CHAPTER THREE A principle is a bacic statement that provides understanding and
guidance to thinking and action. Management principles are statements of
fundamental truth, which provides guidance to managers for the practice of management
and helps in predicting the result of managerial action. Management principles are derived through observation and analysis
of events which managers have to face in actual practice or by conducting
experimental studies. NATURE OF MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES Management principles have the following nature: 1.Evolutionary 2.Limited approach 3.Relativity 4.Flexibility 5.Universality 1. Evolutionary: Management principles have been developed on the basis of
accumulated facts and experience. They are the expression of experience of
leaders of management thought. So management principles are evolutionary in
nature. 2. Limited application: Management principles are used for regulating human behaviour,so
that people give their best to the organisation. Human behaviour is complex so
management principles are subject to many limiting factors. 3. Relativity: Management principles are not static or absolute in nature. They
have to be applied keeping in view the prevailing situation. 4. Flexibility: Principles of management are flexible guidelines used under
different conditions in different ways by making required modification.
Improving and modification of management principles is a continuous process due
to the changing business environment. Thus management principles are always
flexible. 5. Universality: Management principles are universal and can be applied to any
kinds of organisation where there is a need of coordinated efforts of human
being. This is because the basic functions of management are same and the
principles are equally effective for all types of problems. SIGNIFICANCE OF
MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES Following are the importance of management principles: 1. Achieve results economically. Management principles helps the business for setting realistic objectives.
This helps to direct the efforts to get the results economically. Management principles enables the managers to utilise the
resources effectively. This will improve the quality of life and standard of
living of the society. 3. Scientific decisions. Decision making is the main job of managers. Principles of
management helps the managers to take scientific decisions for the operation of
the business. Such decisions are taken only after considering various aspects
of the organisation. 4. Change in technology. If a firm does not take any steps to adopt changing technology in
various areas, it will be difficult to the firm to face competition. Management
principles helps the business to keep a watch on the changes in technology and
direct to adopt it. 5. Effective administration. Principles of management provides guidelines to managers to do
their work in different situations. These principles helps them to improve the
efficiency of operation and effectiveness in administration. 6. Social responsibility. Business has his own responsibility to shareholders, workers,
customers,society and the Government. Management principles are helpful in
attaining social objectives of business. 7.Research and Development. For any body of knowledge, research is necessary to findout new
horizons. Management principles give a base for research programmes to develop
new guidelines and to verify the validity of existing guidelines. This is also
helpful to findout new methods in the field of marketing, production,finance
etc. Henry Fayol was born at constantinople in france in 1841. He got a
degree in mining engineering in 1860 from National school of Mining at st.
Etinne.The same year he began his career as an engineer with a coal mining company. In 1888, he was promoted as the managing director. At
that time, the company was nearly bankrupt. He strengthened the financial
position of the company and continued holding this post for thirty years. He
retired from this position in 1918 and remained as a director of the company
until his death in December 1925. Fayol made three significant contribution to the theory of
management, which gives him a litle " The Father of Management
Thought". 1. He made a clear distinction between technical and managerial
skills. 2. He identified the functions of management process (Planning,Organising, Directing and Controlling). 3. He developed Principles of Management.
