Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Preface
This course consists of five units. The first unit introduces the concept of
management, its features and functions. This unit will familiarize us with
the evolution of the management thoughts. The second unit discusses the
concept of planning. It also makes an attempt to highlight the nature and
scope of the planning, process and steps involved in planning, the same
unit provides information to enrich our knowledge on objectives, policies,
procedures, and throw light on strategic formulations. It also helps us to
read about the decision-making process types, and to enhance ideas on
Management By Objectives. Unit three aims to make us learn the
principles of organizations with the support of types and structures of
organization. The same unit is planned to discuss about the methods of
delegation, the ways and means of span of control and the significance
of staff and committees. Fourth unit of the subject highlights the style and
sources of recruitment. Here, in the same unit, objective and scope of
the training are also discussed. Along with the same, communication
process and practices in the organization are also discussed .The fifth
unit of the subject promotes us to take up the discussion on basic
requisites for coordination and control in any organization. This unit will
enable us to realize the importance and functions of control in an
organization. This unit shall progress to discuss on the control practices
and control techniques used by the organization.
UNIT - I
INTRODUCTION TO
MANAGEMENT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to understand
the nature and purpose of management
that management is both an art and science
the managerial functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading
and controlling.
the evolution of management thoughts
the contribution of selected management thinkers
various approaches to management
contemporary management practices
managing global environment
The above said views are taken closely for consideration to define
management. Mary Parker Follet defined management as “the art of
getting things done by others”. This definition was criticized for the smack
of a manipulative character about the practice of a manager and also for
treating the employees for mere means to certain ends. Management
was redefined by a strong understanding that it is not only getting things
done by others but there should be something more than that. This can
be achieved by providing them good opportunities for growth and
advancement.
Properties of Art
Art is the application of knowledge and personal skills to achieve results.
It is a way of living. Art is based on the knowledge of principles offered
by science. A surgeon or a physician without the knowledge of medical
science becomes a witch doctor, with the knowledge of science an artful
doctor. Art is basically concerned with application of knowledge, how
to do things creatively and skillfully. It can be improved through constant
practice only. Terry has drawn the distinctions between science and art.
Therefore :
Anna Universtiy Chennai 7
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
emergencies. The ability to meet the problems head-on does not come
by chance. It requires sound knowledge and constant practice. Managers
therefore, have to fruitfully combine their scientific knowledge with artistic
skills in order to emerge as winners, in a competitive environment.
jobs for which workers are required. After that, the most appropriate
qualification, training, experience and the level of efficiency for the
requisite post are determined. Employees are selected according to
predetermined standards in an impartial way. Workers should be
specifically trained for the jobs they are appointed to, so that they
can perform their jobs effectively.
6. Differential Piece-Wage Plan: Taylor suggested this plan to attract
highly efficient workers. Under this plan, there are two-piece work
rates, one is lower and another is higher. The standard of efficiency
is determined either in terms of time or output based on time and
motion study. If a worker finishes work within the standard time or
produces more than standard output within the standard time, he
will be given higher piece rate. On the other hand, if a worker is
below the standard, he shall be given lower piece rate.
7. Specialization: Taylor advocated that specialization must be
introduced in a factory. He advocated functional foremanship for
this purpose. In his scheme, planning was separated from executing.
He recommended eight foremen in all, to control the various aspects
of production. He suggested four foremen in the planning department,
namely, route clerk, instruction card clerk, time and cost clerk and
shop disciplinarian. The four foremen recommended for getting the
required performance from the workers include gang boss, speed
boss, repair boss and inspector.
Principles of Management
Principles of Management implies a list of current management practices.
Though F.W. Taylor developed principles of management, credit goes
to Henri Fayol, a French management theorist for advocating and
publishing certain principles (or laws) for the soundness and good working
of the management. Henri Fayol warned that the principles of management
should be, (i) Flexible and not absolute; must be usable regardless of
changing conditions, (ii) Used with intelligence and with a sense of
proportion, etc. Henri Fayol listed 14 principles which are briefed below:
1. Division of Work (or Labour)
- Division of work means dividing the work on the principle that different
workers (and different places) are best fitted for different jobs (or things)
depending upon influences arising from geography, natural conditions,
personal aptitude and skills.
- Division of work leads to specialization.
- Concept of division of labour can be applied to all kinds of work,
managerial as well as technical.
- Unity of direction implies that there should be one plan and one
head for each group of activities having the same objective.
In other words, there should be one common plan for an enterprise as a
whole.
6. Subordination of Individual to General Interest
- The interests of an individual person should be permitted to supersede
or prevail upon the general interests of the enterprise.
- This is necessary to maintain unity and to avoid friction among the
employees.
7. Remuneration
Remuneration is the price paid to the employees for the services rendered
by them for the enterprise. Remuneration should (i) be fair, and (ii) bring
maximum satisfaction to both employees and the employer.
8. Centralization of Authority
- Centralization of authority means that the authority is in the hands of
the center, i.e., the authority is not dispersed among different sections.
- In a business organization, authority should be centralized only to
that degree or extent which is essential for the best overall
performance.
- Degree of centralization is decided by keeping in view the nature,
size and complexity of the (business) enterprise.
9. Scalar Chain
- Managers may be regarded as a chain of superiors. There should be
an unbroken line of authority and command through all levels from
the highest (i.e., general manager) to the lowest ranks (employee).
- The chain of superiors should be short circuited, when following it
strictly will be detrimental to performance.
10. Order
- This promotes the idea that everything (e.g., materials) and everyone
(human being) has his place in the organization.
- Materials and human beings should be arranged such that right
material (things)/person are in the right place.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 19
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
FOLLOWERS OF TAYLOR
Among the immediate disciples of Taylor were such outstanding pioneers
as Henry L. Gantt and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, to mention only a few.
Bureaucracy-Definition
A Structure with highly routine operating tasks achieved through
specialization, much formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are
grouped into functional departments, centralized authority, narrow spans
of control and decision making that follows the chain of command.
Elements of Bureaucracy are:
1. Hierarchy
2. Division of work
3. Rules, regulations and procedures
4. Records
5. Impersonal Relationships
6. Administrative class
Advantages of Bureaucracy: It is having the following qualities of
distinction like
Specialization
Rationality
Predictability
Democracy
Disadvantages of Bureaucracy are as follows :
Rigidity
Impersonality
Displacement of objectives
Compartmentalization of activities
Empire building
Red tape
Hawthorne Studies
In 1927, a group of researchers led by George Elton Mayo and Fritz
J. Roethlisberger at the Harvard Business School were invited to join in
the studies at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company,
Chicago. The experiment lasted up to 1932. Earlier, from 1924 to 1927,
the National Research Council made a study in collaboration with the
Western Electric Company to determine the effect of illumination and
other conditions upon workers and their productivity.
24 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
(iii) People working in the organization have their needs and goals, which
may differ, from the organizational goals. Attempts should be made
to achieve fusion between organizational goals and human needs.
(iv) A wide range of factors influence inter-personal and group behavior
of people in organizations.
Classification of Sub-systems
There are various ways of classifying sub-systems and one may support
any of them. Each of the organization unit may be treated as a sub-system.
In other words, each functional unit of an organization may be regarded
as different sub-systems such as production sub-system, personnel or
finance or sales sub-systems, etc. Seiler has classified four components
in an organization, i.e., human inputs, technological inputs, organizational
inputs and social structure and norms. From these inputs, he has derived
the concept of socio-technical system, Kast and Rosenzweig have
identified five subsystems, i.e., goal and values sub-system, technical
sub-system, psychological sub-system, structural sub-system, and
managerial sub-system. Katz and Kahn have, identified five sub-systems.
These are: technical sub-system concerned with the work that gets done;
supportive sub-system concerning with the procurement, disposal and
institutional relations; maintenance sub-system for uniting people into their
functional roles; adaptive sub-system concerned with organizational
change; and managerial sub-system for direction, adjudication and control
of many sub-systems and activities of the whole structure. Carzo and
Yunouzas give three kinds of sub-systems in an organization as a system,
Anna Universtiy Chennai 33
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
i.e., technical, social and power sub-systems. We shall here discuss these
three sub-systems.
1. Technical Sub-system: The technical sub-system may be referred
to as the formal organization. It refers to the knowledge required for
the performance of tasks including the techniques used in the
transformation of inputs into outputs. Being a formal organization, it
decides to make use of a particular technology; there is a given layout;
policies, rules and regulations are framed; different hierarchical levels
are developed; authority is given and responsibilities are fixed; and
necessary technical engineering and efficiency consideration are laid
down. The behavior in the organization cannot be explained fully by
technical sub-system, also because there is a fundamental conflict
between the individual , a part of the system and the system itself
resulting from the expectancies of the organization and that of the
people regarding the work he has to perform. It requires certain
modifications in the behavior of the man through the social and power
sub-systems (explained later).
The objective of the technical sub-system is to make necessary
imports from the environment, transform them into products or
services and expert them back to the environment. For this purpose,
it involves decisions, communications, action and balance processes.
Through the decision process, three main problems of what to
produce, for whom to produce and how to produce are resolved.
Decisions are based on information gathered from various sources.
Such informations are communicated through the communication
process to action centres to implement them. Through balance
process, an administrative balance is obtained so that all parts may
be co-ordinated and no one part can dominate all other parts in the
organization. These processes take place on the basis of roles
assigned to people according to the requirements of the job. In order
to handle the job properly, one is given authority from the superiors
and is assigned a status matching with the importance of the job and
the individual’s ability to do the job. Norms of conduct are defined
in the well-designed policies, norms, rules, procedures and
description of the job. Thus, the arrangement of job in relation to
each other, process and authority relations, etc. provide a structure
to the technical sub-system.
34 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
1.4.1 Planning
Planning is a mental process requiring the use of intellectual faculties,
foresight and sound judgment. It is the determination of a course of action
to achieve the desired result. “It is the selecting and relating of facts and
the making and using of assumptions regarding the future in the visualization
and formation of proposed activities believed necessary to achieve desired
results.” It involves deciding in advance what to do, when to do it, where
to do it, how to do it and who is to do it and how the results are to be
evaluated. Thus, planning is the systematic thinking about the ways and
means for the accomplishment of pre-determined objectives. Goals or
objectives have to be clarified first before taking any other decision.
Goals provide the basis for looking into the future and for evaluating the
performance with the predetermined standards.
Planning bridges the gap between where we are , to where we want to
go. It is a prerequisite to doing anything. Systematic planning is necessary
for any business activity; otherwise it will be done in a haphazard manner.
Proper planning is a must to ensure effective utilization of human and
non-human resources to achieve the desired goals. It has to be done at
all levels of management. The process of planning involves the following
steps:
(i) Determination of goals or objectives of the enterprise, (ii) forecasting,
(iii) search of alternative courses of action, (iv) evaluation of various
alternatives and formulation of a plan. (v) Formulation of policies and
procedures, (vi) preparation of schedules, programmes and budgets.
42 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
1.4.2 Organizing
Organizing is an important managerial activity by which management brings
together the manpower and material resources for the achievement of
pre-determined objectives. Organization is the process of establishing
relationships among the members of the enterprise. The relationships are
created in terms of authority and responsibility. Each member in the
organization is assigned a specific responsibility or duty to perform and
is granted the corresponding authority to perform his duty.
In the words of Louis A. Allen, “Organization involves identification and
grouping the activities to be performed and dividing them among the
individuals and creating authority and responsibility relationships among
them for the accomplishment of organizational objectives”. Thus,
organizing involves the determination of activities to be performed,
grouping them and assigning them to various individuals and creating a
structure of authority and responsibility among the individuals to achieve
the organizational goals. Organization involves the following steps:
(1) Identification of activities required for the achievement of objectives
and Implementation of plans.
(2) Grouping of activities so as to create well-defined jobs
(3) Assignment of jobs to employees
(4) Delegation of authority to subordinates
(5) Establishment of authority-responsibility relationships throughout the
organization
1.4.3 Staffing
The staffing function of management pertains to recruitment, selection,
training, development and appraisal of personnel. There is a controversy
whether staffing is a function of every manager in the organization as
there is personnel department in every organization. Since every manager
is concerned with management of human resources, he must perform the
function. In fact, every manager is associated with the employment,
training and appraisal of human resources.
1.4.4 Directing
The term ‘directing’ or ‘direction’ is generally used in every walk of life.
It has got a wide interpretation these days. It is no more restricted to
Anna Universtiy Chennai 43
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
1.4.5 Controlling
The function of controlling deals with the measurement and correction of
the performance of persons against the pre-determined standards. E.F.L.
Brech defined control as the process of checking actual performance
against standards to ensure satisfactory performance. Fayol viewed
control as verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the
plan adopted, the instructions issued and principles established.
Controlling leads to taking corrective action if the results do not conform
to plans.
The process of control involves the following steps:
(i) Establishment of Standards. The management must establish
Standards with which the actual performance of the subordinates
will be compared. The standards of performance should be laid down
in unambiguous terms and should be understood by everyone in the
establishment.
(ii) Measurement of Performance. After the performance is over, the
actual performance has to be measured in terms of quantity, quality,
cost and time.
(iii) Appraisal of performance. The establishment of standards has no
meaning unless they are used in actual practice. The management
must compare the actual performance with the pre-established
standards. The deviations from the standards should be recorded
and brought to knowledge of the management.
(iv) Taking Corrective Action. When the deviations from the standards
are reported to the management, it must take corrective action so
that such things do not occur again. While taking corrective steps,
management should consider the improvement of plans and
standards.
Planning
Planning requires setting objectives and then selecting strategies, policies,
programs and procedures for achieving them. A critically important
activity for the MNC is the assessment of opportunities and threats in
the external environment. This is a complex task even for a domestic
enterprise, but it becomes much more intricate when many different, ever-
changing world markets must be scanned.
External threats and opportunities must be matched with the internal
strengths and weaknesses of the firm. For example, a poor educational
system makes it difficult to find qualified personnel. Similarly, cultural
orientation towards time will affect planning. Finally, political and
economic instability in a country makes it difficult to forecast and will
discourage long term commitment of resources. Each big MNC finds it
difficult to face the competency in the world wide market. So they are
grouping in to a form global strategic partnerships. American telephone
corp. and telegraph comp. shares technology with Olivetti and Philips,
both large MNC’s in Europe.
Organizing
Objective of the organization is to achieve the corporate goals. One can
choose the best among the variety of structures for them to suit. For
example vice president at corporate head quarters may be responsible
for the international division. Another alternative may be to organize
according to geographic areas. For example managers may be put in
charge of regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa
and the Far East. Still another way of grouping organizational activities is
according to product lines. For instance at corporate headquarters,
managers may be put in charge of product line which is marketed
worldwide. The truly MNC may integrate domestic and international
business into a global structure which gives similar importance to domestic
and foreign business activities. Each structure has advantages and
50 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Staffing
Staffing involves identifying the vacancy positions and filling up by the
qualified persons.
Managers of the MNC can be classified in three ways. First managers
may be nationals selected from the country in which the headquarters is
located .These expatriates are chosen to represent and manage the
enterprise abroad. These managers because of their experience are usually
familiar with the parent company’s policies and operations.
Second managers are those who are nationals of the host country. These
managers are familiar with the country’s environment, its education system
its culture its legal and political processes and its economic environment.
They usually also know local customers, suppliers, government officials,
behavioural characteristics of employees and the public in general.
Third source of managerial personnel consists of third county nationals.
These managers who have a nationality that is different from the parent
company or the host country. Such managers may have gained experience
by working at the company head quarters as well as in different countries.
Thus, they would have developed behavioural flexibility that eases their
adaptation to different cultures. These managers may by truly transcultural.
Each of the three sources for managers has advantages and disadvantages
and a firm may use a variety of combinations. A few factors that influence
the trend in staffing MNCs are worth noting. First, the cost of sending
U.S. dollar in the 1970s and in 1986. Second, people in the host countries
are now better prepared to assume responsible managerial positions.
Motivating and leading demand an understanding of employees and their
cultural environment. For instance, participative management may work
in one country but may cause confusion among employees in another
country with tradition of autocratic rule.
Communication is often a problem in multinational firms with subsidiaries
and affiliates in countries where different languages are spoken. Even a
firm with operations in a country where English is the primary language
may encounter communication problems because of the distance between
Anna Universtiy Chennai 51
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Summary
Management is the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing
and controlling to accomplish objectives through the coordinated use of
human and material resources. Management thinkers have tried to interpret
the term in multifarious ways: as a noun, as a process, as a team, as a
discipline, as an activity, as an economic resource, as a system of
authority or as a distinct class in society having its own value system.
Management is the life-blood of a business. It ensures optimum use of
scarce resources, offers competent leadership, ensures peaceful industrial
relations, achieves goals, improves standard of living and enables a
company to manage change effectively.
Management is being increasingly accepted as a soft science and also as
a difficult and complex art, as it deals with human behavior, which is
highly unpredictable. Management, from another standpoint, is also
interpreted as a profession having a well-defined set of principles and
52 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Review Questions :
1. Define management.
2. Is management – science or art? Discuss.
3. State the Managerial functions.
4. What are skills required to a manager?
5. Describe different levels of management.
6. List the roles of managers.
7. Discuss the evolution of management thoughts.
54 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
UNIT - II
PLANNING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to understand
what is managerial planning and why it is important.
the various types of plans and show how they relate to one another.
the logical steps in planning and see how these steps are essentially
a rational approach to setting objectives and selecting the means of
reaching them.
the basic principle underlying the determination of how far in the
future to plan and how to build desirable flexibility into plans to meet
future uncertainties at the lowest cost.
the importance of reviewing plans periodically to make sure that
they are up to date in light of any new developments.
decision making as a rational process, with special attention given to
evaluating alternatives in light of the goals sought.
alternative courses of action with due consideration of the limiting
factor.
select alternatives on the basis of experience and experimentation,
as well as research and analysis.
differentiate between programmed and non-programmed decisions,
understand the differences between decisions made under conditions
of certainty, uncertainty and risks.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 55
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Planning is the systematic thinking about the ways and means for the
accomplishment of predetermined objectives. Planning produces
fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an
organization is, what it does, and why it does it. Planning bridges the gap
between where we are and where we want to go. It requires broad-
scale information gathering, an exploration of alternatives, and an emphasis
on the future implications of present decisions. Top level managers engage
chiefly in strategic planning or long range planning. They answer such
questions as “What is the purpose of this organization?” , “What does
this organization have to do in the future to remain competitive?” Top
level managers clarify the mission of the organization and set its goals.
The output needed by top management for long range planning is summary
reports about finances, operations, and the external environment.
Goals or objectives have to be clarified first before taking any other
decision. Goals provide the basis for looking into the future and for
evaluating the performance with the predetermined standards. It is a
prerequisite to doing anything. Systematic planning is necessary for any
business activity, otherwise it will be done in a haphazard manner. Proper
planning is a must to ensure effective utilization of human and non human
resources to achieve the desired goals. It has to be done at all levels of
management.
The necessity for planning arises because of the fact that business
organizations have to operate, survive and progress in a highly dynamic
economy where change is the rule, not the exception. The change may
be sudden and extensive, or it may be slow and almost imperceptible.
