St.

Mary's University
Introduction to Management (MgMt 2011)
Individual Assignment
Managerial Functions

Name: Natnael Getachew

Id: RMKD/0770/2012B
Section: A

Submitted to: Mr. Temesgen Girmay

Submitted on: Nov 1st, 2022
 The Five Managerial Functions
Management is the process of planning and organizing the resources and activities of a
business to achieve specific goals in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Efficiency
in management refers to the completion of tasks correctly and at minimal costs. Effectiveness in
management relates to the completion of tasks within specific timelines to yield tangible results.
Planning, organizing, staffing, motivation, directing coordination, and control are all the functions
of the management. Management is considered as an art as well as a science. Management is
goal-oriented. It fulfils the organizational goal through coordination of the efforts of the personal.

Planning
Planning is future-oriented and determines an organization’s direction. It is a rational and
systematic way of making decisions today that will affect the future of the company. It is a kind
of organized foresight as well as corrective hindsight. It involves predicting of the future as well
as attempting to control the events. It involves the ability to foresee the effects of current actions
in the long run in the future.
Planning is the continuous process of making present entrepreneurial decisions systematically
and with best possible knowledge of their futurity, organizing systematically the efforts needed to
carry out these decisions and measuring the results of these decisions against the expectations
through organized and systematic feedback
An effective planning program incorporates the effect of both external as well as internal factors.
The external factors are shortages of resources; both capital and material, general economic
trend as far as interest rates and inflation are concerned, dynamic technological advancements,
increased governmental regulation regarding community interests, unstable international
political environments, etc.
The internal factors that affect planning are limited growth opportunities due to saturation
requiring diversification, changing patterns of the workforce, more complex organizational
structures, and decentralization.

Organizing
Organizing requires a formal structure of authority and the direction and flow of such authority
through which work subdivisions are defined, arranged and coordinated so that each part
relates to the other part in a united and coherent manner so as to attain the prescribed
objectives. Organizing is the function of management which follows planning. It is a function in
which the synchronization and combination of human, physical and financial resources takes
place. All the three resources are important to get results. Therefore, organizational function
helps in achievement of results which in fact is important for the functioning of a concern.
According to Chester Barnard, “Organizing is a function by which the concern is able to define
the role positions, the jobs related and the co-ordination between authority and responsibility.
Hence, a manager always has to organize in order to get results.

It follows, therefore, that the function of organizing is concerned with:

 Identifying the tasks that must be performed and grouping them whenever
necessary
 Assigning these tasks to the personnel while defining their authority and
responsibility.
 Delegating this authority to these employees
 Establishing a relationship between authority and responsibility
 Coordinating these activities
A manager performs organizing function with the help of following steps:-
 Identification of activities 
 Departmentally organizing the activities
 Classifying the authority
 Co-ordination between authority and responsibility 
 Staffing
Staffing is the function of hiring and retaining a suitable work-force for the enterprise
both at managerial as well as non-managerial levels. It involves the process of recruiting,
training, developing, compensating and evaluating employees and maintaining this
workforce with proper incentives and motivations. Since the human element is the most
vital factor in the process of management, it is important to recruit the right personnel.

the managerial function of staffing involves manning the organization structure through
proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of the personnel’s to fill the
roles assigned to the employers/workforce.

Nature of Staffing Function

o staffing is an important managerial function
o Staffing is a pervasive activity
o Staffing is a continuous activity
o The basis of staffing function is efficient management of personnel’s
o Staffing helps in placing right men at the right job.
o Staffing is performed by all managers
Directing
DIRECTING is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee
the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be
the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance
if direction function does not take place.
Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be
consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance
to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those
activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and
efficiently. According to Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which
instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned”
Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing
people towards accomplishment of organizational goals.

Direction has got following characteristics:

 Pervasive Function - Directing is required at all levels of organization. Every manager

provides guidance and inspiration to his subordinates.
 Continuous Activity - Direction is a continuous activity as it continuous throughout the
life of organization.
 Human Factor - Directing function is related to subordinates and therefore it is related to
human factor. Since human factor is complex and behaviour is unpredictable, direction
function becomes important.
 Creative Activity - Direction function helps in converting plans into performance.
Without this function, people become inactive and physical resources are meaningless.
  Executive Function - Direction function is carried out by all managers and executives at
all levels throughout the working of an enterprise, a subordinate receives instructions
from his superior only.
 Delegate Function - Direction is supposed to be a function dealing with human beings.
Human behavior is unpredictable by nature and conditioning the people’s behavior
towards the goals of the enterprise is what the executive does in this function. Therefore,
it is termed as having delicacy in it to tackle human behavior.

Controlling

Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in conformities with the plans

adopted, instructions issued and principles established.

 Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient utilization of organizational

resources so as to achieve the planned goals. Controlling measures the deviation of
actual performance from the standard performance, discovers the causes of such
deviations and helps in taking corrective actions.

Features of Controlling Function

Following are the characteristics of controlling function of management-

1. Controlling is an end function- A function which comes once the performances are
made in confirmities with plans.
2. Controlling is a pervasive function- which means it is performed by managers at all
levels and in all type of concerns.
3. Controlling is forward looking- because effective control is not possible without past
being controlled. Controlling always look to future so that follow-up can be made
whenever required.
4. Controlling is a dynamic process- since controlling requires taking reviewal methods,
changes have to be made wherever possible.
5. Controlling is related with planning- Planning and Controlling are two inseperable
functions of management. Without planning, controlling is a meaningless exercise and
without controlling, planning is useless. Planning presupposes controlling and controlling
succeeds planning.