On the basis of vast experience, Henry fayol,the French
miningengineer suggested 14 principles to management in his book
"Administration industrielle et generale" ( General and Industrial
Management). This guidelines helps the management to perform their job
effectively. This 14 principles are accepted all over the world and are listed
below:
1. Division of Work. Total work should be divided in to small parts and allocate to
each workers in an organisation on the basis of their skill, qualification and
ability. Moreover each worker should be trained on the basis of work
allotement. When a worker perform the same work again and again he becomes an
expert in that work and produce more and better with the same effort.This is
based on the principle of specialisation. It is applicable to non-managers as
well as workers. 2. Authority and Responsibility. Authority
means the right to give orders to subordinates and the power to exact obedience
or the right to take decision.Responsibility is the obligation of
subordinates to obey the command of the superior. According to this principle, authority and responsibility are essential elements of each other and they should go side by side. Authority without equal responsibility is a dangerous one which results in arbitrary use of it, whereas responsibility without authority makes a person ineffective. Therefore authority should always accompanied by responsibility. Discipline means willingness on the part of workers to obey the
rules and regulations established by the organisation. It must be maintained
from the top officials to lower employees. It is highly essential for the
smooth running of an organisation and should be always in the nature of
self-imposed. According to Fayol discipline can be maintained by: a. Posting good superiors at all levels. b. Making clear and fair agreement. c. Judicious application of penalties. 4. Unity of Command. " No one can serve two masters at a time". This principle implies that, for any action an employee should receive orders only from one superior at a time. If it is violated total confusion will be the result. Dual command is always a permanent source of conflict and therefore it should be avoided. 5. Unity of Direction. This principle refers to the effort of all the workers should be directed towards common goals. In other words " one head and one plan for a group of activities having the same objectives". This principle emphasises the importance of common goals and ensures unity of action, facilitate coordination and avoid duplication of effort and wastage of resources. 6. Subordination of individual interest to general interest. This principle stated that management should give prime importance
to the common interest of the concern and not to the interest of individuals.
The personnel ambitions and interests should always have a back seat to common
interest. This can be achieved by subordinating the interest of employees and
management to the general interest of the concern. 7. Remuneration to personnel. Fayol stated that the remuneration of employees should be prompt,
fair and reasonable, which will promote good employeer-employee relationship.
It should be based on the cost of living, productivity of the concerned
employees and the capacity of the firm to pay. So management should properly
plan and adopt a good wage policy, keeping in view the importance of labour. 8. Centralisation and Decentralisation. Centralisation means concentration of authority in the hands of
few,i.e, Top management. Decentralisation means division of authority among
various levels in an organisation. Fayol viewed that organisation should strike a balance between centralisation and decentralisation. They are determined on the basis of the size and nature of business, type of activities and the nature of organisation structure. 9. Scalar Chain. Scalar chain refers to the unbroken chain of superiors ranking
from the ultimate authority down to the lowest level in the organisation for
the purpose of communication. It is a path used to pass all official
communication, which starts from or go to the ultimate authority. As per this
principle orders, instructions or messages of official nature must pass only
through the proper channels of authority. However, Fayol pointout that this chain results in communication
lag. To avoid this delay he introduce a concept called 'GANG PLANK'
which short circute the chain and ensures quick communication.This means a
person in one department can directly communicate with those in other
department having the same rank, after the concent of the immediate superior. Following figure gives a clear picture about it: 'R' want contact with 'W'. As per the principle of scalar chain the message should pass through the established chain, i.e, R Q P A U V W. This willcreate communication lag. So as per gang plank 'R' can directly communicate with'W' after getting the concent of immediate superior,i,e,'Q'.
10. Order. Order is an essential for proper and systematic working of an organisation. It means arrangement of people and things. Arrangements of things is called MATERIAL ORDER,which means there must be a place for every thing and every thing must be in its place. Arrangement of persons is called SOCIAL ORDER,which means there must be an appointed place for every employee and every employee must be in his/her appointed place. This will enable an organisation to get the best results. Equity means fair and impartial approach of management towards the subordinates. The dealings of management should be just and fair, which create an atmosphere of honesty and faithfulness. It is the results of justice and kindliness, which ensures healthy industrial relationship among management and workers. Security of job is essential to motivate the workers to do more and better work.This principle suggests that employees should not be removed from their position frequently. If an employee is frequently transferred from one job to another he cannot take initiative in work. Therefore management must provide security of job to the workers. Initiative means freedom to thinkout and execute a plan. Fayol stated that employees at all levels should be encouraged to thinkout and execute the assigned tasks in a better way. This will provide satisfaction to employees.However, initiative should be subject to authority relationship define in the scalar chain and the employee's sense of discipline. This principle emphasises the need for team work and the