Some of the important forces of change may be: changes in technology,
changes in population and income distribution, changes in the tastes of
consumers, changes in competition, changes in government policies etc.
These changes often give rise to innumerable problems and throw
countless challenges. Most of these changes are thrust on managers;
thus, managers are forced to adjust their activities in order to take full
advantage of favourable developments or to minimize the adverse effects
of unfavourable ones. Successful managers try to visualize the problems
before they turn into emergencies. As pointed out by Terry, “successful
managers deal with foreseen problems, and unsuccessful managers
struggle with unforeseen problems. The difference lies in planning.”
56 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
MEANING
A plan is a forecast for accomplishment. It is a predetermined course of
action. It is today’s projection for tomorrow’s activity. In other words,
to plan is to produce a scheme for future action, to bring about specified
results at a specified cost, in a specified period of time. Management
thinkers have defined the term, basically, in two ways:
Based on futurity: “Planning is a trap laid down to capture the future”
(Allen). “Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done in future”
(Koontz). “Planning is informed anticipation of future” (Haimann).
“Planning is ‘anticipatory’ decision-making” (R.L. Ackoff).
As a thinking function: “Planning is a thinking process, an organised
foresight, a vision based on fact and experience that is required for
intelligent action” (Afford and Beatty)
“Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it
and who is to do it.” (Koontz and O’Donnel)
It is deciding in the present, what is to be done in future? It is the process
of thinking before doing. A plan is a specific, documented intention
consisting of an objective and an action statement. The objective portion
is the end, and the action statement represents the means to that end.
Stated another way, objectives give management targets to shoot at,
whereas action statements provide arrows for hitting the targets. Properly
conceived plans tell what, where and how something is to done.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 57
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
which sets long-range goals for the firm and then proceeds to formulate
specific plans for attaining these goals. Long-range planning attempts
typically to grapple with the question “what must our company do, today
to be ready for the uncertainties of tomorrow.” It does not deal with
future decisions. It deals with the futurity of present decisions. What an
organization should do tomorrow is not important or relevant. What is
more important is an answer to the question: What do we have to do
today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow? Thus, long-range planning
is a risk-taking decision-making. There is no attempt to mastermind the
future.
Short Range Planning and Operational Planning
Short-range planning: A plan that (is specific and detailed) generally covers
a span of one year or less.
Short-range planning covers a period of one to twelve months, depending
on the nature of business, and the traditions prevailing in the industry.
Short-range plans are otherwise called operational plans. They are usually
made in a specific and detailed manner. The emphasis is on flexible
budgets, on goals and targets, expressed in a clear and precise language.
The primary concern is efficiency (doing things right) rather than
effectiveness (doing the right things). To this end, short-range plans gather
information, evaluate alternatives and select the most suitable course of
action. Operative plans provide content and form to long-range plans.
In fact, short-range planning is an extension of long-range corporate
plans. Market plans, production plans and financial plans are typical
examples of operational planning.
It goes too far into the future; Uncertainty The time horizon is limited and
Anna Universtiy Chennai 75
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
It goes too far into the future; Uncertainty The time horizon is limited and
the risk and uncertainty level the risk associated with
is high. uncertainty level is low.
Basis for planning Primarily judgmental Exact data and standards used
Predictability Uncertain. Highly certain
Anticipated accuracy Within 25 per cent Within 2 or 3 per cent
Management functions Planning and forecasting
Control primarily
involved dominant
Management control of Slight; contingency Almost complete single -option
outcomes plans required plans used
- Objectives - Programmes
- Policies & Strategies - Budgets
- Procedures - Projects
- Methods
- Rules
2.10.1 Objectives
Objectives are the ends towards which the activities of the enterprise
are aimed. They represent not only the end point of planning but also the
end towards which organizing, directing and controlling are aimed.
Objectives provide direction to various activities. They also serve as the
benchmark of measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the enterprise.
Objectives make every human activity purposeful. Planning has no
meaning if it is not related to certain objectives. It will be an empty mental
exercise if it does not determine what objectives are to be accomplished.
The management must determine (a) overall and departmental, (b) short-
term and long-term, and (c) economic and social objectives so as to
make planning effective. When objectives are clear, every individual in
the organization will understand what he can contribute for the
achievement of these objectives. It is important to point out that objectives
or goals are plans and they involve the same planning process as any
other type of planning, eventhough they are also endpoints of planning.
The objectives should be set very carefully. The goals of each and every
department must be directed towards the achievement of organizational
goals. Similarly, the short-range objectives must aim at helping the
achievement of overall long-range goals of the enterprise. In many
organizations, where the main activities involve the implementation of
projects to carry out the overall goals, the setting of project goals assumes
greater importance.
Characteristics of Objectives
Objectives have the following features :
Objectives form a hierarchy. In many organizations, objectives are
structured in a hierarchy of importance. There are objectives within
objectives. They all require painstaking definition and close analysis, if
they are to be useful separately and profitable as a whole. The hierarchy
of objectives is a graded series in which each succeeding managerial
level down to the level of the individual supports organization’s goals.
The objectives of each unit contribute to the objectives of the next higher
unit. Each operation has a simple objective, which must fit in and add to
the final objective. Hence, no work should be undertaken unless it
contributes to the overall goal. Usually, the hierarchy or objectives in an
Overall Objectives
Divisional Objectives
Departmental Objectives
Individual Objectives
and (iii) distribution channels (who is getting the product to the customers).
2. Innovation: In every business, there are three kinds of innovations:
Innovation in product or service; innovation in market place, consumer
behavior and value; and innovation in the various skills and activities
needed to make the products and services and to bring them to the market.
The chief problem in setting innovation objectives is the difficulty of
measuring the importance of various innovations. Management must, first
of all, anticipate the innovation goals needed to reach marketing goals. It
must also find out the technological developments in all areas of business.
For example, the survival of an insurance company depends on: the
development of new forms of insurance, the modification of existing
policies, finding out cheaper ways of selling policies and settling claims
etc. Operating in a competitive world forces business firms to place
emphasis on innovation goals.
3. Productivity. Productivity is the ratio of an organization’s inputs to its
outputs. All business will have the same resources to work with; it is the
quality of management that differentiates one business from another. It
must decide as to what inputs of labour, equipment and finances are
necessary to produce the firm’s outputs.
4. Physical and financial resources: Every business must be able to
attract resources-physical, financial and human and put them to
productive use for effective performance. Resource mobilization is a two
step process anticipating the needs of the business and planning to obtain
the resources in an economical fashion. After mobilizing resources, one
also has to say, “This is what is available; what do we have to be, how
we have to behave to get the fullest benefit?”
5. Managerial performance and development: In order to ‘stay in’
and remain profitable, every business needs strong, innovative managers.
So, it is highly important, especially in the case of large organizations, to
set objectives relating to the quality of management performance, the
development of managers at various levels in the organization.
6. Worker performance and attitudes: Organizations must provide
tangible benefits to the individuals working for its continued growth. Thus,
workers want wages, managers want salaries, owners want profits. These
are the inducements that an organization must provide, in order to obtain
performance (contributions) from various groups. Operative level
86 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2.10.2 Projects
A project may be defined as a complex cluster of related activities with
a distinct objective and a definite completion time period. In some cases,
major plans can be decomposed into a number of projects each with a
clear cut set of objectives. Such projects can be isolated and taken up
for completion as a package; a project may involve the introduction of
large automatic plant, building of a dam or a building, or the introduction
of a new product. The task of executing the project is put under the
charge of a Project Manager.
Project Manager is an expert in his area and he formulates various plans,
programs and policies and takes ultimate decisions. He designs various
budgets and authorizes expenditure on various items. However, he draws
personnel and assistance from the functional departments of the
organization like finance, marketing, engineering and production. People
from various departments go back to their departments when their job is
over.
2.10.3 Policies
Policies are guidelines or general limits within which the members of an
enterprise act. They are general statements or understandings, which
guide thinking and action. Policies exist at various levels of the
enterprise-corporate, divisional and departmental. They are valuable
because they allow lower levels of management to handle problems
without going to top management for a decision each time. Some
examples of policies at various levels of the enterprise are given below:
88 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
1. No employee will accept any gift from any supplier except for token
gifts of purely nominal or advertising value.
2. Each employee will proceed on one week’s vacation each year.
3. No employee will accept any outside employment.
Policies provide a broad guide as to how the objectives of a business
are to be achieved. While objectives provide the ends which a manager
should try to achieve, the policies provide the guidelines: which he should
keep in view while achieving the ends, A policy is “an established guiding
canon premised on objective, devised to govern the activities of the
business enterprise and from which the basic precepts of conduct are
derived”. A policy is devised to guide the organizational members to
deal with a particular situation in a particular manner. It delimits the area
within which a decision is to be made and assures that the decision will
be consistent with and contributive to business objectives.
Characteristics of a Policy
Policies tend to predefine issues, avoid repeated analysis, and give a
unified structure to other types of plans. Thus, policies are not simple
statements, they have certain purpose behind them. A statement should
have the following characteristics in order to be accepted as a policy.
(i) Policy is an expression of intentions of Top Management. It should
present the principle that will guide the organization actions. Most of
the policy statements reflect a faith in the ethical value of the people.
(ii) Policy is stated in Broad Terms. The purpose of a policy statement
is to serve as a guide to practice now and in future; so it should be
stated in the broadest possible terms.
(iii) Policy is Long Lasting. A policy should be formulated after taking
into account the long-range plans and needs of the organization.
(iv) Policy is developed with the Active Participation of Top Management.
Policy development calls for serious thinking and participation of all
the top executives. Policies live longer than people who frame them.
They are framed in such a manner that they apply to all members of
the organization alike from top to bottom. The policies should also
get approval of the highest authority in the organization.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 89
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
(v) Policy is in Writing. Policies take concrete shape when they are put
in writing. This will ensure uniformity in application. In case of
disagreement at lower levels, written policy serves as the final
reference point. Written policies ensure continuity and greater
conformity.
Advantages of Policies
A policy is a guide for repetitive action in major areas of activity. It is a
statement of commonly accepted understanding of decision-making
criteria. Policies are set up to achieve several benefits. By taking policy
decisions on frequently occurring problems, the top management provides
the guidelines to lower level managers. It will permit decisions to be
made in similar situations without repeating the reasons and expensive
analysis required initially to state the policy or make the decision. Policies
help managers at various levels to act with confidence without the need
of consulting the superiors every time. This will also ensure promptness
of action.
The benefits of policies are as follows
(i) By making policy decisions on frequently recurring problems, the
top management provides the guidelines to lower level managers.
(ii) Policies help managers at various levels to act with confidence without
the need for consulting the superiors every time. This also ensures
promptness of action.
(iii) Policies facilitate better administrative control. Policies provide the
rational basis for evaluating the results.
(iv) By setting up policies, the management ensures that decisions made
will be consistent and in tune with the objectives, and interests of the
enterprise.
(v) Policies secure coordination and integration of efforts in
accomplishing the organizational objectives.
(vi) Policies save time and effort by pre-deciding problems in repetitive
situations. They save the management from the botheration of
repeating the expensive analysis required to take the policy decision
every time.
Limitations of Policies
(i) Policies are repeatedly used plans and they bring about rigidity in
operations. They leave no room for initiative by the subordinates.
(ii) Policies do not cover all the problems. Sometimes, unforeseen
situations arise which are not covered by the existing policies.
(iii) Policies are no substitute for human judgment. Policies only delimit
the area within which decisions are to be made.
(iv) Policies are not ever lasting.
Policy Formulation
It is the responsibility of the top management to make policies or to take
policy decisions. Policies involve standing decisions, which are used
repetitively over a period of time by different levels in the organization.
Policies are required in different functions of the enterprise. But the top
executives may not have the total expertise to lay down policies for all
functional areas in the organization. It is here that the contribution of
functional and other line managers and staff officials assumes significance.
Such participation will boost the morale of the participants and will ensure
better acceptance of these policies. No policy will produce the desired
result if it is not acceptable to those who are to use the policy.
A policy represents a management decision. That means policy
formulation involves various stages of decision making process, namely,
defining the problem, analyzing the problem, collecting information,
developing alternatives, selecting the best alternative, putting the decision
into practice and follow up. These steps have been discussed in detail in
Types of Policies
The management should always be in search of areas where there may
be a need for a policy. Policies must be set up in the key areas of the
enterprise like production, purchase, finance, personnel and marketing.
If this is done, the policies will be classified by major functions of the
enterprise. Policies may also be classified on the basis of source of the
policy, i.e., (i) external, (ii) internal, and (iii) appealed. External policies
include those policies, which arise to meet the various controls and
requests of forces outside the enterprise, such as government, trade unions
and trade associations. Internal policies include those initiated by managers
at various levels to guide the subordinates. Appealed policies come into
existence from the appeal of an exceptional problem by a subordinate to
92 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
his superior regarding how to handle the problem. They are formed since
the existing policies are insufficient to solve the problem.
G.R.Terry has given another classification of policies based on the
organizational levels of managers. There may, be policies which are used
primarily by the top managers, other principles by the middle managers
and still other policies which are applicable chiefly to the first line
managers. The policies at these three levels may be termed as basic,
general and departmental policies, Basic policies affect and relate to the
topmost level of managerial hierarchy. General policies affect the middle
level managers and are more specific than the basic policies. Departmental
policies are highly specific and are applicable at the lowest level of
management to deal with the day-to-day problems in dealing with the
people at work.
2.10.4 Procedures
A procedure is a systematic way of handling regular events. It is stated in
terms of steps to be followed in carrying out certain kinds of work.
According to Terry, a procedure is a series of related tasks that make up
the chronological sequence and the established way of performing the
work to be accomplished.” It is a list of systematic steps for handling
events that occur regularly. Chronological sequence of required actions
is the essence of any procedure. A procedure is a guide to action rather
than to thinking, so it hardly leaves any room for judgment. Procedures
involve planned sequence and consistency. For instance, there may be
different procedures in an enterprise for processing an order, shipping
the goods, handling claims, collection of payments, and so on.
Procedures are operational guides to action as they routinise the way
certain recurring jobs are to be performed. The establishment of various
procedures tends to impart systematized order in place of confusion in
the organization. They help in management by system. They serve as
means by which decisions are implemented. Well-conceived procedures
allow effective delegation and decentralization of authority without loss
of control and coordination.
A streamlined, simplified and sound procedure helps to expedite and
accelerate clerical work without duplication and waste of efforts and
resources. It will lubricate the channels of information and, thus, help top
management in timely decision-making. Even the information flow can
Anna Universtiy Chennai 93
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Advantages of Procedures
(i) Procedures minimize the burden of decision-making because the
sequence of steps to be followed is standardized.
(ii) Procedures often lead to simplification of workflow and elimination
of unnecessary steps.
(iii) Procedures ensure uniformity and consistency of action under
recurring situations.
(iv) Procedures are developed after careful analysis of various operations,
which are necessary for bringing coordination in the organization.
(v) Procedures are an important aid to communication because they
communicate the steps to be followed to complete a, particular piece
of work.
(vi) Procedures serve as a medium of control by enabling the managers
to evaluate the performance of their subordinates.
Limitations of Procedures
(i) Procedures bring about rigidity in the performance of operations.
Thus, they discourage the search for any improvement.
(ii) A procedure lays down the fixed way of doing a particular job and
thus a more effective, way of doing a job may not be given proper
attention.
(iii) Procedures need to be reviewed and updated constantly because
they become obsolete with the change in the nature of business
operations.
2.10.5 Strategies
The term ‘strategy’ has been adapted from war and is being increasingly
used in business to reflect broad overall objectives and policies of an
enterprise. In the context of business, strategy refers to the firm’s overall
plan for dealing with and existing in its environment. Strategies most often
denote a general programme of action and deployment of emphasis and
resources to attain comprehensive objectives. Strategies are plans made
in the light of the plans of the competitors because a modern business
institution operates in a competitive environment. They are a useful
framework for guiding enterprise thinking and action. For instance, a
Anna Universtiy Chennai 95
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2.10.6 Methods
There is a method for accomplishing each phase of work within a
procedure. A method is the manual or mechanical means by which each
operation is performed. It means an established manner of doing an
operation, thus, a method is more limited in scope than procedure because
Anna Universtiy Chennai 101
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
it deals with a task that is only one step of a procedure. For instance, in
the procedure for processing order, there are methods for acknowledging
the incoming order, checking the credit status of the customer, preparing
the sales invoice and distributing the copies of the invoice.
2.10.7 Programmes
A programme involves planning for future events and establishing a
sequence of required actions. For instance, it might include such general
activities as locating new suppliers as a source of additional raw materials,
purchasing new machines that will enable to increase output, changing
over some existing machines to meet new demands or hiring new people
to operate new equipment. Thus, a programme is a complex of objectives,
policies, procedures, task assignments, steps to be taken, resources to
be employed and other elements necessary to carry out a given course
of action. A programme may be as major as to start a new factory or
may be as minor as a scheme formulated by a foreman to improve the
morale of the workers.
2.10.8 Budgets
Budgets are plans for using money and materials. Budgeting is an
important part of overall planning as different kinds of budgets are
prepared to utilize scarce resources in the best possible manner. A budget
is a statement of expected results expressed in numerical terms like
rupees, product units, or man hours. Since it is a statement of expected
results, it is also used as an instrument of managerial control. It provides
a standard by which actual operations can be measured and variations
can be checked. But it should not be forgotten that making a budget is
clearly planning. A budget forces an enterprise to make in advance a
numerical compilation of expected cash flow, expenses and revenues,
capital outlays, man or machine-hour utilization etc. Budgeting is essential
for control, but it cannot serve as a control mechanism unless it reflects
plans. As a means of effective planning, the process of budgeting may
involve the preparation of budgets of sales, purchase, materials, labor,
manufacturing expenses, etc.
Budgeting is a key managerial process and is important for coordinating the
activities of various departments. It coordinates by adjusting every departmental
budget into the master budget. Every departmental head is forced to conscious
plan the future operations of his department in tangible terms.
102 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2.10.9. Rules
Every organization attempts to operate in an orderly way by laying down
certain rules. Rules are the simplest and the most specific type of standing
plans. They are used for guiding what may or may not be done. A rule
demands a specific action. It is more rigid than a policy. Rules generally
pertain to the administrative area of a procedure. A rule may not be
apart of any procedure. For example, a rule like ‘No smoking’ is not
related to any procedure. Rules demand strict compliance. Their violation
is generally associated with some sort of disciplinary action.
(iv) Standing plans ensure quick action whenever need arises because
there is no need to repeat the reasoning and analysis required initially
to design a standing plan whenever a similar situation arises. Thus,
they are great labor saving devices as they provide frames of reference
for tackling recurring situations.
(v) Standing plans facilitate better administrative control. They provide
the rational bases of evaluating the results of efforts of persons
working at the various levels in the enterprise.
Characteristics of Decision-Making
The important characteristics of decision-making may be listed thus:
1. Goal-oriented: Decision-making is a goal-oriented process. Decisions
are usually made to achieve some purpose or goal. The intention is to
move ‘toward some desired state of affairs’.
2.Alternatives: A decision should be viewed as ‘a point reached in a
stream of action’. It is characterized by two activities : search and choice.
