Solved Paper Essentials of Management Bcom Sem i By Rahul Sir

 

LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY 

BCOM SEM I 

Essentials of Management 

PRINTES QUESTION PAPER

Q1.Define Management. Discuss the Major Function & Also Explain the Nature of Management.

Ans:MANAGEMENT

• It is the process of getting things done through others with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently.
• It is organization and coordination of different activities of the business in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
• It is a distinct intellectual activity consisting of several functionslike Planning, Organising, Directing, Controlling and staffing.
• The person who performs all these functions is known as Manager.

Management is defined as the procedure of organising, directing, planning and controlling the efforts of organisational members and of managing organisational sources to accomplish particular goals.

• Planning is the purpose of ascertaining in advance what is supposed to be done and who has to do it. This signifies establishing goals in advance and promoting a way of delivering them effectively and efficiently. In an establishment, the aim is the obtainment and sale of conventional Indian handloom and workmanship articles. They trade furnishings, readymades, household items and fabrics made out of classical Indian textiles.
• Organising is the administrative operation of specifying grouping tasks, duties, authorising power and designating resources needed to carry out a particular system. Once a definite plan has been set for the completion of an organisational intent, the organising party reviews the actions and resources expected to execute the program. It ascertains what actions and resources are needed. It determines who will do a distinct job, where and when it will be done.
• Staffing is obtaining the best resources for the right job. A significant perspective of management is to make certain that the appropriate people with the apt skills are obtainable in the proper places and times to achieve the goals of the company. This is also called the human resource operations and it includes activities such as selection, placement, recruitment and coaching of employees.
• Directing involves directing, leading and encouraging the employees to complete the tasks allocated to them. This entails building an environment that inspires employees to do their best. Motivation and leadership are 2 chief elements of direction. Directing also includes communicating efficiently as well as managing employees at the workplace. Motivating workers means simply building an atmosphere that urges them to want to work. Leadership is inspiring others to do what the manager wants them to do.
• Controlling is the management operation of controlling organisational achievement towards the accomplishment of organisational intentions. The job of controlling comprises ascertaining criteria of performance, computing the current performance, comparing this with organised rules and taking remedial action where any divergence is observed. Here management should ascertain what activities and outputs are important to progress, how and where they can be regulated and who should have the power to take remedial response.

Nature of Management:

• Universal Process: Wherever there exists human pursuit, there exists management. Without effective management, the intentions of the organisation cannot be accomplished.
• The factor of Production: Equipped and experienced managers are necessary for the utilisation of funds and labour.
• Goal-Oriented: The most significant aim of all management pursuit is to achieve the purposes of a firm. The aims must be practical and reachable.
• Supreme in Thought and Action: Managers set achievable goals and then direct execution on all aspects to achieve them. For this, they need complete assistance from middle and lower degrees of management.
• The system of authority: Well-defined principles of regulation, the regulation of proper power and efficiency at all degrees of decision-making. This is important so that each self must perform what is required from him or her and to whom he must report.
• Profession: Managers require to control managerial expertise and education, and have to adhere to a verified law of demeanour and stay informed of their human and social responsibilities.
• Process: The management method incorporates a range of activities or services directed towards an object.

Q2.Explain the Following Approaches.

a)Systematic Approaches of Management 

b)Human Relation Approaches 

a)Systematic Approaches of Management 

Systematic management is an approach to management that focuses on the management process rather than on the final outcome. The goals to this approach to management were:

• To create specific processes and procedures to be used in job task completion
• To ensure that organizational operations were economical
• To ensure that staffing was adequate for the needs of the organization
• To maintain suitable inventory so that the demands of consumers could be met
• To establish organizational controls

This type of management approach was the first to directly link orderly operations, human resource management, and communication to organizational success.

Human Relations Approach

According to Human Relations Approach, management is the Study of behaviour of peo­ple at work.

This approach had its origin in a series of experiments conducted by Professor Elton Mayo and his associates at the Harvard School of Business at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works, near Chicago.

