By decentralization of authority we mean dispersal of decision-making authority at various levels in the organization. In a centralized set-up, decision-making authority is concentrated at the top-level of the management, whereas in the decentralized set-up, many important decisions are made at the lower level also. The most significant feature of decentralization of authority is that most of the decisions made at the lower level do not need approval of the seniors. This means greater freedom is given in decision-making to lower level managers and supervisors in the organization. Factors Determining the Degree of Decentralization Importance and significance of the decision: One of the important factors determining the degree of decentralization of authority is costliness of the decision. Normally, decisions which are costly in terms of money value involved or in terms of factors like goodwill and image of the establishment, employee morale or motivation tend to be centralized at the upper levels of management. In other words, it is very rare that authority for crucial decisions is delegated. Of course, the practice is not based on the assumption that people at the higher ...

Span of management directly affects the number of levels in the organization. Span of management is of two types; Wider span of management and Narrow span of management.  Wider span of management leads to flat organization whereas narrow span of management result in tall organization structure. The principle of span of management does not by itself resolve the conflict between the advantages to tall organization and that of a flat one. Narrow spans lead to many levels in the organization and thus required a larger number of managers. This, in turn, leads to larger expenses in the form of executive remuneration. Expenses are further increased on account of additional clerical and office staff needed as a result of there being large number of managers. The process of control also gets complicated when there are narrow spans and too many levels in the organization structure. Another serious problem in having too many levels in the organization is posed by the practice that communication must flow through proper channels only. The more the levels in the organization through which the communication must passes, the greater will be the danger of its being misunderstood, misinterpreted ...

An organization is characterized by the presence of a number of levels and departments. But more the levels are created, more will be the administrative cost due to additional staff required and more will be the difficulties to be encountered in communication and controlling. If this is so, why create departments and levels? Answer to this question is provided by the principle of span of management. This is basically the problem of deciding the number of subordinates to report directly to each manager. The principle states that there is a limit to the number of subordinates that each manager can effectively supervise. The term “span of management” is often referred to as span of control, span of supervisions, span of responsibility or span of authority. But the term “span of management” should preferably be used since span is one of management and not merely or control which is just important function of management. The problem of span of management is not a new one. Ever since the dawn of organized co-operation, man has experienced and realized that no individual can deductively supervise and infinite number of subordinates. Because of biological and other limitations, ...

Traditional organisation theorists developed certain principles of organization structure. These principles are intended for universal application to all enterprises. The most important of these organization structure principles can be listed under the following heads: 1. Division of labour or Specialization The classicists viewed specialization as the basis of efficiency. A group of individuals can secure better results by having division of work. F.W. taylor applied by breaking down jobs into single repetitive tasks performed on specialized tools. At higher levels, however, grouping jobs into manageable units and their co-ordination can pose serious problems. The principle of specializations has been challenged by the behavioralists and others. Fatigue, monotony and boredom are the inevitable outcomes of division of labor. While specializations cause great function interdependency among operatives, it also depersonalizes their activities so that individuals find little meaning in the work. Moreover, functional interdependency among work activities causes strains and tensions. Specialization leaves to a different type of problems at the executive level. It tends to segment the ...

Leadership is a process of influencing the behavior of people at work towards the achievement of specified goal. The following elements must be present in the leadership: It is the process of influence; The influence is always for achievement of common goal; There must be minimum two or more persons present; influencing your own behavior is not leadership. The influence should be to get the willing co-operation of the employees and not the forceful co-operation. A person must possess the following qualities to be a good and effective leader. Physical qualities. Good physical features attract people. Physical features like height, weight, health and looks of person attract and individual. Healthy and smart leader can him also work hard and he can induce his subordinates also to work hard. Knowledge, intelligence and Scholarship. A leader must be able to examine every problem in the right perspective or direction. The leader must have superior judgment and abilities to take right decision in right situation. The leader must have complete knowledge about the work performed by his group members. He should take decision on the basis of facts, figures and logic. ...

Controlling function of management can be defined as comparison of actual performance with the planned performance. If there is any difference or deviation then finding the reasons for such difference and taking corrective measures or action to stop those reasons so that future thee is match between actual and planned performance. The meaning of controlling makes it clear that controlling function is undertaken for right and timely implementation of plans. Management Control Process 1. Setting up of (target) standards. Standards mean target or the yardstick against which the actual performance is measured. The standards must be achievable, high or very high standards which cannot be achieved are of no use. Standards must be set up keeping in mind the resources of the organization and as far as possible standards must be set up in numerical or measurable terms. Sometimes it is not possible to express the standards in numerical terms. For example, setting up of quality standards or standards for managerial work etc. The standards must specify the time limit within which they have to be achieved and as far as possible the standards must be set up for short term. If long term ...