Analyzing the Evolution of Management Thinking: A Case Study

This case study analyzes the evolution of management thinking through a personal reflection on the application of POLC (Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling) functions. The student, drawing from their experiences balancing academics and extracurricular activities, illustrates how these management principles were applied to achieve desired outcomes. The case study details the planning process, emphasizing the importance of establishing routines and setting goals. It explores organizing strategies, such as time management and task prioritization, to maintain balance. The study also highlights the significance of leadership in overcoming challenges and fostering responsibility, as well as controlling mechanisms for predicting and managing risks. The author concludes by emphasizing the interconnectedness of these functions in achieving success, referencing various academic sources to support the analysis.

Running head: EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING
EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING
Case study 1:
In the current scenario, success comes only through proper planning, long-term
commitment and hard work. I have myself experience the importance of planning, organizing
and efficient management in the daily life as it has greatly helped in increasing my productivity
rate. For instance, last semester through efficient planning and organizing my academics, I was
able to achieve better result besides being the captain of the football team. Earlier, I would lag in
my academics on the other hand would top in the football team. Therefore to balance both my
academics and passion for support I started applying the major primary functions of POLC, that
is planning, organizing, leadership and controlling in my life through the following ways:
 Planning: Planning is the first step essential to reach the career ladder that helps in
achieving the goals. It is the decision-making progress that helps in deciding the goals for
making faster decisions (Samuel, Found and Williams 2015). I started planning the
pathway to achieve the desired result for my academic performance. I started my
planning process by making a proper routine and keeping tracks of my tasks performed
on a daily basis. We need to think beforehand, what we want so that it can be efficiently
planned. Whether it is to work hard and achieve good results in school, moving to
university, gaining work experience or having the desired successful business or career,
planning is essential.
 Organizing: organizing is generally the basic thing that we are expected to learn in our
younger days as organization is the basic element of life. I used strategies like keeping a
detailed list of my plan and putting it as a reminder to follow my plans. I started making
time-tables for studying on a daily basis and religiously followed it. Moreover I equally

2EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING
allocated some free time for my interest in football and practicing it to get the desired
balance result.
 Leadership: to overcome the daily life challenge leadership skills is equally important to
find opportunities in the critical situations. Leadership is actually the belief that explains I
can do it. I followed the same logic and believed in myself and achieved the planned
results. Leadership helped in building many good skills for me and creating sense of
responsibility towards my work and making it more successful, moreover inspiring others
to follow.
 Controlling: control is the ultimate need that human being requires feeling powerful and
having sense of control (Powers 2014). Through practicing controlling, I felt a sense of
certainty and was able to predict beforehand, what will be my next step towards
achieving success. Controlling helped in making me understand how the things actually
works and people besides things are consistent. If we are having control over our
managing styles then the risks or any threats can also be avoided or lessened. I started
controlling my life and achieved success.
Therefore, we can say that the four primary POLC functions are highly integrated and
helped me in securing maximum marks in my academics side by side being the captain of my
school football team.

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