Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in Current Affairs.

It refers to identifying the most suitable way to do a particular activity.

(a) Time Study: It is a technique which is used to determine the standard time taken by a worker to perform a well-defined job. It determines how much work an employee should be able to do in a given period of time.

The objectives of time study are:

(i) To determine the number of workers required to do a job.

(ii) To determine standard time required to perform a job.

(iii) To categorize the workers in efficient and inefficient categories.

(iv) To determine the cost of labour.

(b) Simplification of Work: If refers to eliminating unnecessary varieties, sizes and grades of the product manufactured by the organization.

(i) The aim is to eliminate unnecessary diversity of products, sizes and types.

(ii) It results in saving of cost of labour, machines and tools.

(iii) It implies reduced inventories, fuller utilization of equipment and increasing turnover.

It refers to put an end to unnecessary types, qualities, size/weight, etc. of products.

Mental revolution.

Method Study: The objective of method study is to find one best way of doing the work.

To eliminate unnecessary diversity of product which results in savings of cost of labour, machine and tools.

The objective of method study is to determine the best way of doing the specific job within the given parameters.

Following steps should be taken by the company to retain its past glory 

a. Work should be divided into small tasks and distributed among the employees as per their specialisation. 

b. There should be one boss. 

c. Functions should be performed under one head or one plan. 

d. Formalised control should be maintained. 

e. Proper remuneration and Impressive Incentives should be given 

f. Hierarchical communication pattern is to be followed 

g. Suggestions and feedback should be taken from the employees. 

h. Maintain high morale among employees

Though scientific management is the best solution but still it will not be able to give very effective results as it has its own limitations. 

(i) As competition has increased market research now will not help much. 

(ii) Appointing professionals which increase the cost. 

(iii) Principle of initiative will not help if functional foremanship will also be adopted. 

(iv) In differential piece wage system only efficient workers may gain, the others will be in pain as they might lose their wages if target not met. This will lead instability which is harmful. 

(v) Lot of stress will be generated from top to lower level.

a. To develop attitude, behavior and personality of workers, 

b. To provide employee satisfactory conditions for work.

A large number of changes will not accepted by anyone. So the company should play safe while making any changes. 

(i) Trained staff can be appointed for few areas and workers can be trained to improve efficiency levels. 

(ii) Production planning to be done with care. 

(iii) Functional foremanship can be introduced but it not lead to clear killing of initiative. Workers should be eonsulted for suggestions. 

(iv) Optimum use of method, time, motion and fatigue study should be done. 

(v) Standardisation can be implemented for material, machinery and features of product. 

(vi) Financial incentives should be provided to workers to get more work rather than adopting differential piece wage system.

Correct option is (d) initiative

Though scientific management is the best solution, but still it will still not be able to give very effective results as it has its own limitations. 

a. As competition has increased, market research will not help much now. 

b. Appointing professionals will increase the cost and overheads. 

c. Principle of initiative will not help if functional foreman ship is also adopted. 

d. In differential piece wage system, only efficient workers may gain, the others will be aggrieved as they might lose their wages if target is not met. This will lead to instability which is harmful. 

e. Lot of stress will be generated from top to lower level.

Centralization means making the power in the hands of one or few.

Decision making powers among more persons are called decentralization.

Each group should be lead by one leader only. It ensures unity of action and coordination. It helps to conduct all the activities smoothly and resources can be utilized to the maximum extent effectively. If this principle is violated it leads to wastages and increase in cost.

According to Harold Koontz and O Donnell “Management principles are fundamental truth of general validity which has value in predicting the result of management action”.

The principle of management that says the work should be divided into many parts: Division of work 

Explanation-

As per the principle of division of work, a given work should be divided into many parts. It means that every task should be divided into small groups or units so that it can be performed in a competent manner. The principle focuses on work specialisation.

A large number of changes at a time will not accepted by anyone. 

So the company should play safe while making changes. 

a. Trained staff can be appointed for certain areas and workers can be trained to improve efficiency levels. 

b. Production planning has to be done with care. 

c. Functional foreman ship can be introduced but not at the cost of initiative. Workers should be consulted for suggestions. 

d. Optimum use of method, time, motion and fatigue study should be done. 

e. Standardisation can be implemented for material, machinery and features of product. 

f. Financial incentives should be provided to workers to get more work rather than adopting differential piece wage system.

F.W. Taylor is considered as father of Scientific Management.

Gang plank is a shorter route in a scalar chain which allows employees at same level to communicate with each other directly.

Centralization means making the power in the hands of one or few. Decision making powers among more persons are called decentralization. In general Decentralization is found in large organizations and centralization is found in small organizations.

According to Fayol “There should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. Each one should be commanded by one and responsible to that one only”.

The principle of management which says unity is strength: Espirit de corps. 

Explanation-

The principle of Espirit de corps focuses on the importance of unity among employees. The concept recommends that employees should work in unity with one another. In other words, team spirit should be promoted by managers and each employee should feel a sense of belonging in the organisation.

Each member of organisation should receive orders from only one superior.

Henry Fayol is considered as father of General Management.

It is one of the Fayol’s principles of management. According to this principle management should take necessary steps to promote spirit among the employees.

Esprit de corps means feeling of oneness, This principle shows that success’of an industrial unit lies in mutual relation of managers and employees. Hence there ‘ should be harmony between the managers and employees.

