The management of any company will be having four major functions. These consist of planning, controlling, leading and organizing. There are many definitions of management which authors have provided. Management has been defined as being the process whereby individuals motivate other workers so that they can all gain a common goal. In order for a manager to be a successful one, he/she must fulfill all these functions appropriately and in the best possible manner. If this is not done, the common goal which the team has will not be met.
The management functions are five which consist of planning, directing, controlling, staffing and organizing (James Higgins). James Higgins provided this definition of the functions of management in an article which he titled, ‘the 5 functions of management’. James Higgins believed that if these five functions were made use of, success could be gained as all missions and objectives would have been achieved (Higgins). He also believed that if a manager failed to complete any of the functions which he listed, the manager along with his team would be unsuccessful And they would be unable to reach their goals.
This would be due to the lack of effectiveness and efficiency displayed by the manager as well as his workers. Even though management is considered as being a process whereby people work together in order to be able to achieve goals which are common to them, the only way in which this can be fulfilled is if the four functions are met properly. Organizing is the management function of assembling and coordinating human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals.
Leading is the management function that involves the manager’s efforts to stimulate high performance by employees. Controlling is the management function of monitoring progress and making needed changes. In a Business Management setting the four functions of management are applied and utilized in order to achieve high levels of success. The first function is planning. In this function, you are setting goals and objectives and scheduling the steps to achieve the goals in a certain time. Then you need to decide on the resources that are needed to ensure that the objectives are met.
