Introduction
Every organization has its own management techniques that facilitate its smooth operation and the accomplishment of its set objectives. The management is responsible for running the day to day activities of the business. There are about four main functions carried out by the management of a given organization which include: leading, planning organizing and controlling. The SunTrust bank is an organization in the banking industry which like any other business, has a management team that carries out several functions to ensure a smooth running of the business. SunTrust Bank is a well managed organization that will continue to grow in the future.
Background of the SunTrust bank
SunTrust Bank that was founded in the year 1885 as a subsidiary of the SunTrust Bank Inc which is its American holding company. The company was initially founded in Atlanta. Today, the bank mostly serves the southeastern part of the United States of America. However, Atlanta has continued to be the company’s headquarters. SunTrust operates approximately 1,600 bank branches in different states. It also has approximately 2,900 ATMs across many Southern states (Bruce 2006). Sof the states that enjoy the banks services mainly include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Washington.
SunTrust Bank is a multinational corporation that provides financial services to several states in America. Some of the services that are provided by the company may include, mortgage banking, trust services, credit cards, insurance, equipment leasing, and securities dealing. The CEO of the company is known as William H. Rogers Jr.. The corporation is one of the successful businesses in the banking industry. In the year 2011, the company’s total net income was $728 Million.
Management functions
Planning
Planning is a crucial management function. Planning requires the company’s management to assess how the company is currently performing and, thereafter, set its goals and objectives (Luis et al 2008). The management team is also required to make decisions on what actions to take in order to attain the company's set goals and objectives. After the actions are determined they can be implemented to ensure that the business is working toward achieving set goals.
As SunTrust bank continues to grow, several client demands usually come up. The planning process is, therefore, a continuous process within the company. Due to such changes in the market, the company has been forced to adjust the strategies it had employed to accomplish certain goals. Strategic planning has been put in place to ensure that their customer needs are met.
The company has aims to provide quality finance services to its clients. In order to achieve this, the company had to plan on how to reach its clients easily. The company has managed to establish over 2000 branches and 2500 ATMs to serve a large number of clients. The company’s goal to reach their clients easily and to provide quality services has been made possible through the use of the company’s website. The company has set a goal to help students pay their college fees. Students can now apply for loans online from the company’s website.
Organizing
The management must organize all its resources to ensure that they are effectively and efficiently used (Richard, 2003). After the actions are determined in the planning level, the management can implement the course of action chosen. The management determines the internal organizational structure that will be used in the company and the resources that will be made available. The internal structure is usually different in various departments. The management coordinates staff by putting the right workforce to the right tasks. Management divides the work to be done, determines appropriate departments, and then delegates authority and responsibilities (Manfred, 2003).
SunTrust bank has a number of departments within the organization. These departments may include mortgage banking, trust services, credit cards, insurance, equipment leasing, and security dealings. In all the departments, there are managers who are in charge of all these departments. The subordinates in all the departments report to the respective managers in their department. The company is supposed to ensure that the people are aware of their duties and responsibilities. The employees are also made aware of the authorities above them the person they are supposed to report to. There are a number of levels in the hierarchy of the organization.
The hierarchy in the departments in the SunTrust bank (Bruce, 2006)
The well organized organization structure ensures that the clerk’s reports to the supervisors in case they encounter any problems during their work. The company’s supervisors report to department managers, while the department manager’s report to the branch manager and finally the branch manager can report to the company’s CEO.
Leadership
The role of a leader is directing. Through directing, the management will be able to influence and oversee the behavior of the employees to ensure that they are working towards achieving the company's goals (Manfred, 2003). A leader should also assist employees to accomplish their own career goals. The Leader should play a great role in ensuring that the employees are motivated and communication plays an important role in directing. A leader should be a person with good communication skills that enable them to communicate with the employees clearly, hence avoiding any misunderstanding which may slow down the business’ operations.
In the SunTrust bank Company, there are managers in each department to ensure that the employees can communicate to managers to in order to clarify anything about their tasks (Bruce, 2006). The human resource managers ensure that the employees are motivated to work. The employees are provided with good working environment. The managers should ensure that the office layout and arrangements are not congested to prevent the employees from carrying out their day to day activities effectively.
In order to create a good working environment, the has been the introduction of relationship managers in different SunTrust branches to ensure that people having relationship problems at the work place can be helped to solve their problems at the relationship manager’s office. People need to maintain good working relations in order to ensure the smooth running of the business. Cases like sexual harassment can be reported to the manager who will know how to deal with such a case.
Controlling
The controlling function mostly includes the methods for monitoring the performance of the organization. Controlling involves also establishing the performance of the company by comparing the company's set objectives, and the actual job performance (Juneja and Prachi, 2012).The controlling function ensures that problems causing poor performance in the company are addressed.
SunTrust bank sometimes experiences problems that may bring about business failure. For example, SunTrust bank was one of the major U.S. financial institutions to experience a stock value decline, to $9.06 per share in February 2009 from a high of $90.61 per share on May 22, 2007 (Bruce, 2006). This was a problem that needed to be controlled. Therefore, the company took part in the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. The problem was ultimately dealt with when they were investigated for executive compensation. Controlling of the problem helped the business to continue growing.
Conclusion
SunTrust bank is a well managed company that has continued to grow over the years. In order for a business to be considered successful, it must attain its set goals and objectives. The successful use of the managerial functions by the company’s management has enabled it to be successful. The use of such managerial functions includes planning how to achieve its set goals and objectives; secondly, the management is responsible for organizing its resources and determining how to carry out actions to achieve its set goals; thirdly the company’s management directs the way to achieve the set goal and objectives through leadership and finally the company’s management controls operations by ensuring that any problem that may arise is dealt with effectively.
References
Bruce, B. (2006). "SunTrust Banks (Trust Company Bank)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council.
Juneja J and Prachi J (2012). "Management." Management Study Guide. WebCraft Pvt Ltd,
Manfred, F. (2003).The Dark Side of Leadership - Business Strategy Review 14(3),
Luis R.; David B. and Robert L. (2008). Management: People, Performance, Change, 3rd edition. New York USA: McGraw-Hill.
Richard B. (2003) - Vocational Business: Training, Developing and Motivating People. Business & Economics.
