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Man:

Man, the first of the five M's is the most important. The right personnel for the right position is a

sure bet for organizational effectiveness and efficiency. No two ways about that. Thus, latenessand absenteeism, unsafe acts, alcoholism, poor training, incompetence are just some of the

attributes of man at work that could upturn the apple cart of business ventures. Human resources

determine the workings of the other four basic business resources. People make sure materials,machines, minutes and money are utilised in a productive manner to achieve goals or aims andobjectives of organizations and enterprises. Poor employment practices are inimical to the

sustenance of such ventures. With the right man in the right job, a large portion of effective

business management will have been achieved. No doubts about that.

Materials:

Without materials, human resource is made redundant. Thus every right thinking and rightplanning organization knows that materials needed for any business or service mist be in place

before 'man' can be of use in any business activity. Supply chain departments grew out of this

thinking and has been a very useful and effective aspect of business management. A group of

cement factory workers waiting for supply of limestone may have nothing much to do for as longas the supply does not arrive. Even if it arrives, but in poor quality, the production is certainly

doomed for a loss. Quality compromised is business pauperized. Poor quality of materialspotentially ruins entrepreneurship. This is an indisputable fact.

Machines:

The metal contraptions called machines have made man fulfil almost effortlessly various dreamsof creating things that make a existence more worthwhile. Machines have replaced man in tilling,

planting, and harvesting. Man has been replaced with looms in cotton and fabric processing.

Countless other ventures requiring physical exertions of force has been taken over by thingsfixed with gears, bolts and nuts and conveyor belts. Recently, computers joined in the fray of

increasing production and reduction in time spent by man for manufacturing and generalproduction of goods and services. However, without man and materials, machines will be

useless. They need to be operated by man and fed with materials. That again is a doubtless fact.

Minutes:Time management is one contemporary aspect of business that has been employed in use by

effective and successful business ventures to optimize delivery. As earlier noted, lateness and

absenteeism of man at work is a large chunk of time off production. Poor time management is as

ineffectual as a broken down machine, an indisposed employee or lack of adequate materials forproduction of goods or services. Various schemes have been used by successful enterprises to

ensure proper anfd efficient use of time by man and machine, including timely delivery of

materials, to ensure business sustainability. Compromising time is tantamount to a business

venture shooting itself in the foot. There are umpteen instances to ascertain this truism.

Money:

Without money, no venture or enterprise can motivate workers, get quality and sufficientmaterials, get the right machines and maintain them or even ensure that time is properly

managed. Money management, when not properly organized has been the most known factor

involved in collapse of enterprises in history. The quantity and quality of money expended in

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ventures have a direct bearing on the fruitfulness of same over time. Accounts department have

been revolutionarized over the years, by man, to ensure maximum operations of surviving

business organizations. Where there is not enough money, no good workers, materials, ormachines can be employed or purchased or acquired. In other words, such a venture will be

wasting its time existing in the first place.

POSDCORB is an acronym created by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick in their Papers on the

Science of Administration (1937). Developed as a means to structure and analyze management

activities, it set a new paradigm in Public Administration. Based on the theories of Henri Fayol's14 Principles of Management, Gulick and Lyndall Urwick disputed the prevailing thinking that

there was a dichotomy between politics and administration. Instead that it was impossible to

separate the two. It has been called the high noon of orthodoxy due to the assumption that it was

the principles that were important and not where they were applied.

The acronym which formulates the responsibility of a chief executive or administrator stands for:

Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Direction, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting. It defines the

principles as follows:

Planning

Planning is working out in broad outline the things that need .to be done and the methods for

doing them to accomplish the purpose set for the enterprise;

Organizing

Organizing is the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which worksubdivisions are arranged, defined and coordinated for the defined objective;

Staffing

Staffing is the whole personnel function of bringing in and training the staff and maintaining

favorable conditions of work;

Directing

Directing is the continuous task of making decisions and embodying them in specific and generalorders and instructions and serving as the leader of the enterprise;

Co-ordinating

Coordinating is the all-important duty of interrelating the various parts of the work;

Reporting

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Reporting is keeping those to whom the executive is responsible informed as to what is going on,

which thus includes keeping himself and his subordinates informed through records, research

and inspections;

Budgeting

Budgeting, with all that goes with budgeting in the form of fiscal planning, accounting and

control

All executives perform broadly similar functions. The President of the United States, like the

governors of the states or the Prime Minister of England, does many things in common with his

subordinate executives and with all those who have headed large organizations. Luther Gulick

and Lyndall Urwick have classified these common tasks of the executive, and his categories ofimportant executive functions: What is the work of the chief executive? What does he do? The

answer is POSDCORB.