The owners of the company set the objectives to be accomplished. Then \ they select a person who will combine all the company’s resources to attain those goals. The company’s resources could be assets such as factories, machinery, tools, equipment, materials that are physical and tangible, or such as technology, knowledge, patents, brands, image that are intangible. Another important resource is human resources, that is, the people who work in that company.
A manager is the person who combines all these resources - tangible and/or intangible - for accomplishing the tasks. So there are two important issues that a manager should consider: the resources to be employed and the task to be completed.
Task completion is the primary responsibility of all managers. However the managers themselves do not generally get involved directly in performing the tasks. Although they technically know what and how to do the things and the tasks, they generally ask other people working under them to perform those tasks. They direct other working people’s efforts to accomplish the tasks.
How do they direct or manage other people as to what to do, how to do it, and when to do it? In those circumstances they first plan the things to be done and how they could be achieved. Then they organize the resources to achieve the goals set by the plans. After setting the plans and the structure, they hire qualified people and assign them their duties. Then they try to lead those people to accomplish their duties. The managers also monitor and control them in performing their duties and make corrective actions if needed. These four functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling that all managers are involved in are called the managerial functions.
