FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

The management performs various functions in management of an organization before we proceed to defining the functions of the management, we should first know about what are the objectives which an organization seeks to fulfill

OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT

The management of the organization and its various activities are done to achieve certain predetermined targets following are the examples of such targets.

·                  Efficiency: - The management objective can be to increase efficiency by improving productivity by maximizing output with the same amount of inputs.

·                  Optimization of Resource Utilization: - management may set a target to reduce wastage of time, money, and efforts etc so as to optimize the resource utilization.

·                  Higher level of customer Satisfaction: - The objective can be to know the voice of customer and develop safe, secure and economical products which can generate a higher level of satisfaction.

·                  Better Workforce. Management tries to build a team of efficient workers
who are happy and satisfied with the organization. They are cooperative and contribute to the goals of the organization.

·                  Wealth Creation for the stakeholders:-  Management may set the objective to create wealth for the stakeholders like shareholder, financers, employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, society & c .

·                  Quality Assurance and enhancement: -   the objectives can be to establish and implement quality management system to improvise various processes and products of the organization to bring better products in the market which can delight the customer.

·                  Corporate Social Responsible: - the objective could be to justify its presence in the market place, society, nation and customer to be a socially responsible entity of the society at large.

Relations with Suppliers. Management attempts to achieve good relations or partnering with the suppliers of raw materials and finance so as to continue in production throughout the year.

Achieving the triple bottom: - Management may have the objective to achieve the economical, social and environmental targets, set by them. Also known as triple bottom approach.

·                  Better Working Conditions. Management seeks to ensure better quality of work life for its employees by implementing various systems like fair wages for the work, security of employment, proper working conditions and better life for the workers. Management raises the standard of life of the workers.

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS

Based on the studies and researches of various management scholars we can define the functions of management as follows

Planning

Planning is a fundamental process to ascertain and define the objectives of the organization, the goals that have to be achieved for the fulfillment of the objective, planning involves deciding in advance what to do, when to do, where to do, how to do, who will do. Planning provide the base for the functioning of all the activities in the organization.

Organizing

Organizing is process to plan and arrange organization’s resources like materials, infrastructure and technology, human resource, finance in such a way that organizational objectives can be achieved in the minimum effort. It involves division of work, authority and responsibilities among departments, individual and groups defined in terms of organizational structure. Organizing also define the formal channels of communications and interdependencies among the different parts of organization required for coordination and work accomplishment.

Staffing

Staffing is a process to employ right kind of person at all the designation defined by the organization in right numbers, staffing involves to forecast the human resource requirements for the organization, to recruit, select and place the individuals on the job and also perform the administrative decision like performance appraisal, promotion and transfer etc. Today staffing also include human resource development & training, career planning & C.

Directing

The process of supervising, guiding and eliminating barriers to performance of the subordinates is directing, employees direction is that aspect of management which deals with initiating the work, monitoring the activities to evaluate whether the activities are done according to the plan or not, in case there is a mismatch between the actual and the plan the manager has to find out the causes and rectify it by influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction has following elements

·     Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of watching & directing work & workers.

·     Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.

·     Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of subordinates in desired direction.

·     Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to another. It is a bridge of understanding.

Controlling

Controlling means measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the plans and standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, “Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”. Therefore controlling has following steps:

a.    Establishment of standard performance:- defining a parameter on which the performance of a task will be evaluated.

b.    Measurement of actual performance. To monitor and record the actual performance.

c.    Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. Analyzing the gaps to find out corrective actions

d.    Corrective action. To implement counter measures to bring the process towards goal accomplishment.

MANAGERIAL SKILLS

For performing the management functions a manager should have certain skill set with time the skill set required by a manager is evolving, managerial skill means the personal ability put to use by a manager for the accomplishment of organizational goals. The job of a modern manager has become very complex.

We can enlist the various skills required by a manager are

Planning skills: - planning skills is the skill required by the manger to plan things this include ability of future thinking, prediction and forecasting, making decisions with the perspective to analyze various situations and back up plans, ability to implement things and follow them so as to realize the predetermined goals.

Organizing Skills:- includes the ability to specify and divide work among team, ability to use the competencies of the people working under him, maintain the harmony of relationship flow of communication, handling and resolving conflict.

Leadership:- Ability to lead people from front,  to inspire and guide, ability to assess the situation and guide the team. Ability to motivate the members, to achieve their targets. Ability to inculcate decision making habits in the subordinate and solve their problems. 

Decision Making:- this include the ability to identify and formulate different alternatives available, to prioritize which decisions are more important, to be able to make right choices, not to avoid delaying or implementing decisions, to make timely decisions and follow its implementation.

Controlling skills:- ability to implement effective monitoring mechanism on the various processes, to take corrective actions without hurting the moral of the team and encourage planned execution of the  tasks.

Technical skills:- ability to use the tools, procedures, or techniques of a specialized field, technical skills are required to perform the task effectively, the technical skills are more critical for the lower management as they have to directly supervise and guide the work progressing on the floor. The first line supervisor in a manufacturing firm needs greater knowledge about the technical aspects of the job compared to his top boss. In a small manufacturing organization, even the top boss who owns the company needs to have a lot of technical skills. However, in big organizations, technical skills are more important at the lower levels.

Human skills:- the ability to work with people, understand their competencies to utilize them, ability to understand the weaknesses and help them eliminate it, to harmonize interpersonal relationships and motivate them to work in team spirit.

It also includes the ability to understand the personal problems of the employees and guide or counsel them as personal life can also be the reason of failing performance. This also includes the ability to negotiate, resolve conflict and motivate people to realize their potential.

Conceptual skills:- Conceptual skill means the ability to see the organization as a whole and it includes recognizing how the various functions of the organization depend on one another. It also makes the individual aware how changes in one part of the organization affect the others. It extends to visualizing the relationship of the individual business to the industry, the community and the political, social and economic forces of the nation as a whole. Thus, the manager gains insight into improving the overall effectiveness of the organization

Analytical Skills

These refer to abilities to proceed in a logical, step-by-step and systematic manner, to examine the various aspects of specific issues and to understand complex characteristics of a phenomenon. It is also the ability to break down a problem into its components and to 'clinically' examine its dimensions. Analytical skills are needed for problem solving and decision making, to evaluate performance, and to manage complex situations.

Administrative Skills

These centre around ability to act in a pragmatic manner, get things done by implementing decisions and plans, to mobilize and organize resources and efforts, to co-ordinate diverse activities and to regulate organizational events in an orderly manner.