Business 101: Principles of Management

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The business environment and the forces that push against it are something every manager must deal with and learn to work with. In this lesson, we will detail the four key functions of management and review how different forces present in the business environment impact these four key funtions

Four Key Functions

Managers have to deal with multiple different forces that pull and push their businesses and companies in any number of directions. In many ways, it's like working in an obstacle course. There are obstacles you have to deal with, new things that you might not have ever seen before and challenges that will come up that will test your abilities. Managers as a whole focus on four key functions:

• Plan: Have a specific outline of the steps they will take to be successful or have their department of company be successful.
• Control: Be able to keep all the pieces and parts of the plan moving together.
• Organize: Get all the people and equipment together to support the plan.
• Lead: Show vision and enthusiasm to reach the goal of the plan.

They have obstacles, if you will, that arise while they are focusing on these areas.

Technology

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, and it represents potentially the fastest-moving force on the four functions of management - and it encompasses all forms of technology (communication, manufacturing, marketing, etc.). Technology is moving at an incredibly fast pace, and that forces managers to adjust how they plan, organize, lead and control. Primarily, technology allows a manager to have access to more data and to communicate that data faster and to more people. Thus, they have to be able to work with technology, understand how to use it as a manager and disseminate that information to their employees.

Innovation

For any manager to be able to truly utilize the four main functions, they have to be able to accept innovation and indeed be innovative themselves. Innovation, which is the introduction of new ideas, impacts managers constantly. Just think of the huge changes the Internet posed to managers. Simple things, such as email or text messaging, changed how they managed their employees and communicated with them. Simple innovations such as these changed the landscape they worked in, and they had to be able to integrate this innovation into their management functions.

Globalization and Diversity

The world, in a word, is shrinking. Influences of different cultures are being felt in all countries via globalization. Globalization is the integration of cultures throughout the world and can be as simple as McDonalds opening a store in Saudi Arabia (bringing the taste of the U.S. to the Middle East, if you will) or as complicated as a mosque opening in a small suburban town. These examples bring a different culture to the location and thus a different perspective on the world. So, as a manager works through the basic functions of management, they have to understand that culturally the world around them is changing, and they need to embrace this diversity.

You see, when cultures mix we are experiencing diversity, or an environment made up of many different cultures and viewpoints. Now, a manager could be managing people from India, Mexico and Germany all in the same office. Thus, planning their work, organizing it, leading it and controlling it will make the manager change his or her approach. They cannot, for example, lead a person from Mexico the same way they would someone from India. These cultures have different ways of working, and a manager must adjust his or her methods to manage those diverse cultures.

Ethics

Regardless of all the aspects we've discussed so far, a manager must use ethics when working within the functions of management. All the aspects - planning, organizing, leading and controlling - do not have much worth if they are not deployed ethically. Ethics, while easier to explain than define, is moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. In some cases a manager could lose his or her respect and authority if they are viewed as managing without ethics. In its simplest form, can a manager rally lead people if they are not ethical? If it is not present, then the facets of management will most certainly suffer.

Lesson Summary

The basic functions of management have not changed for years and years.

• Plan: Have a specific outline of the steps they will take to be successful or have their department of company be successful.
• Control: Be able to keep all the pieces and parts of the plan moving together.
• Organize: Get all the people and equipment together to support the plan.
• Lead: Show vision and enthusiasm to reach the goal of the plan.

What is changing are the forces that impact on these functions:

• Technology: Represents the fastest-moving force on the four functions of management, and it encompasses all forms of technology (communication, manufacturing, marketing, etc.).
• Innovation: The introduction of new ideas.
• Globalization: The integration of cultures throughout the world.
• Diversity: An environment made up of many different cultures and viewpoints.
• Ethics: The moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.

Thus, while the functions of management might not change, the forces that impact them will. So if you are to manage, you must be a chameleon and adjust to these forces that will force you to change how you deploy the functions of management.