Management

Management is a function of planning, organizing, coordinating directing and controlling. Management is composed of team of managers who have charge of the organization at all levels. There are 3 management levels: the top, middle, and first-line management level.

1. The planning function involves the process of setting objectives to meet the organizational goals.

There are 3 types of planning.

Strategic planning is broad, long-range planning that outlines the goals of the organization. Tactical planning, on the other hand, is specific, short-term planning that lists organizational objectives. Contingency planning involves developing an alternative set of plans in case the first set doesn't work out.

2. The organizing function. Managers develop a framework that illustrates the relationship of workers, tasks and resources.

3. The directing function of management involves giving assignments, explaining routines, clarifying policies, and providing feedback on performance.

4. The controlling functions are very important to achieve positive managerial results as well as marketing results. Manager is a very hard job. Managers must be good planners, organizers, coordinators, communicators, morale builders. Managers must have three categories of skills: technical skills, conceptual skills and human relations skills.

Accounting

Accounting has often been called the "language of business". Accounting is an integral part of business practice nowadays.

Accounting is recording classifying, summarizing and interpreting financial transaction. Accounting process consists of two parts: bookkeeping, and accounting itself. Bookkeeping means the recording of transaction that is posting financial entries into the ledger. The ledger is the collection of amounts based on a double entry system.

Accounting information is presented in the form of financial statements. The main of them are Balance Sheet and Income Statement. The Income Statement shows financial position of a business over a definite period of time (month, quarter, and year). The Balance Sheet shows the financial position of a business on a certain date, usually the end of the month or year. The accounting information is necessary for different user groups: owners of the business, managers, creditors, suppliers, customers, government agencies, investors.

Accounting deals with different accounts and the main of them are: assets, liabilities, owner's equity (capital), revenues and expenses. Accounting is done by accountants. Certified Public Accountants get special certificates and can perform audit.

Market and market orientation

A market for a product is the people or organizations who buy it or may buy it, or an area where it is sold. There exist different types of markets: street markets, shops and supermarkets, markets for services, financial markets, commodity markets.

A company's or product's target market is a group of consumers a company aims to sell its products to, for example children, housewives, fishermen, etc.

The market leader is the company or product with the biggest share.

A firm usually focuses its attention on a market segment. Market segment is the part of a market consisting of consumers with similar characteristics. Ways in which a market might be segmented include age, income, lifestyle, geographical location.

A market niche is a small, specific segment of the market, often dominated by small firms selling some kind of goods.

Marketers often talk about market orientation: the fact that everything they do is designed to meet the needs of the market.

Companies quick to respond to the needs of a market are market-driven, market-led or market-oriented.

To make decisions about products companies do a market research which is the collection of information on markets, products and consumers; on what people need, want, and buy; how and when they buy and why they buy one thing rather than another.