There are 14 Principles of
Management described by Henri Fayol.
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- Division of Labor
- Henry Fayol has stressed on the specialization of jobs.
- He recommended that work of all kinds must be divided & subdivided and allotted to various persons according to their expertise in a particular area.
- Subdivision of work makes it simpler and results in efficiency.
- It also helps the individual in acquiring speed, accuracy in his performance.
- Specialization leads to efficiency & economy in spheres of business.
- Party of Authority & Responsibility
- Authority & responsibility are co-existing.
- If authority is given to a person, he should also be made responsible.
- In a same way, if anyone is made responsible for any job, he should also have concerned authority.
- Authority refers to the right of superiors to get exactness from their sub-ordinates whereas responsibility means obligation for the performance of the job assigned.
- There should be a balance between the two i.e. they must go hand in hand.
- Authority without responsibility leads to irresponsible behavior whereas responsibility without authority makes the person ineffective.
- Principle of One Boss
- A sub-ordinate should receive orders and be accountable to one and only one boss at a time.
- In other words, a sub-ordinate should not receive instructions from more than one person because -
- It
undermines authority
- Weakens discipline
- Divides loyalty
- Creates confusion
- Delays and chaos
- Escaping responsibilities
- Duplication of work
- Overlapping of efforts
- Weakens discipline
- Divides loyalty
- Creates confusion
- Delays and chaos
- Escaping responsibilities
- Duplication of work
- Overlapping of efforts
- Therefore, dual sub-ordination should be avoided unless and until it is absolutely essential.
- Unity of command provides the enterprise a disciplined, stable & orderly existence.
- It creates harmonious relationship between superiors and sub-ordinates.
- Unity of Direction
- Fayol advocates one head one plan which means that there should be one plan for a group of activities having similar objectives.
- Related activities should be grouped together. There should be one plan of action for them and they should be under the charge of a particular manager.
- According to this principle, efforts of all the members of the organization should be directed towards common goal.
- Without unity of direction, unity of action cannot be achieved.
- In fact, unity of command is not possible without unity of direction.
Basis
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Unity of command
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Unity of direction
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Meaning
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It implies that a sub-ordinate
should receive orders & instructions from only one boss.
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It means one head, one plan for a
group of activities having similar objectives.
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Nature
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It is related to the functioning
of personnel’s.
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It is related to the functioning
of departments, or organization as a whole.
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Necessity
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It is necessary for fixing
responsibility of each subordinates.
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It is necessary for sound
organization.
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Advantage
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It avoids conflicts, confusion
& chaos.
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It avoids duplication of efforts
and wastage of resources.
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Result
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It leads to better superior
sub-ordinate relationship.
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It leads to smooth running of the
enterprise.
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Therefore it is obvious that they are
different from each other but they are dependent on each other i.e. unity of
direction is a pre-requisite for unity of command. But it does not
automatically comes from the unity of direction.
- Equity
- Equity means combination of fairness, kindness & justice.
- The employees should be treated with kindness & equity if devotion is expected of them.
- It implies that managers should be fair and impartial while dealing with the subordinates.
- They should give similar treatment to people of similar position.
- They should not discriminate with respect to age, caste, sex, religion, relation etc.
- Equity is essential to create and maintain cordial relations between the managers and sub-ordinate.
- But equity does not mean total absence of harshness.
- Fayol was of opinion that, “at times force and harshness might become necessary for the sake of equity”.
- Order
- This principle is concerned with proper & systematic arrangement of things and people.
- Arrangement of things is called material order and placement of people is called social order.
- Material order- There should be safe, appropriate and specific place for every article and every place to be effectively used for specific activity and commodity.
- Social order- Selection and appointment of most suitable person on the suitable job. There should be a specific place for every one and everyone should have a specific place so that they can easily be contacted whenever need arises.
- Discipline
- According to Fayol, “Discipline means sincerity, obedience, respect of authority & observance of rules and regulations of the enterprise”.
- This principle applies that subordinate should respect their superiors and obey their order.
- It is an important requisite for smooth running of the enterprise.
- Discipline is not only required on path of subordinates but also on the part of management.
- Discipline can be enforced if -
- There
are good superiors at all levels.
- There are clear & fair agreements with workers.
- Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously applied.
- There are clear & fair agreements with workers.
- Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously applied.
- Initiative
- Workers should be encouraged to take initiative in the work assigned to them.
