FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

 

The functions of management are universal, that is, the functions are the same everywhere, in all organizations, and at any time. Indeed, the managerial functions are the same for small business as for large ones; for public and semi public organizations as for private ones.

There seems to be some disagreement among and between scholars and practicing managers as to the classification of the functions of management.   However, the differences are minor, particularly now that a general pattern of classification has emerged.

E.F.L.   Breech says that management functions are a combination of four essential elements which include planning, motivation (leadership) coordination and control.

For Earnest Dale et al the functional ns of management consist of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting (POSDCORB). 

Harold Koontz et al in their book “Essentials of management” state that the functions of management include planning, staffing leading and controlling.

For our purpose however, we shall adapt the following classification: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating and controlling. Each of these elements is discussed below.

A         PLANNING

This is the first and most basic of all managerial functions.

For every manager is involved in it and all his other functions depend on it. Planning may be defined as today’s design for tomorrow’s action. It is also deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, who to do it, where to do it and why to do it. Planning involves the determination of an enterprise objectives and departmental goals and programs, and determining ways of achieving them.

It is important to note that planning is a necessary requirement for enterprise survival, necessary for the minimization of risks and for the exploitation of opportunities to advantage. Experience has shown that many small enterprises encounter serious operational problems and fail because of poor planning.

Principles of Planning

            Planning has certain principles. The main ones are:

i.          contribution to objectives. The purpose of all plans is and should contribute             positively towards the attainment of organizational objectives.

ii.         Primary of planning. This means that planning is a primary requisite    of all other   functions of management.

Iii         Plans should be precise. Practicable and easy to understand.

iv.     Plans should be efficient. The efficiency of a plan is measured by the   amount                    contributes to objectives viz-a-viz the cost and other non-financial  consequences of formulating and operating the plan.

Steps in planning;   In order for the planner to plan effectively, the following     steps are vital.

I           Awareness of opportunities to be exploited.

ii.         Establishment of planning objectives. The manager should spell out     clearly and   precisely the objective that plans are supposed to achieve.

iii.        Establishing planning premises or assumptions.

  Here the planner should develop the planning assumptions about the future settings on   which planning i.e. to take place and the total environment in which the plans are to operate. Hence realistic forecasting is essential.

iv.        Determination of alternative courses of action. All the alternative courses of action that can be utilized in accomplishing the task should be determined at this stage of the planning process.

v.         Evaluation of the alternative courses of action. The evaluation of the   alternative course of action (determined in the fourth step) is done          against the premises and goals.

vi.        Selecting a course of action. This is the point at which the plan is selected. It is the real point of decision making.

vii.       Budgeting

viii.      Implementation and feedback.

           

             Types of Plans

            Plans can be broadly divided into three, viz.

1.        Strategic plans. These are plans that fix the nature of the organization n.They          include mission (definition of the organizations; objectives (ends toward          which all       organizational activities are aimed); strategies (plans that cover the         overall general activities of the organization, especially    interpretative plans           made in the light of the plans of competitors).

ii.         Standing plans. Standing plans are those plans once established continue to     apply             until    they are modified or abandoned. Hence they are fixed in nature and content. The main       standing plans are policies (general statements and understandings that        are guides            to, or channels of thinking and decision making by managers and subordinates);         procedures (standard or routine  method or technique for handling recurring activities) rules and regulation (statement which require that a specific and definite action be taken or not taken with respect to a situation).

iii.        Single-use plans:     These are essentially nonrecurring, the plans in this category      include programs (entire complex of activities necessary to carry out a given   course of action); projects (plans for the accomplishment of a specific objective);      budget (financial statements of expected results expressed in numerical terms.

             in other words they are number zed programs).

            From what we discussed above, it is evident that through proper planning    management can adapt and adjust to changing environments; assists in           crystallizing agreements on major issues, helps place responsibility more            precisely; minimizes guess work and saves    time, effort and money. However,      for an organization to plan effectively a lot of time and resources must be         spent.

B.        ORGANISING (ORGANIZATION)

This is the second function of management. Frequently, the term organization is used to refer to company or a group of people. Technically however, organization as a concept has two meanings, that is as a structure and as a process. In this write-up, our concern will be on organization as a process.

