Functions of Management Is Defined as the

¶ … Functions of Management Management is defined as the process of getting work done through others in a manner that succeeds in achieving organizational and business goals. This simple definition has led to the outline of four broad management functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling (Harris, 1993, p. 372). It is also important to note that the management process involves taking into consideration a firm's resources.

As such, this implies that managers at all levels in an organization must execute the four functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling since they are responsible for the people and factors of production that are under their charge (Faille & O'Connor, 2000, p. 203). It is the objective of this paper to describe the four functions of management and their importance to an organization. The planning function involves the defining of goals as well as development of strategies or plans that are designed to achieve the set goals and other objectives.

Thus, the planning function includes goal definitions, business plans, strategy development, resource planning, and design of operational methods (McNamara, 1999, para 4). Of course, the extent to which an individual manager is involved in the planning function will depend on her or his seniority and responsibility level within an organization. Thus, only senior management and departmental heads may be directly involved in the formulation of organizational goals and business plans.

However, once these are set, all other managers will have to integrate the plans for their individual functions and areas of responsibility with the organizational objectives and plans. In addition, all other functions of management will also need to be designed to meet planning goals (Faille & O'Connor, 2000, p. 203). The organizing function, for instance, calls for a great deal of managerial ability in arranging and coordinating production, tasks, processes and information so that organizational, departmental and functional goals are met.

Therefore, the organizing function involves clearly stating employee job responsibilities as well as work flow processes in order to enable efficient utilization of available resources (Faille & O'Connor, 2000, p. 203). Although this sounds fairly simple, in point of fact the organizing function calls for a lot of managerial skill since it involves working with scarce resources and may even be full of paradoxes. This implies that managers must be able to clearly define and skillfully manage organizational work flows and job definitions.

For instance, strategic ambiguity between organizational goals and controls allows for multiple interpretations by individuals in an organization to the overriding culture. Take, for example, a case where both service and cost control are important goals. Such a situation may lead to employee confusion (Harris, 1993, p. 266) unless managers are able to specify decision making procedures and authority. The third management function of leading refers to the development of a vision and the setting of direction for the organization, individual functions or employee teams.

More specifically, leading involves establishing strategic direction in terms of a vision, mission, goals and values as well as championing methods of organizational performance (McNamara, 1999, para 6). Leading also means managerial ability to motivate workers to meet challenges and accomplish tasks (Faille & O'Connor, 2000, p. 203) on time and within budget. Thus, it is evident that leading is a management function, which is critical to an organization's success and achievement of goals. Indeed, without leadership skills, it is likely that an organization will flounder or stagnate.

The fourth function, controlling, refers to a manager's responsibility in evaluating team and individual employee performance and thereafter taking the necessary action (Faille & O'Connor, 2000, p. 203) to effectively and efficiently reach organizational goals. Controlling, therefore, includes the ongoing collection of feedback and the monitoring and adjusting of systems, processes, and perhaps even structures. Examples include the use of risk management methods, financial policies and controls, operational policies and controls, as well as performance management tools (McNamara, 1999, para 7).

The four functions of management play a critical role in an organization's success and growth. Recently, however, this definition of.