Planning: In the planning function, management assesses both its internal and external environment to establish an action plan to achieve their objectives. A SWOT analysis is a commonly used tool in this phase for long-term planning. Short-term planning is also part of this function, which includes responding to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., a fire damages a warehouse).

Organizing: Organizing is the function of allocating organisational resources (i.e., capital, employees, etc.) to facilitate the attainment of organizational goals based on the action plan previously established. This function will also include establishing a proper hierarchy of authority to structure the organization effectively (e.g., naming divisional managers) and to dole out work responsibilities as per job role.

Leading: Leading involves communicating the plan to internal and external stakeholders of a company. Not only communication is required in this function, but also motivation and direction. Employees need to feel empowered and should have a sense of direction about their tasks.

Controlling: Controlling is dealing with feedback from various stakeholders and uses the feedback to adjust the action plan, the organizational structure, and/or the communication of the plan, whichever is necessary. This feedback typically includes a variance analysis that serves as an assessment for current performance. Any major discrepancies found in the variance report should be investigated further for taking corrective actions.