Management Of Business

Management has been variously defined as follows:

1. The organ of leadership, direction and decision in a business enterprise.
2. The process of preparing, directing, planning and organizing people and material in order to attain business objectives.

DUTIES OF A MANAGER

1. He is the departmental head.
2. He is responsible for planning and executing work in his department.
3. Recruitment and training of workers.
4. He is responsible for delegation of duties to his subordinates.
5. He negotiates and transacts business with outsiders on behalf of the firm.
6. Maintenance of cordial relationship between his department and other departments.
7. Supervision, counseling and disciplining of subordinate staff.

FUNCTIONS AND IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT

1. Planning: This involves setting objectives for an organization and choosing the best ways to accomplish them.
2. Organizing: This refers to arranging resources in order to achieve the objectives of an organization.
3. Directing: This simply means aiding the employees to perform their duties effectively.  It involves leading and motivating.
4. Controlling: This refers to the act of ensuring that the organization’s objectives are actually being attained and that corrections are made where lapses or deviation are discovered.  It involves monitoring and evaluating activities in order to determine the progress of the organization.
5. Communication: This refers to transmitting the necessary information within the outside the organization.  This is done by means of written or verbal communication.

EVALUATION

1. List five duties of a manager.
2. Write short note on the management function-controlling.

BUSINESS AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

Business environment refers to those factors such as activities, agencies and organizations within and outside the business set-up which facilitates or hinder the achievement of a business objective.

The business environment comprises the following:

1. Economic Environment: The economic system, income level, income distribution, availability of human and natural resources.
2. Political Environment: This includes the political system, government policies, stability of political process.
3. Legal Environment: This includes the legislations and rules operating in a country.
4. Demographic Environment: This refers to the size, structure, age, sex and geographical distribution of the population
5. Soci-Cultural Environment: This includes the culture , customs, religion and way of life of the people.
6. Technological Environment: This refers to the level of technology which determines the volume and quality of production.
7. Infrastructural Environment: This refers to the availability of social and economic amenities such as road, water, electricity, telecommunication and ports.
8. International Environment: This refers to import and export regulations, policies of foreign trading partners, international trade protocol like AGOA (African Growth and Opportunities Act of the U.S.A) etc.

EVALUATION

1. Define the term “Business Environment”.
2. Explain the Demographic Enviroment of a business organization showing how it affects the activities of the business.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Essential Commerce for senior secondary schools by O.A. Longe. Pages 231-239

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. Which of these set of external environmental factors affect a business operation (a) competition, industry and product (b) competition, labour and political  (c) political cultural  (d) economic, social and legal
2. The market structure, business conditions and financial systems in Nigeria constitute the ___ environment. (a) social      (b) technological    (c)  economic      (d)  political
3. The setting of objectives and determination of the best way to achieve them are known as ___(a) controlling                    (b) organizing              (c) directing                 (d) planning
4. In a business environment, which of the following variables can a business conveniently control (a) product (b) culture        (e) economy    (d) the laws

THEORY

1. Explain what is meant by the external environment of a business.
2. Mention five groups of people to whom a business owe social responsibilities.