The manager searches for opportunities to arrive at decisions and for
alternative solutions, so that action may take place. Choice leads to
decision; it is the selection of a course of action needed to solve a
problem. When there is no choice of action, no decision is required. The
need for decision-making arises only when some uncertainty, as to
outcome exists.
3. Analytical-intellectual: Decision-making is not a purely intellectual
process. It has both the intuitive and deductive logic; it contains conscious
and unconscious aspects. Part of it can be learned, but part of it depends
upon the personal characteristics of the decision maker. Decision-making
cannot be completely quantified; nor is it based mainly on reason or
intuition. Many decisions are based on emotions or instincts. “A decision
represents a judgment; a final resolution of a conflict of needs, means or
goals; and a commitment to action made in the face of uncertainty,
complexity, and even irrationality.” Decision implies freedom to the
decision maker regarding the final choice; it is uniquely human and is the
product of deliberation, evaluation and thought.
4. Dynamic process: Decision-making is characterized as a process,
rather than as, one static entity. It is a process of using inputs effectively
in the solution of selected problems and the creation of outputs that a
course of action among has utility. Moreover, it is a process concerned
with ‘identifying worthwhile things to do’ in a dynamic setting. A manager
for example, may hire people based on merit regularly and also pick up
candidates recommended by an influential party, at times. Depending on
the situational requirements, managers take suitable decisions using
discretion and judgment.
5. Pervasive function: Decision-making permeates all management and
covers every part of an enterprise. In fact, whatever a manager does, he
does through decision-making only; the end products of a manager’s
Anna Universtiy Chennai 105
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Implementation
Feedback information
has to judge how much risk the decision involves as well as the degree of
precision and rigidity that the proposed course of action can afford. It
should also be noted that fact finding for the purpose of decision should
be solution oriented. The manager must lay down the various alternatives
first and then proceed to collect facts, which will help in comparing
alternatives.
(viii) Follow Up
It is better to check the results after putting the decision into practice.
The reasons for following up of decisions are as follows:
(i) If the decision is a good one, one will know what to do if faced with
the similar problem again.
(ii) If the decision is a bad one, one will know what not to do the next
time.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 115
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
(iii) If the decision is bad and one follows up soon enough, corrective
action may still be possible.
In order to achieve proper follow up, the management should devise an
efficient system of feedback information. This information will be very
useful in taking the corrective measures and in taking right decisions in
the future.
in this era of increasingly complex problems. Only initial, brief and simple
aspects will be explained here. Israel Brosch has explained the
quantitative approach to decision making as follows:
The quantitative approach is based on data, facts, information and logic.
It consists of an orderly and systematic framework of defining, analyzing
and solving problems in an objective and scientific manner. The quantitative
approach is not intended to replace perception, good judgement and
common sense, the fundamental decision making tools of competent
managers. It is intended to improve manager’s decision making ability
and to provide them an accountable means for justifying and evaluating
their own managerial performance.
While the ultimate responsibility for making decisions rests on the
managerial judgement quantitative analysis of the situation provides an
excellent tool for managerial appraisal of available alternatives. This tool
is in the form of a mathematical model, which in a way is a powerful
extension of thinking. It consists of a symbolic representation of the
situation of the real world. This model may simply describe and explain
the actual behaviour of the system with relevant variables interconnected
in such a manner so that the interdependence of actual variables in the
situation.
The model can be formulated in such a manner that changes in the input
variables would reflect changes in the output of the system.
In general, a mathematical model consists of three basic components.
These are:
Decision variables: These are controllable variables which are within
the domain of the decision maker and can be changed and manipulated
by him. Different values assigned to decision variables would give the
manager different courses of action to choose from. A specific set of
values of these variables would determine a specific solution or a specific
course of action. For example, in the case of making an investment, the
decision variables would be different areas in which the investment can
be made, the amount that the decision maker wants to invest and the
timing of such investment.
Uncontrollable variables: The uncontrollable variables are all those
factors whose effect on the situation is beyond the control of the manager.
The factors or parameters may be legal, social, economic or political in
118 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Probability Theory
Probability refers to a chance that a particular event will occur. Informally,
the word chance or probability is commonly used in our day- to – day
routine. Whether we should take an umbrella when we go out in the
morning would depend upon the likelihood of rain for that day. We are
living in a world where there are so many uncertainties, that in order for
us to make some intelligent decisions and function effectively, we must
120 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
have some ideas of events that are most likely to occur, those that are
not likely to occur at all and others that are in between. Only then we
can plan our life. For example, if we take a train to go to our work, we
are practically sure that it will reach our destination at a particular time
so that we can start our journey at a particular time. However, if we have
some doubts that it may break down on the way, we may leave the home
earlier in order to accommodate and absorb such delay. Similarly, when
we drive in our car, we have only one spare tyre in the trunk of our car
because it is extremely unlikely that we will have more than one flat tyre
within a given period of time. This likelihood of an event occurring or the
probability of such an event gives us some confidence or a degree of
assurance that a particular event will occur.
The probability can only be assigned to events that occur at random and
are only affected by chance and not by design. The interest is centered
on the probility of an outcome or success where success simply identifies
the desirability of the outcome. The probability of success is defined as
the number of successful outcomes divided by the total number of
outcomes. In other words the probability of an event is infinitely long
series of identical sampling experiments.
This means, for example, that the probability of a head in tossing of a fair
coin is ½ because a great number of tosses will produce about 50 percent
heads. Accordingly, the probability (p) is equal to (s/n) where s = the
number of successful outcomes. It must be understood though that all
possible outcomes are equally likely to occur. As discussed earlier, the
probability of a head occurring as an outcome of tossing a fair coin is ½
since there are only two possible outcomes in the tossing of coin, with
each outcome being equally likely to occur and one of these is the outcome
of a head. It must be noted, however that the coin is fair and the experiment
of tossing the coin is random in that a number of causes contribute to
produce the final outcome. In this particular case, the outcome of tossing
the coin is affected by many forces such as the force of tossing , the
amount of spin, air movements and the position of the hand at the time
catching the coin. Since all these factors are chance elements, the
probability of the desired outcome (head) is the percentage of times in
which this outcome will occur if the event was repeated many times. It is
not difficult to deduce that this would happen 50 percent of the times.
The probability can be subjective or objective in nature. The subjective
Anna Universtiy Chennai 121
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Another example would be buying a new car. Once the decision to buy
the car has been made, there are a number of alternatives in which the
payment for the car can be made. These alternatives are paying with all
cash, part cash and part loan, all loan so that you can put your own
money to other quantifiable uses or lease the car for monthly or yearly
rental. It is possible to calculate the total cost of each of these alternatives
and choose the one which gives you the lowest cost.
Coffee
30 60 EV = (30 x .6) + (60 x .4) = $ 42.00
Assume that on a given day, the reliable forecast is 60 per cent chance of
being sunny or the probability of the day being sunny is 0.6, so that the
probability of the day being rainy become 0.4. These probabilities are
recorded along with the states of nature of sunny and rainy in the above
table.
The strategies or alternatives or courses of action available to Alex
represent his choices and are within his control. The states of nature are
uncontrollable variables and can best be predicted by the probabilities
of occurrence assigned to each state of nature.
The expected value (or expected profit) can be calculated for each of
these courses of action by using the expected value relationship as
discussed earlier, as follows:
EV = p1x 1+ p2x1
In the particular case:
For ice cream : EV = (50 x .6) + (20 x .4) = $ 38.00
For coffee : EV = (30 x .6) + (6 x .4) = $ 42.00
Given these factors of the situation, Alex would decide to take coffee to
the “falls” since he expects to make more money ($ 42.00) as against
taking ice cream in which case he expects to make only $ 38.00.
These decisions are frequently made in the area of investments where
investments in different areas would bring in different amounts of payoffs
over a given period of time depending upon the different states of the
economy, or in the area of inventories in which decision is to be made in
determining the level of inventory of a particular item to be kept in the
store or the warehouse depending upon the demand for the item and the
probability for such a demand.
We will take up a problem of inventory and follow it through.
Suppose that there is a vendor who sells strawberry cakes. He has 4
fixed customers who buy a cake each every day, so that the vendor is
assumed of selling at least 4 cakes every day. He also found from his
past experience that he never sold more than 8 cakes on any day. Also
based upon his past sales experience, he found that 10% of the days he
sells only 4 cakes. 20% of the days he sells 5 cakes. 40% of the time,
he sells 6 cakes, 20% of days he sells 7 cakes and the balance 10% of
the days he sells 8 cakes. The cake costs $ 3.00 each and he sells it for
$ 8.00 each so that his net profit per cake is $ 5.00. If any of the cakes
not sold at the end of the day, it has to be thrown out and there is no
salvage value. The decision is, how many cakes he should stock each
day in order to maximize his total profit in the long run? This problem
can be solved by two types of matrices. One is the payoff matrix and
the other is the opportunity cost matrix. In the first method, the objective
126 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4 10 .1
5 20 .2
6 40 .4
7 20 .2
8 10 .1
4 5 6 7 8 demand
Row
(1) 4
(2) 5
(3) 6
(4) 7
(5) 8
Cakes
to stock
or
Courses
of
action
Row 1:
- If we stock 4 cakes and the demand is for 4 cakes then the pay off
is $ 20.00.
- If we stock 4 cakes and the demand is for 5 cakes, the payoff is
still only $ 20.00 since we can only sell 4 cakes and the subsequent
customers will have to be turned away.
Row 2 :
- If we stock 5 cakes and the demand is for only 4 cakes then we
make $ 20.00 on the 4 cakes that we sell and we lose $ 3.00 (our
cost) on the 1 cake left that we are unable to sell and hence our
profit is $ 17.00..
- If we stock 5 cakes and the demand is also for 5 cakes then we
sell them all and make $ 25.00
- If we stock is 5 cakes and the demand is for 6 or more cakes, we
can still make only $ 25.00 since we do not have any cakes left over
5 to sell.
Row 3:
- If we have 6 cakes in stock and there is a demand for only 4, then
we make a net profit of $ 14.00 (we make $ 20.00 on the 4 cakes
that we sell and we lose $ 6.00 on the 2 cakes that we do not sell).
128 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
EV (4) = (20 x .1) + (20 x 0.2) + (20 x .4) + (20 x .2) + (20 x .1) = $ 20.00
EV (5) = (17 x .1) + (25 x 0.2) + (25 x .4) + (25 x .2) + (25 x .1) = $ 24.20
EV (6) = (14 x .1) + (22 x 0.2) + (30 x .4) + (30 x .2) + (30 x .1) = $ 26.80
EV (7) = (11 x .1) + (19 x 0.2) + (27 x .4) + (35 x .2) + (35 x .1) = $ 24.30
EV (8) = (8 x .1) + (16 x 0.2) + (24 x .4) + (32 x .2) + (40 x .1) = $ 24.00
The problem is solved above and in this particular case, the maximum
profit of $ 26.80 is obtained by stocking 6 cakes each day. This solution
assumes that the process is stable and that probabilities for all states of
nature remain constant and the values for all other variables remain the
same.
Opportunities cost matrix: The same problem can be solved by using
the opportunity cost matrix. The objective is to minimize the expected
opportunity loss and for the same problem, it should give us the same
solution. This means that the policy maximizes the expected opportunity
cost.
The idea is based upon the concept of regret which can be defined as
the difference between the best outcome that can be achieved for a given
state of nature and the actual outcome resulting from a selected course
of action. If this difference is zero then that would be the best decision
that the decision maker could make and hence his regret value is zero.
This means that he has no regret for making that decision. The greater
the difference between the actual outcome and the best outcome of a
given alternative, the greater the regret. The objective of the decision
maker is to minimize the long run opportunity losses.
Continuing our earlier problem for which the demand structure and the
probability distribution remains the same where the demand is for 4, 5,
6, 7 and 8 cakes and their respective probabilities are .1, .2,.4, .2 and
.1. The opportunity cost matrix for this problem is shown below:
Opportunity Cost matrix
4 5 6 7 8 Demand
Row
(1) 4
0 5 10 15 20
(2) 5
3 0 5 10 15
Courses
of
action (3) 6
6 3 0 5 10
(4) 7
9 6 3 0 5
(5) 8
12 9 6 3 0
The matrix and the expected value for each course of action are
developed. Starting from the North-West corner of the first row, the
reasoning would be as follows:
Row 1:
- If we have 4 units in stock and the demand is also 4, then this
would be the right decision and no other alternative would give us
better results. Hence the opportunity cost for this decision is zero.
- If we have 4 cakes in stock and the demand is for 5 cakes, we
wish that we had an additional cake is stock, for which we could
have made additional $ 5.00. Hence by choosing the alternative to
stock 4 cakes instead of alternative of stocking 5 cakes, incurred
the opportunity cost of $ 5.00. That is the cost of losing the
opportunity of stocking 5 cakes instead of 4.
- Similarly, if the demand is for 6 cakes and we stock only 4, we
choose the wrong alternative and hence we lost $ 10.00, and so on.
Row 2:
- If we have 5 cakes in stock and the demand is only 4, we wish we
did not have the 5th cake. It cost us $ 3.00 to have this additional
cake. Hence the lost opportunity of stocking only 4 cakes instead
of 5, cost us $ 3.00.
- If there are 5 cakes in stock and there is a demand for 5 cakes,
then it was the right decision and hence the opportunity cost is 0.
20 20 20 20 20
4 20
Courses
of 5 17 25 25 25 25 17
action
6 14 22 30 30 30 14
7 11 19 27 35 35 11
8 8 16 24 32 40 8
Criterion of optimism :
Suggested by Leonid Hurwicz, to guide a complete optimist, it is also
known as Hurwicz criterion and is based upon maxi-max principle, which
is maximizing the maximum payoff for each alternative. The decision
maker assumes that for each course of action, the best state of nature
will prevail, giving him the best of each strategy so that he can choose
the best of these bests.
In the payoff matrix above:
- For stocking 4 cakes, the best payoff is $ 20.00
- For stocking 5 cakes, the best payoff is $ 25.00
- For stocking 6 cakes, the best payoff is $ 30.00
- For stocking 7 cakes, the best payoff is $ 35.00
- For stocking 8 cakes, the best payoff is $ 40.00
Anna Universtiy Chennai 133
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
The total optimist always expects the best to happen. Hence he will
choose the strategy of stocking 8 cakes which would give him the best
of the best payoffs of $ 40.00.
However, a rational decision maker cannot always be totally optimist
under all situations. To overcome this difficulty, Hurwicz introduced the
idea of degree of optimism or coefficient of optimism, the value of which
is determined by the attitude of the decision maker. He called this
coefficient (Alpha) and it is measured on 0 to 1 scale. Its value is 1
for a complete optimist and 0 for a complete pessimist. For a person
who is neither a complete pessimist nor a complete optimist, the value of
will have different values between 0 and 1, depending upon the degree
of optimism. For example, a person with a degree of optimism of = .4
is more pessimistic than optimistic while a person with = .7 is more
optimistic than pessimistic. For all values of , except for the values of
0 and 1, the expected value of each course of action, in a payoff table
can be calculated as follows:
Expected value = ( Max. payoff x ) + Min. payoff (1- ). For example,
assume that the decision maker is 60 percent optimist, that means that
his coefficient of optimism = 6. The expected value of each course of
action in our payoff table would be given as :
Stock Max. payoff Min. Payoff
4 20 20
5 25 17
6 30 14
7 35 11
8 40 8
Then
EV(4) = (20 x .6) + (20 x .4) = $ 20.00
EV(5) = (25 x .6) + (17 x .4) = $ 21.80
EV(6) = (30 x .6) + (14 x .4) = $ 23.60
EV(7) = (35 x .6) + (11 x .4) = $ 25.40
EV(8) = (40 x .6) + (8 x .4) = $ 27.20
In this example, the decision, maker who is 60 per cent optimist would
choose the alternative of stocking 8 cakes, for this strategy gives him the
most benefit of $ 27.20.
of not making the right decision and uses the opportunity cost matrix to
make the decision. For each course of action, there are costs involved
in choosing the opportunity of having a different course of action after
states of nature have been known. These costs are really regrets of not
choosing the best course of action. Out of the maximum regret for each
course of action, we choose the minimum regret and the corresponding
course of action.
Taking our previous example, the opportunity cost matrix is restated as
follows:
STATE OF NATURE 4 5 6 7 8 Max.
Regret
4
0 5 10 15 20
20
5
3 0 5 10 15
15
6
Courses
of 6 3 0 0 10
10
action 7
9 6 3 0 5 9
8
12 9 6 3 0 12
Then the procedure for calculating the expected value and choosing the
largest expected value is the same as in the original payoff matrix or the
minimum expected value in the opportunity cost matrix method.
In the problem that we have undertaken, we have assumed that there is
no salvage value of the cake if it is not sold by the end of the day.
However, in case there is a salvage value, then this salvage value must be
deducted from the cost of the unsold cake before computing the net
profit. For example, if the cake at the end of the day could be given for
$ 1.00 as a salvage value then the net loss for the unsold cake would be
$ 2.00 per cake, instead of the $ 3.00 per cake previously computed
into the payoff matrix and the opportunity cost matrix.
The prior probabilities are based upon the current information available
to the decision maker as well as his assessment of the environment.
However, the decision maker must decide whether these prior
probabilities are adequate or whether additional information is needed
to revise these values. The cost of collecting additional information through
sampling and other means must be weighted against the benefits derived
from improved assignment of probabilities to the various states of nature.
This additional information, if justified, is combined with prior information
in order to make the degree of belief regarding the states of nature
stronger.
Based on this information, the prior probabilities are adjusted or revised
and these revised probabilities are called “posterior probabilities”. This
revision can be accomplished through Bay’s Theorm, which calculates
probabilities of “causes” based upon the observed “effects”.
These posterior probabilities are then used to calculate the expected
payoffs or expected opportunity costs in the same manner as before and
the optimum strategy selected.
Decisions Trees :
The payoff and opportunities cost tables are useful and convenient when
a single decision needs to be made in a single time period so that the
decision is made at the beginning of a given period and the outcomes of
the decisions are only estimated ones. However, most decisions are time
dependent and are sequential in nature so that each decision has an impact
on the successive decisions. The decision trees satisfy this complex need
where a series of decisions are to be made simultaneously.
A decision tree is a graphical method to display various parts of the
decision process including courses of action, risks involved and likely
outcomes. It enables the decision makers to consider alternative solutions,
assign financial values to them, estimate the probability of a given outcome
for each alternative, make comparisons and choose the best alternative.
Barry Shore has proposed the following procedure to solve a problem
by the decision tree method.
1. The problem is illustrated by developing a decision tree diagram.
Each course of action is represented by a separate emerging branch.
2. Each outcome for each course of action is assigned a probability,
which is the most likely chance of that particular outcome occurring.
3. Determine the financial results of each outcome.
4. The expected value for each outcome is calculated and the alternative
which will yield the highest expected value is chosen.
The best way to explain the use of a decision tree method is to illustrate
by an example.
