Four Functions of Management

      Four Functions of Management
                        Lakari Fleshman
                        Intro to Business
                  Unit 4 Individual Project

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      Management is an essential part of any business. All functions of business management and
administration are interrelated; one function cannot be performed effectively without ensuring the execution of the other.   The four functions that form the foundation of a good organizationinclude planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All these functions have to be
balanced well by a manager in order to ensure productivity and to attain the goals that have been
charted by the organization.

    As the control process is never finished it often leads to identifying new problems. Employees
tend to view the control negatively, controlling more times than not leads to the management
expecting employee behavior to change. Although changes may be positive for the company,
employees may still react negatively. The control process anticipates problems and takes
preventive action. With corrective action the process also follows up on problems. Managers
have three control strategies they may use individually or in a combination of the three: market,
bureaucracy, and clan. External forces make up market control. Without external factors
managers can turn to internal bureaucratic or clan control. Internal bureaucratic control relies on
budgets and rules while clan control relies on employees wanting to satisfy their social needs
through feeling valued as a part of the business. An effective control system has some of the
following characteristics; flexibility, accuracy, timeliness, cost effectiveness, and
understandability. All control systems, no matter how effective, may become dysfunctional with
employee resistance. Such resistance includes game...