Management Essay Example for Free

Management Essay The management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling Management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resources. The success of an organization is determined by four essential functions of management: controlling, leading, organizing, and planning. Controlling involves directing and monitoring the progress of employees. Controlling employees and the work environment helps employees to stay focused on goals set by the management. Management must provide superior leadership skills by making their presence known in the work environment. Employees have a basic need of having contact on a daily basis with management. By leading managers motivate their employees and increase efficiency. Management makes an organization successful by organizing all aspects of business which would include business functions; creating organizational charts, setting goals, creating an action plan, and figuring out the logistics to make sure goals are achieved. Management must use the function of control to stabilize employee performance and the work environment. Control is always viewed as a negative term because employees think of being restricted. However, controls are placed for the benefit of everyone, without a controlled organization there would be chaos. Within my organization, management maintains control by setting clear guidelines each employee must obey. Managers expect people in an organization to change their behavior in response to control (Erven, 1994). Since my colleagues and I work as independent contractors everyone has the power to choose their own schedule. Management controls the environment by making everyone adhere to the set schedule by 75% or better. When contractors meet their commitment, they are rewarded with a pay incentive. Prior to this policy being enforced, performance was lower, since this control has been in place performance has increased dramatically. Leading Management is expected exercise the function of leading in order for the organization to meet their goals. Leading is an essential function of management because it helps management direct employees to focus on the big picture. Typically management will focus on increasing productivity to improve cost efficiency. In order to improve productivity, employees need direction and motivation from management. At my organization, employees are paid based on commission. Management provides employees with information about busier working hours so that employees have the opportunity to maximize their efforts on those hours. At the end of the day, management wants the needs of the customers to be met as well as employees to be satisfied with their compensation. Organizing Organizing is a critical component of good management, because everything within the organization is depending on the organizational skills of the management. Management is primarily responsible for organizing resources in order for goals to be met (Bateman Snell, 2007). Within the organization, management must create an organizational chart which would describe the business function and responsibility of each person on that chart. Management would assume responsibility for all logistics to be in place to assist their employees of meeting their goals. In my organization, a critical component of organizing involves having all of the necessary technology functioning properly since business is conducted by phone and internet. On a daily basis the management has to make sure the phone routing system is functioning properly as well as their websites. Occasionally technical problems occur, and they must be handled immediately or else business will suffer if the necessary technology is not available. Planning Planning is essential component to the other three functions of management running smoothly. Planning involves the management team identifying goals and objectives within the organization. Once goals are mapped out, management must work together to analyze the current state of the organization and make a plan of action to implement immediate changes. In order to plan successfully, management must anticipate circumstances they could be affected by. Based on goals, objectives, and their forecast into the future they can begin to create business strategies. The management in my organization focuses on increasing the volume of customers. When the volume of customers drops, promotions occur more often to lure customers in. In order to prepare for unthinkable situations such as a drop in business management must work within other departments to develop contingency plans when business is not going as planned. The roles and responsibilities managers have within an organization. There are managers in every profession – it is not a standalone field. For those of us who become managers, we reach a stage in our career progression where we apply for roles which have management responsibilities. We then need to build our managerial experience and gain the knowledge and skills to enable us to carry out the role effectively. As a manager, there are many responsibilities must follow. Managers take on an essential responsibility for communication. Particularly with the pace of change, it ismore important than ever to keep employees informed of what’s going on. In performing the informational role, managers are essentially two-way information conduits. Managers must keep employees informed of all things that affect their work and provide information to their organisation (and, often, outside their organisation) about what the team is doing. To undertake PDRs with staff. Through the PDR process, to engage in the setting of objectives in order to assist in the monitoring of performance and the development of the individual. To assess the training and development needs of staff to ensure that they are adequately supported in relation to their work responsibilities. Managers are also required to ensure that staff have completed the relevant mandatory training for their role. To ensure appropriate management systems and procedures are in place to meet your health and safety duties. You will find your responsibilities contained in the University’s Health and Safety policy. You are required to ensure appropriate risk assessments are carried out in respect of significant hazards and safety inspections. To apply the University’s Equal Opportunities Policy. Line managers are responsible for maintaining a working environment that is free of discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying. In applying the Universities Equal Opportunities Policy and associated training, line managers have an important role in ensuring that no person associated with MMU receives less favorable treatment on the grounds of: gender, race or ethnic origin, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, social background or for any other identifiable discriminatory cause. There will be other responsibilities for you dependent on your managerial level within the University. You should speak to your own manager if you need to clarify any of these.