Organization as a process has been defined by L. A. Allen as the identification and grouping of work to be performed; defining and delegating responsibility and authority; and establishing relationships for the purpose of enabling people to work effectively together in accomplishing objectives.

The definition has clearly identified the elements of organization. Thus:

i.          Identification and grouping of work (otherwise known as            departmentation).

ii.         Defining and delegating authority and responsibility.

iii.        Establishment of relation in the organization.

     These elements are briefly explained below.

1.        Identification and grouping of work (Departmentation).

The duties to be performed must be identified and grouped for the purpose of assigning them as responsibilities of particular positions or people.

The methods of identifying and grouping of work otherwise known as departmentation, could be by

(a ) function  (b) Geography (c) process \Equipment (d) product or service  or (e) customer .

(ii)  Definition and delegation of authority and responsibility.

By authority is meant the right to give orders and the power to exert obedient. In modern democratic management, authority is becoming more persuasive.

Responsibility in order hand arises from but is also different from authority. It is also obligation of a subordinate to whom duty is assigned to perform the duty. Responsibility arise from superior –subordinate relationship 

It should be pointed out at this juncture that in any purposive organization, authority and responsibility should be clearly defined; also the degree of delegation of authority should be determined.

Delegation of authority

 Delegation is assigning of work to others (making them responsible) and giving them a sufficient authority to do it.  It is conferring of authority from a superior to a subordinate in other to accomplish   a giving task.

There are certain obstacles that hinder effective delegation, some include:-

(a)  Dominant executive behavior (b) lack of confidence in the subordinate (c) fear of subordinates   (d) the desire to dominate.

 Some of the way to overcome  the obstacle of delegation include  (a) making the potential delegator  feel secure  (b)  careful selection of managers to whom work is  to be delegated  (c)determine what is to be delegated  (d)  management should be encourage  a belief in delegation  (e) parity of authority and responsibility.

(iii)  Establishment of relations in the organization (organizational structure).

Organizational structure is the arrangement of various functions or the activities in the organization. Organizational structure symbolized the skeleton to hold the organization and as a network showing the relationship and communication channel between various personnel in the organization.

 Types of organization structure 

The organizational structure can be broadly divided into:

(i)   Line organizational structure.

(ii)   Line and staff organization (staff structure)

(iii)  Functional structure.

(iv)  Committee structure.

(i)  Line or military organization structure

 This is the oldest and simplest types of organization structure. It exists in a very small organization. Line organizational structure may be refers to as  an administrative organizational pattern  in which line of authority  extend vertically  from top to the bottom without being limited  as to functions and  without  being  modified  by use of the staff  specialist or a standing  committee to help the chief  executive or the departmental head.

In this types of arrangement, the superior gives orders, keeps an eye over the standard of performance and check the result s with the fixed standards. The subordinate on the order hand, carried out order  and he is responsible to his boss for the satisfactory performance of his duties.

In these types of structure, there is less emphasis on employing specialists to man the various departments in organization.

The line organization structure of a small manufacturing firm may look like this        


CHART:

   
        LINE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

GENERAL MANAGER

 

Production Manager    Financial Manager     Sales Manager    Personnel Manager

The main advantages of this type of organization structure are that it is simple and could be easily understood by everyone, there are clear cut divisions of authority and 9+responsibility; and decisions are quickly made because the chief executive has a say in almost all matters affecting the organization.

However, this type of organization structure is not suitable for large and complex organizations; line structure is rigid and inflexible; it is autocratic in nature; and departmental heads often carry out orders independently and in their own whims and desires.

ii.         Line and Staff Structure

This comes into being when the line structure cannot be utilized effectively, due to expansion in the size of an organization. In this type of arrangement line serves to maintain discipline and stability, while staff members are there to give experts advice. There are basically two types of staff in an organization. 
They are:

i.          general staff: This is concerned with almost everything his superior is             interested in.

ii.         Technical Staff: this is concerned with special functions. The functions           performed are generally advisory and may include some of the following:

a.         research into technical, operating and managerial problems

b.        keeping of records and statistic on the various standards of performance.

c.         advice and aid in carrying out plans and programs.

