Running head: FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT
Fundamentals of Management
James E. Lawrence
Management: Theory, Practice, and Application
July 18, 2005
Fundamentals of Management
The greatest asset a company possesses is its personnel. To be successful, every company
must build from the top down, ensuring the right individuals are in the right positions. This
all starts with management and works down from there. With the right managers
performing the fundamentals of management correctly, personnel under their supervision
will be motivated to perform as expected and accomplish company goals and reach
milestones. Successful managers are much like circus jugglers. There are plenty of
distractions and everyone is watching their performance. The basic fundamentals of
management are what each manger juggles to be successful. These fundamentals are
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Managers who can successfully learn each
of these fundamentals and apply them properly to their management duties become
valuable key players in any company. For instance, a casino is dependent upon its
personnel for success. Table one shows a typical management or chain of command tree
for a small casino.
Table One
As table one shows the position of the Surveillance Operations Manager is a top-level
management position within the organization. This position not only has its own
department, but it also oversees all the other departments. The fundamentals of
management are critical to this position starting with planning and organizing to leadership
and control.
Planning is an everyday requirement for a Surveillance Operations Manager, and is
generally the first step in beginning the workday. Planning is the process of moving an
organization from where it is (mission) to where it wants to be (vision) in a given period of
time by setting it on a predetermined course of action and committing its human and
physical resources (Jones Jr., 2003, p.30). Each day brings a new set of challenges that
could potentially result in losses to the company. The planning stage becomes essential in
order to prevent these losses from occurring. The responsibility of the Surveillance
Operations Manager is to minimize loss through careful planning and detailed instructions
for department personnel to follow. The mission of the surveillance department is to reduce
or prevent losses to the company while maintaining and enforcing all federal, state, and
local laws, through detailed reports, close observations, and carefully gathered evidence.
The vision of the surveillance department must be determined by the Surveillance
Operations Manager, and is based on the needs of the department and the company. In the
