Functions of Management .

This article discusses the four basic functions of management - planning, organizing, leading, and controlling - and how they are applied in the context of Woolworths' supply chain department. It explores how these functions help manage risks and achieve organizational goals. The article also touches on the role of leadership in motivating employees and communicating organizational strategies.

Running head: FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT 1
Functions of Management
Student’s Name
University

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Functions of Management
Introduction
Management is the application of a set of principles and strategies within the organization
to achieve the desired goals. This is thus a factor of production that uses the available resources
within the organization to achieve the desired results. This means that it is a set of activities that
are directed to utilization of resources in the organization to achieve the desired goals. The role
of the manager within the organization is to use the power and responsibilities of the position
that they hold to make decisions that affect the business. This process can be working with
human, financial and physical resources to solve problems or create solutions geared towards
profits. Hogan & Coote (2014, p. 1610) suggests that management leads to the development of
an organizationculture that “influences firm effectivenesss”. The role of every organization is to
make profits through efficiency input and output systems to achieve the desired goals. Different
scholars have presented functions of management through theories that seek to justify the
function of management within the organization. The basic functions that exist within the
management responsibility are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling which are executed
at different levels within the organization. For example, in Woolworths, the management
functions and levels vary based on the organizational structure that defines the level that one
occupies and the function that they play in the organization.
When working as an intern in Woolworths, I managed to work in the strategic
management department which had several units within. One of the units was the pricing
department charged with the role of determining the prices for commodities that fall within the
current market rates and the ones that create a completive advantage. Woolworths has relied on

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low pricing as one of its strategies for meeting the needs of the organization and ensuring that the
retailer can compete with other retailers in the industry. Regardless of the department in an
organization, the marketing functions remain the same since the leaders have to apply the four
functions to deal with the management of the unit or organizational function.
Planning
Faludi (2013, p. 179) suggest that the “role of planning is to forecast and put measures in
place to address future issues in the organization”. Planning is the most fundamental functions
that managers engage in their organizations. It entails the process of thinking and forecasting on
the activities to be achieved or the desired results. From Fayol’s administrative theory, planning
is assessing the future and making projections through setting of objectives. The planning
function allows managers to set goals for the organization and forecast the direction that needs to
be taken. The role of planning is to examine critical organizational issues thus reducing
uncertainty, high risks, and doubt that affect business processes. Stretton (2015, p. 2) suggests
that planning is “the work a manager performs to predetermine a course of action”. This means
that planning is more than handling people but rather the process of benchmarking the past with
the current to predict the future in the business environment. This function requires personal and
interpersonal management competencies to develop the best plan for the organization. There is a
very close link between the planning function and strategic management. The role of planning is
to put measures in place to address organizational goals while strategy entails the methods used
to achieve these goals. With planning explicit guidelines are put in place which increases
proactive decision making. Good plans provide a sense of direction, rational and purpose for
achieving organizational goals. Others have argued that planning is an element of developing a

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competitive advantage since it entails analyzing business processes and the environment to
determine the best approach and put measures in place to meet such strategy.
Planning as a function varies from field to field since it has different elements that
organizations use to achieve their functions Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy (2008, p. 134) states
that this function seeks to “identify what the organization wants to accomplish and how”. This
function is important in the procurement and supplies department since it facilitates decision
through using the overall plan and business trajectory to determine the future of business. It is
also establishing control standards in the organization that allows scrutinizing and analyzing
available information to put business controls that lead to achieving the intended objectives. For
example, the supplies department can notice that there is a decline in the supply of products for
the company for a given period of time which may cause the company to quickly outsource these
products. Thus by working in the supplies department, we will be engaged as a team in the
benchmarking process of determining the future and putting measures in place to achieve the
desired future. This means that the manager will review the state of supply and develop measures
for addressing such problems. These measures entail a plan that management uses to address the
challenges in the organization.
Dawson (2015, p. 32) suggest that “planning reduces procrastination, ensures continuity
and provides for more intelligent use of resources”. The role of planning in managing risks is its
ability to tackle uncertainty by making predictions based on the amount of information available.
This means that plans move management from reactive leaders to proactive leaders who engage
with the business situations on time. For example, to predict the future of supply challenges
within the organization, management needs to analyze demand and supply trends by comparing
previous trends to determine what the future will look like. In a retail industry, supply is an

