My Usual Shopping Round
We go shopping every day. The other day my mother took
me on a usual shopping round. We went to the grocer's and
greengrocer's as we had run out of sugar and onions.
At the greengrocer's there was a long queue. But we had
nothing to do but stand in the queue if we wanted to get to
the counter and have some onions. The shop-girl weighed us
half a kilo of onions, we thanked her and went out. Then we
made our way to the grocer's where we bought a kilo of sugar
and some sausage. We were about to go home as my mother
suddenly remembered we had hardly any bread in the house.
We dropped in at the baker's and bought a loaf of brown
bread, some rolls and buns. On our way home the mother
decided to call at a commercial shop. She was looking for a
present to my father — as it was his birthday soon.
As soon as we entered
the shop, we found ourselves in a
fantastic motley city of silk skirts and shirts, woolen pullovers,
frocks and leather boots and shoes. The smiling girl
met us at the counter. My mother said she wanted to buy a
size 50 shirt of a dark-blue colour. The girl suggested looking
at a dark-blue cotton shirt with short sleeves. The shirt was
the latest fashion and we were sure the father would like it.
We paid the money at the cash-desk. The cashier gave
us a
receipt and with it we came up to the shop-assistant. She
passed us a wrapped parcel with the shirt, thanked us and
added they were always glad to see us at their shop and we
happy and a bit excited went out of the shop.
The Work of Management
In planning, managers outline the steps required in moving the organization toward the objectives. These plans are both long and short term in nature.
In organizing, managers decide how best to put together the organizations’ human and other resources in such a way as to carry out most effectively established plans. In directing, managers oversee day-to-day activities and keep the organization functioning smoothly. In effect, directing is the part of the managers' work that deals largely with the routine.
In carrying out the control function, managers take those steps necessary to take that each part of the organization is following the plan that was outlined for it at the planning stage. To do this, managers study the accounting and other reports coming to them and compare these reports against the plans set earlier. The accounting and other reports coming to management are called feedback. Feedback is a key to the effective management of any organization.
In decision making, managers attempt to make rational choices among alternatives. Decision making is an inseparable part of the other functions already discussed. Planning, organizing and directing, and controlling all ensure the decisions to be made. All decisions are based on information. The quality of management's decisions will be a reflection of the quality of the accounting and other information that it receives.