Let us assume that a company has two products to introduce. Let these
products be X and Y. The company has decided that it would be too
Anna Universtiy Chennai 139
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Expected
Payoff
d X $ 70.000
pan
Ex
Intro
duce
Y
ble
ro fita .7 $ 60.000
P b=
Introduce X Pro
Decision Un p
rofi X Impractival
Pro
tabl
e Expand
b=
.3
Intro
duce
Y
$ 20.000
Expected profit
$ 70.000
X
nd
pa
Ex
Introd
uce
bl e Y $ 60.000
fit a
Pro .7
b. =
Pro
an dX Impractical
Unprofitable Exp
eX
uc Prob
rod .= .3 Introd
Int uce Y $ 20.000
Definitions
Break-even analysis is simple to use. Mathematical formula to determine
the sales level at which the business neither incurs a loss nor makes a
profit. The break-even point, in mathematical terms, is simply the point
where:
Total Expenses = Net Sales Revenue
The amount of sales revenue should be readily available on your income
statement as net sales. Net sales revenue is all sales revenue (often called
“Gross Revenue”) less any returns and allowances. If your business is
brand new and you have no income statement yet, you will need to use a
projected sales figure. This will work for any of the calculations outlined
here. Total expenses also appear on your income statement (or
projections). You will find most expenses listed under the heading
“Operating Expenses” or “General and Administrative Expenses.”
Additional expenses to include in your analysis are found on the line
labeled “Cost of Goods Sold,” which appears on income statements for
retailers and manufacturers. To use the break-even technique, you need
to do further analysis of your expenses so that you can classify them as
either “fixed” or “variable.”
Total expenses consist of two cost components: fixed costs and variable
costs.
Fixed Costs. are those expense items which generally do not change in
the short run, regardless of how much you produce or sell. These costs
are typically the expenses you pay out regularly that do not go up or
down with your sales level. Examples of fixed costs include general office
expenses, rent, depreciation, utilities, telephone, property tax, and the
like. Obviously, all expenses vary over the long run. For example, rent
and property taxes increase every year. In break-even analysis though,
our calculations are based upon short-run information in order to reveal
the current profit structure of the business.
Variable Costs. are those expenses that change with the unit level of
either production or sales. Generally, these costs increase with increased
142 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
= $400,000 / 15%
= $2,666,667
and should be used along with other management tools when making a
decision.
Summary
Planning is essential to survive and grow in a fast changing environment.
A plan helps a firm take an advantageous position in the market, in line
with its internal capabilities. To be useful, planning has to be carried out
in a systematic way outlining objectives, developing premises, evaluating
options, formulating derivative plans, securing commitment from people
and ensuring a suitable follow up. While doing so, one can adopt a
top-down approach, a bottom-up approach or a combination of both.
Planning helps a firm achieve its goals. It reduces the risks of uncertainty
and improves the quality of decisions. It has a healthy impact on people,
too. On the negative side, planning puts enterprise activities in a rigid
framework. It may prove to be a costly and time-consuming exercise.
To be effective, plans must receive support from people at all levels.
They should also know the payoffs from planning well in advance.
Learning organizations offer a stimulating environment, for even ordinary
people to work with zeal and enthusiasm and come out with extra ordinary
results.
Planning can take many forms and styles in practice. Both long-range
and short-range plans have to be combined effectively to produce results.
Also, there must be effective monitoring to see whether everything is on
track or not. Forecasting is used to predict future environmental
happenings that will influence the operations of an organization.
Forecasting improves the quality of planning by supplying vital facts and
pertinent information about major environmental factors. Several
deterministic, symptomatic and systematic techniques are pressed into
service in order to collect data in an objective manner.
To process work in a systematic and methodical way, standing plans and
single use plans are used in every organization. Policies guide executive
thinking and action by setting certain broad behavioral limits. They in
fact convert objectives into a workable form. To avoid loose
interpretation, policies need to be expressed in writing.
Policy formulation requires foresight, imagination and a careful evaluation
of all relevant factors impacting organizational work. Once a policy is
formulated, it must be communicated to lower level people in a proper
146 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Review questions.
1. Define planning.
2. List the benefits of planning.
3. State the principles of planning.
4. List the levels of planning.
5. Describe steps in planning. Illustrate with suitable examples.
6. Distinguish the different type of plans.
7. What do you mean by decision making? State different types of
decisions used in an organization.
8. What are all the difficulties faced by a manager in decision making?
9. Discuss decision making with break-even analysis.
10. Describe the steps in rational decision making with a suitable example.
UNIT - III
ORGANIZING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to understand
the purpose of the organization
the meaning of organizing and organization.
the organization structure and their levels.
departmentalization and span of control.
the nature of authority and power.
the nature of relationship between the line and staff.
the scope of centralization and decentralization.
the importance of obtaining balance in the degree of delegation of
authority.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It is often said that good people can make any organization pattern work.
Some even assert that vagueness in organization is a good thing in that it
forces teamwork, since people know that they must cooperate to get
anything done. However, there can be no doubt that good people and
those who want to cooperate will work together most effectively if they
know the parts they are to play in any team operation and the way their
roles relate to one another. This is as true in business or government as it
is in football or in a symphony orchestra. Designing and maintaining these
systems of roles is basically the managerial function of organizing.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 149
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Structure of Relationships
Some people view organization in a very narrow sense by defining it as a
framework of duties and responsibilities through which an undertaking
functions. If organization is merely recognized as a structure, it will be
viewed as a static thing used to explain formal relationships. But an
organization is a dynamic entity consisting of individuals, means,
objectives and relationships among the individuals. An organization is
certainly more than a chart. It is the mechanism through which management
directs, coordinates and controls the activities of the enterprise.
Function of Management
Organization is one of the basic functions of management. It involves the
determination and provision of whatever capital, materials, equipment
and personnel may be required for the achievement of certain
predetermined goals. By performing this function, management brings
together human and non-human resources to form a manageable unit
(which is also identified as an organization). Thus, organization is a process
of integrating and coordinating the efforts of manpower and material
resources for the accomplishment of certain objectives. Just as planning
is applied to every other managerial function, the process of organization
is also used in every aspect of management. For instance, organization
of the planning department is essential for the formulation of plans and
policies. Similarly, organization of other managerial functions is also
necessary.
Organization as a Process
Organization is the process of establishing relationships among the
members of the enterprise. The relationships are created in terms of
authority and responsibility. Each member in the organization is assigned
a specific responsibility or duty to perform and is granted the
corresponding authority to perform his duty. According to Louis A. Allen,
“organization involves identification and grouping the activities to be
performed and dividing them among the individuals and creating authority
and responsibility relationships among them for the accomplishment of
organizational objectives”.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
As a tool of management, organization is expected to facilitate the
achievement of certain objectives. In order to facilitate the achievement
of objectives, management thinkers have laid down certain statements
from time to time, from certain generally accepted understandings, which
may be called the principles of organization. The principles are guidelines
for planning an efficient organization structure. Therefore, a thorough
understanding of the principles of organization is essential for good
organization. The important principles of organization are discussed below:
1. Consideration of Objectives. An enterprise strives to accomplish
certain objectives. Organization serves as a tool to attain these
objectives. The objectives must be stated in clear terms as they play
Anna Universtiy Chennai 155
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2. Business organizations:
Owners are the primary beneficiaries in business organization. They are
mainly concerned with maintaining operational efficiency that is achieving
maximum gain at minimum cost. It is true that other groups like employees,
customers, society etc. receive benefits simultaneously from business
organizations but in the final analysis, the survival of such institutions
depends on how effectively the owners are rewarded for the risks
undertaken.
3. Service organizations:
2. Government organizations:
These organizations satisfy the public need for order and provide a means
for people to exercise some measure of control over their environment.
3. Protective organizations:
They shield citizens from danger police, and military services etc.
4. Service organizations:
They act in the interest of the general public without always receiving
payments in full for services rendered.
5. Political organizations:
They seek to influence legislation by electing a member of their group to
public office (political parties, groups and associations).
6. Religious organizations:
They provide for the spiritual needs of members and try to enlist
nonbelievers into their fold (churches, sects, orders etc.).
7. Social organizations:
They satisfy the needs of persons to make friendships and to have contact
with others who have contact with others who have compatible interests
(clubs, teams, fraternities).
Origin and goals Deliberately created; reflects Arises spontaneously; reflects individual
organizational goals. and group goals.
Basic purpose is to achieve Basic purpose is to improve human
organization goals. relations.
Structure It has a definite structure and is Structure less, organization chart built
reflected in an organization chart built around people.
around group positions.
Communication Formal organization depends on The informal organization designs its own.
formal, official channels of Communication popularly known as
communication to sell the ideas of grapevine, for both organizational and
management to the organization; social communication process;
communication is a one-way traffic. communication is a two-way traffic.
3.9 C O N TI NG EN CY T H E O RY A ND O RG AN IZAT IO N
STRUCTURE
The contingency theory puts the stress of organizing on a number of
variables. The theory supports the idea that there is no best way to
organize, there is no one pattern of organization style that is universally
appropriate. The design is conditional. The organization structure may
be contingent upon many factors; it is a product of many forces: internal
as well as external. These factors, it should be remembered, do not
determine structure; rather they establish the parameters within which
management choices are made.
3.10.1 RESPONSIBILITY
“By responsibility we mean the work or duties assigned to a person by
virtue of his position in the organization. It refers to the mental and physical
activities, which must be performed to carry out a task or duty. That
means every person who performs any kind of mental or physical effort
as an assigned task has responsibility.”’ In order to enable the subordinate
to perform his responsibility well, the superior must clearly tell the former
as to what is expected of him. In other words, the delegant must determine
clearly the task or duty that is assigned to the delegate. The duty must be
expressed either in terms of functions or of objectives. If a subordinate
is asked to control the operations of a machine, the duty is in terms of
function. But if he is asked to produce a particular number of pieces of a
product, the duty is in terms of target or objective. Determination of
duties in terms of objectives will enable the subordinate to know by
what standards his performance will be evaluated.
3.10.2 AUTHORITY
Authority is a derivative of responsibility. It is the right to order or
command and is delegated from the superior to the subordinate to
176 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
3.10.3 ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the obligation to carry out responsibility and exercise
authority in terms of performance standards established by the superior.
Creation of accountability is the process of justifying the granting of
authority to a subordinate for the accomplishment of a particular task. In
order to make this process effective, the standards of performance should
be determined before assigning a task and should be accepted by the
subordinate. An important principle of management governing this basic
relationship is that of single accountability. An individual should be
answerable to only one immediate superior and no more.
Power
The term ‘power’ may be defined as the ability to exert influence. If a
person has power, it means that he is able to change the behavior or
attitudes of other individuals. “In-one’s role as a supervisor, a manager’s
power may be seen as the ability to cause subordinates to do what the
manager wishes him to do. A manager’s power may be measured in
terms of the ability to
(1) Give rewards,
(2) Promise rewards,
(3) Threaten to withdraw current rewards,
Anna Universtiy Chennai 177
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Sources of power
John French and Bertram Raven have identified five sources or bases of
power which may occur at all levels of the organization. These are
discussed below :
(i) Reward Power. It is based on the influencer having the ability to
reward the influencee for carrying out orders.
(ii) Coercive Power. It is based on the influencer’s ability to punish the
influencee for not carrying out orders or for not meeting requirements.
(iii) Legitimate Power. It corresponds to the term ‘authority’. It exists
when an influencee acknowledges that the influencer is lawfully
entitled to exert influence. It is also implied that the influencee has
an obligation to accept this power.
(iv) Expert Power. It is based on the perception or belief that the
influencer has some expertise or special knowledge that the influecee
does not have. For example, a doctor has expert power on his
patients.
(v) Referent Power. It is based on the influencee’s desire to identify
with or imitate the influencer. For example, a manager will have
referent power over the subordinates if they are motivated to emulate
his work habits.
. These are potential sources of power only. Possession of some or
all of them does not guarantee the ability to influence particular
individuals in specific ways. The role of the influencee in accepting
or rejecting the attempted influence is very important. It may also
be noted that, normally, each of the five power bases is potentially
inherent in a manager’s position.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 179
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Sources of authority
Management scholars are divided on whether authority originates at the
top and flows down in traditional fashion or whether it originates at the
bottom as a kind of consent of the subordinates. We can classify the
views of various management writers under the three headings, namely,
formal authority theory, acceptance theory and competence theory.
These viewpoints are discussed below:
(i) Formal Authority Theory: According to this theory, ‘authority’ is
viewed as originating at the top of an organization hierarchy and
flowing downward through the process of delegation. The ultimate
authority in a company lies with the shareholders who are its owners.
The shareholders entrust the management of the company to the
Board of Directors and delegate to it most of their authority. The
Board of Directors delegates authority to the Chief Executive and
the Chief Executive in turn to the departmental heads and so on.
Every manager in the organization has some authority because of his
organizational position. That is why, the authority is known as formal
authority. Subordinates accept the authority of a superior because
of his formal position in the organization. A manager in the organization
has only that much of authority which is delegated to him by his
superior.
The shareholders of a company have authority over the company
because of the institution of private property in the society. Various
social factors, laws, political and ethical considerations, and economic
factors put certain limits on their authority and the organization has
to function within these limits. In fact, the basic sources of authority
can rest in the social institutions themselves. In a society, where
private property does not exist as in the case of socialist economies,
the origin of authority can be traced to the elements of basic group
behavior.
The concept of authority as being a right transmitted from the public
through social institutions to business managers is the central theme
of the formal authority theory.
(ii) Acceptance Theory. According to this theory, the authority is the
power which is accepted by others. Formal authority has no
significance unless the subordinates accept it. The degree of effective
180 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Limits of authority
The authority of an organization is not absolute. It is subject to various
economic, social, political and other factors. Similarly, the authority of a
manager is restricted by various factors, such as:
(i) Physical limitations. Physical laws, climate, geographical factors,
etc. restrict managerial authority to a great extent. Thus, an order to
make silver from aluminum would be meaningless.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 181
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
3.11.1 DEFINITION
Delegation means devolution of authority on subordinates to make them
perform the assigned duties or tasks. It is that part of the process of
organization by which managers make it possible for others to share the
work of accomplishing organizational objectives. Delegation consists of
granting authority or the right to decision-making in certain defined areas
182 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
and charging the subordinate with responsibility for carrying through the
assigned task.
Delegation refers to the assignment of work to others and confer them
the requisite authority to accomplish the job assigned. It enables the
managers to distribute their load of work to others and concentrate on
more important functions, which they can perform better because of their
position in the organization. Allen has rightly said, “Delegation is the
dynamics of management; it is the process a manager follows in dividing
the work assigned to him so that he performs that part which only he,
because of his unique organizational placement, can perform effectively
and so that he can get others to help him with what remains”. Thus,
delegation is the ability of a manager to share his burden with others,
how can he best share his burden? First, he must entrust to others the
performance of a part of the work he would otherwise have to do himself,
secondly, he must provide a means of checking up on the work that is
done for him to ensure that it is done as he wishes.
So far we have talked about downward delegation, i.e., delegation from
superior to subordinate. Delegation may also be upward or sideways. A
federating government may delegate its power to make laws to the federal
government. This is called upward delegation. Sideways delegation is
generally found in religious organizations or trusts which may delegate
authority other religious organizations or trusts.
success lies in his ability to multiply himself through other people. How
well he delegates determines how well he can manage. Andrew Carnagie,
a leading industrialist of America remarked, “When a man realizes he
can call others in to help him to do the job better than he can do it alone,
he has taken a big step in his life.”
Delegation lightens the burden of the executive by relieving him of the
botheration of taking routine decisions which others can also take
efficiently. This will help him in concentrating on vital aspects of
management. Delegation will enable quick decisions relating to various
matters because the authority of decision-making has been shared with
others. Granting of authority to subordinates motivates them to perform
their duties well. If they are not given adequate authority, they will be
reluctant to accept the assignments as they will be required to approach
the boss every time whenever a need arises to take a decision.
Delegation helps in maintaining healthy relationship between the executive
and his subordinates by clearly defining the authority and responsibility
of the subordinates. According to Douglas C. Basil, “Delegation can be
one of management’s best techniques for satisfying needs and for
motivating subordinates to better performance. In terms of technical aspect
of business, delegation, through task assignment, can achieve faster
decisions and eliminate cumbersome information system. In terms of
behavioral aspects, delegation can satisfy man’s demands for
responsibility, recognition and the opportunity to exercise authority.”
Delegation of authority is an art of higher order. Every manager should
be proficient in this art. Louis A. Allen has rightly remarked,” How well
one delegate determines how well one manages.” Delegation of authority
facilitates the job of managing by offering the following advantages:
(i) Delegation lightens the burden of key executives in tackling routine
matters and enables them to concentrate on vital aspects of
management.
(ii) Delegation enables taking of quick decisions at all levels within the
policy framework provided by the top1evel management.
(iii) Delegation of authority is an important tool to motivate the
subordinates to contribute their best for the achievement of enterprise
objectives.
the control mechanism in his hands and let others execute the policy
decisions. However, he cannot delegate the authority to take policy
decisions, develop plans and establish appropriate organization for the
execution of plans. These are managerial functions of higher order on
which the manager must concentrate, himself. Similarly, control function
is also to be performed by the manager himself. A manager who delegates
his authority to others must keep the authority to control their activities
with himself. He should evaluate the functioning of various individuals
himself and take necessary action wherever necessary.
authority, it will be unfair. It is also not proper if the subordinates are given
sufficient authority, but are not held accountable for its proper use.
4. Clarification of Limits of Authority. Limits of authority must be
clarified to the subordinates so that they may not assume excessive
authority than desired. Clear limits of authority will allow subordi
nates to exercise initiative, develop themselves through freedom of
action and to know their area of operation. This will also avoid misuse
of authority.
5. Absoluteness of Accountability. Accountability, being an
obligation owed, cannot be delegated. No superior can escape
accountability for the activities of his subordinates, as it is the superior
who has delegated authority and assigned duties. The superior cannot
pass on his obligation to account for to his superior to the
subordinates along with hit authority. Likewise, the accountability of
the subordinates to their superior for the performance of assigned
tasks is absolute.
6. Unity of Command. This principle states that accountability is
unitary. Each person should be accountable only to one superior for
delegated authority, as he cannot serve two masters well. If a person
report to two superiors for the same duty, confusion and friction will
result. He will find himself frequently receiving conflicting instructions.
When this is the case, his only hope is to get either his two bosses or
to run the risk of displeasing either or both. Therefore, as far as
possible, dual subordination should be avoided.
(a) Superior;
(b) Subordinate; and
(c) Organization.
(ii) Desire to play safe by depending on the boss for all decisions.
As Fayol put it, “Everything that goes to increase the importance of the
subordinate’s role is decentralization; everything which goes to reduce it
is centralization.”
most of the people. Under delegation, control rests entirely with the
delegant, but under decentralization, the top management may exercise
minimum control and delegate the authority of controlling to the
departmental managers. It should be noted that complete decentralization
may not be possible or desirable but it certainly involves more than one
level in the organization.
Chief Executive-1
II Level Executives=4
Workers = 256
64W 64W 64W 64W
II Level Executives=4
3.14. 1. DEFINITION
An organization chart is a diagrammatical form, which shows important
aspects of an organization including the major functions and their
respective relationships. In other words, it is a graphic portrayal of
positions in the enterprise and of the formal lines of communication among
them. It provides a bird’s eye view of the relationships between different
departments or divisions of an enterprise as well as the relationships
between the executives and subordinates at various levels. It enables
each executive and employee to understand his position in the organization
and to know to whom he is accountable. Thus, it is obvious that an
organization chart has the following characteristics:
1. It is a diagrammatical presentation.
2. It shows principal lines of authority in the organization.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 207
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
with senior executive at the top of the chart and successive levels of
management depicted vertically below that. Thus, lines of command
proceed from top to bottom in vertical lines as shown in Fig.
