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There are four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. In order to manage the business successfully and remain competitive, management at different levels use these four functions of management. Planning is done at top management level and at this level company’s vision and mission are set. At this level the goals and objectives of the organization is set and broader strategies are devised to achieve these goals. Organizing function sets the stage for achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. At this phase resources are arranged and responsibilities are distributed. In organizing, required authorities to achieve the goals and objectives are also delegated. At leading phase, employees are motivated and provided support to achieve the goals. Fourth phase, Controlling, provides management control to perform other functions of management and allows other functions of management (Planning, Organizing and Leading) to be effective. The four functions of management are very important for success of management at all levels and business. These four functions of management are affected by several factors like internal and external factors, globalization, technology, diversity and ethics. Diversity is one factors which greatly affects functions of management. An organization can have diversity in terms of products, human resources, geographical diversity and/or organizational; structure. These diversities complicate the tasks of management. The product diversity factor alone makes it complicated for the management in planning how to market it. (Source: ) If an organization has diverse human resources, employees are from different backgrounds and culture and possess different values. Similarly, if an organization has branches at various location (geographical diversity), managing the operations at branches becomes a challenge. Specially if branches are spread around the world, different branches deal in different currencies and in different languages. This kind of diversity affects organizing and controlling functions. Organization must make changes in organizing functions to incorporate these diversities. was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. It started as online book store. Today, amazon has well diversified product portfolio of books, DVDs, CDs, MP3 players, softwares, games and other electronic products. (Amazon Corporate Website) Product diversity and geographical diversity has affected the four functions of management in Amazon. When Amazon started products other than books, they made several changes in their plans and broader strategies. In organizing phase also, several new departments and positions were created as per changing scenario. Similarly, when Amazon decided to target customers in Japan, China, France, Canada etc they faced the problems in dealing with customers who speak language other than English, trade in currency other than USD and have taste other than what Americans prefer. This affected Amazon’s four functions of management. Amazon established separate website for customers in USA, UK, Japan, Canada, France and China and tied up with credit card companies to receive payments in Yen, Yuan and other foreign currency. (Amazon Corporate Website). As business grew and became more diversified, Amazon implemented demand forecasting techniques which affected organizing. and controlling functions of management. Ethics is another factor which affects the four functions of management. Ethics refer to rules or principles which define what is right and what is wrong. Ethics is different from law. Something which is legal may be unethical in some context. As organizations are becoming more ethical, every organization has code of ethics in place which affects the functions of management at all levels. When Amazon was launched, people were not willing to shop online. They did not have faith in online security and the seller. They were worried that they may not get the product they were expecting, their credit card information were not safe. Amazon’s success was depending on how much online shopping is done by customers. They decided to change the mind set of customers. It could be done by having high ethical values and maintaining ethics at all levels in organization. Amazon revolutionized online merchandising. Its products were of consistent quality, its policies were clear and user-friendly, and it kept its promises about shipping times and product availability. (Lauren, 2009) Ethics affected the functions of management right from Planning. Amazon devised strategies to maintain high level of online security, ensure prompt delivery, display accurate information about product and build trust among customers. As organization decided to implement this strategy, all other functions of management were affected. Responsibility of Controlling function increased. Organizing function is also affected as the nature of work changes and new tasks come up. Leading function is also affected by diversity and ethics up to great extent. As planning function was affected, Amazon decided to acquire companies and grow. There have been several acquisition since acquisition of Internet Movie Database in 1998. Recent acquisitions are Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) in 2009 and Touchco in 2010. (Amazon Corporate Website) Such acquisitions added new product lines in the portfolio of Amazon and human resource was also diversified as employees of acquired organizations joined Amazon. Leadership plays very important role in such cases when two companies are merged. Leader communicates the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the organization to employees , provides support and motivates the employees to achieve the goals. ReferencesAmazon Corporate Website. Amazon Investor Relations. Retrieved on July 16th, 2010. From: Lauren (2009). "What Amazon can teach about business ethics". Retrieved on July 16th, 2010. From: No Author. (2009). "The Impact of Diversity on the Four Functions of Management". Retrieved on July 16th, 2010. From: ................
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