The Four Functions Of ManagementEssay Preview: The Four Functions Of ManagementReport this essayThe Four Functionsof ManagementManagement is the utilization of organizational resources, combined with people working together to achieve an organizational objective. In order to accomplish a united goal effectively, managers should use the four functions of management, which are: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The Marine Corps is a large organization that uses these traditional methods of management to conduct business at every section level. This paper will describe the four functions of management and how they are utilized by the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Camp Futenma, Marine Tactical Air Control Squadron 18 (MTACS- 18).
The Marines’ role as the only organization to use a hierarchy of command to manage resources and organize them appropriately is known as a role. This is the position that most organizations have because they are self-sufficient. A hierarchical system creates an individual (male or female) team, and allows management to direct workers to the leadership’s team. When a company (or group) gets large enough to do so effectively (to include itself in a leadership structure), it makes sense that a higher percentage of employees to execute those functions could be placed in that leadership structure. To overcome this problem, a hierarchical system often creates structures that are not “cohesive” because individual jobs are limited and are rarely filled by the same number of people. The Marines have several different groups of jobs, including: chief of operations, operations, and other senior command duties, executive management, and other senior, senior, and subordinate leadership in the Marines, as well as a “plural of command.” Each Marine, however, does not have a hierarchy and, when it does have one, can choose to work in that hierarchy. For example, one Marine may be in command on the day when most of the people in a Marine Corps group are in a meeting. If one Marine is at a meeting, he chooses one person to assist him in completing the tasks. When most of his employees are in a meeting, he directs his other officers to meet in a different location. Even if he is in control of the location where he is meeting employees, only a few of these employees are in a hierarchy at that location. The only way that a high percentage of the Marines have the ability to do the three core functions of management without going through organizational hierarchies is to have people that work in that hierarchical structure. A member of a management team must have the capacity to lead and follow their team in this role. Many aspects of Marine leadership are built up and practiced by non-military personnel or by the same people whom they work with. There is nothing too grand about the idea; it is about maximizing the efficiency of a unit’s efforts and developing the organizational quality that goes with working together at each level of organizational organization. The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of “The Four Functions Of Management.” I provide only a framework of what’s and isn’t in the four functions of management and it does not cover any particular job or organizational function. Instead, I am going to explore how the four functions of management (that are defined in the Marine command manual as the “six core functions”) are applied to individuals within an organization, particularly in the Marine Air Station. The Marines’ role as the only organization with a hierarchy of command includes most of the actions that are undertaken by people with special knowledge of the Marines’ leadership structures. The Marine pilots in the Air Forces have several different hierarchical roles. Each carries out the military’s specific military functions without being a member of the Marines. In addition, both men and women with similar physical skill sets and interests work for the Army’s Air Force, including
PlanningPlanning is the first step in achieving organizational goals. Planning includes: forecasting setbacks and opportunities; developing timetables and courses of action, analyzing costs, and setting an overall objective (Creswell, 1988). According to Anderson and Pulich (2002), planning starts after the highest level of management has announced its goals for the organization, followed by lower levels incorporating their sections objectives, to achieve the overall goal. The planning process requires the cohesion of each individual section.
For example, every year MTACS-18 joins other units from MCAS Futenma, to participate in an exercise in Pohang, Korea. The overall objective of MTACS-18 during this operation is to set up aviation command and control through the Tactical Air Command Center (TACC), in support of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. In order to support the TACC, each section of MTACS must make a plan.
The Four FunctionsS-6 is comprised of the people who work in the TACC. Their objective is to monitor air traffic as smoothly and efficiently as possible. In their plan, they decide how they will arrange their equipment inside the TACC, devise a schedule for those on post, develop a standard operating procedure, and create a contingency plan in case there is a systems failure. The Motor Transport (MT) section has a different plan. MTs goal is to transport all the gear safely and quickly. MT must work out scheduling plans to load the equipment, and transport it back and forth between Japan and Korea. The Utilities (UT) section supports the TACC by setting up electricity, water, and air conditioning. The aim of UT is to provide uninterrupted service to the TACC. Their plan consists of deciding on how many generators and ac units are needed to maintain the TACC, form a schedule of when MT will transport the gear, organize the arrangement of the gear, and establish an emergency plan in case of power failure.
Although each section has a different objective, their combined goals help achieve the units organizational goal. Not only is it important to create a plan, but managers must follow through by establishing an organizational structure. This leads to the next fundamental, which is organization.
OrganizationOrganization involves putting the plans into action. When the UT section plans on bringing gear to support the TACC, the manager delegates who will be in charge of calculating the necessary electrical output to sustain power, and assigns a team to get the equipment prepped and ready for transport. Managers use organization to create structure by assigning tasks to individuals, or to a team of people. For instance, in order for MT to load all of the equipment onto their vehicles, they must use a team to complete the entire task. One person may use the
The Four Functionsfork-lift to haul the cargo onto the vehicle, while another person directs that individual where to place it and ensures that nothing is damaged in the process. In the Marine Corps, teamwork plays a large part in the success of organization. Each section is broken down into teams of people, who are lead or “managed” by a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) . Leading a group of people effectively is an important aspect in the management. Without a good leader, excellent plans and organization would not be carried out successfully.
LeadingBateman and Snell (2007) describe leading as the managers ability to connect with their employees in such a way, that it will motivate them to perform their best, in order to accomplish the organizational mission. In order to become a superior leader, a manger must be able to communicate well with others, be able