However, this chart does not decrease the importance of levels. But it is
feared that some people may make erroneous inferences about differences
in status and importance of various echelons.
(c) Circular Chart. In this chart, top positions are located in the center
of the concentric circle. Positions of successive echelons extend in
all directions outward from the center. Positions of equal status lie at
the same distance from the center on the same concentric circle.
This chart shows the flow of formal authority from the chief executive
210 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Line Organization
The line, or military organization, is the simplest and the oldest form of
organization. Line structures are more common in small-scale units.
Authority flows in a direct line from superiors to subordinates. Each
employee knows who his superior is and who has authority to issue orders.
The one-man one boss principle is strictly applied. Managers have full
authority in their own areas of operation and are responsible for final
results. Similarly, each subordinate is directly responsible for the
performance of assigned duties. If the subordinates fail to carry out
reasonable orders or directives, the superior has the right to take
disciplinary action. Thus, authority flows downward and responsibility
flows upward, throughout the organization. The essential characteristics
of line organization is the flow of authority that is straight and vertical. In
line organization, every superior enjoys line authority. This is often referred
to as direct authority because it is directly associated with the attainment
of the primary objectives of the organization. In other words, line authority
implies the right to give orders and to have decisions implemented. For
example, in a military organization, the General has line authority over
the Colonel, who has line authority over the Major, and so on down the
hierarchy. Figure provides an illustration of a line Chief .
Chief Executive
Advantages
The advantages of line organization include the following:
(i) Simplicity: A line organization is simple to establish and easy to
explain to employees. It is easy to understand and follow.
(ii) Fixed responsibility: Responsibility is fixed. Each employee knows
who his superior is and who has authority to issue orders. Each
employee knows to whom he is responsible and who is or are, in
turn, responsible to him. This facilitates the fixing of accountability
for non-performance.
(iii) Quick decisions: In a line organization, one executive controls all
the activities affecting one department. He is in complete charge of
all operations in the department. Direct lines of authority eliminate a
considerable amount of bureaucratic buck-passing, thus the line
organization enables a manager to take quick decisions.
(iv) Develops managers: The line manager is responsible for results.
He is charged with getting things done properly. Non-performance
may mean demotion and loss of prestige. To survive and succeed,
he has to accomplish tasks, thus utilizing his potential fully. It can be
concluded then that a line organization encourages and forces
managers to grow.
212 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
(v) Flexibility: Each executive has full freedom to make decisions in his
area of command. This enables him to adjust policies and procedures
to the changing needs.
(vi) Economical: A line organization is economical for a small business,
as no specialists are needed, and a limited number of executives are
employed. Quick decisions, better coordination and prompt actions
contribute greatly to organizational success.
Disadvantages
The line organization is not free from limitations. As organizations begin
to grow in size, the line organization becomes unwieldy and unsuitable.
The disadvantages may be catalogued thus:
(i) Lack of specialization: With growth and diversification,
organizational problems multiply in number. Factors like changing
economic conditions, technological innovations, and ever growing
competition turn administration into a funnel where the executives
may find it extremely difficult to process bundles of data and take
appropriate decisions.
(ii) Scarce talent: Capable line executives who can look after such
diverse activities like planning activities, office operations, research
activities, personnel policies, etc., are rarely available. With growth,
the manager’s duties, too, continue to expand. Working under time
and cost constraints, managers may overlook or ignore important
activities and are forced to grapple with trivial issues.
(iii) Arbitrary actions: Line organization is based on the one-man
management principles. The evils are well known. Work may be
divided arbitrarily and assigned to incompetent individuals. Nepotism
and favoritism may prevail in the selection, recruitment, and training
of operatives.
(ii) Scientific actions: The actions of a line manager can become more
scientific by means of concentrated and skilful examination of
business problems. Expert advice definitely helps line executives in
arriving at a sound decision.
Who is Staff?
Staff authority is advisory, which means that the staff is a supporting unit
that recommends action or alternative actions to the line manager. Catch
phrases like: “staff have the authority of ideas”, “lines have the authority
of command” “staffs think, lines do”; “staffs advise, lines work” have
gained wide currency over the years. However, staff authority is not
confined to mere advisory roles of recommending activities only.
According to McFarland a staff manager helps, serves, investigates,
plans, solves special problems, supports line efforts, and provides ideas
and special expertise. The above functions are supporting functions;
functions that help in some way the accomplishment of the primary
objectives of the line departments. One distinguishing feature of staff
216 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
purchasing, etc., may have influenced the contents in the schedule. The
concept of extending the personality of the line executive by advice,
counsel appears to be the keystone of the staff idea. (Inffiner and
Shertmod)
Staff Obedient to an Impersonal Body of Rules: In all bureaucratic
organizations, authority is delegated to lower levels. The leader has the
maximum authority by virtue of his position in the organization. The leader
may change, retire or die but the office of the leader retains the authority
that goes with it. “Staff obedience to the leader and to the organization is
in terms of impersonal body of rules that establish the governmental
framework of the organization.” (Dubin)
False Assumptions (Carzo): The line and staff structure seems to suffer
from some false assumptions: (a) Staff specialists are able and willing to
operate without formal authority. They would be reasonably content to
function without a measure of formal authority. (b) Their advice,
suggestions and recommendations will be readily accepted and applied
by the line officials. (c) A clear delineation of line responsibilities is possible
and is essential to minimize jurisdictional conflict.
3.17. Committee
Committees exist both in business and non-business organizations. It is
difficult to give a precise definition of the term “ Committee”.
Because there are many different kinds of committees and the concept
of committee varies widely from one organization to another. In many
organizations, committees constitute an important part of the organization
structure. Committees are usually relatively formal bodies with a definite
structure. They have their own organization. To them are entrusted definite
responsibility and authority. A committee may review budgets, formulate
plans for new products or make policy decisions. Or the committee may
only have a power to make recommendations and suggestions to a
designated official.
According to Louis A. Allen, “A committee is a body of persons appointed
or elected to meet on an organised basis for the consideration of matters
brought before it.” A committee is a group of persons performing a group
task with the object of solving certain problems. The area of operation
of a committee is determined by its constitution. A committee may
218 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Types of Committee
According to the nature of their constitution and functions, committees
can be classified as follows:
(i) Line and Staff Committees. If a committee is vested with the
authority and responsibility to decide and whose decision is
implemented invariably, it is known as a line committee. For example,
board of directors of a company is a line committee of the
representatives of its members, which is authorized to take and
implement, policy decisions. On the other hand, if a committee is
appointed merely to counsel and advise, it is known as a staff
committee. For instance, a committee composed of the heads of
various departments may meet at periodical intervals to counsel the
chief executive.
(ii) Formal and Informal Committees. When a committee is
constituted as a part of the organization structure and has clear-cut
jurisdiction, it is a formal committee. But an informal committee is
formed to advise on certain complicated matters on which the
management does not want to set up formal committee, which is a
costly device. Informal committees do not form part of the
organization structure.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 219
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Limitations of Committees.
Some people consider committee as an organised means of passing the
buck. A committee is created when some top people can’t make up
their minds and they want a committee to do it for them. Though use of
committees brings about certain advantages, they have certain inherent
drawbacks also which are discussed below:
1. Evasion of Decision-making Responsibilities. If a manager has
an opportunity to carry a problem to a committee, he may take it as
a means of avoiding decision-making or to escape the consequences
of an unpopular decision. Thus, managers, who want to avoid the
laborious and difficult process of logical thinking that leads to a sound
decision and to escape responsibility, take resort to committee
device.
2. Slow Decision-making. Committees take more time in procedural
matters before any decision is taken. In some cases, slowness
seriously handicaps the administration of the organization. The delay
Anna Universtiy Chennai 221
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Summary
Formal organization is the intentional structure of roles. Informal
organization is a network of personal and social relations neither
established nor required by formal authority but arising spontaneously.
The term span of management refers to the number of people a manager
can effectively supervise. A wide span of management results in few
organizational levels and a narrow span results in many levels. The
organizing steps are
Formulating objectives to achieve the end,
Identifying and classifying activities,
Grouping these activities,
Delegating authority and
Coordinating authority as well as information relationships.
Organizing involves developing an intentional structure of roles for effective
performance. Many mistakes in organizing can be avoided by first
planning the ideal organization for goal achievement and then making
modifications for the human or other situational factors. An effective
organization remains flexible and adjusts for changes in the environment.
Review questions.
1. What do you mean by organization?
2. Write the steps in organizing.
3. Describe the types of organization with suitable example.
4. Distinguish authority and responsibility.
5. Illustrate the components of organization structure.
6. Define delegation of authority.
7. Explain the types of delegation in an organization.
8. What are the limitations of decentralization? Differentiate
decentralization with centralization.
9. Define span of control.
10. Define Organization charts.
11. Illustrate the types of organization charts with suitable example.
UNIT - IV
STAFFING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should able to understand
the managerial function of staffing and what it means to be a manager.
the management inventory and the factors in the external and internal
environment affecting staffing.
the policy of open competition and ways to make staffing more
effective.
the orientation and socialization process for new employees.
about the sources of recruitment process.
the selection process in recruitment.
the training process and methods.
the concepts of leading and leadership
about the nature and purpose of directing
about the communication process and barriers of communication
4.1. AN INTRODUCTION
Staffing is now recognized as a separate management function. Previously,
it was considered to be a part of organization function of management.
The reason for separating the staffing from organizing is to give proper
emphasis to the actual manning of organizational roles. The staffing function
has assumed greater importance these days because of rapid
Anna Universtiy Chennai 227
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Definition
Staffing is concerned with manning various positions in the organization.
In the words of Koontz, O’Donnell, and Weihrich, “The managerial
function of staffing involves manning the organizational structure through
proper and effective selection, appraisal, and development of personnel
to fill the role designed into the structure”.
Staffing involves the determination of manpower requirements of the
enterprise and providing it with adequate competent people at all levels.
Thus, manpower planning, procurement (i.e., selection and placement),
training and development, appraisal and remuneration of workers are
included in staffing.
The staffing function of management pertains to recruitment, selection,
training, development, appraisal and remuneration of personnel. It is the
duty of every manager to perform these activities. It is the tendency in
modern enterprises to create a separate department known as Personnel
Department to perform the staffing function. But it does not mean that
the line managers do not have the responsibility for staffing. The Personnel
Department is created to provide the necessary help to the managers in
performing the staffing or personnel function.
organization. It does not matter how perfect the planning and organization
and sophisticated machines are. If the people do not want to work, the
management will not be able to accomplish the desired objectives.
Therefore, in order to build a team of cooperative workforce, it is essential
to manage the workforce efficiently.
Since personnel department does so much personnel work, it is often
assumed to be personnel management. While the contributions of this
department may be great, its role must be that of a companion to the line
managers. It should not be assumed that personnel function is the sole
responsibility of personnel department. Personnel management is inherent
in the process of management and, as a consequence, this function is
performed by all the line managers throughout the organization rather
than only by the in charge of personnel department. If a line manager is
to get the best of his people, he must perform this function. He must
undertake the basic responsibility of selecting people who would work
under him and to develop, motivate and integrate them and to build up
their morale. Thus, personnel function is the prime responsibility of every
line manager. The personnel department can do a great deal by assisting
them in discharging this responsibility. “Personnel management is a
responsibility of all those who manage people as well as being a
description of the work of those who are employed as specialists. It is
that part of management which is concerned with people at work and
with their relationships within an enterprise.”
Objectives of Staffing
The general objective of staffing is to contribute towards the
accomplishment of the goals of an enterprise. However, the staffing in
any working organization should have the following specific objectives:
(i) To attain maximum individual development;
(ii) To establish desirable working relationship between employers and
employees and between groups of employees;
(iii) To mould the human resources effectively ;
(iv) To ensure satisfaction of the workers so that they are ready to work;
(v) To provide fair wages, good working conditions and service benefits
to the workers;
(vi) To ensure that every employee makes his maximum contribution to
the success of the enterprise.
230 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Functions of Staffing
Department of Human Resource Management specially looks after various
problems and issues relating to workforce. Normally, the scope of its
activities includes the following functions:
1. Employment. The responsibility for employment consists of
appointing the best possible talents suitable to the requirements of
the enterprise. This function includes various activities like job
analysis, manpower demand analysis, recruitment, selection and
placement. Before appointing the people, manpower requirements
are estimated both in terms of number and quality. After this, different
sources of manpower supply are tapped. The applications of various
applicants are screened and the selected applicants are required to
take certain tests and appear in the final interview. The employment
function is complete when the workers join the organization and are
placed on the right jobs.
2. Training and Development. Training and development of personnel
is a follow up of selection. It is a duty of management to train each
employee and also to develop him for the higher jobs in the
organization. Proper development of personnel is necessary to
increase their skills in doing their jobs and in satisfying their growth
need. For this purpose, the personnel department will devise
appropriate training programmes. There are several on the job and
off the job methods available for training purposes. A good training
programme should include a mixture of both types of methods. It is
important to point out that personnel department arranges for training
not only of new employees but also of old employees to update their
knowledge in the use of latest techniques of production.
3. Compensation. This function is concerned with the determination
of adequate and equitable remuneration of the employees in the
organization for their contribution to the organizational goals. The
personnel can be compensated both in terms of monetary as well as
non-monetary rewards. Factors which must be borne in mind while
fixing the remuneration of personnel are their basic needs,
requirements of jobs, legal provisions regarding minimum wage levels
afforded by competitors, etc. For fixing the wage levels, the personnel
department can make use of certain techniques like job evaluation
and performance evaluation.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 231
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Significance of Staffing
The Staffing function of management deals with the proper handling of
personnel in the organization. If people working in the organization are
not handled or managed properly, good industrial relations will not
develop in the enterprise, which will jeopardize the survival of the
enterprise. It is not possible to achieve the organizational goals without
active cooperation of the personnel. The significance of personnel
management has increased with the growth of industrial undertakings.
Now it is recognized that personnel management is not only the
responsibility of personnel manager, but also of all managers in the
enterprise.
The various aspects of personnel function are procurement, development,
compensation and motivation of the personnel. Every manager has some
responsibility towards these areas, but now it has been recognized that
these functions cannot be the specialty of every line manager. So it is
very common to create the personnel department under a Personnel
Director or Personnel Manager. Though personnel department does not
produce anything, which is tangible, yet it helps the other departments to
contribute towards organizational objectives.
Personnel function has become a specialized task and so it is entrusted
to the person who is well conversant with the principles of personnel
management. The personnel manager organizes the personnel department
to carry out the functions entrusted to him. Personnel department develops
the sources of recruitment, selects the people and help the line manager
in rectifying placements by devising a suitable transfer policy. Personnel
department keep the record of every person in the organization and
provides important information to departmental heads in taking decisions
about promotion and transfers.
Personnel department is also responsible for training and development
of the employees. It develops various programmes for increasing the
Anna Universtiy Chennai 233
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
1. Job Analysis
Job analysis is the qualitative aspect of manpower requirements since it
determines the demands of a job in terms of responsibilities and duties
and, then translates these demands in terms of skills, qualities and other
human attributes. It helps in determining the number and kinds of jobs
and qualifications needed to fill these jobs. With the help of job analysis
it is known what is the quantum of work, that an average person can do
on a job in a day. It facilitates the division of work into different jobs.
Thus, it is an essential element of effective manpower planning. At
managerial levels, accurate job descriptions help in preparation of
inventories of executive talent.
Job analysis may be defined as a process of discovering and identifying
the pertinent information relating to the nature of a specific job. It is the
determination of the tasks, which comprise the job, and of the skills,
knowledge, abilities and responsibilities required of the worker for
successful performance of the job. The process of job analysis is
essentially one of data collection and then analyzing that data. It provides
the analyst with basic data pertaining to specific jobs in terms of duties,
responsibilities, skills, knowledge, etc. This data may be classified as
follows
(a) Job identification.
(b) Nature of the job.
(c) Operations involved in doing the job.
(d) Materials and equipment to be used in doing the job.
(e) Personal attributes required to do the job, e.g., education, training,
physical strength, mental capabilities, etc.
(f) Relation with the other jobs.
The information relating to a job, which is thus classified, if examined
carefully, would suggest that some information relates to the job and
some concerns the individual doing the job. The requirements of a job
are known as job description and the qualities demanded from the
jobholder are termed as Job Specification. Thus, job description and
job specification are the immediate products of job analysis.
2. Skill Inventory
The scarcity of talent, difficulty of discovering it and the time required to
236 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Thus, 180 workers are needed throughout the year to meet the production
target of 1,80,000 units. But this figure cannot be relied upon fully as the
actual production is influenced by many other factors such as availability
of inputs and power, breakdown of machinery, strike, lockout, etc.
Nonetheless, work-load analysis is quite suitable for short-term
projections of manpower requirements. Long-term projections can be
made with the help of workforce analysis.
4. Employment Plan
This phase deals with planning how the organization can obtain the
required number of right types of personnel as reflected by the personnel
forecasting. In other words, there is a need to prepare programme of
recruitment, selection, training, transfer and promotion so that personnel
needs of various departments of the organization are met.
238 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Absenteeism
Absenteeism is said to be there when an employee fails to come to work when
he is scheduled to work. It is an important problem in many enterprises.
Excessive absenteeism involves a considerable loss to the enterprise because
work schedules are upset and delayed and management has to give overtime
wages to meet the delivery dates. The rates of overtime wages are double
than the normal rates of wages. Therefore, study of causes of absenteeism is
essential to deal with the problem.
The rate of absenteeism can be calculated by the following formula
Labor Turnover
In every organization, employees constantly join and leave the organization for
one reason or the other. The relation between the number of persons joining
the organization and leaving due to resignation, retirement or retrenchment to
the average number on the pay-roll is called labour turnover. The rate of labor
turnover may be calculated by the following formula:
Number of workers joined and left
____________________________________ X 100
Average number of workers on the payroll
In order to exercise control over high rate of labor turnover, it is important
to consider the causes for which persons leave the enterprise. The
management should try to keep the rate of labor turnover as low as
possible because it involves huge costs. The management spends money
on recruitment, selection and training of new employees. If an employee
leaves the enterprise, the expenditure incurred on his employment,
training, etc. will go waste. Separation by personnel also results in a fall
in production because it takes time to get substitutes. The new employees
may be inexperienced and take time to reach the desired level of efficiency.
There may be many causes of high labor turnover. Either employee leaves
the enterprise on his or her own accord or they are discharged. The
causes of resignations and dismissals may be either avoidable or
unavoidable. Management may discharge the employees because of fall
in work-load, shortage of materials, etc. Such a situation should not be
allowed to occur. Workers may leave the enterprise because of job
dissatisfaction, poor relations, and bad working conditions and low
remuneration, which can be avoided.
The unavoidable causes of dismissals may be misconduct by an employee.
The employees may resign from the enterprise because of getting better
jobs, domestic affairs, and illness etc. Separations also occur because of
death and recruitment. Such causes cannot be avoided.
