves motivating them all the time to enthuse them to give their best.
Communicating companies plans throughout the organization is an important directing activity.
It also means coordinating various people and their activities.
Directing aims at achieving the best not just out of an individual but achieving the best through the groups or teams of people through team building efforts.

5. Controlling

It includes verifying the actual execution against the plans to ensure that execution is being done in accordance with the plans.
It measures actual performance against the plans.
It sets standards or norms of performance.
It measures the effective and efficiency of execution against these standards and the plans.
It periodically reviews, evaluates and monitors the performance.
If the gaps are found between execution levels and the plans, controlling function involves suitable corrective actions to expedite the execution to match up with the plans or in certain circumstances deciding to make modifications in the plans.

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

Books Suggested for Your Personal/Professional Library (all the titles are available as paperbacks and eBooks online from Amazon)

Management, Business, Self-help and Personality Development Books

1. HSoftware (Human Software) (The Only Key to Higher Effectiveness)

2. Sensitive Stories of Corporate World (Management Case Studies)

3. Sensitive Stories of Corporate World Volume 2 (Management Case Studies) (Volume 2)

4. Sensitive Stories of Corporate world (Volumes 1 & 2 Combined) (Management Case Studies)

5. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

6. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)

7. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

8. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

9. Stress? No Way!! (Handbook on Stress Management)

10. HSoftware (Shyam Bhatawdekar’s Effectiveness Model)

11. Competency Management (Competency Matrix and Competencies)

12. Soft Skills You Can’t Do Without (Goal Setting, Time Management, Assertiveness and Anger Management)

13. Essentials of Work Study (Method Study and Work Measurement)

14. Essentials of Time Management (Taking Control of Your Life)

15. Essentials of 5S Housekeeping

16. Essentials of Quality Circles

17. Essentials of Goal Setting

18. Essentials of Anger Management

19. Essentials of Assertive Behavior

20. Essentials of Performance Management & Performance Appraisal

21. Essentials of Effective Communication

22. Health Essentials (Health Is Wealth)

23. The Romance of Intimacy (How to Enhance Intimacy in a Relationship?)

Novels, Stories, Biographies and Travelogues

24. The Peace Crusaders (Novel: how the peace crusaders established permanent peace on a war strewn planet?)

25. Love Knows No Bounds (Novel: a refreshingly different love story. Also available with the title “Good People”)

26. Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories

27. Stories Children Will Love (Volume 1: Bhanu-Shanu-Kaju-Biju and Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh)

28. My Father (Biography)

29. Travelogue: Scandinavia, Russia

30. Travelogue: Europe
31. सीमाओं के परे: एक अलग प्रेम कहानी (Hindi version of the novel “Love Knows No Bounds”)

For More Guidance, Assistance, Training and Consultation

Contact: prodcons@prodcons.com

Training in all the soft skills and various management functions/techniques is imparted by Prodcons Group’s Mr Shyam Bhatawdekar and/or Dr (Mrs) Kalpana Bhatawdekar, eminent management educationists, management consultants and trainers- par excellence, with distinction of having trained over 150,000 people from around 250 organizations.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Functions of Management