Management Fundamentals Essay

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Management Fundamentals

Four Functions of Management
A manager has several duties and responsibilities; some of these duties will vary depending on the organization they are employed by. However, the primary concerns a manager must address are common to any organization and, according to Hartzell, Sherri (2003), can be streamlined to four basic functions; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Each function is equally important to the success of the organization. The proficiency in the execution of each of these four functions can affect the efficiency of each of the other functions.
Planning should be the first consideration. Planning helps a manager determine what needs to be done in order to meet and attain company goals. Without a plan of action, it would be hard to determine the best way to organize a company and its employees in order to achieve the company goals.
Once a plan has been decided upon, a manager must start organizing subordinates and work routines in order to place the plan into action. Organizing can involve things such as setting up different teams, designating team leaders, rescheduling work shifts, etc.
Leading is also a critical step in the successful implementation of a plan. A manager needs to lead subordinates in order to motivate and inspire them to work towards the common goal of the plan and ensure each subordinate understands the expected outcome of the plan.
The last function of a manager that needs to be addressed is the controlling function. The controlling function is basically information gathering and review to ensure the actions taken to implement the plan are performing as expected or exceeding expectations. The controlling function allows the manager to realize if his or her plan needs to be modified, if reorganization is necessary, or if a different leadership approach is required in order to attain organizational goals.
A manager needs to ensure each of these four functions contribute towards reaching the company goals as well as effectively complementing each other to attain those goals.
Ethics in Management
According to the Project Management Institute (2012), there are five steps to consider when assessing a decision of ethical nature; assessment, alternatives, analysis, application, and action.
Given a situation involving a friend that requests privileged information to gain an edge in an interview process presents an ethical dilemma. Assessing the situation using the PMI EDMF, I would determine that divulging the information to my friend would not align with the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct; it does not agree with my employer's code of ethics and goes against my own ethical judgement. Not divulging the information to him would ensure our integrity remained intact.
Searching for alternative choices, I would only find two. Either give him the information or do not give him the information. The pros to retaining the information from him is that our integrity remains intact and if he were to obtain the position, he would know it was on his own merits and on a level playing field. The cons would be my friend receiving an unfair advantage over other candidates, loss of integrity for both me and my friend, and the possibility of retributions in the future should other employees learn of the advantage my friend received.
Analyzing my decision I would determine that although my friend's request is an external influence, I am not allowing it to persuade my decision and I believe my decision would still seem like a good idea in the years to come.
Applying the application process to my decision, I would determine that my decision would be fair to all candidates for the position. It would also be the decision that would yield the greatest good. If I had decided to give the information to my friend and he obtained the position, there could be serious problems with motivation and performance within the workforce if other employees learned of the advantage my friend
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