Authority is the right to give order and obtain obedience. Responsibility means accountability which is the result of authority. Excess of Authority may lead to misuse of powers. Responsibility without authority may lead to slaverism. There should be a balance between these two.

Esprit de corps means ‘unity  is strength’.

Father of scientific management- F.W. Taylor 

Explanation-

F W Taylor is regarded as the “father of scientific management” because the principles formed by him were based on scientific experiments. He had a scientific approach towards management.

According to F.W. Taylor, Scientific management means knowing exactly what you want men to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.

According to this principle there should be one eader for every group. It helps to conduct all the activities smoothly and resources can be utilised effectively without wastage.

According to Fayol equity means all employees should be treated equally.

Henry Foyal is considered as the father of General management as he has given one of the most influential contribution to the modern concept of management.

Father of modern management: Henry Fayol 

Explanation

Henry Fayol is regarded as the “father of modern management”. He developed 14 principles of management after conducting a number of experiments in the field of management.

Remuneration of personnel:

• The return or reward given to the employees against the service they render is called remuneration.
• Fayol says that employees of company should be paid suitable and ideal wages. This makes owner-employee relation stronger.
• In a unit, all employees do not work with the same efficiency. Some employees show higher efficiency,than other. Such employees should be given more wages or rewards compared to other. This will keep the employees loyal towards the unit and stop them from leaving the job.
• The unit should also put into practice promotional schemes like bonus, profit sharing, representation in management committee, etc.

According to Fayol the whole work should be divided into different parts and each individual should be assigned only t part of the work according to his ability, specialisation and taste.

According to Fayol, order means “People and materials must be in suitable places at appropriate time for maximum efficiency.”

Esprit De Corps

The above columns can be correctly matched as

a. Henry Fayol was a French mining engineer who developed 14 principles of management after conducting many experiments. He is also known as the “father of modern management”. 

b. The principle of unity of command states that a subordinate should get orders from only one superior. If too many seniors command a single employee, chances are that the employee will get confused; this will also lead to delay in work. 

c. In this method, the work or task to be performed is studied in detail and the time taken to complete a particular task is calculated. This helps managers to know the standard time that should be taken to complete a given task. 

d. F W Taylor is known as the “father of scientific management”. He developed principles that were based on scientific experiments. He believed that problems should be solved in a scientific manner rather than on the basis of the rule of thumb. 

e. An important feature of management principles is that they are universal in nature. This means that they are applicable to all types of business organisations and to all levels of management.

Scientific Management refers to the use of scientific and standardized tools, methods and trained workers in all organizational activities to achieve the organizational goal with minimum cost and wastage.

It is possible to divide any work into small jobs. So division of work leads to specialization. It is the efficient way to use human effort.. If every job is assigned to the right person, the quantity and quality of production will improve.

F.W Taylor has proposed scientific management as opposed to “rule of thumb” so he is considered as the father of scientific management.

Introduction: - The technique of scientific management helps a manager to apply the principles of scientific management effectively.

The techniques of scientific management are as follows: 

i. Functional foremanship - A foreman is a person who is in charge of the workers at the operational level. Taylor suggested that in order to increase efficiency in an organization, performance of a foreman should be improved. Taylor observed and identified few qualities such as intelligence, tactfulness, and judgment that a foreman should have. He found that no single person can have all the required qualities. Thus, he suggested that instead of a single person, there should be eight persons to perform the functions of a foreman. This technique is called functional foremanship.

ii. Standardization of work - Standardisation of work implies setting a milestone or benchmark for any work or activity. It aims at establishing standards of excellence against which actual performance can be measured.

iii. Time study - In this technique, Taylor emphasized setting a standard time limit for completing any particular job. With the help of time-measuring tools, considerable readings can be taken of the time taken to complete a task. On the basis of this, a standard time limit can be set for each task. This helps in deciding the number of workers to be employed for a task, determining their wages, etc.

iv. Motion study - As the name suggests, motion study refers to the study of motion (movements) involved while doing a task. The technique aims at removing unwanted actions/motions so that the work can be completed in lesser time. According to Taylor, by eliminating the unproductive movements, productivity can be increased.

v. Different piece rate plan - Under this system, workers should be classified as efficient or inefficient on the basis of certain specific standards (related to quality and quantity) and the payment of these workers should then be paid accordingly. For example, the standard output per labor per day is 10 units. Now, it is decided that the workers who make more than or equal to the standard units will get Rs 20 per unit and those who make less than the standard units will get Rs 10 per unit. In this way, a difference can be made between efficient and inefficient workers.

vi. Other techniques - Taylor introduced other techniques such as the use of instruction cards, rules and regulations for discipline and use of charts or graphs to instruct the employees. Some techniques also emphasized on building cooperation and mutual trust between the workers and the managers.

Scalar Chain.

The principle that focuses a complete change in the attitude of the employees is known as the principle of mental revolution. 

Explanation

This principle emphasizes on the need to change the attitude of workers and managers. According to the principle, workers and their managers should reform their thinking and each of them should realise the importance of others while working towards the accomplishment of organisational goals.

F.W. Taylor is known as the “father of scientific management”. 

Explanation- 

Taylor developed certain principles based on scientific management that have now gained acceptance in the world over. Since he introduced a scientific approach to management, he is regarded as the “father of scientific management”.