An individual must understand the different functions of managers. If these are not carried out efficiently, the business will fail.

1. FUNCTIONS OF
MANAGEMENT
Prepared : by Coleen Hayles-SmithPrepared : by Coleen Hayles-Smith
Subject : Principles of BusinessSubject : Principles of Business
Class : 10TClass : 10T

2. What is Management?
According to Robinson and Hamil (2001), management is
the bringing together of all the resources, human and non-
human, in an effort to meet the goals of an organization.
Management involves the collective effort of all
managers working towards achieving the organization’s
goals.

3. Functions of Management
 Planning;
 Organizing;
 Staffing;
 Leading or Directing;
 Motivating;
 Controlling;
 Coordinating;
 Delegating;

4. Planning
Planning is the management function concerned
with defining goals for future organisational
performance and deciding on the tasks and
resources needed to attain them.
N.B. Lack of planning or poor planning will cause
the organization to be continually drifting.
Consequently, it will be unable to fulfil its
mission and this will inevitably lead to demise.

5. An example of planning
In setting up a football league in your community, the group of
community leaders may come together to state the form it
will take, when it will happen, who will be involved, decide
on the prizes and many other activities. At the end broad
statements would be made, such as:
The Spanish Town League will be a football league organized
to promote the development of football among the youths in
the Spanish Town District. This league aims to improve
community integration and develop the skills of the game.
This group is in fact planning the activity.

6. Organising
Organising involves:
 The bringing together of the factors of production namely:
land, labour, capital and enterprise.
 Designing a structure
 Assigning duties and responsibilities to departments,
 Determining the workflow
 Establishing schedules
 Providing the raw materials, the technology and the related
skills needed to accomplish the goals of the organization.
These activities must be properly coordinated.

7. Example
Having decided on the establishment of a football
league and having planned the goals of the
organization, the community leaders will
proceed to develop fixtures (schedule of
matches), decide where the games will be
played (land), identify the officials and players
needed (labour), decide on the prizes, draw up
the rules and procedures (enterprise) and
obtain the necessary equipment (capital).

8. Staffing
This function involves filling the vacancies
with the right people. It involves not only
the recruitment process but also the
subsequent development of persons
within the organization.

9. Example
In the league, persons may volunteer to fill
positions that require leadership skills,
which they do not possess. Training of
personnel becomes necessary and
eventually the leadership functions may
be shared.

10. Directing
This function is concerned with getting
people to perform assigned tasks willingly
and in an efficient and effective manner.

11. Motivating
This is the process by which workers are
influenced to take the right action to get
the task done. It inspires workers to give
of their best.

12. Example
In the league, motivation will be the prize of
incentives the team receives or it may be
the recognition or promotion to another
division. This stimulus spurs the team to
improved performance.

13. Controlling
This function involves monitoring
employees’ activities, determining
whether the organization is on target in
achieving its goals and making
corrections as necessary.

14. Example
In the game of football, fair play is
important, thus the referee’s role is to
ensure that the players observe the rules.
He uses rewards (free kicks) and
punishments (yellow cards) in order to
control the game.

15. Coordinating
This function involves making all the
resources in the business work together
efficiently. This avoids confusion and
duplication of activities between
departments.

16. Example
In the football league, the members will
specialise in different roles and all will
work together to plan matches. With
proper coordination, all the different
activities will be completed on time and
there will be no duplication.

17. Delegating
This function involves assigning work
activities to subordinates (employees who
take orders from manager or supervisor).
Delegation is important because
managers have more time for planning
and decision-making if they pass on
activities to employees. It also helps
employees to learn new things.

18. Example
The person who is in charge of the football
league should assign different activities to
other members. If the person in charge
tries to do everything, he or she will
become exhausted and will be unable to
perform his or her duties.

19. Any Questions?Any Questions?