As you sit at your desk on your first day back after a rejuvenating vacation to the Caribbean, you bring your mind back to your work as the head of a beverage bottling plant. You have a lot of work to catch up on, and need to prioritize what is most important to address today. Because you need to improve the efficiency of your business unit you review the latest productivity and efficiency metrics to identify ways to keep inventory costs down.

Which of the following basic management functions did you just engage in?
Controlling
Leading
Planning
Organizing

Controlling, leading, planning and organizing are four functions of a manager. If your aim is to improve the efficiency of your business unit, you ought to review the latest productivity and efficiency metrics to identify ways to keep inventory costs down. You set a goal to keep inventory costs down so you are in the planning stage. In the planning process, you need to know information needed to make effective management decisions like resources and productivity.