Management Function

The functions of management uniquely describe managers' jobs. The most commonly cited functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, although some identify additional functions. The functions of management define the process of management as distinct from accounting, finance, marketing, and other business functions. These functions provide a useful way of classifying information about management, and most basic management texts since the 1950s have been organized around a functional framework.

Increasingly, good practice points to incorporating stakeholder engagement activities into a company’s environmental and social management system. In practice this means making its management systematic by integrating it with core business activities. To achieve this, managers will need to identify critical points in the life of the project where stakeholder engagement will be needed, and determine who will deliver these actions and how they can be integrated with core business functions. This involves trying to work out how best to deliver and integrate a number of different aspects of engagement discussed in the previous sections, including:

·         Ongoing stakeholder analysis and the assessment of stakeholder concerns from a “risk” perspective

·         The hiring and training of community liaison officers

·         Consultation processes designed to meet the company’s own policies and/or compliance requirements of lenders and regulators

·         Input and suggestions received from stakeholders on project design and proposed mitigation measures

·         Grievance mechanisms that capture and respond to stakeholder concerns

·         The involvement of local stakeholders in project monitoring

·         Reporting information to stakeholders

Henri Fayol was the first person to identify elements or functions of management in his classic 1916 book Administration Industrielle et Generale. Fayol was the managing director of a large French coal-mining firm and based his book largely on his experiences as a practitioner of management. Fayol defined five functions, or elements of management: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Fayol argued that these functions were universal, in the sense that all managers performed them in the course of their jobs, whether the managers worked in business, military, government, religious, or philanthropic undertakings.

Fayol defined planning in terms of forecasting future conditions, setting objectives, and developing means to attain objectives. Fayol recognized that effective planning must also take into account unexpected contingencies that might arise and did not advocate rigid and inflexible plans. Fayol defined organizing as making provision for the structuring of activities and relationships within the firm and also the recruiting, evaluation, and training of personnel.

Management pioneers such as George Terry, Harold Koontz, Cyril O'Donnell, and Ralph Davis all published management texts in the 1950s that defined management as a process consisting of a set of interdependent functions. Collectively, these and several other management experts became identified with what came to be known as the process school of management.

According to the process school, management is a distinct intellectual activity consisting of several functions. The process theorists believe that all managers, regardless of their industry, organization, or level of management, engage in the functions of management. The process school of management became a dominant paradigm for studying management and the functions of management became the most common way of describing the nature of managerial work.

When hiring community liaison staff, consider people who will be able to develop and maintain good working relationships with the local communities. Since their job will involve listening and responding to local concerns and suggestions, qualities to look for include:

■Good people and communication skills

■A good understanding of the local language and community/cultural dynamics

■Open-mindedness and respect for the views of others

■A solution-oriented approach

■A high integrity/degree of trustworthiness

■A genuine commitment to the position and its goals

Conclusion

The management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are widely considered to be the best means of describing the manager's job as well as the best way to classify accumulated knowledge about the study of management. Although there have been tremendous changes in the environment faced by managers and the tools used by managers to perform their roles, managers still perform these essential functions.

References

• http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/attachmentsbytitle/p_stakeholderengagement_partone_management/$file/partone_managementfunctions.pdf 

• Payment Management Function

https://www.acquisition.gov/appecontributors.doc