During early part of the twentieth century, Henri Fayol French industrialist proposed that all managers perform five management activities that are: plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. But nowadays there management functions have been condensed to four: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Managers exist in every business. In fact, managers do the same types of tasks in all businesses. Whether a person manages a hair salon or a factory, the manager’s job consists of similar tasks. Planning, organizing, leading and controlling all serve an important part in achieving management’s vision. Each component is important and one cannot function well without the others. A manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively. While drawing from a variety of academic disciplines, and to help managers respond to the challenge of creative problem solving, principles of management have long been categorized into the four major functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the P-O-L-C framework). The four functions, summarized in the P-O-L-C figure, are actually highly integrated when carried out in the day-to-day realities of running an organization. Therefore, you should not get caught up in trying to analyze and understand a complete, clear rationale for categorizing skills and practices that compose the whole of the P-O-L-C framework. It is important to note that this framework is not without criticism. Specifically, these criticisms stem from the observation that the P-O-L-C functions might be ideal but that they do not accurately depict the day-to-day actions of actual managers. [1] The typical day in the life of a manager at any level can be fragmented and hectic, with the constant threat of having priorities dictated by the law of the trivial many and important few (i.e., the 80/20 rule). However, the general conclusion seems to be that the P-O-L-C functions of management still provide a very useful
During early part of the twentieth century, Henri Fayol French industrialist proposed that all managers perform five management activities that are: plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. But nowadays there management functions have been condensed to four: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Managers exist in every business. In fact, managers do the same types of tasks in all businesses. Whether a person manages a hair salon or a factory, the manager’s job consists of similar tasks. Planning, organizing, leading and controlling all serve an important part in achieving management’s vision. Each component is important and one cannot function well without the others. A manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively. While drawing from a variety of academic disciplines, and to help managers respond to the challenge of creative problem solving, principles of management have long been categorized into the four major functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the P-O-L-C framework). The four functions, summarized in the P-O-L-C figure, are actually highly integrated when carried out in the day-to-day realities of running an organization. Therefore, you should not get caught up in trying to analyze and understand a complete, clear rationale for categorizing skills and practices that compose the whole of the P-O-L-C framework. It is important to note that this framework is not without criticism. Specifically, these criticisms stem from the observation that the P-O-L-C functions might be ideal but that they do not accurately depict the day-to-day actions of actual managers. [1] The typical day in the life of a manager at any level can be fragmented and hectic, with the constant threat of having priorities dictated by the law of the trivial many and important few (i.e., the 80/20 rule). However, the general conclusion seems to be that the P-O-L-C functions of management still provide a very useful