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Primary Management Activities

1

Planning, organization, loading and controlling are the primary management activities which should be performed by every manager for efficient performance of an organization. Planning and controlling was a big issue in the nearby pharmacy where the manager did not organize his team properly. There was a big issue in planning the staff and even organizing them in the best way and this turned out to be very costly. Although there were enough staffs in the grocery, still there were challenges regarding customer service. Pharmacy staffs were not initially deployed in specific sections by the management. It was also easy for an employee to work both during the day and night shift as a way of covering for the other who just asked for an emergency leave.

Management did not plan for leaves and even specific places where their employees would work. Workforces were not fully utilized because at one point, many employees would be staffed in a less busy section while less employees taken to the busy place. This was an absolute failure in utilization of employees and it later contributed to reduced customer satisfaction as well as underperformance in other areas such as packaging section. It was later realized by a new manager that the greatest problem was failure to plan and organization. The new manager then planned and equally deployed every employee to appropriate sections which solved all the challenges (Schermerhorn 16-22).

2

Planning is actually the most important activity that should be started with by a manager. Planning actually results into great end results as it avoids chaos at the end of any function. Professionally, it is important to plan by setting objectives and ways of achieving them. Planning requires that the planner should be aware of the environmental factors that may affect the organization and forecast on the future. In addition, planning requires managers with good decision making skills (Schermerhorn 16-22).

Following the example given it was necessary for the manager to initially understand various activities involved in the drugstore and plan on how the employees would carry out the activities smoothly. Failure to plan with the employees turned out costly in terms of customer satisfaction and employee utilization. Employees could be paid from performing very minimal activities. I would improve planning by first identifying challenges facing the organization and forecast on future conditions and consequences (Schermerhorn 16-22).

3

Control is very important because it is aimed at achieving set goals making it the most important part of the management activities. It involves taking corrective actions to minimize any variance between actual performance and set objectives. Also includes ensures effective and efficient way of achieving plans and maintaining variations. Control is a continuous process amongst the management primary activities. A manager struggling in control should set standards and ensure his subordinates understand the set objectives through efficiently communicating with them. A struggling manager should also ensure smooth communication between him and his employees as well as amongst employees themselves (Schermerhorn 16-22).

Concurrent control is the most effective kind of control because it occurs while the activities are in progress. It ensures continuous regulation of the ongoing activities with an intention of achieving the desired goals. Because management is normally aware of the set goals, they may use this type of control to take corrective action in order to ensure maximum implementation of the set goals.

Works Cited

Schermerhorn, John R. Management. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2010. Print.