A Military Approach
To the Five Functions of Management
Introduction
The foundation of the business world is based on the concepts of the five functions of management. How these functions are applied in a military environment is the purpose of this paper. I will interview a military officer who has the responsibility and authority to conduct day to day activities that involves all the functions of management. The managerial functions consist of “planning, organizing, leading, and controlling” as described in our instructional manual (p. 14). However, leading/directing and staffing are also part of management functions as described in our classroom lectures.
In this paper, I will also include some ethics of business practice that are based upon religious belief that some managers use as a guide in their decision making process. One example from our source article Leadership in business (2008), “leaders should know their assets and liabilities” and by doing so, they should not compare “themselves with other owner leaders. However, the bible teaches very clearly that each person is unique in design and talent (Psalm 139: 13-14 and Romans 12: 1-8)” (p. 1).
Planning
Our instructional material states that planning is considered the first stage of managerial functions because mission statements, plans, and goals are established during this phase. (p. 14). Question #1: “How do you apply the theory of planning to your workplace?” Response: “it is self-explanatory.” An interesting response, In planning within my workplace I first start with the given task. The members of my section all have established areas of responsibilities. Although each member may have a designated responsibility, at times depending on the depth of the task, the experience and knowledge of another member of the section may be necessary in the accomplishment of the task.
Organizing
As described above, organizing is the second stage of managerial functions because it deals with the...