*4.3. Suitability Assessment of the Management Functions Approach to Developing a Green Organization Benchmark*

In the scientific literature, organizational management functions are divided into general and special functions [83]. General management functions are repeated across different processes [84,85]. General management functions include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. According to Ref. [86], although all organizations share the same general management functions, the management tends to differ due to the diversity of organizations and the diverse nature of their activities. Special management functions refer to those whose composition is determined by the specifics of the managed object's activity. The scientific literature contains a variety of opinions regarding which management functions should be considered special functions, but there is no clear set of special functions (see Table 8).

**Table 8.** Special management functions.


Source: compiled by the authors.

It should be emphasized that the general management functions are common to all organizations, and different evaluation methods are offered for each of the main management functions. Meanwhile, the set of special functions depends on the specifics of an organization and the nature of its activity, so the choice of performance evaluation method will therefore differ accordingly. Analyzing the indicators from the perspective of management functions, it can be stated that there are clearly defined indicators for the evaluation of special management functions in the scientific literature. For example, quantitative (e.g., financial return on marketing), qualitative, and balanced indicator analysis methods are applied when evaluating the effectiveness of marketing activities [91]. Ref. [92] claim that financial indicators of marketing efficiency are focused on profit assessment (increasing sales, increasing profits, income, and market share), whereas non-financial indicators are focused on customer satisfaction (brand awareness, consumer satisfaction, quality of goods and services, interpersonal relations, competitiveness). It can be stated that measurable evaluation indicators can be selected for the analysis of an organization's performance in terms of its management functions, depending on the nature of the organization's activity and the purpose of the analysis.

After analyzing the theoretical aspects of the management functions, an assessment of the suitability of this approach was carried out according to the defined attributes (see Table 9).


**Table 9.** Suitability assessment of the management functions approach based on the identified attributes.

Source: compiled by the authors.

Analyzing the suitability of this approach for the creation of a benchmark for a green organization, the essential advantage of the management functions approach was identified, namely the wealth of research into the individual special functions in terms of greenness in the scientific literature. Many studies are devoted to green marketing, green human resources management, and green finance. However, this aspect can also be attributed to disadvantages. Due to the strong focus on the aspects of individual special functions' greenness, there is a lack of linkage with other management functions. This allows assuming that the analysis of an individual organization's special function in the context of the whole organization can be fragmentary. Another identified disadvantage of the management functions approach is the absence of a clear set of special functions.