Management can control high rate of labor turnover by reducing the
avoidable causes of turnover. It should provide better working conditions
to the workers, introduce a satisfactory wage and incentive plan, adopt
a sound selection policy, set up procedure for handling grievances and
provide counseling to the employees over their personal problems.
Retirement benefits should also be provided to maintain the workers in
the enterprise.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 241
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4.4. RECRUITMENT
Recruitment is shortly defined as discovering of potential applicants for
actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. The human resources are
the most important assets of an organization. The success or failure of an
organization is largely dependent on the caliber of the people working
therein. Without positive and creative contributions from people,
organizations cannot progress or prosper. In order to achieve the goals
or the activities of an organization therefore, we need to recruit people
with requisite skills, qualifications, and experience. While doing so, we
have to keep the present as well as the forth coming requirements of the
organization in mind. Recruitment is a linking process; joining together
those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. It is a joining process to
bring together job seekers and employers with a view to encourage the
former to apply for a job with the letter.
The basic purpose of recruiting is to develop a group of potentially
qualified people. To this end the organization must communicate the
position in such a way that job seekers respond. To be cost effective, the
recruitment process should attract qualified applicants and provide enough
information for unqualified persons to self-select themselves out.
The sources of recruitment may be broadly divided into two categories:
internal sources and external sources: These sources include the employees
already on the payroll i.e., present force. Whenever any new vacancy
arises, people from within the organization will be promoted, transferred
or demoted. The process of filling job openings by selecting from the
pool of present workforce can be implemented by the following methods:
Sources of Recruitment
The sources of recruitment may be broadly into two categories: internal
sources and external sources.
Internal Sources: These sources include the employees already on the
payroll i.e., present work force.
Reviewing the personnel records.
Job posting and job bidding.
Inside moonlighting and employee’s friends.
242 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Methods of Recruitment
Transfer: A lateral movement within the same grade, from one job to
another.
The following are the most commonly used methods of recruiting people:
(i) Promotions and transfers: This is a method of filling vacancies
from within through transfers and promotions. A transfer is a lateral
movement within the same grade, from one job to another. It may
lead to changes, in duties and responsibilities, working conditions,
etc., but not necessarily salary. Promotion, on the other hand, involves
movement of employee from a lower level position to a higher-level
position accompanied by (usually) changes in duties, responsibilities,
status and value. Organizations generally prepare lists of a central
pool of persons from which vacancies can be filled for manual jobs.
Such persons are usually passed on to various departments,
Anna Universtiy Chennai 243
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
are filled. The Act covers all establishments in public sector and
nonagricultural establishments employing 25 or more workers in the
private sector. However, in view of the practical difficulties involved
in implementing the provisions of the Act (such as filling a quarterly
return in respect of their staff strength, vacancies and shortages,
returns showing occupational distribution of their employees, etc.)
many organizations have successfully fought court battles when they
were asked to pick up candidates from among those sponsored by
the employment exchanges.
(viii) Gate Hiring and Contractors: Gate hiring is a process where
job seekers (where job seekers, generally blue collar employees,
present themselves at the factory gate and offer their services on a
daily basis), hiring through contractors, recruiting through
word-of-mouth publicity are still in use despite the many possibilities
for their misuse in the small scale sector in India.
(ix) Unsolicited applicants/walk-ins: Companies generally receive
unsolicited applications from job seekers at various points of time.
The number of such applications depends on economic conditions,
the image of the company and the job seeker’s perception of the
types of jobs that might be available, etc. Such applications are
generally kept in a data bank and whenever a suitable vacancy arises,
the company would intimate the candidate to apply through a formal
channel. One important problem with this method is that job seekers
generally apply to a number of organizations and when they are
actually required by the organization, either they are already
employed in other organizations or are not simply interested in the
position.
(x) e-hiring: The first step in e-hiring is to get a URL (Universal Resource
Locator) that people can conveniently guess and thus, not have to
use a search engine. There is no point in being a famous company if
people cannot find you without trouble on the net. Step two is to put
out detailed job postings spelling out your exact requirements. A
separate web page would help potential applicants to find whether
they fit into the announced job openings or not. You are likely to get
a lot of surf-ins if the details of openings are listed category-wise.
Allow people to apply on-line. Create an e-form which can be filled
up on line, and then, you do the calling-up. Finally, ask HR to maintain
246 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4.5. SELECTION
To select means to choose. Selection is the process of picking individuals
who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. The basic
purpose is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform
the job from a pool of qualified candidates.
The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who
would meet the requirements of the job and the organization best and to
find out which job applicant will be successful if hired. To meet this goal,
the company obtains and assesses information about the applications in
terms of age, qualifications, skills, experience, etc. The needs of the job
are matched with the profile of candidates. The most suitable person is
then picked up after eliminating the unsuitable applicants through
successive stages of selection process. How well an employee is matched
to a job is very important because it directly affects the amount and
quality of employee’s work. Any mismatch in this regard can cost an
organization a great deal of money, time and trouble, especially, in terms
of training and operating costs. In course of time, the employee may find
the job distasteful and frustrating. He may even circulate ‘hot news’ and
juicy bits of negative information about company, causing incalculable
harm in the long run. Effective selection, therefore, demands monitoring
the ‘fit’ between person and the job.
Reception Step 1
Placement
After selecting a candidate, he should be placed on a suitable job.
Placement is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job. It involves
assigning a specific rank and responsibility to an employee. The line
manager takes the placement decisions after matching the requirements
of a job with the qualification of a candidate. Most organizations put
new recruits on probation for a given period of time, after which their
services are confirmed. During this period, the performance of probationer
is closely monitored. If the new recruit fails to adjust himself to the job
and turns out poor performance, the organization may consider his name
for placement elsewhere. Such as placement is called ‘differential
placement’. Usually the employees’ supervisor, in consultation with the
higher levels of line management, takes decisions regarding the future
placement of each employee.
Placement is an important human resource activity. If neglected, it may
create employee adjustment problems leading to absenteeism, labour
turnover, accidents, poor performance, etc. The employee will also suffer
seriously. He may quit the organization in frustration, complaining bitterly
about everything. Proper placement is therefore, important to both the
employee and the organization.
Induction/Orientation
Induction or orientation is the process through which a new employee is
introduced to the job and the organization. In the words of Armstrong,
induction is “the process of receiving and welcoming an employee when
he first joins a company”to the job and giving him the basic information
he needs to settle down quickly and start work.
Learning Principles
Importance of Training
Training is the corner stone of sound management, for it makes employees
more effective and productive. It is actively and intimately connected
with all the personnel or managerial activities. It is an integral part of the
whole management programme, with all its many activities functionally
interrelated.
Training is a practical and vital necessity because apart from the other
advantages mentioned above it enables employees to develop and rise
within the organization, and increase their “market value”, earning power
and job security. It enables management to resolve sources of friction
arising from parochialism, to bring home to the employees the fact that
the management is not divisible. It moulds the employees’ attitudes and
helps them to achieve a better with the company and a greater loyalty
towards it. The management is benefited in the sense that higher standards
of quality are achieved; a satisfactory organisational structure is built up;
authority can be delegated and stimulus for progress applied to employees.
Training, moreover, heightens the morale of the employees, for it helps in
reducing dissatisfaction, complaints, grievances and absenteeism, reduces
the rate of turnover. Further, trained employees make better and
economical use of materials and equipment; therefore, wastage and
spoilage are lessened, and the need for constant supervision is reduced.
Training Programmes
Training programmes are a costly affair, and a time consuming process.
Therefore, they need to be drafted very carefully. Usually in the
organisation of training programmes, the following steps are considered
necessary:
1. Discovering or identifying the training needs.
2. Getting ready for the job.
3. Preparation of the learner.
4. Presentation of operations and knowledge.
5. Performance try-out.
6. Follow-up and evaluation of the programme.
The training needs have been identified to solve the specific problems as
follows:
(i) Identifying Specific Problems: Such problems are productivity,
high costs, poor material control, poor quality, excessive scrap and
waste, excessive labour-management troubles, excessive grievances,
excessive violation of rules of conduct, poor discipline, high employee
turnover and transfers, excessive absenteeism, accidents, excessive
fatigue, fumbling discouragement, struggling with the job; standards
of work performance not being met, bottlenecks in production,
deadlines not being met, and delayed production. Problems like these
suggest that training may be necessary. For this task, the workers
should be closely observed and the difficulties found out.
(ii) Anticipating Impending and Future Problems: Bearing on the
expansion of business, the introduction of new products, new
services, new designs, new plant, new technology and of
organisational changes concerned with manpower inventory, present
and future needs.
lecture
conferences
group discussion
case studies
role playing
programme instruction
T-group training
On-the-Job-Training (OJT)
There are a variety of OJT methods, such as :
1. coaching
2. under study
3. job rotation
4. internship
5. apprenticeship
Merits of On-the-Job-Training
Firstly, trainee learns on the actual equipment in use and in the true
environment of his job.
Secondly, it is highly economical since no additional personnel or facilities
are required for training.
Thirdly, the trainee learns the rules, regulations and procedures by
observing their day-to-day applications. The management can therefore,
easily size him up.
Fourthly, this type of training is a suitable alternative for a company in
which there is almost as many jobs as there are employees.
Finally, it is most appropriate for teaching the knowledge and skills,
which can be acquired in a relatively short period, say, a few days or
weeks.
Demerits of On-the-Job-Training
Instruction is often highly disorganized.
Retraining
Retraining programmes are generally arranged for employees who have
long been in the service of an organisation. The retraining programme
may be necessitated by the following facts:
272 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4.7 DIRECTING
Direction represents one of the essential functions of management because
it deals with human relations. Once the organizational plans have been
laid down, the structure being designed, and competent people brought
in to fill various positions in organization, direction starts. Direction is the
managerial function of guiding, motivating, leading and supervising the
subordinates to accomplish desired objectives. Acquiring physical and
human assets and suitably placing them will not suffice; what is more
important is that people must be directed toward organizational goals.
Without redirection and supervision, employees become inactive, dull
and inefficient and consequently the physical assets like machinery and
plant will be put to ineffective use.
Direction is an important managerial function that initiates organizer’s
action. It is a connecting and activating link between various functions of
management. It is essentially concerned with mobilizing and synthesizing
human resources and efforts to accomplish the goals of the organization.
A manager’s most important job is to direct the efforts of employees.
Direction phase of management is the heart of management-in-action. It
provides necessary guidance and inspiration to people at work in order
to carry out their assigned duties. Direction is the essence of operations.
It is a continuous function. A manager never ceases to direct, guide,
teach, watch, and supervise his subordinate employees.
278 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4.7.1 Meaning
According to Dale, direction is telling people what to do and seeing that
they do it to the best of their ability. It is through directing that managers
get the work done through people. It consists of:
Issuing orders and instructions by a superior to his subordinates
(Communication).
Guiding, advising and helping subordinates in the proper methods of
work (Leadership).
Motivating them to achieve goals by providing incentives, good
working environment, etc. (Motivation).
Supervising subordinates to ensure compliance with plans
(Supervision).
Thus, the scope of direction is very wide. It includes all those activities,
which a manager undertakes to influence the actions of his
subordinates and achieve goals. (Koontz and O’Donnell).
4.7.2 Features
Direction is the process of guiding, inspiring, supervising and commanding
subordinates towards the accomplishment of goals. It has the following
features:
Deals with people: Direction deals with people. It is the process of
inspiring people to achieve goals. To this end, it seeks to create
harmonious relationships between people. However, this is not an easy
affair. People are not primarily interested in enterprise objectives, they
have objectives of their own (Koontz and O’Donnell). Directing is,
therefore, a complex function, as managers have to deal with people
having diverse goals.
Seeks performance: Direction makes things happen. It translates plans
into action. It makes people goal-oriented. To obtain results, managers
not only issue orders but also supervise the performance of subordinates.
They also try to integrate effort at various levels. This helps in securing
desired performance at minimum cost.
Provides a link: Direction is the function of management, which follows
planning, organizing and staffing. It lends meaning to them by ensuring
accomplishment of goals. It provides an important link between different
Anna Universtiy Chennai 279
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
9. When issuing the order, the manager should explain the purpose
behind it. i.e., why it is being given.
10. The order should be regularly followed up and suggestions given by
subordinates should be incorporated when it is reissued.
4.8 Supervision
procedures, materials, office forms, equipment, and the way the results
have to be achieved enables a supervisor to be a good leader and obtain
satisfactory results.
Conceptual skills: The supervisor should have the ability to see the
total picture. He should visualize how the various functions of the
organization depend on one another and how changes in one department
affect the organization as a whole. The dangers of extreme specialization
like ‘parts mentality’, ‘tunnel vision’, and inability to look beyond the
confines of one’s specialty should be avoided. Ability to look at the
‘whole picture’, broad vision, and friendly attitude are the hallmarks of
effective supervisors. Supervisors should have the conceptual skills to
unify and coordinate the various components of the organization.
Supervisory Roles
What is the role of a supervisor in an organization? A person caught in
the middle? A buffer between management and workers taking the blows?
Is he a friend or a foe? Over the years, the role of the supervisor in
organizations has undergone a tremendous change. Till the 60s,
supervisors were treated as members of the management, enjoying the
respect, loyalty and cooperation of workers. With the advent of giant
corporations, the job of the supervisor has become very complex and
confusing. He is expected to be a clerk shuffling papers and filling out
forms. He is to be the master technician or the master craftsman of his
group. He is to be an expert on tools and equipment.
He is to be a leader of people. To make the confusion worse, he is
expected to perform every one of these jobs to perfection. Such highly
conflicting and confusing jobs have resulted in his role that is shrinking in
status, in importance and in esteem. He has become a buffer between
management, union and workers, continually receiving the arrows of
criticism, justified as well as unjustified. He has become highly vulnerable
like a pawn in the game of chess. He is being branded increasingly as an
‘enemy’. “He is separated from the men he supervises by an ever higher
wall of hostility, suspicion and resentment. On the other hand, he is also
separated from management by his lack of managerial knowledge.”
Workers expect the supervisor to be fair and impartial, open minded
and friendly. Management expects the supervisor to have a complete
knowledge of his work, genuine interest in his work, curiosity to
288 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
constantly update his job knowledge; and the ability to meet deadlines.
Over the years, the job of a supervisor has become ‘a hybrid.’ It is no
wonder that the supervisor is being rejected by both, “by his subordinates
because he is no longer truly a scientist or an expert but has ‘sold out’ to
management, and by management because he is parochial,
departmentalized and one sided.” In this heated atmosphere it is easy to
provoke controversy and promote a spirited discussion. Let’s briefly
dwell on the roles performed by supervisors over the years before
suggesting a contingency framework.
1. Scientific management roles: Every supervisor needs to appreciate
the importance of scientific management under certain conditions.
There is only one best way to do a job and it is the primary duty of
a supervisor to study and analyze the jobs carefully and suggest
suitable work procedures and methods. According to the scientific
management approach, the supervisor is expected to assume the
following types of roles:
(a) Technician: Supervisors should possess a sound knowledge of the
jobs entrusted to them. They must be able to solve the technical
problems posed to them by the employees.
(b) Analyst: Most of the jobs in an organization can be efficiently and
effectively performed in the right way . It is the job of a supervisor
to find out better and improved ways of performing jobs.
(c) Controller: It is the job of a supervisor to provide rewards to
productive workers and punishments to unproductive workers.
2. Human relations roles: Under the scientific management approach,
workers are assigned mechanical roles. They are expected to perform
‘watch dog’ functions. The emphasis on finding out appropriate work
procedures and gearing employees to work schedules has
unfortunately produced negative results. It was realized that, to
improve performance, the needs of the employees must be
recognized, and must be met adequately. Under the human relations
approach, the supervisors are expected to be sensitive to employee
needs and to help them to integrate the goals of the organization. As
a result of this viewpoint, supervisors are expected to do the following
roles:
Anna Universtiy Chennai 289
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
University of Iowa
Another approach to leader behavior focused on identifying the best
leadership styles. Work at the University of Iowa identified democratic
(participation and delegation), autocratic (dictating and centralized) and
laissez-faire styles (group freedom in decision making). Research findings
were also inconclusive.
or guiding workers to choose the best paths for reaching their goals.
“Best” is judged by the accompanying achievement of organizational goals.
It is based on the precepts of goal setting theory and argues that leaders
will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending
on the nature and demands of the particular situation. It’s the leader’s
job to assist followers in attaining goals and to provide direction and
support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the
organizations.
A leader’s behavior is acceptable to subordinates when viewed as a
source of satisfaction and motivation. Satisfaction is contingent on
performance, and the leader facilitates, coaches and rewards effective
performance. Path goal theory identifies achievement-oriented, directive,
participative and supportive leadership styles. In achievement-oriented
leadership, the leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them
to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to
meet this expectation. This style is appropriate when the follower suffers
from a lack of job challenge. In directive leadership, the leader lets
followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform
their tasks. This style is appropriate when the follower has an ambiguous
job. Participative leadership involves leaders consulting with followers
and asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This style is
appropriate when the follower is using improper procedures or is making
poor decisions. In supportive leadership, the leader is friendly and
approachable. He or she shows concern for followers’ psychological
well being. This style is appropriate when the followers lack confidence.
Path-Goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can
change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two
contingency variables (environment and follower characteristics) that
moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is
outside the control of followers-task structure, authority system, and
work group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior
required if follower outcomes are to be maximized. Follower
characteristics are the locus of control, experience, and perceived ability.
Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment
and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their
followers achieve their goals and make the journey easier by reducing
roadblocks and pitfalls. Research demonstrates that employee
304 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4.11 MOTIVATION
Motivation is the set of processes that moves a person toward a goal.
Thus, motivated behaviors are voluntary choices controlled by the
individual employee. The supervisor (motivator) wants to influence the
306 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Self-Actualization
Need to do the work we like
Esteem
Need to feel worthy
and respected
Social
Need for love, to be a
member of a group
Safety
Need to feel safe and secure
Level I - Physiological needs are the most basic human needs. They
include food, water, and comfort. The organization helps to satisfy
employees’ physiological needs by a paycheck.
Level II - Safety needs are the desires for security and stability, to feel
safe from harm. The organization helps to satisfy employees’ safety needs
by benefits.
Level III - Social needs are the desires for affiliation. They include
friendship and belonging. The organization helps to satisfy employees’
social needs through sports teams, parties, and celebrations. The
supervisor can help fulfill social needs by showing direct care and concern
for employees.
Level IV - Esteem needs are the desires for self-respect and respect
or recognition from others. The organization helps to satisfy employees’
308 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
esteem needs by matching the skills and abilities of the employee to the
job. The supervisor can help fulfill esteem needs by showing workers
that their work is appreciated.
Level V - Self-actualization needs are the desires for self-fulfillment
and the realization of the individual’s full potential. The supervisor can
help fulfill self-actualization needs by assigning tasks that challenge
employees’ minds while drawing on their aptitude and training.
4.11.7 Equity
is the perception of fairness involved in rewards given. A fair or equitable
situation is one in which people with similar inputs experience similar
outcomes. Employees will compare their rewards with the rewards
received by others for their efforts. If employees perceive that an inequity
exists, they are likely to withhold some of their contributions, either
consciously or unconsciously, to bring a situation into better balance.