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important element of business processes since most retailers have certain tastes and preferences
that have to be met. For example, people want fresh and organic groceries rather than any other
grocery. Further, Woolworths has a good reputation in the retail industry thus the need to
continuously meet business requirements. By planning and forecasting, management can have a
glimpse of the future and put proper strategies in place for dealing with such risks.
Further, planning carries the future perspective of business which is always full of
uncertainties thus this function needs to anticipate the future and assign appropriate resources to
all the forecasted events. An example of this is the seasonal supply and demand for commodities.
There are seasons when the demand is high and low while at the same time there are periods
when the supply is high and low. Thus McNamara (2009, p. 64) suggests that planning is
“examining the future and draw up plans of action,…….it requires a forecast of events” which is
important in risk aversion since it leads to the prediction of the future using historical trends that
have been documented thus making the future certain. Therefore, for Fayol, managers must have
the active unrelenting intention to effect improvements and avert risks to increase the chance of
achieving organizational goals.
Organizing
Organizing is the management function that involves making decisions on how activities
and task are undertaken, the people that undertake them and the way these tasks are grouped and
scheduled to meet organizational goals. The organizing function sees the organization as a
composite system with many parts where single entities are created through organizing. This
function follows planning since it entails ways through which management ensures that plans are
carried out through matching relevant resources to them. For Uddina & Hossain (2015, p. 581),
organizing is a “performance model at industries where workers nature were defined by

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simplistic goals as sub-ordinates and managerial behaviour was illustrated as multi-dimensional
specialized roles. In a management perspective, organizing only works if there is a reporting
structure that is put in place with a chain of command to increase decision making. This implies
that there is authority, chain of command and span of control which is supplemented by work
design within the organization. For Fayol, the organizing function is divided into materials and
human organization. Materials entail allocation of organizational resources to different functions
and developing ways of managing the resources to achieve the desired goals. The human
organization function entails leadership, coordinating activities, job analysis, and empowerment
and performance management. Other scholars argue that this function plays a major role since
having the right people with the right skills and aligning them with appropriate resources
contributes to the quality achievement of plans. Perhaps this is the reason why organizing has
been attributed to the flat organization structure which is beyond grouping people and
distributing duties to them but rather adapting the organic whole of the organization to the
requirements of the plan and putting people with the right skills to work on them.
In the supplies department, organizing can be achieved by having an organizational chart
that acts as a managerial instrument on how resources are organized and distributed in the
organization. This means that the head of Woolworth's supply chain department will develop a
managerial chart for the department that defines the role of each employee in the department and
the responsibilities that they have been charged with. This also shows the chain of command and
the superior relationships that exist as a way of increasing the level of organization of activities
thus “managers spend a lot of time either working with people or working with information” to
organize the activities of the organization to achieve the set pans (Harris, 2006, p. 4). This means
that the activities in the department will be distributed based on the roles that people have been

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assigned and the chain of command that they hold. Thus the function of management brings
together departmental resources in a manner that makes the system work and at the same time
aligning the department to the overall goal.
The role of organizing in managing risks in the organization entails developing of
contingent actions through harmonizing all the activities to reduce system failures and increase
efficiency. Mintzberg argues that the role of the leader in risk management is acting as a
disturbance handler through responsible corrective actions during risks. Further, when the
organizing function of the organization is met well, then risks are reduced since employees
develop capabilities for mitigating risks before they happen. This is through “information
organization frameworks is to create better evaluation rubrics for the design specifications” to
reduce organizational risks (Tennis, 2006, p. 304). Accountability and responsibility are used in
each organized entity to make people in charge of their situations and reducing risks. By hiring
employees with the right skills and qualifications, the organizing functions seeks to avert risks
through developing organizations capabilities with the right resources for dealing with risks.
Leading
Leading is the ability of an individual to influence others in a certain direction or towards
achieving organizational goals. This has been attributed to leadership abilities and traits that
people possess to influence followership. Leadership is related to power and authority where the
individual takes “a strategic approach to planning; taking action to get projects under way”
(Lamond, 2004, p. 22). Different theories have been advanced to explain the way leaders
approach organizational issues. Recent leadership research has focused on contingency theory
which sees the characteristics of the leader as situation based rather than having a certain set of
attributes. In management, leadership entails developing appropriate strategies for the

