Management of business has become very complex these days. Managers are expected to deal with a number of problems in their day-to-day working. Some guidelines are needed which will help managers to run their concerns smoothly and efficiently. Principles of management are such guidelines which come to the help of managers. According to Breach, “A
principle means a fundamental truth on the basis of reasoning, a primary element of general law.” Every social science has developed its own principles. Some principles have been developed by experts in management. These principles are the result of various problems faced by professional people and then the solutions derived by them to meet with those situations. Principles of management are not like principles of physical sciences. The principles of management are
general guidelines and they cannot be mechanically applied. The individual factor plays an important part in using managerial principles. Some of the principles of management have been applied in actual practice from times immemorial. The division of Hindus into various castes was the application of principle of specialisation. Chinese used principles of division of labour as back as 1644 B.C. In 1832, Charles Babbage wrote about the principles of specialisation. F.W. Taylor is credited with the
principles of scientific management. Henry Fayol suggested 14 principles of management for running the business efficiently. These principles are studied as follows: - Division of Work (Specialisation). Division of work implies division of the total task in order to lighten the total burden and promote specialisation in such a way that one person does only one thing rather than doing everything himself. This helps to avoid the waste of time and
effort caused by changes from one work to another. In the words of Fayol, “The worker always on the same post, the manager always concerned with the same matters will acquire an ability, sureness and accuracy which increases their output.” Fayol has opined that this principle of division of work and specialisation should be applied to all kinds of work technical as well as managerial.
- Parity between Authority and Responsibility. This principle
states that authority and responsibility should go side by side. A person can be accountable for certain activities only if he has been given authority for getting the work done. Responsibility and authority, should he commensurate with each other. Fayol viewed that people seek authority and fear responsibility. but a good leader must have courage to accept responsibility. Authority without responsibility leads to irresponsible behaviour while responsibility without authority makes a person
ineffective.
- Discipline. Discipline means obedience, respect of authority and observance of the established rules. In the words of Fayol, “Discipline is in essence obedience, application, energy, behaviour and outward marks of respect observed in accordance with the standing agreements between the firm and its employees.” Discipline is essential for the smooth running of business and without it no business can prosper. According to Fayol. good
supervision at all levels, clarity of rules and built in system of reward and punishments help to maintain discipline.
- Unity of Command. This principle states that one person should receive orders from only one superior, in other words, one person should be accountable to only one boss. If one person is under more than one boss, then there can be contradictory orders and the subordinate fails to understand whose orders to be followed. Fayol states, “An
employee should receive orders from one superior as soon as two superiors will execute authority over the same personnel, uneasiness makes itself felt, the disorder increases.” If the principle of unity of command is not observed, the authority is undermined, discipline, loyalty divided, and confusion and delays are caused.
- Unity of Direction. The principle of unity of direction implies that there should be “one head and one plan for a group of
activities having the same objective.” In other words, each group of activities having the same objectives must have one plan of action and must be under the control of one manager or superior. An organisation or group having different plans and more than one head cannot achieve the desired results. Fayol observed, ‘without unity of direction, unity of action, co—ordination of strength and focussing of effort cannot be achieved.
The principle of unity of command should
not be confused with the principle of unity of direction as both do not mean the same thing. The principle of unity of command is concerned with functioning of people while unity of direction is related to the activities. There cannot be unity of command with unity of direction, but it does not automatically follow from the latter. - Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest. It is an essential function of management to make people realise the objective.
The interest of the group and direct their efforts towards the achievement of these objectives. The interest of the group must always prevail over individual interest. The principle implies harmony of personal interest and common interest. Fayol is of the opinion that the interest of one employee or a group of employees should not prevail upon the is the duty of the management to reconcile them. In order to achieve this, managers must set a good example and must be firm but reasonable in dealing
with subordinates. Fair agreements with subordinates and constant supervision are essential to prevent promotion of individual interest at the cost of general interest.
- Fair Remuneration to Workers. Fayol was of the view that the remuneration paid to the workers should always be just and fair and should afford maximum satisfaction to both employee and the employer. The management must ensure fair reward for the work and decide the most equitable method of
calculating wages. The rates of wages depend upon a number of factors such as the cost of living, the demand for labour, general economic conditions, the current state of business and the value of the employee. It should provide sufficient incentive to the well-directed effort but over-payment beyond reasonable limits is undesirable.
- Effective Centralisation. Centralisation means concentration of authority in the hands of few, i.e. top management. Everything
which goes to increase the importance of subordinate’s role is decentralisation and everything which goes to reduce it is centralisation. Fayol was of the opinio4 that centralisation and decentralisation is a simple question of proportion and this proportion of finding the optimum degree should be decided keeping in view the circumstances of the particular case. The degree of centralisation may be different in different cases, but a balance must be maintained Between centralisation and
decentralisation of authority to attain the best possible results.
