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Management Functions

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Management Functions
Introduction
Effective leadership and management involve motivating employees, creative problem solving, and to make sure that organizational goals and objectives are being accomplished.
The five functions of management are planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. These are the five functions that separate other business functions like accounting, marketing, and manufacturing from the management processes (Stewart R Clegg, 2011).
Thesis Statement
This paper takes a detailed look at the application of these five management functions at Food Basics. Food Basics is a US based local chain of grocery stores where I worked as a customer service representative.
During my job there, the top level management took the decision to turn the company into a customer-oriented organization. This paper also takes a critical look at the practice of the five management functions for the implementation of this organizational strategy.
Planning
Planning is the foremost management function which sets the groundwork for other management functions. At Food Basics, planning is a continuous ongoing process in which the courses of action are determined. It is the responsibility of the top level management to devise a blueprint for all organizational activities including activities in all retail stores to reach the overall objectives.
First the top level management determines what resources are needed, the resources in this case being supplies and the management of the logistics to achieve greater economies of scale by having strategic locations of warehouses. Next the top level management determines the personnel they will need.
As Food Basics plans to expand in few other cities more managerial and supervisory staff will be needed, and the top level management is currently determining how much staff will be needed according to their

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