Business Management Basics

Effective management is vital to the success of a business, achieving business goals by making the right decisions at the right time.
The 4 basic functions of managers are: planning, organising, leading, and controlling.
Planning involves setting up strategic, tactical, and operational plans, and establishing plans and objectives.
Organising involves turning plans into reality, deciding on resources to use, and how to use them.
Leading involves setting standards, motivating employees, and communicating effectively.
Controlling involves monitoring and evaluating performance, making adjustments to plans and procedures as needed.

Effective management achieves business goals, concerning profitability, sales, market share, growth, share value, community involvement, and environmental management.
Goals are long-term, broad, and general, while objectives are more detailed, short-term, and specific.
Efficiency comes from management decisions that minimize expenses, waste, and costs.
Outputs refer to the goods and/or services produced by a firm using inputs, such as materials, facilities, and equipment.

Planning involves keeping up-to-date with changing trends, technological innovations, and legal reforms.
Organising requires good decision-making skills to solve problems or take advantage of new opportunities.
Leading involves communicating effectively to all employees, commanding respect, and inspiring staff.
Controlling involves ensuring the business achieves its goals and objectives, using input, concurrent, and feedback controls.

Effective managers need a range of skills, including interpersonal, communication, and people skills.
Managers must be able to adapt their manner and style of communicating to suit different types of people and employees.
Managers need to motivate and guide employees to reach their full potential, and realise that employees can offer new ideas and suggestions.

Strategic planning involves long-term planning for a business as a whole, developed by senior management.
Strategic thinking involves thinking long-term, considering the total business environment, understanding interdependence between departments, and having a common goal.
Vision is the clear, shared sense of direction that allows people to attain a common goal, and gives employees the ability to perform.

Problem-solving involves identifying the nature of the problem, assessing and choosing the most appropriate strategy, implementing, and monitoring results.
Managers must be flexible and adaptable to change, anticipating and adjusting to changing circumstances.

Stakeholders are individuals or groups with a vested interest in a business, including customers, employees, and the community.
Management must reconcile the conflicting interests of stakeholders, promoting and managing change, being socially just, and ecologically sustainable.

Goals need to be defined in the early stages of developing a business strategy.
Goals should be strategic, meaningful, clear, concise, and achievable.
Financial goals include maximising profits, increasing revenue, and minimising costs.
Social goals include improving the quality of life for employees, supporting cultural diversity, and promoting human rights.
Environmental goals include using production methods that do not harm the environment, and reducing reliance on non-renewable resources.