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organization to increase competitiveness through depending on “a fit or match between the type
of technology, environmental volatility, the size of the organization, the features of the
organizational structure and its information systems” (Islam & Hu, 2012, p. 5159). This means
that the contingent leader is more effective since this requires leaders to develop different
abilities in different situations. By having the ability to analyze situations and applying the right
competencies to approach the problem, contingent leaders are more suited for organizational
leadership as compared to other leadership theories.
However motivation theorists focus much on the effectiveness of leaders in energizing
employees to create productive effort to meet organizational goals. This means that the leader is
not only supposed to exercise power and authority but rather use it to create better conditions that
allow thriving of employees. For example, the two-factor theory focusses on the use of intrinsic
and extrinsic motivators to increase performance in the organization. Motivation leaders are
characterized to have “idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and
individual consideration”, which leads to considerable influences on employee behaviour (Kim
& Lee, 2012, p. 235). The intrinsic motivation part has been highly attributed to motivation since
it creates conditions like autonomy and the nature of the job itself that make employees more
productive. Further, communication has also been linked to effective leadership since it entails
how information relating to tasks, decisions, and organizational strategies is communicated up
and down the organizational hierarchy.
The role of the leader in the supply chain department will entail being in charge of
functional activities through decision making and suggesting recommendations to management.
Leaders are accountable for the activities that take place in the areas that they lead and thus need
to ensure that they develop the right competencies and strategies by “persuading, inspiring,

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influencing the attitudes, behaviour and actions of others and directs their activities so that the
group or organization members work willingly, cooperatively and enthusiastically toward the
accomplishment of set goals” (Peretomod, 2012, p. 13). They need to inspire, motivate and align
their employees to business goals at all times. Thus the function of leading in the supplies chain
department of Woolworths will entail connecting with other employees beyond managing task
but involves communication, motivation, and encouraging employees to achieve their work
requirements.
Leadership role is not only limited to people and being in charge of organizational
processes but rather plays a role in the management of organizational risks. Quality risk
approaches require leaders to put measures in place for averting any business problems that the
organization can face. By “paying attention to certain things the leader uses organizational
culture as a powerful way of communicating a message, especially if leaders are totally
consistent in their own behavior”, which leads to avoiding risks that the organization can face.
(Schein, 2004, p. 247). This means that the leader must understand the risk management
programs in the department and develop proactive measures for controlling the risks rather than
waiting for the risks to occur. Supply chain departments play a major role in organizational
processes and thus need to ensure that they put quality risk management processes put in place
by the organization to avoid any risks that they will face. This is through developing a string
quality culture that forms an environment where employees consistently follow quality
guidelines in all department activities Richter & Haddad (2015, pp. 6) argues that the leader
needs “to ensure appropriate resources and time are allocated to developing an organizational
structure, education materials and training…….to develop appropriate skills to execute the
program”. Thus it is the role of the leader to ensure proper measures are put in place to achieve

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quality risk management capabilities. By enforcing these guidelines the leader safeguards the
areas of command and the whole organization from risks.
Controlling
Controlling entails ensuring performance is according to standards through the three steps
of establishing standards, comparing the performance with standards and taking any corrective
action. This means that this function ensures everything conforms to the requirements based on
the instructions and principles established. Standards entail measures of performance used in the
organization to determine whether the requirements have been met or not. (Juraj, 2017, p. 207)
suggests that control is achieved through “efficiency and effectiveness desired organizational
goals. This implies that the performance should not be below the standards for the process to be
termed successful. The role of this function is to provide the necessary data for planning and
forecasting to avoid future undesirable results. Performance measurement methods depend on the
nature of the organization and the business process. These can include financial statements,
reports, and production results performance appraisal and customer satisfaction surveys. Thus
there should be existing plans that are used to provide standards of performance and
responsibility of each party in meeting the standards.
Standards define what needs to be done and the levels of measurement required in the
organization. In the case of Woolworths, each employee will be charged with some level of
responsibility that they will be in charge. This leads to a set of activities that are measured using
predefined indicators of performance. This means that control is used to identify errors or
deviations from the set indicators and then find ways of resolving the problems. This means that
controls need to be put in place thus “a good strategy should therefore link long-term vision and

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short-term operations” to understand to mitigate any risks that the organization may face (Boddy,
2008, p. 63). Control itself is a way of mitigating risks in the organization since it entails using
prescribed standards to define areas that are defined as risk related and develop solutions for
addressing the challenge. When the standards are not being met, the organization is at risk since
this affects business performance. Thus the purpose of control is to predict future risks through
the use of existing plans and standards to define the way things need to be done.
Conclusion
The four management functions are interrelated and used to describe the role of a
manager. This means that the core function of a manager is to meet the needs of the organization
through the coordination of organizational activities, allocation of resources and putting controls
to meet the required standards. In modern management, the role of a manager overlaps within the
four functions and includes other extended roles like risk management which seek to increase the
business achievement of goals. Therefore, management entails a broad range of activities
bestowed to those in charge in achieving organizational goals.

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