The Leading Activities in Management

According to Fayol, managers undertake the following activities: planning; organising; command; co-ordination; and, control (Mullins, 2016). However, some management activities are more opaque, for example the influence of culture on organisation effectiveness. Produce a report which shows how you would effectively combine these different management activities.

Running head: MANANGEMENT ACTIVITIES
MANANGEMENT ACTIVITIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Management Activities..........................................................................................................3
Organisational Activities........................................................................................................5
Integration of activities..........................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Management activities can be defined as the activities that a business does in order to
achieve the desired goal. It is the interconnecting of the functions, like organizing, planning,
directing and controlling. According to Henri Fayol management has five key activities that
are planning, staffing, leading, organising and controlling. These activities help the company
in meeting with the goals that are set by them. Management includes marketing and
innovation as well as the other key factors that make the organisation operate smoothly and.
Having a management plan helps the business in predicting the hindrances that will occur and
can manage them more effectively.
Discussion
Management Activities
Henri Fayol has proposed five primary management functions or activities that help
the company in achieving the goals that they have planned for themselves. These activities
make it easier for the organisation to work and stay ahead of the competition that is there in
the market. These fundamental activities are:
 Planning: It is the process of reasoning and having a foresight on the basis of
experience and facts that is necessary in taking an action. It makes it easier for
a company to understand where it is and where it wants to be and what all
must be done in order to be there where it wants to be (Fayol 2016). It is the
most important function according to Fayol and requires the whole company
to participate. The activity of planning has to coordinated and has to have in
mind the resources that are available and the flexibility and adaptation towards

change by the people. There are many aspects to planning; it is the first stage
in any management activities. Without planning the other steps cannot happen.
Planning helps in collecting the data and analysing that information, it also
helps in making the best action plan for the company and the most suitable
way for the company to execute the plan.
 Organising: It is the process that takes place after the process of planning.
The process of organisation is to develop the organisational structure and to
allocate the human resources according the organisational structure. The
structure of the organisation is the framework in which the effort of the
factions is coordinated (Ionescu 2016). Organising also is the process of
designating the jobs within the organisation. It is based on the principles of the
division of labour and specialisation.
 Commanding: Commanding or leading can be described as the influence on
the other people to the goals and the objectives of the company. To effectively
lead the managers have to motivate the subordinates, communicate with them
the message and to have the work done (Mahindru et al. 2018). To have better
understanding of the subordinates and the employees, the managers must
know about their personality, attitudes, emotions and emotions. Effective
commanding and leading keeps the employees motivated and to get the
organisational work done in a much efficient manner.
 Coordinating: Coordination can be defined as the unification, integration,
synchronisation of the groups. It provides a unity in the action of the company
in order to achieve the common goal. It puts together all the forces of
management and makes it one of the most essential steps in the process of
management, as it integrates all the different activities of management

(Voxted 2017). The coordination that is achieved by the organisation is
through the process of planning, organising, directing, staffing and
controlling. All these activities when performed together help the organisation
in meeting its desired objective. It is the system which ensures that everything
works together in a smooth manner and that none of the factions or activities
is not in sync with each other.
 Controlling: It is the process where the mangers ensure that the performance
of the company is up to the standard and can be improved more when and
where it is needed. There are three steps in the process of controlling, which
are setting out a standard for the performance, comparing the performance of
the company against the set standards and using corrective measures when it is
deemed to be necessary (Peaucelle 2015). The standards are often set in terms
of monetary benefits, as it becomes easier to measure and correct. It can also
be set according to the numbers, that is the goods produced, sold and the
rating of customer service. To have effective controlling a company needs to
have a plan in place against which the standards can be set to be measured. It
is the last function in the management ecosystem and is mainly focused on the
continuous and dynamic activities. It is a positive force that is implemented by
to make the company better. It helps the company to change and also to cope
with the uncertainty that is always there.
Organisational Activities
These functions though may correctly not represent the complicities that are
encountered by the managers and might not help the managers in managing the company
effectively and efficiently. Though these functions create a basic fundamental steps for a
manger to create a basic structure that can be used by the managers use to operate the

organisation. These help the managers in solving the problems creatively and effectively. For
this reason there are many organisational activities that help the company in attaining their
goals and objectives. These objectives include the influence of culture on organisation and
the organisational structure.
 Culture of the Organisation: Organisational culture can be defined as the
personality that an organisation has. Organisation culture is the invisible force
that affects the organisation and the people that work in it. It is the shared
assumptions, values and the beliefs that influence the company (Pinho,
Rodrigues and Dibb 2014). The organisational culture provides a set of
boundaries and guidelines that monitor the behaviours of the people in the
company (Elsmore 2017). It is the expectations, experiences and the
philosophy of the company that guides them towards their common goal. The
people of the company are the ones that make the culture of the organisation
and creates common objective for the people.
 Organisational Structure: The structure of the organisation also affects the
working of the organisation and how any change or activity can be
implemented in the organisation. The organisational structure can be of many
types and the most common among them are a hierarchal structure or a flat
structure (Maduenyi et al. 2015). In a hierarchical structure the power to
govern and make rules is with a few people while on the other hand in a flat
organisational structure the power does not lie with a certain few. Flat
organisations are more receptive to the changes that are implemented in the
organisation, yet the hierarchical structure makes it more efficient for the
mangers to control and operate.

Integration of activities
Both these functions can be termed as being more opaque and influence the
fundamental management activities that were designed by Fayol. These functions are
integrated with the management acuities and work hand in hand for the organisation to reach
its goal. The culture of the organisation influences the leadership of the company and how the
controlling will be implemented. The planning and the organising are also heavily influenced
by the company’s culture and the managers’ plan and organise the different activities in order
to meet with the culture of the company (Rosenbaum, More and Steane 2018). The culture of
the company heavily influences the management activities and the change in the culture of
the company also means a change in the management activities.
The organisational structure influences the management activities as both these types
of companies have a different approach to the management activities. These structures help
the mangers in knowing the best plan, the best way to organise and the best method in which
all these activities can be coordinated (Saunila, Mäkimattila and Salminen 2014). These
activities greatly depend on the structure of the company, as they will have to have different
approaches to management and how they must be carried out. These management activities
like planning and organising have to be done kept in mind the structure of the company for it
to fit into the system of the company and does not hamper the working of the company.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that these activities are influenced by
each other and must be integrated to have the organisation work better and in a much easier
manner. These activities like planning, organising, controlling, coordinating and commanding
are the basic principles on which the management activities are based on. These help the
organisations in providing a template to use for the operations of the company and also to

effectively manage the change and the uncertainties. Organisational culture and structure on
the other hand are forces that influence these activities and how an organisation performs its
duties. These activities when integrated with each other help the company in achieving the
target that they have set and for them to also face the uncertainties ahead.