is the art and science of working with and through people to make them work together toward the desired goals and objectives of the organization. It is not an exaggeration to say that the science of management is what makes the world go ‘round – it makes things happen and function more efficiently. Without management, governments and businesses will be in constant chaos.
Being such an all-encompassing science, management has a myriad number of functions. Different authors of books, magazines other publications understandably have different ways of looking at what the functions of management are. However, if we sort through the chaff and grain, it all boils down to four main functions: planning, organizing, controlling and supervising. Anything else, such as monitoring, directing, designing, etc., will easily fall under any of these f
our main functions.
Planning. In anything that needs to be done, this is always the first part. There’s an adage that applies here: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Or as T. Boone Pickens, the great industrialist, says, “A fool with a plan will outsmart a genius without a plan.” Planning is the stage where the manager determines the vision of the organization and sets the goals, objectives and strategies towards reaching them.
Organizing. This mainly concerns putting together the different activities needed to attain the objectives and staffing people to perform them. As environmental conditions affecting the organization’s pursuit of its goals and objectives are constantly changing, the organizing process will be in constant flux to adjust to the changes.
Controlling. During the planning stage, standards are set such as budgets, sales quotas, production quantities and qualities, production costs and similar things. It is an important function of management to control the processes in order that the standards are met satisfactorily.
Supervising. Among all the four major functions of management, supervising takes up the most time of a manager. This consists of, among others, motivating and inspiring staff, coordinating their activities, instructing, training, guiding and giving counsel.
Definition of Management -- the art and science of making people work together toward desired goals and objectives of the organization. It composes of planning, organizing, supervising, directing, coordinating, monitoring, directing and controlling an organization for the main purpose of accomplishing the goal. (Read articles below to learn more.)
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