PROCESS AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

A process is a series of actions that achieves goal-making a profit or providing a service. Management is best defined as a process of using organizational resources effectively and efficiently to achieve organizational goals through managerial functions. Thus, organization uses resources and carries out four major managerial functions - planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Management uses resources to accomplish organizational goals. The resources can be divided into four types: human, financial, physical, and informational. Human resources are the people needed to get the job done. Financial resources are the money of the organization uses to reach the goals. Physical resources are raw materials, office space, production facilities, office equipment, vehicles and tangible goods. Information resources are the data that the manager and the organization use to get the job done.
Four Managerial Functions

Just as the different management experts have defined management differently, they have classified the managerial functions differently. The main reason for this is that the different experts have discussed the management functions by studying different organizations and from different angles. Some of the important functions are described below:

(1) Planning

Planning id a basic managerial function. It is concerned with the determination of goals to be achieved and the course of action to be followed to achieve them. It is a decision in advance, what to do, when to do, how to do, and who will to do a particular task. Hence, planning is thinking before doing. It involves selecting of goals and strategies, policies, programs and procedures fir achieving them.

Managers at every level of management perform planning. It is a prerequisite of doing anything. Good planning is essential to ensure proper utilization of human and non-human resources to achieve the predetermined goals. It is based on the estimates of the future situation and the success of a plan, therefore lies in the manager's ability to forecast future situation correctly and accurately. Thus, forecasting is an inseparable part of planning.


(2) Organizing

Organizing may be defined as identifying and grouping the activities to be performed, assigning them among individuals and creating authority-responsibility relationship among them. It is the collection and integration of various factors required to achieve the planned goals. According to Fayol -''to organize a business is to provide it with everything useful to its functioning - raw materials, tools, capital, and personnel''. Thus, organizing involves bringing together the human and material resources for the achievement of organizational goals. It involves the following processes:

(a) Determining and defining the activities involved in achieving the objectives
laid down by the management;
(b) Grouping the activities in a logical pattern;
(c) Determining manpower requirements;
(d) Staffing is one of the major activities. which is sometimes classified
separate management function.
(e) Assigning the activities to specific positions and people;
(f) Delegating authority and fixing of responsibility for carrying out such assigned duties;
(g) Coordinating these activities and authority relations.

Organizing function helps in increasing efficiency and reduces the operation cost through avoiding repetition and duplication of activities.


(3) Leading

Leading refers to providing positive and dynamic leadership. Once objective/goals have been developed and the organizational structure has been designed and staffed, the next step is to begin to move towards the objectives. The leading function serves this purpose. Sometimes called directing or motivating, leading involves influencing members of the organization to perform in ways that accomplish the organization's objectives. Leading can be defined as the management function of directing, communicating, influencing, supervising, and motivating human resources towards the achievement of organizational goals.

While functions like planning and organizing, are merely preparations for doing work, the leading function actually starts the work. It initiates organized action. It has to do predominantly with the interpersonal aspect of managing. All managers would agree that their most important problems arise from people- their desires and attitudes, their behavior as individuals and in groups.

Effective leadership is highly prized ability in organization and is a skill that some managers have difficulty in developing. Outstanding leadership has the capacity to achieve organizational success in sprite of poor plans or poor organizations. On the contrary, the best plans or organizations will fail under poor leadership.


(4) Controlling

Controlling is related to all other management functions. It is the process of measuring and comparing operating results with the plans and taking corrective actions when results deviate from plans. It is checking that the plans are carried out as per expectations. Hence, it is essential for achieving organizational goals. Control system provides standards for monitoring and evaluating the use of resources. Controlling involves the following sub-functions:

a. Determination of standards for measuring works performance.
b. Measuring the actual performance.
c. Comparing actual performance with the standards.
d. Finding the variances and deviations between the two and reasons for them.
e. Taking corrective actions to ensure attainment of goals.

If planning is looking ahead, controlling is looking back. Hence, there is no control without plans ans plans without control means no achievement.

The functions of management - planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are universally applicable to all organizations. In short management involves (a) managing the organization, (b) managing the managers, and (c) managing the workers and the work.