These studies brought out for the first time the important relationships between social factors and productivity. Before it, productivity of the employees was considered to be a function only of physical conditions of work and money wages paid to them. For the first time it was realised that productivity depended largely upon the satisfaction of the employees in work situations.

Following the Howthrone Experiments, a great deal of work has been carried on by behavioural scientists belonging to a variety of disciplines including Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology in studying the behaviour of people at work.

Those who sub­scribe to the Human Relations School of Thought are of the view that the effectiveness of any organisation depends on the quality of relationships among the people working in the organi­sation.

Q2.What is meant by delegation of authority. discuss the principle and characteristics delegation of authority.

Ans: Delegation of authority refers to the transfer of authority from the level of supervisor to the level of subordinates. In other words, delegation is the downward transfer of authority from the manager to the subordinate.

Delegation of authority is important as the superior in an organisation is not able to manage all the work by himself. Delegation of authority helps the managers to focus on more important functions of the organisation that need to be taken care of on priority.

Delegation is the transfer of responsibility which is less important and can be performed by the subordinates. This also brings a sense of responsibility to the work done by the subordinates and paves the way for growth of the subordinates.

Transfer of authority to subordinates does not mean that the subordinate is accountable for the actions, it is the superior who will be accountable for all the actions. Only tasks that can be completed effectively by the subordinates are delegated without the actual transfer of accountability.

Principles of Delegation

There are a few guidelines in form of principles which can be a help to the manager to process of delegation. The principles of delegation are as follows:

Principle of result excepted- suggests that every manager before delegating the powers to the subordinate should be able to clearly define the goals as well as results expected from them. The goals and targets should be completely and clearly defined and the standards of performance should also be notified clearly. For example, a marketing manager explains the salesmen regarding the units of sale to take place in a particular day, say ten units a day have to be the target sales. While a marketing manger provides these guidelines of sales, mentioning the target sales is very important so that the salesman can perform his duty efficiently with a clear set of mind.

principle of Parity of Authority and Responsibility- According to this principle, the manager should keep a balance between authority and responsibility. Both of them should go hand in hand.

According to this principle, if a subordinate is given a responsibility to perform a task, then at the same time he should be given enough independence and power to carry out that task effectively. This principle also does not provide excessive authority to the subordinate which at times can be misused by him. The authority should be given in such a way which matches the task given to him. Therefore, there should be no degree of disparity between the two.

Principle of absolute responsibility- This says that the authority can be delegated but responsibility cannot be delegated by managers to his subordinates which means responsibility is fixed. The manager at every level, no matter what is his authority, is always responsible to his superior for carrying out his task by delegating the powers. It does not means that he can escape from his responsibility. He will always remain responsible till the completion of task.

Every superior is responsible for the acts of their subordinates and are accountable to their superior therefore the superiors cannot pass the blame to the subordinates even if he has delegated certain powers to subordinates example if the production manager has been given a work and the machine breaks down. If repairmen is not able to get repair work done, production manager will be responsible to CEO if their production is not completed.

Principle of Authority level- This principle suggests that a manager should exercise his authority within the jurisdiction/framework given. The manager should be forced to consult their superiors with those matters of which the authority is not given that means before a manager takes any important decision, he should make sure that he has the authority to do that on the other hand, subordinate should also not frequently go with regards to their complaints as well as suggestions to their superior if they are not asked to do. This principle emphasizes on the degree of authority and the level upto which it has to be maintained.

Q1. Define Organizing, Also Explain the organization structure exmine the Process of Organizing.

Ans: Organizing is the second key management function, after planning, which coordinates human efforts, arranges resources and incorporates the two in such a way which helps in the achievement of objectives. It involves deciding the ways and means with which the plans can be implemented.

There are two broad categories of organisation, which are:

1. Formal Organisation

2. Informal Organisation

Formal Organisation: Formal organisation is that type of organisation structure where the authority and responsibility are clearly defined. The organisation structure has a defined delegation of authority and roles and responsibilities for the members.

The formal organisation has predefined policies, rules, schedules, procedures and programs. The decision making activity in a formal organisation is mostly based on predefined policies.

