Functions of Management

Management operates through various functions, often classified as planning, organizing, leading/motivating and controlling.
• Planning: deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next week, next month, next year, over the next five years, etc.) and generating plans for action.
• Organizing: making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans.
• Leading/Motivating: exhibiting skills in these areas for getting others to play an effective part in achieving plans.
• Controlling: monitoring — checking progress against plans, which may need modification based on feedback.

The importance of control
At least two perspectives on role of control exist:
1. Top management expects to control everything, making all decisions, while middle and lower managers implement decisions, and production workers operate only as instructed
2. Top management does not decide the "right" way to do something, and lower-level staff become involved in decision-making processes.
3. Some companies use "slopey shoulder syndrome" style management, where people will take credit for when things go right. However when things go wrong they will pass the blame and responsibility to people either below or adjacent in the company structure

Managerial levels/hierarchy
The management of a large organization may have three levels:
1. Senior management (or "top management" or "upper management")
2. Middle management
3. Low-level management (compare "team leadership")