Principles and Practice of Management
Semester 2 · 14 topics in 5 units
Unit I 4 topics
- Management: meaning, nature, scope and importanceStandard definitions of management, its nature as a process, an art, a science and a profession, its scope, objectives and levels, its importance, and the management versus administration distinction.5 min
- Evolution of management thought: Taylor's scientific management and Fayol's principlesThe schools of management thought, F.W. Taylor's principles and techniques of scientific management with their criticism, and Henri Fayol's six activities, five elements and fourteen principles, compared.5 min
- Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne experiments; Peter Drucker and management by objectivesThe four phases of the Hawthorne studies and what they showed, the human relations school and its criticism, and Peter Drucker's contributions including management by objectives with its process, merits and limits.5 min
- The management process and the functions of managementManagement as a process, the classifications of functions by Fayol, Gulick (POSDCORB) and Koontz and O'Donnell, and each function explained: planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling, with co-ordination.4 min
Unit II 3 topics
- Planning: concept, significance, process, types of plans and approachesDefinitions and features of planning, its importance and limitations, the eight steps of the planning process, planning premises, standing and single-use plans and the hierarchy of plans, the six Ps, and approaches to planning.5 min
- Objectives, strategies, policies, procedures and rulesThe upper part of the hierarchy of plans: mission and objectives with the SMART test, strategy and strategic planning with SWOT, policies and their essentials, and how procedures and rules differ from policies.4 min
- Decision-making and forecastingMeaning, features, types and steps of decision-making with Simon's contribution; business forecasting, its process, techniques, elements of a good forecast, advantages and limits, with a worked moving-average example.5 min
Unit III 3 topics
- Organising: principles, organisation structure, line, staff, functional, project and matrix forms, formal and informal organisationMeaning and principles of organising, the forms of organisation structure with merits and demerits of each, and the distinction between formal and informal organisation with examples.5 min
- Authority and responsibility, delegation and decentralisationAuthority, its sources and limits, responsibility and accountability; the elements, process, principles and barriers of delegation; and decentralisation, the factors determining its degree, and how it differs from delegation.5 min
- Departmentation, divisionalisation, span of control, chain of command and co-ordinationBases of departmentation and divisional structure; span of control, the factors that set it and Graicunas' formula worked; chain of command and the gang plank; and co-ordination as the essence of management with its principles, techniques and problems.5 min
Unit IV 2 topics
- Staffing, recruitment and selectionStaffing as a function, its process and the factors affecting it; recruitment and its internal and external sources; the steps of selection, the selection tests and the types of interview; and the difference between recruitment and selection.5 min
- Training, promotion, transfer and demotion; performance appraisal, retention and attritionMeaning, benefits and methods of training; bases of promotion, types of transfer, demotion and disciplinary penalties; traditional and modern methods of performance appraisal; and retention and attrition with worked rates.5 min
Unit V 2 topics
- Leadership and motivation: styles, Maslow's hierarchy and McGregor's Theory X and Theory YMeaning, features and importance of leadership and its styles; meaning, characteristics and importance of motivation; Maslow's need hierarchy with criticism; and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y compared.6 min
- Communication and managerial controlThe communication process, its importance, features of good communication, types, barriers and the measures to overcome them; and the need for control, the steps in controlling, the essentials of an effective control system and the main techniques, with a worked variance example.5 min