Functions Of Management
Essays

Assessing the Four Functions of Management:

The four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Taken together, these form the foundation of managerial theory and strategy, in addition to being the catalyst of defining which skills…

Functions of Management The Four Functions of Management The universally accepted functions of management – whether it is a baseball organization, an opera company, a Fortune 500 corporation or a elementary school in Ireland – include: Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. Professor Paul Allen of Middle Tennessee State University has written a book (Artist Management for the Music Business) in which he elaborates on the four functions of management vis-à-vis the music business, albeit his narrative can apply to many other fields and disciplines. Planning – Allen notes that the difference between failure and success can often be linked to the planning process that was involved in the project. "Luck by itself can sometimes deliver success" (Allen, 2011, p. 5), he explains, but when a well-designed plan is in place the manager is in a great position to "take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves" with or without luck. When the planning process is fully thought out and no stone is left unturned to make the correct preparations, success is quite likely to follow. Leading and Directing – the responsibility of a manager for an organization, for an athlete, a musician or a team is to lead by making certain the "talents and energy of the team are directed toward the career success of the artist" (Allen, 5). There are goals that must be set so the leadership can be directed in a specific direction, not just in some vague direction that is blithely described as "success." Leading dovetails with planning and organizing in obvious ways, but a leader should be an extrovert unafraid to step out into the world of innovation and experimentation. Being too conservative and "safe" in the leadership style can lead to failure at the worst and stagnation at the best. Controlling – Once a manager has established a plan, and put together the pieces in a workable formula, he or she must be firmly in charge at every step along the way. When the resources, the people, the equipment, and the financial resources are all in place and have been assembled properly, "the manager monitors how effectively the plan is being carried out and makes any necessary adjustments" so that there will no wasted resources and the plan will go forward with a positive boost (Allen, 6). The manager can't control everything, so there needs to be some realism, Allen continues, but that implies that he or she must concentrate on being flexible in order to be able to "adjust to the circumstances" (6). Organizing – This is an aspect of management that is closely tied to the planning function, Allen explains (5). It is a matter of "assembling the necessary resources to carry out a plan and put those resources into a logical order" (Allen, 5). More than that, organizing involves carefully laying out the various responsibilities of the team involved, and "managing everyone's time for efficiency" (Allen, 5). Every key player should have his or her time managed well by the organizing person in charge. Part of the responsibility of the organizing manager is to assure that there is funding for the project at hand. One classic example of shrew and effective organizing used by Allen is the example of Lee Iacocca, former chairman of Chrysler Corporation, who lobbied and cajoled and managed to gain a loan of hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government. He saved his company from bankruptcy in the late 1970s and is seen as a genius in hindsight, but it was just good planning and organizing on Iacocca's part that saved the day for tens of thousands of auto workers. Allen notes that managers' part in the organizing process also entails recruiting, hiring and training the labor talent needed to put the project on the map and see it through to its successful conclusion. (there are 1,680 words in this paper)

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