AME 411-INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEVELOPMENT
P.U.M.R.RAO, DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGG, BEC, BAPATLA

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT:

1. Forecasting:
Forecasting is a pre-requisite to planning. It determines estimate of future
requirement of the business in regard to products and quantities for sale,
materials, manpower, machines capacity for production or any other aspect
of business activities.
Forecast are of two types i) short term forecast and ii) Long-term forecast.
Forecast covering periods less than one year ahead are called short term
forecasts and forecasts covering periods over 1 year to 15 years(beyond 15
years future is assumed to be uncertain) are termed as long term forecasts.
Short term forecasts are made for the purpose of materials control, loading
and scheduling, and budgeting while long term forecasts are made for
product diversification, sales and advertising, budgeting, financial planning
and investment planning.

2. Planning:
Planning is determining (identifying and listing) activities to be performed in
future in order to achieve desired goals. Planning, therefore, is forward
looking. Planning is important because
1. It is done ahead of the job and therefore considered key activity for
achieving goals
2. It involves making decisions today which will affect future
3. It provides the basis for other steps of the management process-
organising, directing and controlling
4. It gives overall idea of the work that is to be done, in advance so that
we don’t forget anything and run at the last minute.
5. Planning develops manager’s capacity to visualize and help foresee
problems before they occur.
Planning involves three steps:
1. Listing of all the activities that need to be performed
2. Arranging activities in the sequence in which they need to be
performed
3. Incorporating flexibility to meet contingencies
Planning embraces every activity (function) of management. In the absence
of planning, there will be confusion, haphazard working and wastage of
resources.

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AME 411-INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
P.U.M.R.RAO, DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGG, BEC, BAPATLA

3. Organizing:
Organizing is the next phase to planning. Planning establishes objectives
and draws a plan of the activities and organizing puts the plan into
action.Organising is
1. Identification and classification of various activities necessary for
Achievement of objectives (task identification)
2. Separation and grouping of activities(formation of departments)
3. Assigning people to those activities and providing physical factors of
environment (resource allocation)
4. Delegation of authority to each individual charged with execution of
each respective activity (delegation of authority)
5. Fixation of horizontal and vertical relationships between various
positions
Organising facilitates smooth functioning of the organization, greater co-
ordination of work performed by different subordinates, and effective
channels of communication. Good organizing results in greater utilization of
resources, clarity of responsibility and authority, reduced inter and intra
departmental problems, effective decision making, and horizontal and
vertical co-ordination of authority and information relationships.

4. Directing:
Directing is the process by which actual performance of the subordinates is
guided towards attainment of the goals of the organization.
 Directing involves
 Guiding and helping subordinates in performing the job
 Giving instructions to the subordinates to do a job
 Supervising subordinates to ensure that job is carried out as per
established plan
 Motivating them (subordinates) for better performance
Directing involves following four functions
1. Leadership
2. Communication
3. Motivation
4. Supervision

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AME 411-INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
P.U.M.R.RAO, DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGG, BEC, BAPATLA

1. Leadership
Influencing subordinates and gaining their confidence and trust is critical for
every manager. Subordinates must accept their bosses as leaders and latter
must possess leadership qualities.

2. Communication
Managers need to give instructions and guide subordinates. Instructions to
subordinates may be oral or written, but they must be clear and precise.
Communication, therefore, therefore, plays an important role in getting
things done through people.

3. Motivation
Motivation is inspiring people for better performance. Since, different
people have different needs, every manager must carefully study the
employees’ needs and make sincere efforts to satisfy them by providing
monetary and non-monetary rewards. Motivation, therefore, is important for
directing subordinates.

4. Supervision
Supervision and directing are not separatable since a manager must
supervise his subordinates to see that work is performed according to laid
down plan

5. Staffing:
Management is getting things done through other people and as such
staffing-the process of selecting, training, developing and placing of
qualified people in the various jobs- is another important function of
management. Staffing is a continuous process as people are required to fill
newly created positions due to expansion of activity and to fill vacated
positions on account of separation (resignations, death, termination,
dismissal etc) of employees

6. Co-ordination:
Co-ordination is integrating or synchronizing the work performed by various
individuals for attainment of company’s objectives. Co-ordination, like
communication, is required at every stage of the management process. The
problems as well as importance of co-ordination increases with size of the
organization. Co-ordination improves communication between different
departments (sales, production, administration, finance etc) increases

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AME 411-INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
P.U.M.R.RAO, DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGG, BEC, BAPATLA

productivity and morale while lack of co-ordination between different

departments can cause irreparable damage to the organization. Effective co-
ordination involves
 Setting procedures and systems that co-ordinate the activities (e.g.
production meetings, or review meetings)
 Reviewing jointly status of the activities with the departments
involved
 Regulating communications to convey decisions taken at the review
meetings wherever required.
Success of co-ordination depends on effectiveness of administrative controls
(procedures and systems in the organization), dynamism of the leadership,
and quality of informal relationships within the organization.

7. Controlling:
Controlling is the process of measuring current performance and taking
action (if required) to ensure that pre-determined goals are accomplished.
Controlling involves
 Setting performance standards
 Measuring actual performance
 Comparing actual performance against pre-set standards
 Identifying gaps in performances (actual and standard
performance)
 Initiating corrective and preventing actions.
Planning and controlling are closely related. The objectives set in planning
process provide the basis for controlling. And findings of controlling help
future planning.
Controlling is a continuous process which monitors progress of the activities
on continuous basis and initiates corrective action when performance is not
in conformity with the pre-determined plan.

8. Decision making:
Decision making is selecting the best course of action among the available
alternatives. Decision making is required in every step of management i.e.
planning, organizing, directing and controlling.
Decision making entails identifying the problem, finding out the different
possible solutions, selecting the best course of action and implementing the
selected alternative.