- It means eagerness to initiate actions without being asked to do so.
- Fayol advised that management should provide opportunity to its employees to suggest ideas, experiences& new method of work.
- It helps in developing an atmosphere of trust and understanding.
- People then enjoy working in the organization because it adds to their zeal and energy.
- To suggest improvement in formulation & implementation of place.
- They can be encouraged with the help of monetary & non-monetary incentives.
- Fair Remuneration
- The quantum and method of remuneration to be paid to the workers should be fair, reasonable, satisfactory & rewarding of the efforts.
- As far as possible it should accord satisfaction to both employer and the employees.
- Wages should be determined on the basis of cost of living, work assigned, financial position of the business, wage rate prevailing etc.
- Logical & appropriate wage rates and methods of their payment reduce tension & differences between workers & management creates harmonious relationship and pleasing atmosphere of work.
- Fayol also recommended provision of other benefits such as free education, medical & residential facilities to workers.
- Stability of Tenure
- Fayol emphasized that employees should not be moved frequently from one job position to another i.e. the period of service in a job should be fixed.
- Therefore employees should be appointed after keeping in view principles of recruitment & selection but once they are appointed their services should be served.
- According to Fayol. “Time is required for an employee to get used to a new work & succeed to doing it well but if he is removed before that he will not be able to render worthwhile services”.
- As a result, the time, effort and money spent on training the worker will go waste.
- Stability of job creates team spirit and a sense of belongingness among workers which ultimately increase the quality as well as quantity of work.
- Scalar Chain
- Fayol defines scalar chain as ’The chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to the lowest”.
- Every orders, instructions, messages, requests, explanation etc. has to pass through Scalar chain.
- But, for the sake of convenience & urgency, this path can be cut shirt and this short cut is known as Gang Plank.
- A Gang Plank is a temporary arrangement between
two different points to facilitate quick & easy communication as
explained below:
In the
figure given, if D has to communicate with G he will first send the
communication upwards with the help of C, B to A and then downwards with the
help of E and F to G which will take quite some time and by that time, it may
not be worth therefore a gang plank has been developed between the two.
- Gang Plank clarifies that management principles are not rigid rather they are very flexible. They can be moulded and modified as per the requirements of situations
- Sub-Ordination of Individual Interest to General Interest
- An organization is much bigger than the individual it constitutes therefore interest of the undertaking should prevail in all circumstances.
- As far as possible, reconciliation should be achieved between individual and group interests.
- But in case of conflict, individual must sacrifice for bigger interests.
- In order to achieve this attitude, it is essential that -
- Employees
should be honest & sincere.
- Proper & regular supervision of work.
- Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual agreement. For example, for change of location of plant, for change of profit sharing ratio, etc.
- Proper & regular supervision of work.
- Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual agreement. For example, for change of location of plant, for change of profit sharing ratio, etc.
- Espirit De’ Corps (can be achieved through unity of command)
- It refers to team spirit i.e. harmony in the work groups and mutual understanding among the members.
- Spirit De’ Corps inspires workers to work harder.
- Fayol cautioned the managers against dividing the employees into competing groups because it might damage the moral of the workers and interest of the undertaking in the long run.
- To inculcate Espirit De’ Corps following steps should be undertaken -
- There should be proper co-ordination of work at all levels
- Subordinates should be encouraged to develop informal relations among themselves.
- Efforts should be made to create enthusiasm and keenness among subordinates so that they can work to the maximum ability.
- Efficient employees should be rewarded and those who are not up to the mark should be given a chance to improve their performance.
- Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are doing is of great importance to the business & society.
- He also cautioned against the more use of Britain communication to the subordinates i.e. face to face communication should be developed. The managers should infuse team spirit & belongingness. There should be no place for misunderstanding. People then enjoy working in the organization & offer their best towards the organization.
- Centralization & De-Centralization
- Centralization means concentration of authority at the top level. In other words, centralization is a situation in which top management retains most of the decision making authority.
- Decentralization means disposal of decision making authority to all the levels of the organization. In other words, sharing authority downwards is decentralization.
- According to Fayol, “Degree of centralization or decentralization depends on no. of factors like size of business, experience of superiors, dependability & ability of subordinates etc.
- Anything which increases the role of subordinate is decentralization & anything which decreases it is centralization.
- Fayol suggested that absolute centralization or decentralization is not feasible. An organization should strike to achieve a lot between the two.
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