- Scalar Chain. Scalar chain refers to ‘the chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to the lowest ranks’. Fayol felt that a hierarchic Channel called the scalar chain is times to ensure unity of command and effective communication. Communication should follow through the established chain of command. However, a ‘gang plank’ may be created by passing the established line of authority, to
facilitate quick communication. Fayol illustrates his point with the help of the following example:
Suppose the scalar chain in an organisation is represented by the double ladder GAQ. Any communication from F to P will flow upwards A through E, D, C and B; and then downwards through L, M, N and 0. It will obviously take a long time. Hence, in order to minimise the delay involved in communication, a gang plank between F and P may be created as shown by a dotted
line. However, Fayol was of the opinion that the gang plank should not be a normal practice as it undermines the established lines of authority. But whenever it is necessary to do so in order to avoid delays and distortions, the subordinate should use the gang plank. - Order. The principle of order implies right man in the right job and right
material in the right place. Fayol was of the opinion that there must be material and social order in an enterprise. Material order means, “a proper place for everything an everything in its right place.” In the same manner, social order implies, a place for everyone and in his appointed place.” Each employee should occupy that place wherein he or she can render the best possible service. Right man in the right job and right material in right place would ensure effective utilisation of the
available resources in an organisation.
- Equity. Equity means justice and kindliness. Fayol was of the opinion that to encourage workers to fulfil their duties with devotion and loyalty, management should deal with employees with equity based on kindliness and justice. There should neither be nepotism nor favouritism and all should be given just and fair treatment. However, Fayol says that equity does not mean a total absence of force or harshness. He rather
suggests that these might become necessary sometimes for the sake of equity itself.
- Stability in the Tenure of Personnel. Stability in the tenure of- personnel is very essential because it takes time to get used to a job. Fayol was of the view that instability of tenure of personnel is both the cause and effect of bad management. A very high rate of labour turnover or change of personnel increases costs of selection and training and creates a bad name for the
organisation. It also causes instability and insecurity in the minds of the workers. To secure loyalty of workers, it is very essential to provide security of service to the workmen.
- Initiative. Initiative implies the power of thinking out a plan and ensuring its successful implementation. The manager should encourage or inspire the confidence of his subordinates so that they show initiative. For this, Fayol suggests that the manager should sacrifice his own
vanity. Initiative is a powerful motivator of human behaviour and a source of strength for the organisation.
- Esprit-de-corps. This principle implies that there should be co -operation and teamwork among the members of an organisation. Literally speaking, esprit-de-corps means the spirit of loyalty and devotion to the group to which one belongs. The manager must always make a constant effort to ensure harmony, cohesiveness, and esprit-de-corps among his
subordinates to ensure unity and high morale which is very essential for the success of an enterprise. Fayol suggested to discard two temptations for this:
- to divide the rule and
- abuse its written communication.
Divide and rule policy is self-defeating policy and oral directions and instructions given to subordinate make harmony, speed, and clarity. In addition to these principles, certain other
principles have been given by authors like Mooney and Reiley, Lyndall Urwick. RC. Davis. V.A Graicunas and others. Some of these principles having wide acceptance are given below: - Principle of Objective. There must be a business objective for the achievement of which everybody in the organisation should work. The business goals should be known to everybody so that all energy should is channelised to attain them. According to Koontz and O’Donnel. “The organisations as a
whole, and every part of it must contribute to the attainment of enterprise objectives. “
- Principle of Co – ordination. The Co-ordination of various activities of the business is another important principle of management. In the absence of co-ordination, there is a possibility of setting up different goals by different departments. There should be an orderly arrangements of group effort and unity of action in pursuit of common purpose. According to Mooney, “The
purpose of organisation per se, as distinguished from the purpose of the undertaking is, to facilitate coordination: Unity of effort.”
- Principle of Span of Supervision. Every person has a limited capacity to supervise and control people. No one can control or supervise other persons beyond a certain limit. According to this principle, a superior should supervise only that number of subordinates which he can properly supervise. The number of persons to be supervised
will depend upon the type and nature of work.
- Principle of planning. Proper planning is a pre-requisite for effective management. The goals and policies should be predetermined and ways and means should be decided to execute them properly. Carlee L Burgess states, “Planning is one of the corner-stones upon which successful enterprise depends.”
- Principle of Motivation. Motivation is the psychological process of creating urge
among the subordinates to do certain things or behave in the desired manner. The principle of motivation implies that performance of a worker depends upon his ability and motivation. A sound motivational system must be productive, competitive, comprehensive and flexible, and it must consider the psychological, social safety, ego and economic needs of the workers.
- Principle of Exception. The founders of this principle advocate that the managers should not be
burdened with all kinds of routine matters, rather only condensed reports requiring their attention must be sent to them, particularly at higher levels of management.
Principle of Participation. This principle has acquired much significance these days. The employee’s participation in decision- making is the outcome of principle of participation. Not only the supervisors but workers should also be consulted while taking important policy decisions. The process
of participation will ensure smooth implementation of various decisions.
Which principle states that a subordinate should have only one superior to whom he or she is directly responsible?
A subordinate should have only one superior to whom he or she is directly responsible is known as Unity of Command.
Which management principle state that each subordinate should report and receive to only one superior to avoid conflict or confusion?
Unity of Command - This principle states that each subordinate should receive orders and be accountable to one and only one superior. If an employee receives orders from more than one superior, it is likely to create confusion and conflict.
Which principle states that an employee should only have one boss?
Unity of command: This principle states that an employee should have one and only one supervisor to whom he or she is directly responsible. No employee should report to two or more people.
Should receive orders from and be accountable to only one superior is?
Explanation: Unity of command gives that a single subordinate is accountable to only one administrator, who thus is mindful to only one manager, etc., up the hierarchical chain of importance.
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