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Four functions of management
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Management as defined by Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2012), involves coordinating and overseeing the work of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively. Managers are universal; every business, big or small, needs managers of some sort. This is proved by all the different theories coined by people like Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henri Fayol, Max Weber and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth to name a few. Our focus will now only be on one of the theorists, Henri Fayol, who believed that focusing on increasing efficiency in businesses by minimizing misunderstandings. In the case of Company Y, Mrs X works as part of the middle level management of the company because she reports to the chief executive of the company. She is a contracts manager. She incorporates Fayol’s 14 principles of management in her line of work every day in order to help Company Y grow and achieve all the goals set by top level management. Her major duties include: drawing up contracts, evaluating, negotiating and executing them with her team; providing guidance to project managers on contract matters; ensuring that all contracts are well communicated to staff; and coordinating contractual insurance requirements with the finance or risk management department. Company Y is a packaging company who strives to be one of the best in South Africa. It has more than 100 employees and operates in the private sector.
Henri Fayol suggested that all managers use the 4 main functions (planning; organising; leading; and controlling) to efficiently coordinate and manage the work of others. By managers encouraging team members to work both effectively and efficiently can get the set goals achieved in no time. By providing incentives...
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...rmity has taken place and to show employees the way to go about the situation and still remain ethical at the end of the day because Company Y still needs to keep its reputation in good shape. Managers also need to ensure that the correct people are in the correct position at the right time to avoid wastage of time, energy and resources. When managers have to negotiate deals with clients need to be done in such a way that both parties are made well-off and that the partnership is worth keeping in the long run.
References
Bergman, R., Coulter, M., Robbins, S. & Stagg, I. (2012) Management (6th ed.). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education
Business Dictionary. (2014). Definition retrieved April 2, 2014, from http://m.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizing.html
Insight. (2014). Retrieved April 2, 2014, from http://www.insight.com/us/en/why-insight/fast-facts.html
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter. M. (2014). Management (12th ed.). Retrieved from: Colorado Technical University eBook Collection database.
“The team is faced with creating cohesion and unity, differentiating roles, identifying expectations for members, and enhancing commitment. Providing supportive feedback and fostering commitment to a vision are needed from the team leaders (Developing Management Skills).” ... ... middle of paper ... ...
George, Jennifer M. "Chapter 12." Contemporary Management. By Gareth R. Jones 8e ed.N.p.: n.p., n.d. 366-400. Print.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2011). Contemporary management. (7 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M and Woods, M 2014, Management: The Essentials, 2nd ed, Pearson, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M & Woods, M 2011, Management: The Essentials, Pearson Australia, NSW, Australia, 1st Edition
Gosling, J. and H. Mintzberg (2003). "The Five Minds of a Manager." Harvard Business Review (November 2003): 1-10.
Nowadays, management has become an important part of the society. The role of management is to assist the organisation to make the best use of its resource to achieve its goal. Base on the aim of management, one of the theorists Henri Fayol proposed the four necessary management functions: planning, organisation, leading, controlling are the tools managers use to achieve these goals. (Jones 2006) This essay is going to describe and discuss these functions.
He supposed that those were not what a manager actually did in his day to day work. However, there are some empirical studies supporting Fayol’s functions when showing that managers spend time in these functions. Mahoney, Jerdee, and Carroll (1963, 1965) reported that managers’ time could be allocated into eight basic managerial functions including planning, representing, negotiating, evaluating, investigating, supervising, cooperating and staffing. Those functions were actually expanded from Fayol’s five functions. This study of 452 managers also indicated that all managers in various jobs and level categories had different time patterns with respect to these functions. This study was developed in a study by Penfield (1973) and a study by Haas, Porat, and Vaughan (1969). They also pointed out that it was possible to relate managers’ day to day activities to these functions simply by asking them why they were carrying those particular activities. In another study by Allen (1981), 932 managers questioned reported a variety of planning and controlling activities, though this study did not indicate the amount of time spent on those activities. It indicated that 80 percent of the sample managers were involved in formal activities such as developing forecasts and preparing budgets, 70 percent had
Robbins, S.P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
As Schermerhorn states in Management planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are the tools needed by managers to accomplish performance goals. It is crucial that managers be able to recognize and act upon problems or opportunities as they arise. Planning is perhaps the cornerstone of the four processes. All good processes were at some point given great detail so as to anticipate possible problems and solutions to those problems. When the Honda Motor Company decided it needed to refine its inventory they didn't just jump at the first idea that was proposed; they first set their objectives and discussed ways to meet those objectives. After giving careful consideration to processes and the streamlining of those processes human error rose as the top need for change. Sounds simple you might respond; in reality it is much more complicated.
Both Mintzberg and Fayol agrees that every objectives start with planning. Fayol’s planning function is undeniable as it is common thing all managers have to do beforehand to build a successful path. Out of ten roles that Mintzberg stated, there is 5 roles which have the similar meaning with Fayol’s planning function.
Waddell, D, Jones, G & George, J 2014, Contemporary Management, 3rd edn, McGraw Hill Education,