An Examination of the Four Functions of Management as Employed by the Apollo Group and Its Educational Divisions
There are quite a few common sayings in the business world that are both misleading and unwise in their implications. "If you want a thing well done, do it yourself"' is an example. The man who thinks and talks like that is likely to be so tied up in minor details that he will have no time to manage. (Quote Master, 2002, Quote# 2308)
To understand the essence of managing people successfully is to understand what motivates them to perform at the highest levels of performance and proficiency for the common good. Management practices are as old as time itself. Early man found efficiency in organizing and directing the efforts of fellow cave dwellers to achieve results, which would otherwise have been unobtainable. “Synergy” is a management concept that states the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, a team of skilled, capable workers, properly managed, motivated and functioning as one, can achieve more than the same workers individual efforts combined.
In looking at basic functions of management needed to achieve these goals, Bateman and Snell (2004) have found that, “the great executives not only adapt to changing conditions but also apply—fanatically, rigorously, consistently, and with discipline—the fundamental management principles. These fundamentals include the
four traditional functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling” (p. 14). As an educational division of the Apollo Group, University of Phoenix attempts to instill this philosophy in its managers. Through a series of training programs, new managers practice what they will soon need to be successful.
Planning
Former U.S. ...