The main function of management of a business organization is decision-making and forward planning:
Decision-making and forward planning go hand in hand with each other. Decision-making is a process of selecting a course of action out of alternative course of actions available to a firm to realize its objectives.
Forward planning, on the other hand, refers to formulating plans for the future to implement the decisions taken.
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The firm is to choose a course of action out of alternative course of actions because resources of the firm are limited.
The management has to take a number of decisions such as financial decision, production decisions, marketing decision, decision to purchase raw material, inventory control, etc.
These decisions should not contradict each other, but should be in consonance with the overall objectives of the firm. Therefore, the management has to co-ordinate its different decisions.
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The function of decision-making and forward planning is very complex because the modern business world is full of risks and uncertainties.
Risk is involved because future is uncertain and no one can predict the future accurately. Before taking any decision management has to consider past records, current information’s and future predictions.
As plans are implemented overtime, more facts come into light and decisions or plans are revised in the light of such new facts and a different course of action may be adopted. Management, thus, is engaged in a continuous process of decision-making.
The above discussion reveals that all managerial decisions involve same degree of choice and they are, therefore, essentially economic in nature.
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Different economic theory and logic aided by certain other disciplines like, accountancy, statistics and mathematics may solve or at least throw some light on the problems confronted by business management.
Thus management economics applies economic theory and logic to help the management in deciding business policies.