Formal organisation structure is created by the management with the objective of attaining the organisational goals.

There are several types of formal organisation based on their structure, which are discussed as follows:

1. Line Organisation

2. Line and Staff Organisation

3. Functional Organisation

4. Project Organisation

5. Matrix Organisation

Let us learn about these organisation structures in detail in the following lines.

Line Organisation: Line organisation is the simplest organisation structure and it also happens to be the oldest organisation structure. It is also known as Scalar or military or departmental type of organisation.

In this type of organisational structure, the authority is well defined and it flows vertically from the top to the hierarchy level to the managerial level and subordinates at the bottom and continues further to the workers till the end.

There is a clear division of accountability, authority and responsibility in the line organisation structure.

Advantages of Line organisation

1. Simple structure and easy to run

2. Instructions and hierarchy clearly defined

3. Rapid decision making

4. Responsibility fixed at each level of the organisation.

Disadvantages of Line organisation:

1. It is rigid in nature

2. It has a tendency to become dictatorial.

3. Each department will be busy with their work instead of focusing on the overall development of the organisation.

Line and Staff Organisation: Line and staff organisation is an improved version of the line organisation. In line and staff organisation, the functional specialists are added in line. The staff is for assisting the line members in achieving the target effectively.

Advantages of Line and Staff organisation

1. Easy decision making as work is divided.

2. Greater coordination between line and staff workers.

3. Provides workers the opportunity for growth.

Disadvantages of Line and Staff Organisation

1. Conflict may arise between line and staff members due to the improper distribution of authority.

2. Staff members provide suggestions to the line members and decision is taken by line members, it makes the staff members feel ignored.

Functional Organisation: Functional organisation structure is the type of organisation where the task of managing and directing the employees is arranged as per the function they specialise. In a functional organisation, there are three types of members, line members, staff members and functional members.

Advantages of Functional organisation

1. Manager has to perform a limited number of tasks which improves the accuracy of the work.

2. Improvement in product quality due to involvement of specialists.

Disadvantages of Functional organisation

1. It is difficult to achieve coordination among workers as there is no one to manage them directly.

2. Conflicts may arise due to the members having equal positions.

Project Organisation: A project organisation is a temporary form of organisation structure that is formed to manage projects for a specific period of time. This form of organisation has specialists from different departments who are brought together for developing a new product.

Advantages of Project organisation

1. The presence of many specialists from different departments increases the coordination among the members.

2. Each individual has a different set of responsibilities which improves control of the process.

Disadvantages of Project Organization

1. There can be a delay in completion of the project.

2. Project managers may find it difficult to judge the performance of different specialists.

Matrix Organisation: Matrix organisation is the latest form of organisation that is a combination of functional and project organisation. In such organisations there are two lines of authority, the functional part of the organisation and project management part of the organisation and they have vertical and horizontal flow of authority, respectively.

Advantages of Matrix Organisation

1. Since the matrix organisation is a combination of functional and project management teams, there is an improved coordination between the vertical and horizontal functions.

2. Employees are motivated as everyone will be working towards one project.

Disadvantages of Matrix Organisation

1. Due to the presence of vertical and horizontal communication, there will be increased cost and paperwork.

2.Having multiple supervisors for the workers leads to confusion and difficulty in control.

Informal Organisation: Informal organisations are those types of organisations which do not have a defined hierarchy of authority and responsibility. In such organisations, the relationship between employees is formed based on common interests, preferences and prejudices.

The following steps are to be undertaken in the organising process.

(i) Identification and Division of Work: The first step in the process of organising involves identifying and dividing the work that has to be done in accordance with previously determined plans. Work is divided into manageable tasks so that duplication can be avoided and workload can be shared among employees.

(ii) Departmentalisation: Once, work has been divided into small and manageable activities, then those activities which are similar in nature, are grouped together. This process is called departmentalisation. Departments can be created on the basis of products, functions and territory.

(iii) Assignment of Duties: Once the departments are created, each department is placed under the charge of an individual, called departmental head. Then, each job is allocated to an individual, according to his knowledge and skill. There should be a proper match between the nature of jobs and the ability of an individual.

