Application of Management Functions: A Reflective Incident Analysis

This essay presents a reflective analysis of the author's experience as a management trainee, specifically focusing on planning a trip to Daintree National Park. It details the application of the four primary management functions: planning, organizing, leadership, and controlling. The author describes how the team planned the trip, organized logistics, demonstrated leadership in coordinating tasks and managing budget constraints, and controlled expenses to align with the initial plan. The reflection highlights the challenges faced, such as budget limitations and managing team dynamics, and emphasizes the importance of these management functions in everyday life, not just within formal organizations. The essay concludes that the study of management aided in executing a successful trip, showcasing the practical relevance of theoretical concepts.

MANAGEMENT

MANAGEMENT 1
An incident from my life where I had applied the primary management functions was while
my internship as a management trainee at a Tourism firm. The task was to plan a trip to
Daintree National Park, for the seniors as a part of the internship programme. Planning
involves setting up of the objectives and development of means to attain the same (Fayol,
2016). Ours was a team of four management trainees.
Firstly, we had seek the individual choices of the seniors, and then we finalised the
destination to suit everyone’s preference, after the due permission of the departmental head.
We finalised the names and planned the budget for the trip. Then we decided it would be a
contributory trip, where each member would be required to contribute some initial amount to
book the tickets and other things.
After the planning, came the organisation of the trip. Organising function deals with the
structuring of the activities (Ansoff, et. al, 2019). As I had visited the place earlier as well, I
was chosen to take the initiative to organise the trip. Being a leader, of our team, I called each
of the teammates individually and made them understand the itinerary of the trip and the
estimation of the finance, the same was forwarded to the respective departments. I assigned
the part of the duty and made a teammate the head of the finance and bookings. We surfed
the official website of the destination and checked the available activities in our preferred
date and time slot. In addition, we asked the seniors members to vote for the activities they
are interested in, so that everyone has a say in the organising the trip. In addition, we took the
services from a cab operator agency to book the back and forth cabs for the trip. Finally, the
Daintree Wilderness & Jungle Surfing Full-Day Tour was booked.
As one of our seniors had become slightly ill just before the trip, I made sure to take extra
care of him. I asked rest of my teammates to make precautionary arrangements for him in
terms of medical facilities. I coordinated with my uncle for the cab and food arrangements on
the way.
In terms of the coordination, the food and lodging was looked after another teammate. We
coordinated with each other and with the seniors as well to note down the individual
preferences. Each day, we noted down the expenses and I reviewed if the same were as per
the planned budget or not. Being a leader the most challenging task was to convince the
teammates to book the best possible services in the limited budget, and disapprove the
planning if the same did not fit into the budget. This seldom created an atmosphere of stress,
but the same was managed by the group activities and discussions among the team.

MANAGEMENT 2
Thus, from the experience as shared above I can state that the basic managerial functions of
Planning, Organising, Leadership and Controlling are not only limited to the organisations.
These are applicable in various incidents of life and are essential to execute a plan efficiently.
Thus, I would state that the study of the subjects aided me in planning a successful trip, for
which my seniors are still thankful.

MANAGEMENT 3
References
Fayol, H. (2016) General and industrial management. UK: Ravenio Books.
Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., Helm-Stevens, R. and Ansoff, R. (2019) Implanting
strategic management. UK: Springer.