The Four Functions of Management

The Four Functions of Management

Patrice Davis

University of Phoenix

December 28, 2008

MANAGEMENT: THEORY, PRACTICE, APPLICATION 330

Instructor: Derek Osborn

Most people have management skills whether they know it or not. Over the course of one's life or career one will have to deal with management directly or indirectly. You may be a manager, work with or under a manager, or inquire a problem as a customer and have to speak to a manager. You can use your management skills anywhere, not just at work. You can manage an auxiliary at your church. You may even be a manager at home over your family and finances.

Management is not just about being a manager, but about how you go about finishing everyday tasks. It's also about motivating a group of people whether it's your family, employees or company as a whole to be the very best. If you have to put together activities daily, weekly, monthly or even quarterly it's probably a lot like what you do at your own office. The difference is on what scale are the management skills applied and who or what do they effect. The most similar is the process of achieving the desired goal.

Per our readings we find that management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p.26). Another common view is that "management" is getting things done through others. Yet another view, quite apart from the traditional view, assets that the job of management is to support employee's efforts to be fully productive members of the organizations and citizens of the community (McNamara, 2007). The four functions of management planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are what this paper will discuss and define. I will also try to relate this to my everyday life.

Planning is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals (Bateman and Snell, 2007, p.26). When planning you must define exactly what the end goal is. In order to figure out what the goal is and how to achieve it you must put a plan of action together. In doing so you may need to analyze the situations at hand. Try to hypothesize what may happen in the future that may deter you from achieving your goal, and try to have a plan of action to offset that from happening. Determine what the whole point of the project is. What is the objective? Decide what steps the company should take or in which direction the company should go. Strategize, maybe even set up a think tank to throw around ideas and objectives. By doing these things you will have a better understanding of the resources needed to achieve the end goal for the company.

I'm not in the workforce right now, but even in being a stay at home mother having a plan of action does come in handy. For example if I know a busy day is ahead or a busy week. I need to put together a list of things going on from most important to least. By doing so I can figure out what if any resources I may need. Like taking the car for the day, and making sure I have the funds I need to accomplish the task that needs to be taken care of. My husband and I may sit down together and throw out what we need and want to be done so that we're both on the same page, and both aware of cost and funds available.

When organizing it's best to put together the resources that may be needed to reach the end goal. Such as finances, information, man power, the physical resources that may be needed. You may have to figure out how to draw people to your company. You probably may have to create an environment