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While the words management or manager suggests a variety of different concepts;

most people are aware that management requires skills distinct from those needed for more repetitive work. An excellent accountant may not be able to supervise a group of other accountants or a product development engineer may be unable to successfully manage a small engineering project development group. In its simplest form, management presents an image of someone getting a job done and doing it in an effective manner. The concept of management often suggests an individual or a group of individuals who are dealing with large and complicated problems. A common thread of any management activity is a sys-tematic approach to accomplish some defined organizational or group objective.

There are a wide range of concepts used, in terms of nature and scope, to develop formal definitions of management. Some view management as a sci-ence, while others feel that good management is almost an art. A compact and

useful definition for the internal auditor is: Management is the process of achieving the effective utilization of resources. This definition recognizes that management is an active process, that it deals with human and other resources, and that its end objective is the effective utilization of those resources. This process is the most basic aspect of what management is all about. Managers attempt to get the best possible results in the best possible manner. In business, this normally means maximum profitability, based on long-term standards and giving fair consider-ation to the rights of all parties.

Management requires both decision-making skills and the ability to get things done through others. The manager must decide on the objectives to be accomplished and select the resources needed to accomplish these objectives.

This management process is broken down into detailed areas where necessary decisions are made. The basic functions of management have really not changed much throughout our industrial age. While technologies and busi-ness practices change, good management concepts generally have remained unchanged. Early editions of this book used a definition by Gulick and Urwick, who described the functions of management in 1937² as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting. With some modifications, these management functions are still valid today. The effective internal auditor should keep these concepts in mind when managing all aspects of the internal audit function as well as when evaluating management controls as part of internal audit projects. A more detailed description of these management concepts includes:

• Planning. A manager must decide what needs to be done and must set short- and long-term goals to achieve those objectives. In order to do this, the manager must make his or her best effort to understand the economic, social, and political environment in which the organization will be operat-ing and the resources available to make the plans work. As one example, plans entirely feasible during a period of strong economic growth may be utterly impractical in a time of recession. Planning also includes the man-agement function of budgeting, since a budget is a plan to spend money to accomplish certain objectives. Planning is the foundation for all the other functions and is a necessary component in all levels of an organization.

• Organizing. This involves breaking down any work effort into basic ele-ments and then bringing them back together to accomplish total work requirements. Management objectives and the work necessary to attain them dictate the skills needed. In organizing, the manager must decide on the positions to be filled and on the related duties and responsibilities.

That is, what positions or functions will be responsible for performing the planned work? Because the work done by individual members of the organization will be interrelated, some means of coordinating these efforts must be provided. Coordinating is an essential component of orga-nizing rather than a management function in itself.

• Staffing. In organizing, the manager establishes position descriptions and decides which skills are required for each. Staffing is the function of attempt-ing to find the right persons for required jobs. An established organization,

of course, should already have both a structure and appropriate people to fill the authorized positions. Nevertheless, both building an organization and staffing it are likely to be continuing management tasks since changes in plans and objectives often require changes in the organization and may occa-sionally necessitate a complete reorganization. Staffing is not a one-time effort. People are continually leaving for multiple reasons, while changes or growth in the organization create new or different positions. Although many of these activities are part of the human resources function, all managers must be deeply involved with them.

• Directing. This is the important process of giving the correct guidance to people in the organization as needed. Since it is difficult to predict the problems and opportunities that will arise in day-to-day work activities, position descriptions must be couched in rather general terms with the manager providing ongoing direction. The manager must make sure that all team members are aware of the results expected in each situation, must help to improve skills, and must provide guidance on how and when to perform certain tasks.

• Controlling. Current work accomplishments are affected by changing conditions and varying human capabilities. Controlling is a function where the manager must determine how well tasks have been accom-plished, identify deviations from plans, and make changes to bring work teams in line with overall goals. Although sometimes considered a sepa-rate function, reporting is an element of controlling. Reports are made so that the manager, as well as others, may see what is happening in order to change course if necessary. Controlling is also the area in where internal audit has special expertise.

These functions focus on the administrative aspects of management, and internal audit focuses many of its review activities in these areas. However, a manager must also be a leader in moving the organization in new directions. As Peter Drucker wrote in his classic description of management, ‘‘Managing a business cannot be bureaucratic, an administrative, or even a policy-making job.

. . . [It] must be a creative rather than adaptive task.’’³ In other words, the real manager is always an innovator.

Innovating should be considered an additional key function of the man-ager. A second function is representing the organization to outside groups.

There are other additional functions that could be mentioned, but they are essentially subfunctions. For example, communicating is often considered a major part of a manager’s job. Unless the manager can communicate with staff, important ideas and concepts may be missed. However, achieving good com-munication is really part of the directing function in which the manager attempts to ensure the overall success of the organization through communica-tion with subordinates.

Internal auditors should always have a good understanding of the manage-ment process. They are working with all levels of managers on their internal audit assignments and must manage their own processes and activities.