The four functions of management are referred to as the management process.
These functions include planning, organizing, leading and controlling. It is vital for an organization manager to implement these functions to ensure the success of the company. The functions of management is described, according to (Dessler, 2003) as follows :.
• Planning. Planning is setting goals and deciding on courses of action, developing rules and procedures, developing plans (both for the organization and those who work in it), and forecasting (predicting or projecting what the future holds for the firm).
• Organizing. Organizing is identifying Jobs to be done, hiring people to do them, establishing departments, delegating or pushing authority down to subordinates, establishing a chain of command (in other words, channels of authority and communications), and coordinating the work of subordinates.
• Leading. Leading means influencing other people to get the job done, maintaining morale, molding company culture, and managing conflict and communications.
• Controlling. Controlling is setting the standard (such as sales quotas or quality standards), comparing actual performance with these standards, and then taking corrective actions as required. .
An elaboration of my experience as a part-time laboratory assistant can serve as an example of the management process.
During the period between 1981 to 1984 I was employed as a laboratory assistant in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota in the laboratory of Professor Clare K. Woodward. The area of research at that time was protein chemistry and NMR spectroscopy. In addition to myself there were five postgraduates and two senior scientists. There were also undergraduate and graduate students who worked as lab assistants in the same lab but for only a semester after completing a project.
