Management Functions

Management Functions

Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization’s human,

financial, and material resources to increase its effectiveness.

In planning, managers establish their organization’s strategy, in other words, how best to allocate and use

resources to achieve organizational goals. Much uncertainty and risk surround the decisions of managers
during planning, and an understanding of organizational behavior can improve the quality of decision making,
increase success, and lower risk.

In organizing, managers establish a structure of relationships that dictate how members of an organization

work together to achieve organizational goals. Organizing involves grouping workers into departments,
groups, and teams based on the tasks they perform. Organizational behavior offers guidelines on how to
organize employees to make the best use of their capabilities and enhance communication and coordination.
When leading, managers encourage workers to do a good job and coordinate individual and groups so that all
organizational members are working toward organizational goals. The study of different leadership methods

and how to match leadership styles to the characteristics of the organization is a major concern of
organizational behavior.

When controlling, managers monitor and evaluate individual, group, and organizational performance to see

whether organizational goals are being achieved. Knowledge of organizational behavior allows managers to
understand and accurately diagnose work situations and pinpoint the need for corrective action or strive to
maintain and improve performance. Several processes at the individual or group levels (e.g., personality
conflicts, poor job design) may cause poor performance.
Managers perform their four functions by assuming a number of roles in organizations. A role is a set of
behaviors or tasks a person is expected to perform because of the position she or he holds in a group or
organization.