Management Principles: Functions, People, and Control
Core functions
The classic sequence is planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning sets goals and the path to them; organizing allocates authority and resources; leading motivates and directs; controlling monitors performance and corrects deviation.
Structure
Span of control is the number of subordinates one manager oversees; narrow spans produce tall hierarchies. Unity of command means one supervisor per employee. Delegation transfers authority, not accountability - the manager remains answerable.
Motivation and leadership
Maslow's hierarchy orders needs from physiological to self-actualization. Herzberg separates hygiene factors (pay, working conditions, policy) that prevent dissatisfaction from motivators (achievement, recognition, growth) that create satisfaction. McGregor's Theory X assumes workers dislike work; Theory Y assumes they seek responsibility. Leadership styles range from autocratic to democratic to laissez-faire, with transactional and transformational variants.
Decisions and control
Bounded rationality leads to satisficing rather than optimizing. Groupthink suppresses dissent. SWOT analyzes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Control can be feedforward, concurrent, or feedback.
Traps
Calling salary a motivator under Herzberg; confusing Theory X with Theory Y; assuming delegation transfers accountability; mixing leadership with management; treating a narrow span of control as automatically efficient.
Worked example
A well-paid employee is disengaged. Under Herzberg, pay is a hygiene factor - its absence causes dissatisfaction, but its presence does not motivate. The manager should address motivators such as recognition, responsibility, and advancement.
Rule of thumb
Diagnose first: is the problem structure, capability, motivation, or control? Each calls for a different intervention.