The 4 functions of management within the Department of Defense - Assignment Example

The three steps of planning involves setting out the goals which the organization plans to achieve , creating a plan for achieving these goals .Once the plan has been made the last function of planning is to decide how the limited resources need to be allocated in order to achieve the plan. (Richard L. Daft, 2010) The DoD is very complex in the terms of organizational structure. The planning for DoD is done at the top level of the country. The President along with the secretary of defense and the national security council determines the security needs of the country or in other word we can say that they set the goals which are to be achieved by DoD.

Once the goals have to be set the plan for the execution of these goals is made by the commander in chief in consultation with senior military and intelligence officials. The allocation of resources in DoD is done by the U.S congress which controls the budget for the various plans. Various committees of both the houses examine the goals which have to be achieved and allocate the resources accordingly. Organizing Organizing means creating working relationships between the members of the organization to facilitate better working conditions which leads to achievement of goals.

An organization structure is the outcome of this organizing activity. (Flamholtz, 1996) The structures are made to breakdown the goals into different components and assign it to individuals who can complete them. The organizational structure of the DoD is shown in the figure below – Apart from this broad level organizational structure presented above there are various agencies and departments which function under the defense secretary. (Kinnard, 1980) Leading Leading is very vital part in management.

The leader determines direction, in which the employees have to move, helps them understand the roles that have to be played by them and motivates them to achieve their goals. Leader uses his power, influence and vision in order to motivate his employees and make them dedicated in achieving the goals that have been set. The goals made in the planning stage will never be realized without proper leaders. In DoD the functions of leader are performed by various persons. Leading is done at the top by the president who tries to motivate the nation and the whole department of defense on the general level as to why a particular war is necessary.

He along with the joint chief of staff’s can motivate the soldiers only on a very broad level; the various officers who are in charge of the field units have to perform the function of leading at the ground level. They have to motivate the soldiers in their command to achieve the goals. Leading is the most complex function in DoD as it is entirely different from corporate leadership. Leadership in DoD means motivating your employees to even lay down their lives for the nation. That is why officers are trained thoroughly in order to inculcate leadership values in them.

These values are very essential to win wars and to achieve the overall goals of the DoD. Controlling Controlling means evaluation. This evaluation may be mid-term or after a particular time period has elapsed. Controlling defines how well the organization is doing, how far it is from achieving the goals which have been set; any changes in the goals or resources needed to achieve the goals. Sometimes even the goals might be changed midway if they are considered to be too easy to achieve or very