(iv) Establishing Reporting Relationships: In the organisation, each employee has some authority as well as responsibility. It is necessary that every individual must know whom he has to take orders from and to whom he is answerable. This creates superior subordinate hierarchy and helps in coordinating various activities in the organisation.

Q3.Expalin the Following.

a)Difference between Line and Staff Relationships

Line Organization is the form of organization, wherein the authority flows from the person present at the top of the organizational hierarchy to the person working at the lowest level. In line and staff organization, the hierarchy remains same as in the line organization, but specialists are attached to the front line managers to advise and guide them on significant issues.

Line Organization is the form of organization, wherein the authority flows from the person present at the top of the organizational hierarchy to the person working at the lowest level. In line and staff organization, the hierarchy remains same as in the line organization, but specialists are attached to the front line managers to advise and guide them on significant issues.

 A structural relationship is required to be developed between different departments and the people working in them, for effectively accomplishing the objectives of the organization. And so, formal relationship between the members of the organization is set up, so as to coordinate their efforts. Two such formal organizational relationships are line organization and line & staff organizations

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	LINE ORGANIZATION	LINE AND STAFF ORGANIZATION
Meaning	The organization in which the authority and responsibility moves downward, and accountability flows upward, is called line organization.	The organization structure, in which specialist are added to the line managers to provide guidance and support, is called line and staff organization.
Authority	Command	Command and Advise
Discipline	Strict	Loose
Executives	Line executives are generalist.	Line executives are generalist and staff executives are specialist.
Degree of centralization	Absolute centralization	Partly centralized and partly decentralized

Q3.Explain the Centralization and Decentralization.

Meaning of Centralization

Centralization is a form of organizational structure where the decision making capability rests with the top management. A couple of hand-picked members are entitled to create strategies, determine the goals and objectives based on which an organisation will function.

In a centralized organisation, the top management sets rules and procedures which are then communicated to the lower-level employees, who are expected to carry out the same without questioning the authority.

The advantage of such a structure is, it allows employees to have a well-defined framework within which all work needs to carried out.

The disadvantage of such a structure is that it increases the time taken to arrive at a decision. As decision-making authority lies with selected people from top management, it may result in biased decision making.

Meaning of Decentralization

Decentralization is another form of organizational structure that functions by delegating decision-making capabilities to multiple teams across geographies.

In such an organization, most of the planning, strategy and decision to implement them are taken by the people in the middle and lower level of management.

The advantage of decentralization is that the employees are empowered to make their own decisions that will benefit the organization, which results in a high level of employee satisfaction and boosts the productivity of an organization.

Decentralization enables low-level employees to gain leadership skills, which can contribute to the growth of the organization in the long run.

Let us look at the most crucial points of difference between centralization and decentralization in the following table.

Decentralization	Centralization
Definition
Decision-making capabilities delegated across multiple levels	Decision-making capability rests with the top management
Flow of Information
Open and free	Vertical
Ideal for
Decentralization is ideal for large-sized organizations	Centralization is ideal for small-sized organizations
Decision-making speed
Significantly faster	Comparatively slow
People Involved
In decentralization, a higher number of people from each level are involved in the decision-making process	In centralization, only a few handpicked people are involved in the decision-making process
Employee Motivation
Highly motivated employee	Demotivated employee
Conflict in Decision
Most likely to occur	Least likely to occur
Burden
The burden gets shared among many levels	Only one group is carrying the burden
Stability
Prone to instability due to multiple conflicting decisions	Relatively stable as decisions are made by a central authority sharing a common ideology

Unit: III

Question1: Define Staffing? Also Explain the Function of Staffing and the process of Staffing. 

Staffing is a managerial function of filling and keeping filled, the positions in an organisation structure. This process needs a crucial analysis of manpower.

Staffing function of management are as follows:

(i) Staffing is an important function of management.

(ii) The basic concern of staffing is management of manpower or human resources.

(iii) Staffing helps in getting right types of persons on right jobs.