For example, if someone thinks he or she is not getting enough pay (output)
for his or her work (input), he or she will try to get that pay increased or
reduce the amount of work he or she is doing. On the other hand, when
Anna Universtiy Chennai 311
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
a worker thinks he or she is being paid too much for the work he or she
is doing, he or she tends to increase the amount of work. Not only do
workers compare their own inputs and outputs; they compare their input/
output ratio with the input/output ratio of other workers. If one work
team believes they are doing more work than a similar team for the same
pay, their sense of fairness will be violated and they will tend to reduce
the amount of work they are doing. It is a normal human inclination to
want things to be fair.
Bowditch and Buono note (see Bowditch, James L. and Anthony F.
Buono, A Primer on Organizational Behavior, 4th, John Wiley & Sons,
1997) that while equity theory was originally concerned with differences
in pay, it may be applied to other forms of tangible and intangible rewards
in the workplace. That is, if any input is not balanced with some fair
output, the motivation process will be difficult. Supervisors must manage
the perception of fairness in the mind of each employee. If subordinates
think they are not being treated fairly, it is difficult to motivate them.
4.11.8 Reinforcement
involves four types of consequence. Positive reinforcement creates a
pleasant consequence by using rewards to increase the likelihood that a
behavior will be repeated. Negative reinforcement occurs when a person
engages in behavior to avoid unpleasant consequences or to escape from
existing unpleasant consequences. Punishment is an attempt to discourage
a target behavior by the application of negative outcomes whenever it is
possible. Extinction is the absence of any reinforcement, either positive
or negative, following the occurrence of a target behavior. Employees
312 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
have questions about their jobs. Can I do what the management is asking
me to do? If I do the job, will I be rewarded? Will the reward I receive
be satisfactory to me?
Reinforcement is based primarily on the work of B.F. Skinner, a
psychologist, who experimented with the theories of operant conditioning.
Skinner’s work shows that many behaviors can be controlled through
the use of rewards. In fact, a person might be influenced to change his or
her behavior by giving him or her rewards.
4.12 COMMUNICATION
Speech may be heard, written words may be read and gestures may be
seen or felt. Thus, a message may take any of the three forms, viz., oral,
written or gestural.
(iv) Communication Channel. After encoding the message, the sender
chooses the mode of transmission (such as air for spoken words and
paper for letters). The mode of transmission is often inseparable from
the message. The channel is the link that connects the sender and the
receiver. Air is the important communication channels. The receiver must
be careful while selecting a channel. Some people respond better to
formal letters or communications, others to the informally spoken words.
The channels of communication, which are officially recognized by the
organization, are known as formal channels.
(v) Receiver. The person who receives the message is called receiver.
The communication process is incomplete without the existence of receiver
of the message. It is the receiver who receives and tries to understand
the message. If the message does not reach the receiver, communication
cannot be said to have taken place.
(vi) Decoding. Decoding is the process by which the receiver draws
meanings from the symbols encoded by the sender. The receiver’s past
experience, education, perception, expectations, and mutuality of meaning
affects it with the sender.
(vii) Feedback. After receiving the message, the receiver will take
necessary action and send feedback information to the communicator.
Feedback is a reversal of the communication process in which a reaction
to the sender’s message is expressed. The receiver becomes the sender
and feedback goes through the same steps as the original communication.
It may be noted that the dotted line in the Figure. suggests that feedback
is optional and may exist in any degree (from minimal to complete) in any
given situation. Generally, greater the feedback, the more effective the
communication process is likely to be. For instance, early feedback will
enable the manager (sender) to know if his instructions have been properly
understood and carried out.
Formal Communication
The paths of communication, which are institutionally determined by the
management, are called formal channels of communication. They are
associated with the status or position of the communicator and the
receiver. Formal communication enforces a relationship between different
positions. It derives its support from scalar chain of organization. It
generally adopts three directions: (i) Downward (ii) Upward and (iii)
Horizontal. These channels are used for different purposes, which are
discussed later. It is significant to point out the first two channels are
vertical in nature.
Significance of Formal Communication
Downward communication is used for giving orders and instructions,
providing information, or for influencing attitudes and behavior of the
subordinates. Upward communication is used for reporting, informing,
requesting and suggesting. It is also used to influence decisions and to
protest against certain actions or decisions of the management. Horizontal
channels are used for informing and coordinating. All these channels are
equally important for the proper functioning of any organization.
In a well-organised communication system, upward communication is
given as much importance as downward communication. This is because
one of the most crucial factors in the process of communication is
information, about how people feel about things in the organization. Unless
upward communication is encouraged and taken note of, downward
communication is not fully effective. Upward communication gives an
opportunity to the workforce to inform management about their feelings
and to suggest improvements in the methods of work and also enables
management to locate problem areas in the organization.
Informal Communication or Grapevine
When the employees are unable to communicate the required information
to higher authorities because of communication barriers, they may resort
to informal channels of communication. Distortions may appear in the
transmission of such messages through grapevine in the form of rumors
and gossips. The managers may resort to such informal channels when
they find that it is not possible to gather information through the established
channels in the formal communication system of the organization.
322 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Rumor
It is the most undesirable feature of the grapevine and it has given the
grapevine a bad reputation. That is why, to some people, grapevine means
rumor. But rumor is grapevine information, which is communicated without
authentic standards of evidence being present. It is thus an untrue part of
grapevine. It can by chance be correct, but generally is incorrect; so it is
presumed to be undesirable. Rumor originates for a number of reasons.
One cause is plain maliciousness, but it is probably not the most important.
A more frequent cause is employees’ anxiety and insecurity because of
poor communication in the organization. Rumor also serves as a means
of wish fulfillment or applying pressure upon the management.
Rumor largely depends on the interest and ambiguity perceived by each
person; it tends to change as it passes from person to person. Its general
theme may be maintained, but not its details. The rumor gets twisted and
324 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
distorted when it passes from one mouth to another. The message gets
its own head, tail and wings on its journey and swells unproportionately
to an exaggerated shape. Generally, each person chooses details in the
rumor to fit his particular focus on reality. Thus, the details given at the
beginning of a rumor are lost after a few transmissions because people
reduce it to a rememberable number of details about items of interest to
them. A major outbreak of a rumor can be a devastating epidemic that
sweeps through an organization as fast as a summer storm and usually
with as much damage. Therefore, the most important problem before
the management is how to deal with rumors.
which cut across the organizational lines. Such, contacts may take place
between individuals and groups, not only in their levels but also with
other echelons of management. The crosswise communication can be
effective when a proper understanding exists among the superiors or
these points. The subordinates should refrain from making communication
beyond their authority and should keep their superiors informed of their
inter departmental activities.
Oral Communication
Communication with the help of spoken words is known as oral
communication. Oral communication may take place: (a) by face to face
conversation, and (b) through mechanical devices.
Face to face conversation is the most natural way of transmitting
message. It is the best means of securing cooperation and resolving
problems. Various studies have shown that face to face communication
carries the message bett er than any ot her media. It avoids
misunderstanding between the persons talking face to face. It is because
by having face to face conservation, one can convey the message both
by words and expressions or gestures. Sometimes, it is desirable to have
face to face communication because of confidential nature of the message.
Mechanical devices which are used for oral communication in most
organizations include signals, telephones, intercom systems, electric paging
systems and dictating machines.
Both the methods of oral communication are frequently used in
organizations for downward and upward communication. Every executive
makes use of oral communication by instructing, lecturing, counseling
and so on. Oral communication is also used for attending to the
suggestions and grievances of the workers. The greatest benefit of oral
communication is that it saves time as it provides an immediate response
and feedback. It fosters a friendly and cooperative spirit. It permits
personalized contacts and develops a sense of belongingness.
Nonetheless, oral communication is not free from drawbacks. It may be
time consuming because for having direct talks, the individuals concerned
have to move back and forth to and from their workplaces. It may not
be specific and so may be misunderstood. It may also create legal
difficulties if no written record of conversation is preserved.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 327
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Written Communication
Comprehensive devices for written communication in the form of circulars,
bulletins, manuals, handbooks, notes, orders, instructions, etc., are widely
used in modem organizations. Howsoever elaborate a communication
system may be, it cannot be composed of verbal communication only.
The objectives of written communication may be:
to give information;
to receive information;
to record recommendations and decisions of a meeting; to give orders
and instructions.
Written communication can be conveyed to the workers through house
magazines, notice boards, employee handbooks and memoranda.
Workers can communicate upward through writing their suggestions and
grievances. Upward communication in written form is generally
discouraged as the workers are reluctant to use it to express their
opinions. Management should encourage it by installing a suggestion
system in the organization. Written communication serves as a permanent
reference for future. It is formal and carries weight. It is not possible to
change the contents of written message by receivers. Written messages
are more clear and specific as they are carefully drafted.Written
communication serves as a reliable record for future reference and can
be used as evidence in legal proceedings. Response to written
communication is generally well thought out since the receiver gets to
evaluate and understand the message. In many cases, written
communication is even more effective that the oral communication.
Written communication is slow as compared to oral communication. It
may also become a source of dispute as once a written message is sent,
it is difficult to withdraw it. Written messages may give rise to queries for
clarification and elaboration which lead to loss of time. Written
communication is generally formal in nature and may be blocked due to
bureaucratic procedures in the organization. Therefore, the management
should take proper step to ensure that written communication does not
lose its effectiveness.
Gestural Communication
Communication through gestures or postures is often used as a means to
supplement verbal communication. If there is a face-to-face conversation
328 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
between two persons, they can better understand the feelings, attitudes
and emotions of each other. Gestural communication is very much helpful
to motivate the subordinates, as for instance, handshake with the
subordinate or a pat on the back of the subordinate. Similarly, gestures
taken by the listeners can help the communicator to know their reactions.
Oral Communication
1. Communication is expressed through spoken words.
2. It may not be precise.
3. Oral communication may not be complete. It may be difficult to
understand it.
4. It is generally informal in nature.
5. It may not be taken seriously.
6. Oral message may not be verifiable.
Written Communication
1. Communication is expressed in writing.
2. It can be very precise.
3. It is not difficult to understand written communication if it is expressed
in unambiguous terms.
4. It is generally formal in nature.
5. It is generally taken seriously.
6. Written message is verifiable from the records.
they may feel that by withholding the information they will be better
informed than those whom they lead. It should be noted that although
there is no such thing as perfect communication, considerable degree of
perfection could be achieved in communication if the barriers to
communication are overcome. The main barriers to communication are
discussed below :
1. Barriers due to Organization Structure. The breakdown or
distortion in communication, sometimes, arises due to:
(i) Several layers of management;
(ii) Long lines of communication;
(iii) Long distance of subordinates from top management;
(iv) Lack of instructions for passing information to the subordinates; and
(v) Heavy pressure of work on certain levels of authority.
2. Barriers due to Status and Position. (i) The temper and attitude
exhibited by the supervisor is sometimes a hurdle in two way
communication. One common illustration is non-listening habit. A
supervisor may guard information for:
(a) Consideration of prestige, ego and strategy.
(b) Under - rating the understanding and intelligence of subordinates.
(c) Deriving satisfaction in being the store house of information and seeing
people dance around him for information.
(ii) Prejudices among the supervisors and subordinates may stand in
the way of free flow of information and understanding.
(iii) The supervisors particularly at the middle level may sometimes like
to be in good books of top management by :
(a) not seeking clarification on instructions which are subject to different
interpretations; and
(b) acting as a screen for passing only such information which may please
the boss.
3. Semantic Barriers. Semantic is the science of meaning. Words
seldom mean the same thing to two persons. Symbols or words
usually have a variety of meanings. The sender and the receiver have
Anna Universtiy Chennai 331
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
9. Closed Minds. Certain people, who think that they know everything
about a particular subject, also create obstacles in the way of effective
communication. Persons suffering from the mirage of too much
knowledge become rigid and dogmatic in their attitude. They close
their minds tightly to new ideas that are brought to them,
10. Resistance to Change. It is general tendency of human beings to
maintain status quo. When new ideas are being communicated, the
listening apparatus may act as a filter in rejecting new ideas. Thus,
resistance to change is an important obstacle to effective
communication. Sometimes, organizations announce changes which
seriously affect the employees, e.g., changes in timings, place and
order of work, installation of new plant, etc. Changes affect people
in different ways and it may take some time to think through the full
meaning on the message. Hence, it is important for the management
not to force changes before people are in a position to adjust to
their implications.
These are the problems or barriers to effective communication.
Communication will not be perfectly effective if transmission of the
message is faulty. The above barriers should be removed to achieve
effective communication in the organization.
Communication Gap
The top management of an organization prepares a broad set of policies
to act as guideline and a framework within which the managers and
supervisors can operate to achieve the goals of the organization. The
communication up to the foreman level is generally quite smooth. But the
difficulty arises in communicating the management’s policies and guidelines
to the workers because an average worker has difficulty in learning the
corporate policies and has much less capacity in understanding them.
This creates the problems of communication gap.
The communication gap lies where:
1. The worker does not know what is expected of him because he is
not told.
2. He cannot achieve it if he does not know.
3. He does not know how important his work is in producing the final
product.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 333
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
4. He does not know how well he is doing and how far he is in the
queue for promotion.
5. He does not know how much skill he should acquire and what are
the basic requirements for his next grade promotion.
The worker must know the above mentioned information to ensure that
he produces a good quality product and is motivated to produce more.
He must be aware what his mistakes will cost in terms of time and money
to the organization and he must be motivated to reduce waste and to
follow safe procedures.
Summary
Staffing is the process of attracting, developing, evaluating and
compensating people at work. It is an integral part of the management
process and is performed by every manager on a continuous basis.
Human resource management is concerned with the most effective use
of people to achieve organizational and individual goals. It tries to secure
the best from people by winning their wholehearted cooperation. Good
HRM practices can help in attracting and retaining the best people in the
organization.
Personnel management is concerned with people at work and their
relationships with each other. It covers three important aspects basically:
personnel aspect (recruitment, selection, placement training, appraisal,
compensation, etc.), welfare aspect (working conditions, amenities,
facilities, benefits), and industrial relations aspect (union management
relations, disputes settlement, grievance handling, discipline, collective
bargaining).
Human resource development aims at helping people to acquire
competencies required to perform all the functions effectively. It is a
development oriented, proactive function. It aims at overall development
of human resources in order to contribute to the well being of employees,
organization and the society at large.
Human resource planning is a system of matching the supply of people
with openings that the organization expects over a given time frame. It
tries to assess manpower requirements in advance keeping the production
schedules, market fluctuations, demand forecasts etc. in the background.
In order to develop a human resource plan, HR professionals typically
follow a three step process: (i) workforce analysis (assessing manpower
supply) (ii) work load analysis (finding actual requirement for manpower
based on work load) (iii) job analysis (find out the abilities and skills
needed to undertake the jobs in question in an effective way).
Staffing is to determine the people available by making a management
inventory. Using an inventory chart can do this.
Staffing does not take place in a vacuum; one must consider many
situational factors, both internal and external. Staffing requires adherence
338 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Review questions.
1. Define staffing.
2. What do you mean by recruitment?
3. What is selection? Explain the process of selection.
4. Define directing. Illustrate the elements of direction
5. What is motivation? Describe theories of motivation.
6. Define leadership. Describe different theoretical approaches to
leadership.
7. What is communication? State the barriers to communication.
Illustrate the steps to overcome barriers to communication.
8. Elucidate the way of building effective communication.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 341
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
UNIT - V
CONTROLLING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to understand
the steps in the basic control process.
the critical control points and standards.
application of the feedback system.
feedforward control system.
list of the requirements for effective controls.
the nature of budgeting and types of budgets.
modern techniques of budgeting, including variable budgeting and
zero base budgeting.
the non budgetary control devices.
the nature and problems of program budgeting.
the special need for effective procedures planning and control.
Definition of Control
Control is a basic managerial function, which implies measurement and
correction of performance of subordinates to ensure that the pre
determined objectives are accomplished. E.F.L. Breach has defined
344 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Characteristics of Control
The process of control has the following characteristics:
1. Pervasive Function. Control is a function of every manager who is
performing other managerial functions like planning, organizing,
staffing and directing. It is, in fact, a follow up action to other functions
of management. Managers at all levels have to perform this function
to contribute to the achievement of orgartisational objectives.
2. Review of Past Events. Control leads to appraisal of past activities.
Thus, it is looking back, the deviations in the past are revealed by
the control process. This is also known as feedback information. It
will help in knowing the reasons of poor performance. Corrective
actions can be initiated accordingly.
3. Forward Looking. Control is linked with future, as past cannot be
controlled. A manager can take corrective action only in regard to
future operations. Control is usually preventive, as presence of
control system tends to minimize wastages, losses and deviations
from standards.
4. Action Oriented. Control implies taking corrective measures. Action
is the essence of control. The purpose of control is achieved only
when corrective action is taken on the basis of feedback information.
It is only action, which adjusts performance to predetermined
standards whenever deviations occur. A good system of control
Anna Universtiy Chennai 345
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Limitations of Control
A control system may be faced with the following limitations:
1. An enterprise cannot control the external factors such as government
policies, technological changes, fashion changes, social changes, etc.
2. Control is an expensive process because the management to observe
the performance of the subordinates. This requires expenditure of a
lot of time and effort.
3. Control system loses its effectiveness when standards of performance
cannot be defined in quantitative terms. For instance, it is very difficult
to measure human behavior and employee morale.
4. The effectiveness of controls mainly depends on their acceptance
by the subordinates. They may resist controls if they feel that these
will reduce or curtail their freedom. Control also loses its significance
when it is not possible to fix the accountability of the subordinates.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 349
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Elements of Control
The essential elements of any control system are:
(1) Establishment of standards
(2) Measurement of performance
(3) Comparing performance with the standards and
(4) Taking corrective action
These steps are discussed below:
1. Establishment of Standards
The first step in control process is the setting up of standards of
measurement. Standards represent criteria for performance. A standard
acts as a reference, line or a basis of appraisal of actual performance.
Standards should be set precisely and preferably in quantitative terms. It
should be noted that setting standard is also closely linked with and is an
integral part of the planning process. Standards are used as the criteria
or benchmarks by which performance is measured in the control process.
Different standards of performance are set up for various operations at
the planning stage. As a matter of fact, planning is the basis of control.
Establishment of standards in terms of quantity, quality and time is
necessary for effective control because it is essential to determine how
the performance is going to be appraised. The second step in the control
process i.e., measurement of performance, has no sense unless it can be
350 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
2. Measurement of Performance
After establishing the standards, the second step is to measure actual
performance of various individuals, groups or units. Management should
not depend upon the guess that standards are being met. It should measure
the performance and compare it with the standards. The quantitative
measurement should be done in cases where standards have been set in
numerical terms. This will make evaluation easy and simple. In all other
cases, the performance should be measured in terms of qualitative factors
as in case of performance of industrial relations manager. His performance
can be measured in terms of attitude of workers, frequency of strikes
and morale of workers. Again, attitude and morale of workers are not
capable of being measured quantitatively. They have to be measured
qualitatively.
figures that are truly comparable from one period to another and from
one section of the business to another. Secondly, they must be coordinated
so that they not only portray the results in different sections of the business,
but also make plain the reasons why the business is or is not doing so
well as could be expected. Finally, they must be presented in such form
that the manager can get the bird’s eye-view.
