Abstract
Management is defined as the effective act of planning, organizing and making decisions in relation to the goals of the organization. The functions of management are diverse and it is up to the management team to make decisions and support the entire staff team in meeting the objectives of the organization. Managers are assigned the task of ensuring that all the operations of the organization are effectively and efficiently executed by the employees within the organization. The failure of organizations can be linked to the ineffectiveness of managers in accomplishing their obligations in relation to the welfare of the organization. The entire staff team of the organization relies on the actions of the top management team. This gives the implication that management is not as easy as task as some people perceive it to be. Advance knowledge and skills are required for managers to execute their tasks efficiently. These skills involve knowledge in the field of leadership strategies. Different leadership strategies will be effective in different organizational settings. This depends on the structure of the organization and also the ethics and values of the organization. Ethics is a crucial factor that plays an important role in structuring the functions of management. Ethics is crucial in aspects such as staffing, employee motivation, performance appraisal and reward management. All these aspects constitute the functions of management. With the numerous tasks that management is faced with, there are many setbacks concerning the matter as well. However, in most cases the challenges facing management are not highlighted. It is therefore the crucial task of managers to identify the challenges facing the functions of management and then identify the effective strategies to counter them.
Literature review
The limitation in previous research studies in relation to the functions of management is the lack of identifying the link between leadership and management. This is to imply that the research studies lack the identification of a specific leadership style for a specific form of management. There should a specific leadership style for a specific management strategy (Olson, 2009). This would ensure that managers are able to accomplish the objectives of the organization with ease. Theoretically, the bureaucratic style of leadership would be highly effective in performance management. Performance management includes aspects such as performance appraisal (Dhar, 2010). To conduct an effective performance appraisal scheme, managers have to give commands which the entire employee team should be obliged to follow. This therefore creates the implication that a specific style of leadership should be adopted for a particular management strategy.
Another limiting factor that is not highlighted in previous research studies in management functions is the aspect of gender in management. Women are not involved in higher management positions as a result of gender bias, gender stereotyping and gender discrimination towards women. Women are considered to be the weaker sex hence incapable of executing the tasks involved in the various functions of management. The notion that women should put twice as much effort to accomplish half of what men achieve is a misleading one. The aspect of gender mainstreaming should be considered when discussing the various functions of management. There are many misconceptions against women and management such as they are less competent. It should be noted that the difference between men and women is on the basis of physical and emotional nature. However, research has revealed that there is not much of a difference between men and women when it comes to intellectual capabilities. This gives the implication that women can execute the various tasks of management just as men can.
In deriving the functions of management, the issue of personality development for managers has not been clearly highlighted in previous research studies. Managers should try and have a personality that is correlated to the style of leadership and also in relation to the ethics of the organization. For instance, an outgoing personality is required in the management of an organization through the participative leadership style. A lot of training is required for such managers especially in aspects regarding communication skills and public relations (Ramasamy, 2010). This style of leadership would be effective because it would enhance the relationship between the managerial team and employees within the organization setting. The personality of managers is therefore seen to be of great relevance when it comes to establishing the functions of management.
Another crucial aspect that has not been highlighted by previous research studies when establishing the functions of management is the issue of organizational structure (Mundine, 2011). Organizational structure is an important aspect when it comes to leadership and strategic management for different organizations. An organizational structure which has a strong sense of protocol and bureaucracy would be effective managed through the authoritative style of leadership. This is where the chain of command is strictly adhered to by the management of the organization. This would enhance the activities of the organization and enable the employees adopt a strict bureaucratic culture. Organizational structure is of great significance when the organizations have to achieve the mission and vision of the organization.
The aspect of management information systems in achieving the functions of management has not been clearly derived in previous research studies. Information systems are important when it comes to achieving the functions of management. Most of the studies have neglected the aspect of distribution of information when executing different roles in management. Organizations should have a systematic flow of information and it is the obligation of managers to come up with strategies to enhance communication. Adopting effective management information systems is therefore one of the most important functions of management (Vijayakumar, 2009). The advance in the field of science and technology has come up with systems to support organizations in enhancing the flow of information. Decision support systems, abbreviated as DSS, are a good example of management information systems that can be highly effective in information management within organizations. It is the sole responsibility of management to locate the best management information systems to improve the operations of the organization.
Previous research studies have failed to integrate the benefits of integrating different management systems with the aim of increasing efficiency and accomplishing the functions of management to the fullest. There is a way through which management can integrate the different strategies in management to accomplish the goals of the organization. This therefore involves the aspect of comparing the different styles of management and maximizing on those that would be beneficial for the organization. This strategy would ensure that the functions of management are effectively executed. The different systems of management would also ensure that different styles of leadership are employed in enhancing the activities of the organizations.
