‘Bhasin’ limited was engaged in the business of food processing and selling its products under a popular brand. Lately the business was expanding due to good quality and reasonable prices. Also with more people working the market for processed food was increasing. New players were also coming to cash in on the new trend. In order to keep its market share in the short run the company directed its existing workforce to work overtime. But this resulted in many problems. Due to increased pressure of work the efficiency of the workers declined. Sometimes the subordinates had to work for more than one superior resulting in declining efficiency. The divisions that were previously working on one product were also made to work on two or more products. This resulted in a lot of overlapping and wastage. The workers were becoming indisciplined. The spirit of teamwork, which had characterized the company, previously was beginning to wane. Workers were feeling cheated and initiative was declining. The quality of the products was beginning to decline and market share was on the verge of decrease. Actually the company had implemented changes without creating the required infrastructure.
a. Identify the Principles of Management (out of 14 given by Henry Fayol) that were being violated by the company.
b. Explain these principles in brief.
c. What steps should the company management take in relation to the above principles to restore the company to its past glory?
a.
The following principles are violated by the company:
1. Division of work
2. Unity of command
3. Unity of direction
4. Discipline
5. Remuneration of personnel
6. Order
7. Initiative
8. Esprit de corps
b.
1. Division of work: Division of work separates the work into a number of tasks, and each task is performed by the trained specialist which leads to specialization. According to Fayol, the intention of division of work is to produce more and better work for the same effort. If the work is divided into specialists then the work is performed more efficiently and effectively.
2. Unity of command: Under the principle of unity of command an employee should receive orders from only one boss because if he receives orders from more than one boss then he will get confused and the employee may not understand whose orders should be executed first. And the employee may give excuses by saying that he was fulfilling the orders of the other boss if he receives orders from more than one boss. So to avoid these confusions and excuses of the employees there must be unity of command.
3. Unity of direction: Unity of direction means all the units of an organization should be moving towards the same objectives with coordination. According to this principle each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan. And the organization and its members must be directed towards the achievement of the same goal. For example, if my company is manufacturing both mobile and laptop then it should have two different divisions for both of them and each division should have their own incharge, plans and executive resources.
4. Discipline: Discipline means obedience of organizational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organization. The workers and the management both should honour their commitments without any prejudice toward one another.
5. Remuneration of employees: The overall pay and compensation should be fair for both the employees and the organization. All the employees should be given fair wages which give them at least a reasonable living. And at same time the wages paid by the organization should be within the paying capacity of the organization.
6. Order: Order doesn’t mean command it actually means orderliness. According to this principle the right person should be at the right place and the right thing should be placed at the right place. If everything will be at the right place then there will be no hindrance in the activities of business. And this will increase efficiency and productivity. And If the men and material are not placed in an organized manner then not be able to contact the right person at the right time or when required and this will delay work.
7. Initiative: Initiative refers to taking the first step with self motivation. It means thinking out and executing the plans. According to Fayol in this principle workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Initiative should be encouraged but it doesn’t mean going against the established practices and rules. A good company should have an employee suggestion system and any good suggestion should be rewarded.
8. Esprit de Corps: This means that the management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees. And the manager should replace ‘I’ with ‘WE’ in all his conversation with the workers. This will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness between team members. And this will also minimize the need for using penalties.
c.
1. The company must increase its capital investment because the existing capacity of the company is not able to cooperate with the increased workload.
2. There must be unity of command, by making subordinates responsible to only one superior.
3. They should clearly define the authority responsibility relationships in context of expansion of production activity.
4. One division for one product should be followed to ensure unity of direction and division of work.
5. Employees should be motivated by giving them incentive and motivated employees will lead to restore discipline, initiative and esprit de corps.
6. Fair remuneration should be given, to increase the efficiency of the employees.
Define scientific management. State any three of its principles.
Discuss the relevance of Taylor and Fayol’s contribution in the contemporary business environment.
State the main objective of time study.
Explain the principle of ‘Scalar Chain’ and gang plank.
Discuss the following techniques of Scientific Work Study:
a. Time Study
b. Motion Study
c. Fatigue Study
d. Method Study
e. Simplification and standardisation of work
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?
Explain the technique of ‘Functional Foremanship’ and the concept of ‘Mental Revolution’ as enunciated by Taylor.
