Class 12 Business Studies

Principles of Management

NCERT Exercise Solution

Very Short Answer Type

Question 1: What makes principles of management flexible?

Answer: Principles of management can be tweaked according to situation because a business functions under a dynamic environment.

Question 2: State the main objective of time study.

Answer: The main objective of time study is to find out the minimum possible time required to finish a task efficiently.

Question 2: Name the principle that is an extension of the ‘harmony, not discord’.

Answer: Cooperation not individualism

Question 4: State any two causes of fatigue that may create hindrance in the employee’s performance.

Answer: Long working hours and poor design of workplace

Question 5: Sanak Lal and Gagan started their career in Wales Limited (a printing press) after going through a rigorous recruitment process. Since they had no prior work experience, the firm decided to give them one year to prove themselves. Name the principle of management followed by Wales Limited.

Answer: Stability in the tenure of personnel

Question 6: Which technique is used by Taylor for distinguishing efficient and inefficient workers?

Answer: Differential piece wage system

Short Answer Type

Question 1: How is the Principle of ‘Unity of Command’ useful to management? Explain briefly.

Answer: Unity of command helps in preventing confusion among worker. Let us assume that a sales person needs to give 10% discount to close a deal. His sales manager gives the permission to do so. But the finance manager tells him not to go beyond 5% discount. This will result in confusion, low morale and loss of sale for the concerned sales person.

Question 2: Define scientific management. State any three of its principles.

Answer: Scientific management means knowing exactly what you want men to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.

Following are three principles of scientific management:

Question 3: If an organisation does not provide the right place for physical and human resources in an organisation, which principle is violated? What are the consequences of it?

Answer: This violates the principle of order. Every material and personnel must be at suitable place at the appropriate time. This helps in achieving maximum efficiency. If a pathologist is asked to make visitor’s entry near OPD what will happen to all the pathology tests in a hospital. This example shows the importance of the presence of the right person at the right place.

Question 4: Explain any four points regarding significance of principles of management.

Answer: Following four points state the significance of principles of management:

Provide managers with useful insights into reality

Principles of management give managers useful insights into reality. Let us assume the job of a sales manager. He needs market data to understand the market potential for a product. He also needs sales data of his company’s products to analyse where does the company stand vis-à-vis its competitor.

Optimum utilization of resources

Proper management helps in optimum utilization of resources. If tools are kept at suitable place, a worker can easily find them and work with them. This shows the importance of layout design of the workplace.

Effective Administration

An organization needs to work like a well-oiled machine. Every component of it should work in synchronization in order to ensure maximum possible output. This can be achieved only through effective administration.

Scientific decision making

As you have read in this lesson thumb of rule can be full of biases. So it is better to stick to scientific decision making.

Question 5: Explain the principle of ‘Scalar Chain’ and gang plank.

Answer: The formal line of command from top to bottom is called scalar chain. Let us assume there is one head called A. There are two separate lines of command under him. The first command goes like B-C-D-E-F and the second command line goes like L-M-N-O-P. In this situation, if F has to communicate with P then he will have to go through E-D-C-B-A-L-M-N-O-P. This happens due to the principle of scalar command. But in case of emergency, there should be a provision for F directly communicating with P and such a line of communication is called Gang Plank.

Question 6: A production manager at top level in a reputed corporate, Mr. Rathore holds the responsibility for ordering raw material for the firm. While deciding on the supplier for the financial year 2017-18, he gave the order to his cousin at a higher price per unit instead of the firm’s usual supplier who was willing to lower the rates for the order. Which principle of management was violated by Mr. Rathore? What are the positive impacts of following the above identified principle?

Answer: Mr. Rathore violated the principle of subordination of individual interest to general interest.

An organisation’s interest is the sum of the interests of various stakeholders, like shareholders, supply chain partners, suppliers, etc. When organisation’s interest is made the primary objective it helps in improved performance for the organization and everyone gains as a result. When the company becomes prosperous, employees also become prosperous.

Long Answer Type

Question 1: Explain the Principles of Scientific management given by Taylor.

Answer: Taylor’s principles of scientific management are as follows:

Science, not the rule of thumb

Scientific management is based on the study of traditional method of doing a work and finding out the best way of doing the work. On the other hand, rule of thumb may not always lead to efficiency because different managers can have their own rules of thumb. Scientific method of doing a work helps in tremendous saving of energy and time and ensures maximum possible output.

Harmony not discord

A manager has the mandate to get the work done from workers. This often results in class conflict. But the conflict does not lead to anywhere. According to Taylor, both managers and workers should change their paradigm and start cooperating with each other. A profitable organization will always be better for both the manager and the worker.

Cooperation not individualism

This principle is more or less similar to the previous one. All the workers should work as a team rather than working as different individuals. There is a saying that Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM).

Development of each person to her/his greatest efficiency and prosperity

Each person should be trainer in order to improve his/her efficiency. This will help in maximizing the output. Once the gains made by organization are shared among all the workers, every worker will become more prosperous.

Question 2: Explain the following Principles of management given by Fayol with examples:

Question a: Unity of direction

Answer: All the members of a team should move in a single direction, i.e. towards the business goal. Let us take example of a big FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) company. A sales team responsible for selling soaps and detergents should never be given the assignment of looking after beverages. There should be an entirely separate team for beverages.

Question b: Equity

Answer: Every person should be treated with respect and dignity. There should be no discrimination on the basis of gender, religion or race. This helps in developing a sense of self respect and belonging among the employees. For example, if a person gets promoted to the higher rank just because he/she belongs to a particular region of the country it will cause de-motivation among other employees.

Question c: Espirit de corps

Answer: This principle is more or less similar to the previous one. All the workers should work as a team rather than working as different individuals. There is a saying that Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM).

Question d: Order

Answer: Every material and personnel must be at suitable place at the appropriate time. This helps in achieving maximum efficiency. Even in our households there are fixed places for keeping various items. The place for keeping soaps and detergents is entirely different from one for keeping vegetables. This helps in finding the required item at the right time.

Question e: Centralisation and decentralization

Answer: There should be a proper balance between centralization and decentralization. All the managers should be given enough delegation in order to get the task done and to retain the employee. Broad policy making can be more of centralized nature. Let us take example of a sales manager who needs to settle the breakage claim of a distributor. If he gets the empowerment to do so within certain limits it will help in building the trust of distributor on him and on the company. But if for every single claim the manager needs to take approval from the CEO, then there is no relevance of the sales manager.

Question f: Initiative

Answer: Workers should be encouraged to take initiative while doing a task. Suggestions on improvisation should always be welcome from the workers. There should be suitable systems in place for getting suggestions and feedbacks from workers. Some of the great brands have come into origin after accepting suggestions from a worker. The hot spicy flavor of cheetoz is a good example.