Define management.

Explain the functions of management with suitable example from your area
of work.

Management:

“Management is defined as coordination of activities in such a way that they are completed
effectively and efficiently with and through other people”.

Functions of management:

For coordinating the activities effectively and efficiently each manager perform certain activities
or duties and this idea gave birth to the functional approach of management. In different periods
different functions of management has been proposed by the different people. In 20th Henry
fayol , a French industrialist first proposed the functions of management. He said that all
managers perform five functions that are planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and
controlling. While in mid 1950s planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling were
proposed as the functions of management. However, now a days it is considered that there are
only four functions of management that are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These
are the most important functions of management.

Planning:

This management function involves defining goals establishing strategies for the completion of
those goals and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Any road can be taken
when there is no specific destination in the mind of a person but in case you have a specific
destination in your mind then a best way to get there can be planned. The purpose of existence of
an organization is the achievement of particular purpose. So for this it is very important to
clearly define the purpose and best ways how to achieve these. This is done by the planning a
function of management.

Organizing:

Making arrangements for the accomplishment of organization’s goal is also responsibility of a

manager. Organizing is defined as a management function that involves determining what tasks
are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and
where decisions are to be made. In other words organizing things is creating a relationship
among them. For the achievement of organizational goals it is about creating a productive
relation among physical, financial and human resources.

Leading

It is defined as management function which involves motivating subordinates, influencing

individuals or teams as they work, selecting the most effective communication channels or
dealing in any way with employee behavior issues. Every organization has people working in it
and it is the job of a manager to work with and through them. Manager has to lead them and tell
them what they have to do and in what direction. Leading is telling the direction to the
employees which is always towards the achievement of organizational goals.

Controlling

Management function that involves monitoring actual performance, comparing actual to the
standard performance, and taking the appropriate actions if necessary. To produce desired output
it is very important to evaluate the performance of the individuals working in the organization.
When the goals are defined, plans are set, organizational structure is defined and individuals are
hired, trained and motivated for achieving the organizational goals then it is very important to
keep check whether things are going as they are planned. For this actual performance should be
compared with the standard performance and in case of any deviations appropriate steps should
be taken to keep things on track. This monitoring, comparing and correcting is called as
controlling.