Step 1: Concept
For an organization to succeed, the diverse and often conflicting efforts of different departments and individuals must be synchronized.
Step 2: Meaning
The process of integrating these various activities to ensure unity of action is known as coordination. It is often called the "essence of management."
Step 3: Analysis
• Planning is the process of setting the initial goals.
• Goal setting is a component of planning.
• Direction involves instructing and leading the employees.
• Coordination is the specific force that binds everything together. It takes individual, disparate goals and aligns them so that they run parallel to the organizational goals, creating "synergy" (where the combined effect is greater than the sum of individual efforts).
Step 4: Conclusion
The explicit act of aligning individual goals with organizational goals to achieve synergy defines Coordination.
Final Answer: (D)