(iv) Staffing is a pervasive function. It is performed by the managers at all levels of management.

Staffing is an integral part of the process of management. It may be defined as the process of hiring and developing the required manpower to fill the various positions in the organisation. Every organisation is very much concerned with the quality of manpower for managing the organisation effectively and efficiently.

As per views of Peter Drucker “man, of all the resources available to man can grow and develop”. It is concerned with recruitment, selection, placement, utilisation and development of employees of the organisation.

Following are the steps in the staffing process :

(i) Estimating the Manpower Requirements: It involves forecasting and determining the number and kind of manpower required by the organisation in future. It involves workload analysis and workforce analysis. A comparison of the two helps to know the actual requirement of manpower.

(ii) Recruitment: It may be defined as the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. The objective of recruitment is to create a pool of prospective candidates, from which the best candidate can be selected.

(iii) Selection: In this step, the right candidate is chosen for the right job from the pool of candidates obtained through recruitment.

(iv) Placement and Orientation: Placement means occupying the post or position for which the person has been selected. Orientation/induction implies introducing the selected employee to other employees and familiarising him with rules and policies of the organisation, by giving him a brief presentation about the company, his superiors, subordinates and colleagues.

(v) Training and Development: These involve improving job knowledge, skills and attitudes of employees on a regular basis so that they may perform their jobs efficiently.

(vi) Performance Appraisal: It means evaluating an employee's current or past performance against the pre-determined standards.

(vii) Promotion and Career Planning: It becomes necessary for all organisations to address career-related issues and promotional avenues for their employees. This will prove to be beneficial for both an employee and the organisation, as it will result in increased employee satisfaction and productivity.

(viii) Compensation : It means all forms of pay or rewards given to an employee. It may be in the form of direct financial payments like wages, salaries, incentives, commissions, etc, or indirect payments such as insurance, free housing, vacations, etc.

Q2, Explain the following 

A)What Are the Various source of Recruitment.

Recruitment is referred to as the process which involves searching for potential candidates and influencing them in order to fill the vacant positions in the organisation. The purpose of recruitment is to find qualified candidates for the development of the organisation.

Sources of recruitment refers to various modes of connecting with the job seeker for completing the task of finding potential employees. In simple words, sources of recruitment is the medium through which communication regarding the vacant positions is made aware to the prospective candidates.

There are generally recognised two sources of recruitment, which are internal and external sources. Let us discuss these sources in detail in the following lines.

Internal Sources

Internal sources of recruitment refers to the recruitment of employees who are already a part of the existing payroll of the organisation. The vacancy for the position can be informed to the employee through internal communication.

There are different types of internal hiring in the organisation and they are as follows:

1. Promotion: Promotion is referred to as the change of designation of the employee. It involves shifting of the existing employee to a higher position within the organisation and providing that employee with more responsibility and a raise in pay.

Promotion helps in motivating the other employees of the organisation to work hard so that they also become eligible for promotion.

2. Transfer: Transfer refers to the shifting of an existing employee from one department to another department in an organisation.

3. Employee Referrals: It can happen that the organisation in an effort to cut down costs on hiring is looking for employee referral. The employees are well aware of the job roles in the organisation for which manpower is required. These employees will refer potential candidates by screening them based on their suitability to the position.

4. Former employees: Some organisations have the provision of hiring retired employees willing to work part time/full time for the organisation.

Advantages of Internal Sources

Following are the advantages of the internal sources:

1. The organisation saves money on hiring programmes which translates to higher revenue for business.

2. It makes selection and transfer of employees very easy.

3. Internal source of recruitment serves as a morale booster for the existing employees.

4. It provides a sense of loyalty towards the business which results in improved productivity.

5. As existing employees will be aware of the working pattern of the organisation, therefore it will take much less time for the re-hires to get adapted to working conditions.

Disadvantages of Internal Sources

Following are some of the disadvantages of the internal sources:

1. Internal recruitment causes reduction in the morale of those employees who are not selected or considered for appraisal.

