Functions of management

The governing concept is organising through the establishment of reporting relationships. Organising goes beyond listing activities. It assigns duties, groups related tasks, grants authority and defines who reports to whom. A clear chain of reporting helps employees know where to seek instructions, to whom they are accountable and how information should move through the organisation. Since the manager has only prepared a work list and has not clarified these relationships, the organising function is incomplete; option A is correct. Planning may have produced the activity list, but it does not by itself create the formal hierarchy. Directing guides and motivates after the structure is arranged, while controlling checks results against standards. The missing element is organisational structure and authority relationships.

The governing concept is that controlling is meaningful only when standards represent the real objectives of the organisation. A numerical standard, such as output quantity or delivery speed, may be achieved while customers still receive poor quality, unsafe products, weak service, or an unsatisfactory experience. The comparison stage would therefore show success only because the wrong indicator was selected. Option A is correct: the standard is not aligned with customer-valued quality. Options B and C do not logically explain dissatisfaction, and option D is false because planning supplies objectives and standards for control. Effective control must review both measurable results and their relevance.

The governing concept is that directing guides, motivates and leads employees so that planned work is actually performed. Resources such as machines, money or materials remove one possible constraint, but they do not automatically create willingness, commitment or coordinated effort. Motivation, leadership and communication are central elements of directing. Therefore option A is correct: the manager has provided facilities but has neglected the human process needed to use them effectively. Organising concerns arranging jobs, authority and resources; planning decides objectives and methods; staffing deals mainly with recruitment, selection, placement and development. None of these alternatives best describes the missing motivation.

The governing concept is that staffing obtains and places suitable people through manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement and related development. If the selection criteria were defective, the organisation admitted people whose knowledge, skills or job fit did not match the requirements. The failure is therefore rooted in staffing, even though controlling later detected the consequences. Option A is correct. Organising would concern the structure of jobs and authority, directing would concern motivation and guidance after appointment, and planning would concern broader objectives or action programmes. Control is a feedback function here, not the original cause; it reveals the staffing mistake and permits corrective action.