Functions of Management: Four or Five?

A quick dive into whether businesses should stick with four or five management functions and why context (as always) is king.

While I believe the most suitable model depends on context, I do favor the five-function model. I say this because context is crucial; an early-stage startup might be better off beginning with the four management functions and then transitioning to five as the business needs to scale. Factors influencing this decision include team size and structure, the speed required, and cultural fit. Additionally, a complication is that a founder may have a background in management and be committed to a particular framework, which means my list above might be irrelevant in that case.

Examining the top levels of each management style reveals clear advantages and disadvantages. The five-function model breaks down many key business needs, allowing for focused control while clarifying essential management aspects, such as commanding and coordinating. However, a drawback is that there are extra steps that could slow down a startup that needs to be scrappy and move at a fast pace. The four-function model is evidently leaner, more straightforward, and aligns with a quicker pace. One downside is that this model does not explore as much detail as the fifth-function model, so if the management of a business isn’t as educated, they might overlook things clearly stated in the model with an additional step.

If I had to pick, the five-function model is the most important. Even though I argued that it depends, I don’t want to contradict myself completely (I will still die on that “it depends” hill). The older I get, the more I have learned that context is king. However, going the extra step will never hurt anyone, even if it involves acknowledging a section that might be too much for a startup. Acknowledge it, write some notes for later when it does apply, and then move on.

For example, with the Staffing step, if a startup planned to remain a solopreneur, it could at least document what it would be like if it had to hire. It might also note its threshold and limit. That would be a great item to refer to because if that situation did occur, it might not be in a great place later.

References

Motion Blog. (2023, August 24). The Four Functions of Management (with Examples). Motion. https://usemotion.com/blog/four-functions-of-management

Udemy Blog. (2020, March 11). Functions of Management 101 – The importance of the top 5 functions. Udemy. https://blog.udemy.com/functions-of-management-2/