Functions of Management

   A disciplined person exhibits the self-control, dedication and orderly conduct consistent with successful performance of job responsibilities. This discipline may come through self-discipline, co-workers or the supervisor/employer. Self-discipline is best and most likely to come from well selected, trained, and motivated people who regularly have feedback on their performance.

   An employee not performing up to the agreed upon standards or not following the understood rules is object to punishment, i.e., disciplinary action. Punishing or disciplining employees falls among the least pleasant activities in human resource management. In the short-run, doing nothing or ignoring errant actions and behavior almost always comes easier than taking the needed action. Not disciplining when needed sends confusing messages to the errant employee, other employees and other managers in the farm business. If starting work at 6:30 a.m. rather than 6:00 a.m. draws no reaction from the employer, does this mean the starting time has been changed to 6:30?

   Several guidelines help to reduce the compounding of discipline problems with problems in disciplining. Both employers and employees need to know the rules and performance expectations. An employee handbook or other form of written statement provided each employee is basic. Rules should be uniformly enforced among all employees. If special rules apply to a certain employee, e.g., use of the pickup truck without asking permission, other employees need to be so informed. Punishment should be based on facts. All parties should be heard rather than depending on one person only for facts. Action should be taken promptly. «Saving up» a series of minor problems and infractions for a grand explosion is poor disciplinary practice. All discipline other than discharge should have the objective of helping the employee. Permit the employee to maintain self-respect by disciplining the employee's behavior or act. Do not berate the person.

   Keeping punishment consistent with the severity of an offense challenges all labor managers. Being thirty minutes tardy for work the fourth time in two weeks has to be handled differently from being thirty minutes tardy for the first time in two years. Theft of tools has to be handled differently than tardiness for work. Progressive discipline provides a formal structure within which errant employees can be handled. In progressive discipline, the severity of punishment increases in relation to the seriousness of the offense or the number of times an offense is repeated. Typical levels in progressive discipline are: informal talk and counseling, oral warning or reprimand, written warning, disciplinary layoff and discharge.

   Both employers and employees usually react negatively to the atmosphere of conflict and parent disciplining child inherent to progressive discipline. High priority placed on selection, training, informal communication and performance appraisal reduces the need for punishment of employees. Treating employees as adults, expecting them to rely on self-assessment for correcting problems and relying on informal counseling rather than formal reprimands provide an atmosphere of positive discipline.

V.   Controlling

   «Controlling is a four-step process of establishing performance standards based on the firm's objectives, measuring and reporting actual performance, comparing the two, and taking corrective or preventive action as necessary.

   Performance standards come from the planning function. No matter how difficult, standards should be established for every important task. Although the temptation may be great, lowering standards to what has been attained is not a solution to performance problems. On the other hand, a manager does need to lower standards when they are found to be unattainable due to resource limitations and factors external to the business.» [1]

   Corrective action is necessary when performance is below standards. If performance is anticipated to be below standards, preventive action must be taken to ensure that the problem does not recur. If performance is greater than or equal to standards, it is useful to reinforce behaviors that led to the acceptable performance.

1.      Characteristics of the Control Process

   The control process is cyclical which means it is never finished. Controlling leads to identification of new problems that in turn need to be addressed through establishment of performance standards, measuring performance etc.

   Employees often view controlling negatively. By its very nature, controlling often leads to management expecting employee behavior to change. No matter how positive the changes may be for the organization, employees may still view them negatively.

   Control is both anticipatory and retrospective. The process anticipates problems and takes preventive action. With corrective action, the process also follows up on problems.

   Ideally, each person in the business views control as his or her responsibility. The organizational culture should prevent a person walking away from a small, easily solvable problem because «that isn't my responsibility.» In customer driven businesses, each employee cares about each customer. In quality driven dairy farms, for example, each employee cares about the welfare of each animal and the wear and tear on each piece of equipment.

   Controlling is related to each of the other functions of management. Controlling builds on planning, organizing and leading.

2.      Management Control Strategies

   Managers can use one or a combination of three control strategies or styles: market, bureaucracy and clan. Each serves a different purpose. External forces make up market control. Without external forces to bring about needed control, managers can turn to internal bureaucratic or clan control. The first relies primarily on budgets and rules. The second relies on employees wanting to satisfy their social needs through feeling a valued part of the business.

    Self-control, sometimes called adhocracy control, is complementary to market, bureaucratic and clan control. By training and encouraging individuals to take initiative in addressing problems on their own, there can be a resulting sense of individual empowerment. This empowerment plays out as self-control. The self-control then benefits the organization and increases the sense of worth to the business in the individual.

   Effective control systems have the following characteristics:

1.       Control at all levels in the business

2.       Acceptability to those who will enforce decisions

3.       Flexibility

4.       Accuracy

5.       Timeliness

6.       Cost effectiveness

7.       Understandability

8.       Balance between objectivity and subjectivity

9.       Coordinated with planning, organizing and leading

   Managers expect people in an organization to change their behavior in response to control. However, employee resistance can easily make control efforts dysfunctional. The following behaviors demonstrate means by which the manager's control efforts can be frustrated:

1.       Game playing control is something to be beaten, a game between the «boss and me and I want to win».

2.       Resisting control a «blue flu» reaction to too much control

3.       Providing inaccurate information a lack of understanding of why the information is needed and important leading to «you want numbers, we will give you numbers».

4.       Following rules to the letter people following dumb and unprofitable rules in reaction to «do as I say».

5.       Sabotaging stealing, discrediting other workers, chasing customers away, gossiping about the firm to people in the community

6.       Playing one manager off against another exploiting lack of communication among managers, asking a second manager if don't like the answer from the first manager.

Conclusions

   Summing up the results of the conducted analysis the following conclusions can be made:

Management operates through various functions. To decide how much functions management have I compared some viewpoints of scientists. I think that management has only four functions:

       «Planning: deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next week, next month, next year, over the next 5 years, etc.) and generating plans for action.

       Organizing: (implementation) making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans.

       Directing: determining what needs to be done in a situation and getting people to do it.

       Controlling: monitoring, checking progress against plans, which may need modification based on feedback». [5]

   In addition, in the paper you can find general rules to improve communication, which is the part of directing, and organizing.

   As you can see competent performance of all management functions ensures an organization stability of development, high profitability and efficiency. Planning helps to work out strategy. Organizing is responsible for creation the structure of company. Directing makes people to follow strategy. Controlling checks running of the whole company.

Bibliography

1.       Bernard L. Erven (2003). The Five Functions of Management: The Foundation of ManagementExcel. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from: http://extension.osu.edu/~mgtexcel/Function.html

2.       Henri Fayol (1916). Model: Five functions of management. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from: http://www.provenmodels.com/3

3.       James Higgins, The Management Challenge, Second edition, Macmillan, 1994.

4.       Jayashree Pakhare (25.09.2007). Management Concepts - The Four Functions of Management. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management.html

5.       Unknown author (2009). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Management. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management#Basic_functions_of_management

1