Management Functions (Encyclopedia of Management)  The functions
of management uniquely describe managers' jobs. The most
commonly cited functions of management are planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling, although some identify additional
functions. The functions of management define the process of
management as distinct from accounting, finance, marketing, and
other business functions. These functions provide a useful way
of classifying information about management, and most basic
management texts since the 1950s have been organized around a
functional framework.   Henri Fayol was the first person to
identify elements or functions of management in his classic 1916
book Administration Industrielle et Generale. Fayol was the
managing director of a large French coal-mining firm and based
his book largely on his experiences as a practitioner of
management. Fayol defined five functions, or elements of
management: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and
controlling. Fayol argued that these func