Planning, Organizing, Directing, and Controlling are the four primary management functions. Who introduced them?

• A. Lilian Gilbreth
• B. Henry Fayol
• C. Mariata Subong
• D. Douglas McGregor

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is who first organized the main activities managers perform. Henry Fayol introduced these ideas as part of his general administrative theory in the early 20th century. He described planning, organizing, directing (also called commanding), coordinating, and controlling as the core activities managers carry out to run organizations. Over time, many curricula present these as four core functions by combining or simplifying some of the terms (for example, directing and commanding are treated as the same function, and coordinating is often linked with organizing). The other names reflect different contributions: Lilian Gilbreth is known for time-and-motion studies to improve efficiency, Douglas McGregor for Theory X and Theory Y about managerial motivation, and the remaining option isn’t recognized for introducing these functions. So Fayol is the originator of these management functions.