Control By Exception
Management by exception is an important principle of organization. This
principle holds that only significant deviations (exceptions) from standards
of performance should be brought to the management’s attention. If actual
performance is according to the planned performance (i.e., standards
already laid down), it need not be brought to the attention of the
concerned managers as no follow-up action is necessary. But if there is a
major deviation from the standard, it should be reported to the manager.
For example, a manager establishes a quality control standard, which
says five defects per 100 units produced are permissible. Under the
management by exception principle, only significant deviations from this
standard : six of more defects per 100 units (in this case) should be
brought to the notice of the manager.
The exception principle has been devised to conserve managerial time,
effort and talent and apply these in more important areas. It is a technique
of separating important information from the unimportant information.
Only such information, which is critical for management control, is sent
to the management. This facilitates the installing of an effective control
system.
Management by exception recognizes an old saying that an attempt to
control everything may end up in controlling nothing. An executive who
wants to have an eye on each and every minor problem will prove to be
ineffective. He will not be able to devote much time to the critical
problems. The principle of control by exception suggests that manager’s
attention should be drawn, only when there are significant deviations in
performance in the critical areas of business. It will ensure better control
in the organization. It will also facilitate delegation of authority.
5.2 Control Process
The control process is a continuous flow between measuring, comparing
356 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
and action. There are four steps in the control process: establishing
performance standards, measuring actual performance, comparing
measured performance against established standards, and taking
corrective action.
An example of the control process is a thermostat.
Standard: The room thermostat is set at 68 degrees.
Measurement: The temperature is measured.
Corrective Action: If the room is too cold, the heat comes on. If the
room is too hot, the heat goes off.
Step 1. Establish Performance Standards. Standards are created
when objectives are set during the planning process. A standard is
any guideline established as the basis for measurement. It is a precise,
explicit statement of expected results from a product, service,
machine, individual, or organizational unit. It is usually expressed
numerically and is set for quality, quantity, and time. Tolerance is
the permissible deviation from the standard. What is expected? How
much deviation can be tolerated?
Step 2. Measure Actual Performance. Supervisors collect data to
measure actual performance to determine variation from standard.
Written data might include time cards, production tallies, inspection
reports, and sales tickets. Personal observation, statistical reports,
oral reports and written reports can be used to measure performance.
Management by walking around, or observation of employees
working, provides unfiltered information, extensive coverage, and
the ability to read between the lines. While providing insight, this
method might be misinterpreted by employees as mistrust. Oral
reports allow for fast and extensive feedback.
Computers give supervisors direct access to real time, unaltered data,
and information. Online systems enable supervisors to identify problems
as they occur. Database programs allow supervisors to query, spend
less time gathering facts, and be less dependent on other people.
Supervisors have access to information at their fingertips. Employees
can supply progress reports through the use of networks and electronic
mail. Statistical reports are easy to visualize and effective at demonstrating
relationships. Written reports provide comprehensive feedback that can
Anna Universtiy Chennai 357
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Kinds of Controls
Three kinds of control systems are used by the modern organizations,
namely, (i) historical or feedback control, (ii) concurrent control, and
(iii) predictive or feed forward control. The details of these controls are
discussed below.
Feedback Control
Feedback or Post action control measures results from a completed action.
The causes of deviations from the standards are determined and corrective
steps are taken so that such deviations do not occur again.
In all physical and biological systems, some message is transmitted in the
form of mechanical transfer of energy, a chemical reaction, or any other
means, which is known as ‘cybernetics’. In social systems also, some
information is sent back to exercise control. Any good managerial system
controls itself by information feedback, which discloses errors in
accomplishing goals and initiates corrective action. Feedback is the
358 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Concurrent controls
It is also known as ‘real time’ or ‘steering’ control. It provides for taking
corrective action or making adjustments while programme is still in
operation and before any major damage is done. For instance, the
navigator of a ship adjusts its movements continuously or the driver of a
car adjusts its steering continuously depending upon the direction of
destination, obstacles and other factors. In a factory, control chart is an
example of concurrent control. Safety check is another illustration in this
regard. Concurrent control occurs while an activity is still taking place.
Areas of Control
It is very difficult to prescribe a precise list of areas where control should
be exercised. However, it may be safely suggested that any activity that
affects the survival and growth of the organization should be taken as the
critical area of control and dealt with effectively. According to Peter
F. Drucker, there are key result areas where objectives should be set
and controls should be exercised. These are: (i) marketing; (ii) innovation,
(iii) productivity, (iv) human organization, (v) financial resources,
(vi) physical resources, (vii) profitability, and (viii) social responsibilities.
Holden and others have identified the following thirteen areas where
control should be exercised: (i) policies, (ii) organization, (iii) personnel,
(iv) wages and salaries, (v) costs, (vi) methods and manpower, (vii) capital
expenditure, (viii) service department efforts, (ix) line of products, (x)
research and development, (xi) foreign operations, (xii) external relations,
and (xiii) overall control.
Effective control requires that areas of control must be clearly identified
first of all. Every organization should list the key areas on which its survival
and growth depend and devise suitable techniques of control in each
area. This will help in effective delegation of authority and fixing up of
responsibility.
Time controls relate to deadlines and time constraints. Material
controls relate to inventory and material yield controls. Equipment
controls are built into the machinery, imposed on the operator to protect
the equipment or the process. Cost controls help ensure cost standards
are met. Employee performance controls focus on actions and
behaviors of individuals and groups of employees. Examples include
absences, tardiness, accidents, quality and quantity of work. Budgets
control cost or expense related standards. They identify quantity of
materials used and units to be produced.
Financial controls facilitate achieving the organization’s profit motive.
One method of financial controls is budgets. Budgets allocate resources
to important activities and provide supervisors with quantitative standards
against which to compare resource consumption. They become control
tools by pointing out deviations between the standard and actual
consumption.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 361
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Impact of Controls
Behavioral opposition to control may be caused by disagreement with
standards, reporting procedures, cost allocation and pertaining to the
control, systems and in some cases the need for control, The reaction of
different employees to standards, performance appraisal and corrective
actions will, differ depending upon the situation and the organizational
position of the members. The findings of Tannenbaum concerning the
impact of controls upon individuals are as follows:
Control has both rational and symbolic implications. It tells what an
individual must or must not do. It also implies something about the
person’s importance and freedom in the organization.
(i) Most persons prefer to exercise control over themselves and their
surroundings. They usually experience greater satisfaction when they
are able to exercise self control.
(ii) When one can exercise some control, one is more likely to identify
with and support the organization’s objectives.
(iii) Persons who are unable to exercise control tend to be less satisfied
with their work and to be apathetic and alienated. Such persons
lack the personal involvement of those who exercise control.
(iv) Those who exercise control may more willingly accept controls upon
themselves. Due to greater involvement and loyalty, such persons
might submit to control more readily.
Definition of Budget
A budget is an estimate of future needs, arranged according to an orderly
basis covering some or all the activities of an enterprise for a definite
period of time. The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of
England has defined budget as “financial and/or a quantitative statement
prepared prior to a definite period of time of the policy to be pursued
during that period for the purpose of obtaining a given objective’.
A budget is an important device managerial control. It provides a standard
by which actual operations can be evaluated to know variations from the
planned expenditures. A budget has the following characteristics :
(a) It is prepared in advance and is based on a future plan of actions.
368 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Benefits of Budgeting
The following benefits may be achieved from an effective system of
budgetary control :
(i) Budgets provide management an overall view of the activities of
enterprise. They serve as a valuable aid to management through
planning coordination and control. They provide standards against
which actual performance is measured. This helps in taking corrective
actions in time.
(ii) Budgets are based on well defined plans. In preparation of various
budgets, knowledge, skills and experience of many managers are
combined and the plans of the enterprise are reduced into concrete
numerical term and budgets enable the various departmental heads
to know what is expected of them. They know the amount that they
are entitled to spend and the income they are expected to earn.
Thus, budgeting introduces an element of definiteness in planning.
(iii) Budgeting helps in eliminating unproductive activities and minimizing
waste, because preparation of budgets involves a very careful analysis
of various phases of business. All those who have to bear the
Anna Universtiy Chennai 371
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Types of Budgets
A business enterprise can use various types of budgets for various
purposes. A brief discussion of the budgets used in business is given
below
1. Sales Budget. It includes a forecast of total sales during a period
expressed in money and/or quantities. The forecast relates to the
total volume of sales and also its break up product wise and area
wise. The responsibility for making sales budget lies with the sales
manager, Preparation of sales budget is the key factor in any business
enterprise. All other budgets are based on the sales budget. Sales
budget sets the tone for production, finance and personnel budgets.
The following factors are relevant for preparing the sales budget :
(i) Past figures and trend;
(ii) Salesmen’s estimates;
(iii) General economic conditions;
(iv) Orders on hand;
(v) Seasonal fluctuations;
(vi) Competition and
(vii) Government’s control and policy.
2. Productions or Output Budget. It includes a forecast of the output
for a period analyzed according to (a) products ;(b) manufacturing
departments and (c) periods of production. It is generally based on
the sales budget as it is the responsibility of the production department
to schedule its production according to sales forecast. The production
manager prepares it by taking into account the following major
factors :
(i) The sales budget.
(ii) Plant capacity.
(iii) Inventory policy.
(iv) Availability of raw materials, labor, power, etc.
3. Materials Budget. Materials may be of two types, direct and
indirect. The materials budget generally deals with the direct materials
Anna Universtiy Chennai 375
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
9. Cash Budget. The cash budget usually consists of two parts giving
detailed estimates of (a) cash receipts, and (b) cash disbursements
for the budget period. It is prepared: (i) to ensure that cash is
available in time for meeting the financial commitments; and (ii) to
use cash available in the best possible manner. It is prepared by the
controller of finance considering the following points :
(a) Cash receipts expected from cash sales, credit sales having regard
to credit collection policy, interest, etc., dividend and rent receivable,
(b) Estimated payments for purchases and expenses as set out in
different budgets.
10. Master Budget. The Institute of Cost and Management
Accountants, England has defined master budget as the summary
budget incorporating its component functional budgets, which is finally
approved, adopted and employed. Thus, a master budget is prepared
to incorporate all functional budgets. It projects a comprehensive
picture of the proposed activities and anticipated results during the
budget period. The top management of the enterprise must approve it.
Performance Budgeting
Administrative Reforms Commission suggested the use of Performance
Budgeting by the Government. A performance budget is an input - output
budget. It considers both costs and results. It shows expenses as under
the traditional budgeting. In other words, it highlights the end results to
be achieved rather than money to be spent. It helps in knowing whether
Marginal Costing
Marginal costing is a very useful technique, which guides management in
pricing, decisions making and assessment of profitability. According to
Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, London, marginal costing
is the ascertainment of marginal cost and of the effect on profit of changes
in volume or type of output by differentiating between fixed and variable
costs. Fixed costs remain unchanged up to a certain level of production,
Anna Universtiy Chennai 381
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
but variable costs change with the changes in the volume of production.
Marginal cost is the amount of money at any given volume of output by
which aggregate cost is changed, if the volume of output is increased or
decreased by one unit.
Suppose, a factory produces 1,000 units of product X per month. The
variable cost per unit is Rs. 25 and the fixed expenses per month are Rs.
10,000. The cost statement of 1,000 units of ‘X’ will be as follows:
Rs.
Variable cost (1,000 x 25) 25,000
Fixed cost 10,000
Marginal cost is the total cost of producing 1,001 units minus total cost
of producing 1,000 units. It comes to Rs. 25 (i.e., Rs. 35,025 - 35,000),
which is the variable cost of one unit. So long as the fixed cost does not
change, production can be increased and marginal cost for every extra
unit of production will be the variable cost. Until the production at the
full capacity is achieved, the fixed costs are irrelevant for managerial
decisions and control. All the decisions are based on the variable costs
of producing additional units. It is relevant here to define contribution.
Contribution is the balance left by defecting total variable costs from the
sales revenue. It is called contribution because it enables to meet fixed
costs and contributes to the profit.
Profit Volume Ratio. It is the ratio of contribution to sales. It is also
called ‘contribution ratio’ or ‘marginal ratio’. It can be expressed in
percentage by the following formula:
Contribution x 100
P/V Ratio = ______________
Sales
The P/V ratio is used for appraising profitability of alternative products,
operations and decisions. A higher ratio reflects greater profitability and
lower ratio indicates lower profitability. Management tries to achieve
382 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
higher P/V ratio by reducing variable cost or by increasing the sale price.
In most of the cases, it is not possible to increase the sale price, so
management concentrates on decreasing the variable costs.
Total Cost
Variable Cost
Fixed Cost
Sales Volume
Break even analysis helps the management in knowing the relationship
between cost, volume of production and profits or losses. By dividing
the total costs into fixed and variable, the management can determine the
point up to which it must carry on production to cover fixed cost. It can
exercise cost control at various levels of sale. This will also enable the
management to accept orders during depression or off season at lower
prices which is more than the variable costs. The excess of price over
the variable costs will lead to reduction of losses, which will result if no
production is carried on. Fixed costs remain unchanged whether there is
production or not. However, the fixed costs do not remain constant for
all levels of production. They are fixed only up to a certain level of
production. After that they will jump. This limitation of break even analysis
should be kept in mind. Moreover, variable costs do not always vary
proportionately. There may be certain economies in large scale
production. The profit shown by the breakeven analysis may not be
achieved as the prices in the market fluctuate frequently and the share of
every firm in the market is also limited because of competition and other
forces beyond the control of the firm.
Management Audit
By audit we mean a review or examination of completed transactions to
see whether they represent a true state of affairs of the business or not.
While conducting an audit, the auditor examines the degree of
conformance of business transactions with the accepted business practices
and the legal provisions. The main objective of financial audit is to know
the correct profit or loss of the business during a particular year and to
determine the accuracy of the balance sheet as at the end of that year.
Thus, audit serves as a control mechanism over the completed transactions
of the enterprise. It detects the errors and frauds committed in the books
of accounts of the enterprise.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 385
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Networks Techniques
Network analysis is being widely recognized as a management tool in
both commerce and Industry. Under network analysis, a project is broken
down to small activities or operations, which are arranged in a logical
sequence. After this the order in which various operations should be
performed is decided. A network diagram may be drawn to present the
relationship between all the operations involved. The diagram will reveal
the gaps in the flow plan. The network thus drawn shows the
interdependence of various activities of a project and also points out the
activities, which have to be completed before the others are initiated.
The object of network analysis is to help in planning, organizing and
controlling the operations to enable the management in accomplishing
the project economically and efficiently. Various research scholars have
developed a number of network techniques. But PERT and CPM have
gained wide popularity. Both PERT (Programme Evaluation and Review
Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method) recognize the interrelated
nature of elements within large work projects. Any project whether it is
construction of a building or manufacture of a hydrogen bomb, is a
complex network of inter related activities. In network techniques, an
activity is defined as an operation required for accomplishing a particular
goal. An activity requires a specific span of time for completion. An event
is a point of time when an activity is begun or completed. In a project,
some activities are sequential while others are concurrent to each other.
388 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Steps in PERT/CPM
The application of network techniques in project management involves
the following steps:
(i) Identification of Components. The first step in the application of
PERT/CPM is identification of all key activities and phases or events
necessary for the completion of project. The term ‘activity’ may be
defined as an operation or a job to be carried out which consumes
time and resources. An arrow in the network diagram denotes it. An
event may be defined as the beginning or completion of an activity.
A circle in the network diagram denotes it.
(ii) Sequencing of Activities and Events. A network diagram is
prepared to show the sequence of activities and events. It has a
beginning point and a termination point for the project, each event is
given a serial number for the sake of convenience. It may be noted
that some activities have to be under taken sequentially while others
are to be carried out concurrently. The project network clearly reveals
the sequence of activities. It also depicts a number of paths of
activities and events from beginning to completion.
(iii) Time Analysis. After the network diagram is drawn, time estimates
are prepared for how long it will take to complete each activity. The
total time of all these activities will be the time required for the
completion of the project. Three estimates of time span for the
completion of each activity are made, viz., (i) optimistic or shortest
time, (it) pessimistic or longest time, and (iii) normal (most likely)
time. These estimates are combined into a single workable time value
known as expected time. The three estimates of time are used in
PERT because the originator of PERT thought that the estimated
time for an activity is better described by a probability distribution
than by a single estimate.
Anna Universtiy Chennai 391
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Current Assets
(a) Current Ratio =
Current Liabilities
Cash & Receivables
(b) Acid Test or Quick Ratio =
Current Liabilities
Total Tangible Assets
(c) Solvency Ratio =
Total Outstanding Liabilities
II. Leverage Ratios - Measure the contribution to finance by owners visa-vis creditors.
Long - term Debt
(a) Debt - Equity Ratio =
Net worth
III. Profitability Ratios - Measure the relationship between profit or earnings and capital
employed or sales.
Net Earnings
(a) Return on Capital Employed =
Capital + Free Reserves
Net Earnings
(b) Return on Sales =
Sales
Sales
(b) Equity Capital Turnover =
Net Worth
Receivables
(c) Average Collection Period =
Average Sales per Day
Summary
There are several techniques employed by managers in order to achieve
the highest level of quality and productivity possible.
Break even analysis tries to examine the impact on profit of the changes
in price, volume, mix and costs with a certain amount of accuracy. It
helps management in profit planning. Budgeting is the process of stating,
in quantitative terms, planned organizational activities for a given period
of time. Budgets are useful because they provide a means of translating
diverse activities and outcomes into a common measure, such as rupees.
Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB) is a budget approach in which responsibility’
centers start with zero in preparing their budget requests and must justify
the contributions of each of their activities to organizational goals, rather
than focus on increments to the previous year’s budgets. While ZBB
forces managers to justify their activities in terms of future goals rather
than past practices, the process can be costly and time consuming to
administer, since every ongoing activity must be evaluated. Human
Resource Accounting (HRA) is a process of identifying and measuring
data about human resources and communicating this information to
interested parties. HRA provides valuable feedback to managers
regarding the effectiveness of policies and practices. It helps the
management in taking appropriate decisions regarding the use of human
resources in an organization. Both monetary measures and non monetary
measures are used to value human resources depending on necessity.
Standard costing is a sophisticated technique of costing under which the
standards are determined in advance, and actual costs are compared
with the standards so that corrective action may be taken for any
unfavorable variances. Management audit is a systematic and in depth
review of the effectiveness and efficiency of management. The primary
focus is on appraisal of general performance of management functions as
well as specific organizational areas.
Network models are used in planning and controlling large, complex
projects. The PERT involves the display of a complex project as network
of events and activities with three time estimates used to calculate the
expected time for each activity. The objective of PERT is to reduce the
entire project completion time by a certain amount at the least cost. The
CPM also involves the display of a complex project, a network but with
396 Anna Universtiy Chennai
DBA 1601 MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Review questions.
1. Define controlling.
2. Illustrate significance of controlling.
3. Elucidate the steps in the control process with suitable illustration.
4. What do you mean by budgetary control?
5. Describe the control techniques used in industry with suitable
example.