importance of communication for obtaining it. In order to achieve the best
possible results there must be a spirit of co-operation among all the personnel
with in the organisation. Team spitit helps in developing an atmosphere of
mutual trust and confidence. Frederick Winslow Taylor is considered as the Father of scientific
management, due to his valuable contribution to management in the form of
scientific way. His major contribution were 'Shop management', 'Piece rate
system, and 'Principles of scientific management'. Scientific management
refers to the application of science to management practices. It is based on
certain clearly defined laws, rules and principles.It involves use of
scientific methods in the decision making process for solving management
problems rather than depending on trial and error method. It involves
observation and analysis of works, determination of standard of work, selecting
and training of workers and ensuring that work is done in the most efficient
manner. "Scientific management means knowing exactly what you want
men to do and seeking that they do it in the best and the cheapest way". -F.W.Taylor
-F.W.Taylor
Taylor formulated principles for managing an organisation scientifically,
which are explained below:
1. Scientific, not rule of thumb. Taylor replace old rule of thumb method by scientific method. He
stated each job should be performed on the basis of scientific investigation
and not on experience, opinions and beliefs. Rule of thumb does not involve
thinking before doing. Scientific method requires cause and effect, correct
measures of effort and output for any work to be performed. This principle stated that work should be carried out by
individuals in coorporation with each other. Coorporation of management and
workers is necessary for achieving planned objectives. Taylor suggested that
those who are supposed to perform the work must be involved in the standards
setting process, which results their involvement and commitment to such standards. 3.Maximum output. Continuous increase in production and productivity is another
basic principle of scientific management. Increased production can provide
better wages and other benefits to workers. Taylor suggested that the best way
to avoid conflict between management and labour is to increase the size of
surplus, so that each side will get a large share. 4. Separation of planning and operational work. Taylor separates the planning work and operational work. Planning
is the responsibility of managers and the its execution is the responsibility
of workers. He suggested that managers should concentrate on planning the job
of workers and not involve in the execution of planned job.For this purpose, he
introduce a concept known as 'Functional Foremanship'. Workers should be selected on the basis of the job requirements by
conducting certain test of ability and aptitude.Selected workers are to be
trained to avoid wrong method and make fit for the job. Development programmes
should be designed to develop the capabilities of the workers. MANAGEMENT Following arer the techniques developed by F.W. Taylor and his followers for impementing the principles of scientific management in to practice: 1. Functional Foremanship. To improve the quality of supervision and controi of workers,
Taylor introduce a system known as FUNCTIONAL FOREMANSHIP. A single
supervisor may not be an expert to supervise all aspects of a work, so he suggested
that every workers should be supervised by several specialist foreman in
different areas of a job. Functional foremanship is an extension of the principle of
specialisation or division of labour. Its basic aim is to separate planning
functions from executive functions. Taylor introduce eight experts to
guide,direct and control the workers.Among the eight four of them have planning
incharge and the rest have incharge of production. Moreover, each experts would
be responsible for one of the functions of a job. Workers have to take orders
from all these experts in the related function of production. Following figure gives a clear picture about it:
Lays down the sequence or path for each job to be followed for
completion. 2. Time and Cost Clerk: Fixes time table for doing various jobs and maintains the cost of
work 3. Instruction Card Clerk: Prepares detailed instructions, according to which workers have to
be performed. 4. Disciplinarian: Enforces rules and regulations and maintains discipline among
workers. 5. Gang Boss: Arranges necessary tools and equipments and also arranges all the
facilities in the plant. 6. Speed Boss: Responsible for ensuring that the work is done well in time. 7. Repair Boss: Ensures that each worker keep his machine and tools clean and free
from rust. Moreover he oils and treats the machine properly. 8. Inspector: Responsible for ensuring the work is done as per the standards set
by the planning section. It means set a standard
work for an average worker to do during a working day. Taylor called it as a
'Fair Day's Work". It will act as a norm for the workers. If no standard
is set, the worker will work below his capacity.
It means a systematic and analytical study of all the factors
included in a work in order to improve the efficiency of work. It helps to
avoid wasteful and unnecessary operations, reduces effort, and increases
efficiency.It leads to the investigation of all factors which affect the
efficiency and econom of operations. Work study includes the following
techniques:
Make a Free Website with Yola.
|
