Fundamentals of Good Management

Functions of Management

Management Theory, Practice, and Application - MGT 330

July 12, 2010

Fundamentals of Good Management

A good manager is both effective and efficient. There are many factors that might contribute to a manager’s style. He or she might be savvy with the product of the organization or maybe more savvy on the people side of business. In order to be an effective and efficient manager he or she must incorporate the four fundamentals of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. These fundamentals are essential to being a good manager.

Planning is the first of the four fundamentals of good management. Planning is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals (Bateman & Snell, 2009). In the planning stage, typically, an idea or goal will have been presented from upper management of an organization. The idea or goal is then expressed to middle and lower management in order for the idea to be carried out. Management needs to assess value on time, materials, resources, people, etc. and delegate accordingly for employees to make the idea or goal a product of reality for the organization. Planning is where the initial set up and brainstorming of the project at hand takes place. Management needs to anticipate all objectives that are needed for the project and attempt to predict any potential problem that might occur during the duration of the project.

Once management has a plan of attack he or she can then move onto organizing the project. Organizing is assembling and coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals (Bateman & Snell, 2009). The main function of the organizing stage is assigning specific duties or tasks as necessary. This includes specifying job responsibilities and maintaining resources needed for the project. Often times, management will use a flow chart of some kind...