2. It discourages capable persons from outside to join to work in the company.

3. It can lead to conflict if one employee is selected for promotion, while the others are not considered.

External Sources

External sources of recruitment seek to employ candidates that have not been recruited anytime before in the organisation.

Introduction of fresh talent among the workforce leads to growth and development of the business.

Following are the some of the external sources of recruitment:

1. Advertisement: Advertisements serve as a great source of information regarding any job opportunities. This type of source is used for recruitment of middle level employees, or high level employees.

2. Employment Exchanges: Employment exchanges serve as a source of recruitment for the people as it is run by the government.

3. Employment portals: In this age of technology, development in the field of hiring has taken place. Nowadays many employment portals are open where one can find information about job openings.

4. Educational Institutions: Educational institutions also serve as a good source of recruitment as many students or say resources will be available at once under one roof.

5. Recommendation: This can also be a good source of recruitment as an existing employee will be able to provide better recommendation for other candidates.

Advantages of External Source

Following are some of the advantages of external sources.

1. It helps in availability of proper skilled labour.

2. There will be availability of new ideas from employees hired using external sources.

3. The employees join as knowledgeable persons which reduces the training time required for new hires.

Disadvantages of External Source

1. It can lead to unhappy employees as the existing employees may feel that they deserved an opportunity for growth.

2. It can lead to lack of cooperation between the new hires and the existing employees.

3. It is a lengthy process where the employee needs to appear for many rounds.

Q2,Define Motivation, and also the explain the Given theories.

Ans: Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.

Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term "motivation" is frequently used to describe why a person does something. It is the driving force behind human actions.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual’s behavior. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

Maslow's theory presents his hierarchy of needs in a pyramid shape, with basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid and more high-level, intangible needs at the top. A person can only move on to addressing the higher-level needs when their basic needs are adequately fulfilled.

Physiological needs: The first of the id-driven lower needs on Maslow's hierarchy are physiological needs. These most basic human survival needs include food and water, sufficient rest, clothing and shelter, overall health, and reproduction. Maslow states that these basic physiological needs must be addressed before humans move on to the next level of fulfillment.

Safety needs: Next among the lower-level needs is safety. Safety needs include protection from violence and theft, emotional stability and well-being, health security, and financial security.

Love and belonging needs: The social needs on the third level of Maslow’s hierarchy relate to human interaction and are the last of the so-called lower needs. Among these needs are friendships and family bonds—both with biological family (parents, siblings, children) and chosen family (spouses and partners). Physical and emotional intimacy ranging from sexual relationships to intimate emotional bonds are important to achieving a feeling of elevated kinship. Additionally, membership in social groups contributes to meeting this need, from belonging to a team of coworkers to forging an identity in a union, club, or group of hobbyists.

Esteem needs: The higher needs, beginning with esteem, are ego-driven needs. The primary elements of esteem are self-respect (the belief that you are valuable and deserving of dignity) and self-esteem (confidence in your potential for personal growth and accomplishments). Maslow specifically notes that self-esteem can be broken into two types: esteem which is based on respect and acknowledgment from others, and esteem which is based on your own self-assessment. Self-confidence and independence stem from this latter type of self-esteem.

Self-actualization needs: Self-actualization describes the fulfillment of your full potential as a person. Sometimes called self-fulfillment needs, self-actualization needs occupy the highest spot on Maslow's pyramid. Self-actualization needs include education, skill development—the refining of talents in areas such as music, athletics, design, cooking, and gardening—caring for others, and broader goals like learning a new language, traveling to new places, and winning awards.

Q2.What Do You Understand  by Communication. Explain the different types of Communication and Also Explain its process.

Ans: Communication is a process that involves sending and receiving of messages through a verbal and non-verbal method. The sender sends a message, the receiver receives a message and sends it back with the feedback to the sender again.

The methods of communication involve oral and speech communication,  written and graphical representations. Additionally, it includes the cultural sphere, a tool utilized to communicate, location, etc. Though it looks simple, communication is generally a very complicated subject.

In other words, communication is a two-way means of communicating information in the form of thoughts, opinions, and ideas between two or more individuals with the purpose of building an understanding.

