The Four Principal Functons of Management

Foundation Degree in Security and Risk Management

October 2006 Intake

Module 1

Ronald McKenzie

Reference number 23188

Submitted On 24th November 2006

Word Count: 2499

Question 2

Evaluate the extent to which security and/or risk managers are engaged in the four principal functions of management; planning, organising, leading and controlling. Support your argument with due reference to a manager or managers either in your own organisation or in another with which you are familiar.

Henri Foyal, the French theorist famous for turning companies around from the brink of bankruptcy in the twentieth century, first outlined the principle functions of management in his book, “General and Industrial Management”. The book was published in France in 1916 but it was not until the 1940’s when the book was translated into English that British and American organisations got to benefit from his works (14 Principles of Management). Managers today still use these functions and if they didn’t, they would struggle to survive in their organisations. The Security Manager’s role today is much more sophisticated than it was a few years ago. Security Managers are under increasing pressure to supply an efficient, well trained team that can cope with almost any situation that they are confronted with.

That is almost certainly the case with the Security Manager on which this essay is based. The organisation I have chosen to help address this question is Canary Wharf Group (CWG). In the first part of the essay I will give an introduction to CWG and a brief outline of what the company is involved in. The second part of the essay will look at the four principal functions of management and evaluate each one, focusing individually on the extent to which the Security Manager is involved in each. Finally, the essay will look at how the management hierarchy dictates to what extent the Security Manager gets involved in each of the functions.

Canary Wharf is a major...