Some of the main advantages of line and staff structure are that it is more flexible than structure- one can employ any number of people per requirement; it is also based upon planned specialization and brings experts knowledge upon managerial and operational problems.

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE   These also arises from the need to introduce specialists into the line structure. It involves grouping of related task and objectives and assigning a specialist to run it. The difference between the functional and staff structure is that the functional head has authority to command, act, and force compliance in his specialized area. The functional organization structure chart is similar to that of line structure.

The main advantage of functional structure is that specialist are utilized.

While its main disadvantages are cost of maintaining a specialist may be very     prohibited for small firm, hence may deprive of benefiting from specialist.

COMMITTEE STRUCTURE

The committee structure consists of a group of persons specially designed for some administrative duties. Committees exist at any level of the organization, but more common at the top. They could be permanent or ad hoc

The main advantages of a committee include transmission of information, coordination, training and development of staff, while their main disadvantage is delay in taking decision.

STAFFING

This is another function of management. Staffing involves filling, and keeping filled, the position provided by the organization structure. It also involves setting requirement for the job to be done, and it includes inventorying, appraising, and selecting candidates for positions; compensating, and training or otherwise developing both candidates and current job holders to accomplish their tasks effectively.

DIRECTING:

Directing may be defined as guiding and supervising subordinates towards the attainment of enterprise objectives. In directing, three basic elements are involved, which include:

(i)                Leading         (ii)  motivation      (iii)  communication

(i) Leading Harold Koontz (1982) defines leading as “influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of organization and group goals.” It should be pointed out here that unless the leader can get others to do as he wants, and then he is not a leader and therefore has no followers.

The main theories of leadership include (a) the trait theory (which states that leaders are born and not made, that is, certain people are born to lead, such people possess certain traits, characteristics like honesty, loyalty, ambition, etc.) (b) The situational theory (leadership depends on situations rather than the qualities of the leader).

In any purposive organization, different types of leaders exist.

 The main ones include (a) authoritarian (b) democratic (c) formal and informal leader (d) lassez- faire. People are given two main freedoms to perform. The executive gives too much power to the subordinate.

It is important to note that for one to lead, he must process certain qualities, some of which include (a) physical fitness (b) emotional stability (c) knowledge of human relations (d) technical competence (e) social skills (f) communication skills.

(b The people working for the organization must be adequately motivated so that they can derive maximum satisfaction from their work and perform at their best. Motivation is to influence people to act in a desired manner. In fact motivation is an element in which human skill of manager plays a vital role.

COMMUNICATION: Communication is a management tool designed to accomplish objectives and should not be considered as an end in itself. Communication may be simply defined as the achievement of meaning and understanding between people through verbal and nonverbal means in order to affect behavior and achieve desired results. Communications is the means by which organized activity is unified. It is also means by which behavior is modified, change is effected, information is made productive and goals are achieved.

CORDINATION: coordination means ensuring that sections, departments and divisions cooperate in the achievement of the organization objectives. The objectives of every section, and of every employee, should contribute to the goals of the organization. In other words, coordination is ensuring that all efforts are bent toward a common objective and there is no duplication of work that results in wasted efforts. It also includes resolutions of differences of opinion which create friction and hampers coordination. Coordination is a key executive function and a continuous concern and responsibility of top management. Coordination could be internal or external, horizontal or vertical.

CONTROL: this is a mechanism used to ensure that an enterprise stays on course or operates according to plan. Some people see control as only checking of the results or keeping an eye over the performance of an individual. But to the modern manager, it means a continuous process of measuring actual results planned for that organization. Control is a process and is concerned with the process of forecasting planning, operation, coordination and accounting.

Henri Fayol recognized that, in an industry, control consisted in verifying whether everything occurred in conformity with the plan adopted. Control points out weakness and errors in order to rectify them and prevent their reoccurrence. The main steps in control include (a) setting (b) measuring performance against standards (c) feedback and corrections of deviations. What can be controlled include quality, quantity, cost, time, finance, etc.

CONCLUSION: in conclusion, it could be said that the success or otherwise of any purposive organization (business and non-business) depends on the effective utilization of certain managerial functions. These functions include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating and controlling. It should be pointed out that the functions are a means to an end, because their effective utilization leads to the achievement of set goals