What are the Functions of Management?

by terry87 (student)

(a) According to Jewel (2000), management is the attainment of organisational goals in an effective manner by planning, organising, leading and controlling organisational resources. Follet sited in Mushipe (2004: 28) that management “is the art of getting work done by other. From this definition, it is clear that managers work with other people to achieve organisational goals.” From the definitions stated above, one can deduce that management is the process of planning, leading, organising and controlling both people and other resources which are available to accomplish the set goals and objectives of the organisation.

One of the major functions of management in an organisation is to plan. Planning entails establishing organisational goals, objectives, policies and programmes (Mushipe, 2004). So the importance of management in an organisation when they plan is that planning increases the organisation's ability to adopt future eventualities (www.management.blurtit.com 2012/07/01). The future is generally uncertain and things are likely to change with the passage of time. The uncertainty is augmented with an increase in time of dimension. With such a rise in uncertainty, there is generally a corresponding increase in the alternative courses of action from which a selection must be made.

Through planning, the importance of management also is in the allocation of resources fairly (www.management.blurtit.com 20/06/12). Planning is a means of judicious allocation of strategic and scarce resources of the organisation in the best possible manner for achieving strategic goals of the organisation. The strategic resources include funds, highly competent executive, technological talents and good contact with government. If the organisation enjoys a distinct advantage in possession of such resources, a careful planning is essential to allocate them into those lines which would strengthen the overall competitive position of the organisation.

Organising is another major function of management in a large organisation. According to Mushipe (2004), organising is the process of creating a structure of relations among people that will enable them to carry out management plans and meet organisational goals. So the importance of management through organising is that jobs are clearly defined (hhtp://www.management studyguide.com/organi.... 06/06/12). Organisational structure helps in putting right men on right jobs which can be done by selecting people for various departments according to their qualifications, skills and experience. This is helping in defining the jobs properly which clarifies the rule of every person.

It is also important because it provides a sense of security (hhtp://www.managementstudy guide.com/organi.... 06/06/12). The roles assigned to every manager are clear, coordination is possible. Therefore clarity of power helps automatically in increasing mental satisfaction and thereby a sense of security in a concern. This is very important for job satisfaction.

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Management also lead to the subordinates in an organisation. Leading is a process of directing or influencing subordinates to achieve organisational goals (Mushipe, 2004). Management provide guidance to employees through establishment of values, ethics and visions. They are the one who often teach the subordinates on how some tasks are to be done especially the lower management. This is important in the organisation because if employees are motivated, the production also increases.

The last management function is controlling. According to Dias (2009), the controlling function involves measuring performance relative to the planned objectives and standards, rewarding people for work done well and the taking collective action upon when necessary. Therefore, the importance of management through controlling is that the management guides operations (hhtp://www. managementstudyguide.com/organi..... 24/06/12). Control fixes certain standards. All the work has to be done according to these standards so control acts like a traffic signal. It guides all the operations of the organisation in the right direction. Also management being in control, it motivates workers (hhtp://www.managementstudyguide.com/organi.... 24/06/12). In control, the employees' performances are evaluated regularly. Those who show good performance are rewarded by giving them promotions, cash prizes. This motivates the employees to work hard and it also improves their morale.

(b) According to Jewel (2000), leadership is “the art or process of influencing people so that they perform assigned tasks willingly and in an efficient and effective way. In simpler terms, it is the process of offering employees guidance or direction. Autocratic leadership involves making managerial decisions without consulting others (Dias and Shah, 2009). In simpler terms, it is characterised by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. According to Dias (2009), democratic leadership style which is also known as participative style consists of managers and employees working together to make decisions. In this type of style employees are involved in the process of making decisions and there is also a two-way communication.

To a great extent a manager will be more effective by adopting the democratic rather than autocratic leadership style in that it allows feedback since it uses a two-way communication (www.mindbook.com 24/06/2012) while autocratic style does not give a room for feedback since it uses one-way communication. From the points above, one can say that theorugh feedback the manager can easily find out whether the employees got the message correctly or not, if not he can find another to take. So this is what makes it an effective style unlike in autocratic style whethr the message was delivered correctly or not the manager will only find out through the actions of the subordinates.

Manager will be more effective by adopting a democratic leadership style in that it motivates employees through involving them in the decision making as compared to the autocratic leadership style which tends to demotivate employees which are perceived by managers as those who fall under Theory Y of McGregor's theory (www.leadership_expert.co.uk 04/07/12) by not involving them in decision making so if a manager adopts a democratic leadership style will be more effective in the if the workers are motivated the productivity tends to increase.

Managers will also be more effective by adopting a democratic leadership style in that it also helps to develop people skills (www.mindtools.com>Home>leadership_skills). These tools can be, for example, decision making skills since they will be involved in the decision making process as compared to the autocratic leadership style where the workers are told what to do, when and how to do it and by doing this they do not develop any of their skills because they are always told what to do.

Employees turnover is reduced (www.mindtool.com 29/06/12).A democratic leadership makes people feel empowered to work as it is essentially performance based. A majority of workers appreciate this method as compared to the autocratic leadership style which tends to have a high turnover of workers due to the fact that employees feel unappreciated (www.mindtool.com 29/06/12). By adopting a democratic leadership style a manager is more effective in that he has low staff turnover which tends to reduce the cost of hiring new employees.

Communication gap is reduced (www.psychology.about.com/od/leade.... 05/07/12). Tension between the leader and team members is decreased as a result of fear of rejection and denial also reduces – this makes all sorts of issues addressable. An autocratic leader on the other hand, would have certain demands and expectations from his subordinates which the employees fear the leader. From the above statements, I can safely say that a manager who adopts a democratic style can be more effective in that if the tension is reduced cost associated with handling of disputes are also reduced.

To a lesser extent, a manager who adopts an autocratic leadership style will be more effective than a manager who adopts a democratic leadership style in that decisions are made quickly and work gets done (www.mindtool.com >Home>leader..... 24/06/12) as compared to democratic leadership style where decision making takes a long period of time since everyone in the business is supposed to be consulted.

A manager can also be effective by adopting an autocratic leadership style in that some members might not have the knowledge or expertise to provide high quality input hence there will be a need for a manager to adopt this style (www.psychology.about.com/od/leader...... 05/06/12) instead of wasting time consulting the employees who have no knowledge as it is done in the democratic style where every employer needs to be consulted.

In autocratic style a manager will be more effective since in this style he tends to keep a close watch on the activities of the workers (www.mindtool.com 24/06/12). This eliminates the tendency for workers to “slack off” that may occur with the democratic leadership style. The result can be increased productivity and speed, as workers who fall behind are quickly identified and corrective measures are take. Quality may also improve as the employees' work is monitored constantly. Time wasting and the need to waste resources is also reduced.

The manager can also be effective if it is that kind of a manager who prefers having complte control over an operation (www.mindtool.com 24/06/12). Because the outcome is totally in his hands, tha manager does not experience stress of having to rely on help from outside his work area to complte the project or task. For this type, a leader having complete authority can actually result in reduced stress since he has complete control over his own fate.

In conclusion, I can say that the manager will be more effective by adopting either democratic or autocratic leadership style depending on the situation the organisation is in and the kind of employees. For example, in situations that are particularly stressful, such as during military conflicts, autocratic leadership can be the best because it allows members of the group to focus on performing specific tasks without worrying about making complex decisions (www.psychology.about.com/od/leade...... 05/07/12). This allows group members to become highly skilled at performing certain duties which can be beneficial to the group. While in situations where quality is more important than efficiency or productivity democratic style is the most effective for a manager to adopt.

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