Research problem
In relation to previous research studies on the functions of management, there are several issues identified. This issued sum up and constitute the research problem. The inability to balance gender on issues of management in deriving the functions of management is one of the identified problems. Gender issues are mostly seen to affect the feminine gender. The higher management positions are offered to men while competent and capable women are left out (Sanders, 2008). This issue should be addressed so as to counter organizational failure. Personality development for managers has also been omitted whereas it is of great significance in highlighting the functions of management. Managers should undergo personality development training as this would positively influence the functions of management (Kates, 2010). Managers should have personalities that match their positions and this can only be achieved through effective personality development training schedules for managers. This would have great positive impact to the accomplishing the functions of management at different managerial levels.
Organizational culture is an important aspect as it derives the ethics, values and norms of the organization. However, the issue of organizational culture has been rarely discussed by previous research studies when coming up with the different aspects of the functions of management. The culture of the organization is what determines the style of leadership and management that would be most effective in ensuring the organization meets its objectives in the long run (Christians, 2011). This problem should be addressed by future research studies as it would positively impact on the functions of management in different organizational settings. Communication is also an aspect that has not been highlighted by previous research studies on the functions of management. Effective communication within organizational setting can only be achieved through efficient management information systems. These systems would enhance the flow of information from top managerial positions to the employees at the lower management positions. There are specific management information systems to execute various functions of management (Stengel, 2011). The decision support system is one of the management systems that have been known to effectively enhance decision making within the organizational setting. Managers should be quick to adopt these systems as this would positively the functions of management.
Methodology
Methodology refers to the aspect of data collection, analysis and interpretation. This is one of the most important steps when conducting a particular research. Data collection enhances the achieving of the objectives of the research. The methodology involved in this research study would ensure that omitted sections in previous research studies are taken into consideration for any future research conducted. This is a very sensitive section for the welfare of any research study because it would ensure that the objectives of the research are clearly met. The data collection procedures adopted would have to be in such a way that they highly the major issues involved or the limitations involved in determining the functions of management. Sampling would be one of the techniques involved in the collection of data for the purpose of the research. There are many sampling methods that would have to be employed. Random sampling would not be very effective since the research is based on a specific issue which is the limitations or the omitted facts in deriving the functions of management. Stratified sampling technique would be effective in the collection of data. This sampling technique would focus on specific sources of information.
The methodology section would also include the analysis of data which would come after data collection. Data analysis can be defined as the process by which the experimenter inspects and cleans the data so that what they remain with is relevant to the study. It is also a way of representing the information that is gathered from the respondents either in numerical form or expressions. The former form of representing data in numerical form is known as descriptive way, while the latter is inferential. This study shall employ the qualitative method of data analysis where the information shall be represented through expression. The analysis of data is crucial because it tries the viability of the collected data before being compiled to form sensible information.
The methodology section in reference to sampling and collection would have to rely on some ethical consideration. The ethical considerations that would have to be taken into account would involve the aspect of respecting the works of previous researchers onto the topic. This would be by avoiding any form of plagiarism and encouraging originality into the new research being conducted. Criticism is also an aspect that would have to be avoided if this research would have to focus on being ethical. If criticism is to be established, then it would be advisable for the researcher to do it from a positive perspective. This would be by a form of correcting the mistakes and the omissions made in a friendly manner.
Conclusion
Different organizations have different structures of management. The different structures of management enable the organizations achieve both their short term and long term objectives. The limitations of different organizational structures should be established and the necessary steps towards countering them should be established. The different aspects of management such as risk management, financial management and change management should be closely analyzed and assessed to enhance effectiveness. It is crucial that managers should identify the entire dysfunctions of management so as not to negatively impact on the welfare of the organization. These dysfunctions should be identified in the shortest span of time possible so as to positively influence the operations of the organization. A crucial dysfunction that has to be highlighted is the aspect of gender equality. Research on the functions of management in different organizations reveals that the top management positions are reserved for the masculine. This therefore creates the impression that decisions in such organizations may at some time be based on bias in reference to gender. This is where the issue of gender mainstreaming in management should be focused on. This is the strategic planning, decision making and organizing of the resources within the organization in relation to the roles and responsibilities of men and women. The main objective of gender mainstreaming is to achieve equality in the management setting in relation to the roles assigned to men and women.
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