Functions of Management .

Running head: FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT 1
Functions of Management
Student’s Name
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FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT 2
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