When planning for a production, a demand forecast is needed so as to be able to plan as close to the volume that is needed when it is needed. Poor or insufficient forecasting would affect the planning and IKEA would be effectively flying blind. A result would be that retailers would constantly be met with extremely volatile inventory where there would either be an over supply of product or insufficient supply. Both scenarios incur cost and loss of revenue.
Long term or strategic planning for the growth of the company may involve decisions on new store outlets, or change in product lines, or even additional initiatives to go green/increasingly environmental friendly would need advance planning. This would keep the company better prepared for the unforeseeable future. (Nieuwenhuizen et al. 2008, p.50)
Planning provides direction and allows employees to focus and encourages forward thinking. In addition, having a solid plan encourages a more participative work environment. Today’s business environment is also growing increasingly unpredictable and change can happen at any time and affect any one area of a business. Advance planning helps soften the impact of any change that may come unexpectedly as well as have in a place a contingency plan that appropriately addresses any issues that may arise out of that change.
ORGANISING FUNCTION
Once the planning phase has been finalized and set into a workable plan, management would need to disperse the information out across to the various departments involved. It determines how the actions or activities that have been decided on will be assigned and grouped across the organization. Assigning responsibility for the task to be accomplished would require the employees to fully understand and be aware of what is expected. Communication is important and for IKEA, this is even more important when its products and external store image are expected to be uniform no matter which country the store is located in.
Responsibility for logistics, transportation, distribution, purchase of raw materials etc will be handed over to the relevant departments to oversee. With a company as large as IKEA, effective organisation of resources spreads the work and make it all the more manageable when the right people are assigned the right job. In other words, organising enables management to divide and allocated the work amongst its employees. The division and grouping of work is required in order to put the planning and set goals into action.
If a certain company policy has been set and is to be executed in all of its stores worldwide, it would make little sense for headquarters employees to personally handle each store in all 55 countries. Work that has been divided and allocated to various departments or individuals must be grouped and further organised into subsections if needed. Each individual or department’s roles and responsibilities must be clearly outlined so that the actions undertaken would take effect with the goals set in mind. (Kroon. 1995, p223)
LEADING FUNCTION
In leading a team or a group of people, the managers are in effective leaders and are responsible for guiding the team under team to perform and execute the tasks and responsibilities set out. This may involve actively motivating staff such as those on the front lines. This has been described by Gupta (2009, p4) as the most important managerial function. Understanding the needs of their subordinates and to be able to assist them in satisfying those needs would go some way in coordinating them with organizational objectives.
Management level staff would have the responsibility of supervising all works done, motivating their subordinates, show leadership in leading and guiding their team as well as be able to communicate effectively. A united team that understands its goals and purpose are better equipped to successfully carry out the tasks assigned to them. Communication is more than just the process of passing information, but also to give opinions and advice, sharing experience which builds a bridge to understanding between people.
IKEA has a work culture that embraces its employees and people feel more involved with the company.
CONTROLLING FUNCTION
To lead a team or a group of employees is to guide them as actions are taken to ensure that the all goes according to plan and does not deviate from the standards and expectations that has been said. Areas such as budget, production results, customer service and performance appraisals are all taken to be a measurement of performance. Monitoring is done and any changes that has to be made will be referred back to the plans laid out earlier.
The performance standards have to be established for it to be measured. Comparisons and studies are undertaken to check and ascertain actual performance matches up with the plans laid and to identify any deviations and apply corrective action.
These four managerial functions are all part and parcel of a manager’s job and none of which takes precedence over another. When effectively executed and applied, brings order and a sense of purpose to the organisation.
REFERENCE LIST
Daft. R.L & Lane. P, 2010. Management. Ninth Edition. USA : South-Western Cengage-Learning
Gupta, M. 2009. Principles of Management. New Delhi : Raj Press
Kroon. J, 1995. General Management. 2nd Edition. Cape Town, South Africa : Kagiso Tertiary
Nieuwenhuizen. C. et al. 2008. Business Management : A Contemporary Approach. Cape Town, South Africa : Juta & Co
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mishmash07 (student)