Types of Communication

The four main categories of communication are 

• Verbal –  It is a method that uses speech in the form of speaking to convey a message or information. It is the most popular and effective mode of communication, usually practised during video conferences, phone calls, presentations, one-on-one conversations, and meetings. It supports both nonverbal and written communication.

• Nonverbal – It is basically a practice of gestures, facial expressions, and body language to send information. It can be implemented intentionally and unintentionally when communicating. For instance, a person can smile unintentionally when they hear an interesting piece of information or a pleasant idea. 

• Written – It is all about typing, printing symbols, numbers, letters, and writing to send a piece of information. Sometimes used to record information for evidence or reference purpose. In general, the written style of communication is used in books, blogs, pamphlets, memos, and letters to share and spread information. In the workplace,  e-mail is a common example of written communication.

• Visual – It uses art, photographs, sketches, graphs, charts, and drawings, to pass on the information. It is used especially during presentations to present to give a visual effect and support written or verbal communication. 

Communication Process

The communication is a process that starts with the development of thoughts by a sender who conveys the message using a various channel to the receiver, who then sends him a message as feedback. There are seven main components of the communication process:

• Sender – Here, the sender conceptualizes the idea or the conversation he wants to convey it to the recipient.
• Encoding – Now the sender starts the encoding process where he utilizes words or non-verbal means to translate the thought into a message. 
• Message – After encoding, the sender receives the message that he wants to send. 
• Communication Channel –  The sender then decides through which medium or channel he/she wants to send the message to the recipient. They must choose the channel to have an effective and correct interpretation of a message to the recipient. 
• Receiver – The receiver receives the message and tries to comprehend in the best possible way.
• Decoding – In this step, the receiver translates the sender’s information and tries to perceive it most suitably.
• Feedback – It is the last step of the communication process that assures the recipient, has received the information and understood correctly as the sender designed it.

UNIT IV

Q1. What is Controlling? also explain the Steps involved in Control Process.

What is Controlling?

Controlling is regarded as one of the most important management functions. In fact, without the presence of a control function, the entire management function will become obsolete. The management will not be able to determine if the plan is working properly or not, or if it is properly implemented or not.

The main objective of the control process is to make sure that the activities within an organisation are going as per the planning. Control process helps the managers in determining the level of performance of their respective organisations.

Steps involved in Control Process

The following are the steps involved in the control process:

1. Establishing standards and methods or ways to measure performance

2. Measuring actual performance

3. Determining if the performance matches with the standard

4. Taking corrective action and re-evaluating the standard

Let us go ahead and discuss the above mentioned steps in detail.

Establishing performance standards: Although setting of goals and standards are part of the planning process, it also plays an important role in controlling.

The main objective of controlling is to guide the business towards the desired target. Therefore, if the employees or members of a business are well aware of the target, it will result in more awareness about the target.

The managers must communicate the goals and objectives clearly to the employees without any ambiguities. An organisation in which everyone is working towards a common objective has a better chance to grow and prosper.

Measuring actual performance against the set standards : The immediate action that managers need to take after being made aware of the goals, is to measure their actual performance and compare that with the standards already set. This helps in identifying if the plan is actually working as was thought to be.

Once a plan is implemented, the task of managers is to monitor the plans and evaluate. Managers must be ready with an alternative plan or suggest corrective measures in case the plan is not going as was intended.

This can be done only when managers are measuring their actual performance. The way performance can be evaluated is to measure it in monetary terms, hiring financial experts.

This step of controlling is helpful in detecting future problems and issues and is essential for taking decisions immediately so that the company is able to recover from the losses.

Determining if the performance matches with the standard: Checking if the performance matches with the standards is very important. It is an important step in controlling. In this step, the results are measured with the already set standards.

Taking corrective action and re-evaluating the standard: Corrective measures need to be taken when there is a discrepancy. Correct actions provide protection against loss and stop them from reappearing in future.

Why Coordination is considered as the Essence of Management?– Discussed!

