The Four Functions of Management

The purpose of this paper is to briefly define the four functions of management, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, and discuss who each function relates to my own organization.

Each organization, business or company has established certain functions that are implemented to help in running it in a smooth and effective way. These functions include, organizing, leading, controlling and planning. Without these functions, deadlines are not met, employees may be displaced and the company may cease to exist. With these four functions in place, every organization can fulfill their goals and objectives.

Planning

Planning is the base function of management. In each business or organizing, this is a never ending process (Pakhare, 2011). Planning is designed to determine how a company’s goals will be achieved, plus the correct actions that need to be taken to achieve organization goals (Bateman, & Snell, 2009). Planning is the most important portion of an organization and is often considered the foundation of management. Planning can be an uncomfortable process for management due to the fact that planning involves the external functions of an organization. Planning can affect the company either in an optimistic way or a pessimistic way. Depending upon how planning can effect a business, management may have to alter their approach to certain goals (Pakhare, 2011). This vital step not only includes present goals for a business, but future goals. In other word, the business must decide in advance, what to accomplish, when to accomplish the goal and how goals will be accomplished. Lastly, the planning process is necessary step which aids in the utilization of employees and other non-human resources. (www.managementstudyguide.com, 2011).

Organizing

The second step in the functions of management is organizing. Organizing helps a business in getting prepared and getting organized. Those who are in management positions will use this process to...