(Further information related to the above question 6) The management of company Bhasin Limited now realised its folly. In order to rectify the situation it appointed a management consultant -Mukti Consultants - to recommend a restructure plan to bring the company back on the rails. Mukti Consultants undertook a study of the production process at the plant of the company Bhasin Limited and recommended the following changes —
• The company should introduce scientific management with regard to production.
• Production Planning including routing, scheduling, dispatching and feedback should be implemented.
• In order to separate planning from operational management ’Functional foremanship’ should be introduced.
• ‘Work study’ should be undertaken to optimise the use of resources.
• ‘Standardisation’ of all activities should be implemented to increase efficiency and accountability.
• To motivate the workers ‘Differential Piece Rate System’ should be implemented.
(The above changes should be introduced apart from the steps recommended as an answer to Part c - case problem 6 above.) It was expected that the changes will bring about a radical transformation in the working of the company and it will regain its pristine glory.
a. Do you think that introduction of scientific management as recommended by M consultants will result in intended outcome?
b. What precautions should the company undertake to implement the changes?
c. Give your answer with regard to each technique separately as enunciated in points 1 through 6 in the case problem.
SanakLal 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.
Explain any four points regarding significance of principles of management.
How does planning provide direction?
What is meant by staffing?
Identify the network of social relationships which arises spontaneously due to interaction at work.
What is informal communication?
State the meaning of controlling.
What is meant by capital structure?v
What is meant by management?
What is a Treasury Bill?
State any two advantages of branding to marketers of goods and services?
Under which consumer right does a business firm set up consumer grievance cell?
Which style of leadership does not believe in use of power unless it is absolutely essential?
Neha runs a factory wherein she manufactures shoes. The business has been doing well and she intends to expand by diversifying into leather bags as well as western formal wear thereby making her company a complete provider of corporate wear. This will enable her to market her business unit as the one stop for working women. Which type of structure would you recommend for her expanded organisation and why?
Explain the importance of controlling in an organisation. What are the problems faced by the organisation in implementing an effective control system?
Mrs. Mathur sent a jacket to a laundry shop in January 2018. The jacket was purchased at a price of ₹4,500. She had previously sent the jacket for dry cleaning with Shine Dry Cleaners and the jacket was cleaned well. However, she noticed that her jacket had white discoloration marks when she collected the jacket this time. On informing the dry cleaner, Mrs. Mathur received a letter confirming that discolouration indeed appeared after the jacket was dry cleaned. She contacted the dry cleaner multiple times and requested for compensation for discoloured jacket but to no avail.
Upon Consumer court’s intervention, Shine Dry Cleaners agreed to compensate ₹2,500 to Mrs. Mathur for the discoloured jacket.
a. Which right was exercised by Mrs. Mathur at the first instance.
b. Name and explain the right which helped Mrs. Mathur to avail the compensation.
c. State which consumer responsibility has been fulfilled by Mrs. Mathur in the above case.
d. State any other two responsibilities to be assumed by the consumers.
A company ‘M’ limited is manufacturing mobile phones both for domestic Indian market as well as for export. It had enjoyed a substantial market share and also had a loyal customer following. But lately it has been experiencing problems because its targets have not been met with regard to sales and customer satisfaction. Also mobile market in India has grown tremendously and new players have come with better technology and pricing. This is causing problems for the company. It is planning to revamp its controlling system and take other steps necessary to rectify the problems it is facing.
a. Identify the benefits the company will derive from a good control system.
b. How can the company relate its planning with control in this line of business to ensure that its plans are actually implemented and targets attained.
c. Give the steps in the control process that the company should follow to remove the problems it is facing.
Management is a series of continuous interrelated functions. Comment.
Define advertising? What are its main features? Explain.
A company, which manufactures a popular brand of toys, has been enjoying good market reputation. It has a functional organisational structure with separate departments for Production, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources and Research and Development. Lately to use its brand name and also to cash on to new business opportunities it is thinking to diversify into manufacture of new range of electronic toys for which a new market is emerging. Which organisation structure should be adopted in this situation? Give concrete reasons with regard to benefits the company will derive from the steps it should take.
Under which consumer right does a business firm set up consumer grievance cell?
Explain the procedure for selection of employees.