Ans: Coordination can be defined as “Synchronization of efforts from the stand-point of time and the sequence of execution”. In general coordination means bringing together the activities and resources of organisation and bringing harmony in them.

Coordination is the base or primary function of every manager because various departments of an organisation are working independently and there is need to relate and integrate their activities.

Coordination: The Essence of Management:

Coordination brings unity of action and integrates different activities of organisation. Coordination is considered as the essence of management because of following reasons

1. Coordination is needed to perform all the functions of management:

(i) In planning coordination is required between main plan and supportive plans of different departments.

(ii) In organising coordination is required between different resources of an organization and also between authority responsibility and accountability.

(iii) In staffing coordination is required between skill of a person and job assigned to him, between efficiency and compensation etc.

(iv) In directing function coordination is required between superior and subordinates, between orders, instructions, guidelines and suggestions etc

v) In controlling function coordination is required between standards and actual performance.

2. Coordination is required at all the levels:

i) Top level requires coordination to integrate all the activities of organisation and lead the efforts of all the individuals in one common direction.

(ii) Coordination is required at middle level to balance the activities of different departments so that these can work as a part of one organisation only.

(iii) Lower level requires coordination to integrate the activities of workers towards achievement of organisational objectives.

3. Coordination is the most important function of an organization:

Any company which fails to coordinate its activities cannot survive and run successfully for a long period of time.

For example, Allwyn Company, established in 1942, was the first company to produce a double-decker bus. It was running successfully as a leading electronic industry, especially in refrigeration industry. By the end of 1980 the company faced the problem of coordination. There was lack of balance and integration of different activities; as a result the company started facing huge losses and by 1993 company had an accumulated loss of Rs. 168 crore. Company failed to balance its departmental activities and product folios.

So in short we can say without coordination no company can work efficiently and earn profit.

Most Important Concept:

Management by exception (MBE) is a management strategy in which managers will only step in when there are significant deviations from planned outcomes. These can be either operational or financial outcomes.

Manage by exception. Only require reporting when there is a deviation from the plan.

Assuming that businesses recruit competent people, they are quite capable of getting on with their jobs without intervention from management. By focusing on strategic business goals and plans, managers are able to enhance the value of their contribution to the business. However, when performance isn’t up to expectation, managers should step in. These are the “exceptions” where management action is needed to ensure the company meets its targets.

How Management by Exception works

Management by exception consists of four steps:

Setting the objectives and defining what the norm should be

Assessing performance to see whether performance is on track

Analyzing work or records to determine where performance deviates from objectives

Investigating and solving the exceptions to the norm

Sounds easy, right? The reality, however, is not as easy as it may sound.

The process of setting objectives in the organization to give a sense of direction to the employees is called as Management by Objectives.

It refers to the process of setting goals for the employees so that they know what they are supposed to do at the workplace.

Management by Objectives defines roles and responsibilities for the employees and help them chalk out their future course of action in the organization.

Management by objectives guides the employees to deliver their level best and achieve the targets within the stipulated time frame.

Need for Management by Objectives (MBO)

The Management by Objectives process helps the employees to understand their duties at the workplace.

KRAs are designed for each employee as per their interest, specialization and educational qualification.

The employees are clear as to what is expected out of them.

Management by Objectives process leads to satisfied employees. It avoids job mismatch and unnecessary confusions later on.

Employees in their own way contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. Every employee has his own role at the workplace. Each one feels indispensable for the organization and eventually develops a feeling of loyalty towards the organization. They tend to stick to the organization for a longer span of time and contribute effectively. They enjoy at the workplace and do not treat work as a burden.

Management by Objectives ensures effective communication amongst the employees. It leads to a positive ambience at the workplace.

Management by Objectives leads to well defined hierarchies at the workplace. It ensures transparency at all levels. A supervisor of any organization would never directly interact with the Managing Director in case of queries. He/She would first meet his reporting boss who would then pass on the message to his senior and so on. Every one is clear about his position in the organization.

The MBO Process leads to highly motivated and committed employees.

The MBO Process sets a benchmark for every employee. The superiors set targets for each of the team members. Each employee is given a list of specific tasks.