Management for Organizations (Essay Sample)

Management for Organizations
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
For every manager there is the ultimate challenge of making sure that the organization that they are managing achieves its main goals and objectives. Along with the goals, the managers have to make sure that they solve all the problems that arise along the processes of management as well as making sure that the utmost creativity is derived from the employees and the same are motivated at all times. This means that, the managers are responsible for creating an enabling environment where the employees are empowered and motivated to work at their optimal levels (Flat World Knowledge, 2015). For the managers they have to coordinate all the staffs’ efforts and manipulate all the available resources to achieve the desired objectives and goals, with absolute efficiency and effectiveness. These calls for the management functions, which are a set of processes which when implemented, assist the managers to cite their goals and achieve them with strategic guidance.
Over the years scholars have developed a number of functions of management to guide the managers. Koontz and O’Donnell are some of the pioneers of the management functions, who suggested the four functions, that is; planning, organizing, actuating and then controlling. After several redefinitions of these functions they came up with five functions, which are now widely used. These functions entail; planning, organizing, staffing, directing/leading and controlling. In a previous marketing company where I worked, most of these functions were quite elaborate at various levels (Acquaah, 2015).
Planning
This is a function that can be said to start off the cycle of the rest of the functions of management. Managers have to make sure that they plan ahead of every financial year, for the targets that have to be achieved by every other staff and the entire departments at the firm. At the Walsh Marketing Company, there were a lot of discernable processes that pointed to the planning processes that went into the operations of the firm and the goals (Flat World Knowledge, 2015). Every January, May, September and December there were meetings at the departmental levels to review the progress on the quarterly reports.
Where there were challenges in achieving the various goals that had been set out in the previous quarter, new effective solutions would be discussed for implementation to expedite the targets set out in the objectives of the firm. The implementation processes were quite flexible as it involved the various levels of management and leaders within the firm. As such the planning function of management at the firm was quite elaborate and successful at making sure that operations are smooth and attuned to achieving the firm’s goals and objectives, as well as those of the clients. This ensured that the firm linked where it was with where it wanted to be at any given time span (Managementstudyguide.com, 2015).
Organizing
This is one of the fundamental functions that ensure all the goals and the plans that have gone into a given project are achieved and linked to the latter stages. It is this function that brings together all the human resources, financial and physical to form a productive relationship towards the achievement of the firm’s and the clients’ goals. In conjunction with the firm’s structure, these resources enhance the process of achieving the goals of the firm and those of the clients (Managementstudyguide.com, 2015). Ideally the aspects of organizing at the Walsh Company, the organizing function involved identification of the activities, grouping them, assigning duties, delegation and coordination of the various staffs and their responsibilities. One of the main challenges that the firm faced however, is that it did not have sufficient capital to carry out most of the targets to fruition. This meant that most of the time, the firm did not have enough resources to carry out most of the projects and they had to outsource from other companies (Acquaah, 2015). This was especially the case where the company took up capital intensive projects.
At the same time the company did not have enough staffs relative to the size of the company, as such most of the staffs were overworked. This also led to outsourcing to ensure that the projects do not fall behind schedule and the quality to the clients is guaranteed. With the limited capital and a slim organization structure relative to the small workforce, the management had to make sure that the responsibilities and the duties of the various employees were strategically defined (Flat World Knowledge, 2015). This means that relative to the tasks at hand and their proprieties, the staffs would be assigned tasks that would enhance the quality of the projects targets within the timelines stipulated. Other than having a specific organization structure, the firm also job designs for every position within the firm to ensure that every staff had an integral part to play (Roberts, 2015).
Staffing
Over the years the subject of staffing has gained relative importance and most firms are keen to make sure that they do it right. This has also come at the height of human behavior complexity, business expansion, cultural intelligence and technological advances among others. At Walsh Marketing, the human resource management department was very keen on the skills of the employees and their ability to achieve the firm’s goals and the objectives. As such, getting employment at the firm was one of the toughest endeavors as one had to illustrate their skills in the current market rather than just general competence and their academic qualifications (Acquaah, 2015). The human resources department strived to ensure that all the staffs were matched with the right duties in reference to their abilities. This also applied to the challenges that the staffs were subjected to. Of all the functions of management, the staffing entity was the best implemented.
Although there were not enough staffs to handle all the projects, the effort to cover the relevant responsibilities for every projects were more than satisfactory, which would explain why most of the clients developed royalty to the firm. They were sure they would not be disappointed regardless of the firm’s relative size. The quarterly planning meetings were also used as a ground to establish the needs of the staff relative to training, remuneration, performance, appraisal, transfers and promotions within the various departments. As such the staffs were assured of training to sharpen their skills relative to the huge workload and improved remuneration relative to their performance. This meant that the staffs all ha a chance to achieve their goals relative to those of the firm (Roberts, 2015).
Directing/Leading
Every manager is faced with the challenge of influencing the workforce to follow and maintain high standards in their responsibilities and duties. This means that the mangers have to strive to understand the values, emotions, attitudes and the personalities of the various subordinates. This way they able to develop and integrate strategies relative to achieving the firm’s objectives with close reference to the attributes of the workforce they have (Acquaah, 2015). This is the function of management that sets the rest of the functions in motion, making it quite crucial. At the Walsh marketing company, the directing function was guided by some four elements namely; motivation, leadership, communication and supervision. All this were tied to the fact that human resources, capital and the physical resources had to be managed within a productive relationship to yield results. Every department was organized into groups to enhance team work. Every individual had a part to play in the group with individual responsibilities that culminated to collective group responsibilities (Managementstudyguide.com, 2015).
There were gr...