Horti-Business Management (2+0)

Principles of organizing

There are five important principles of organizing, which are very relevant even today.

1. Principle of Specialization: Delineating activities and grouping related activities will facilitate specialization. Creation of different departments based on the activities to be performed. Work specialization results in improving efficiency of operations. With massive expansion of education system there are large contingents of skilled human resources to effectively and efficiently perform in various functional areas in a firm.
2. Principle of Functional Definition: Authority is defined as "the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience." Authority can be formal or personal. Formal authority is derived from one's official position and personal authority is derived from factors like intelligence and experience. Authority and responsibility go hand-in-hand. When a manager exercises authority, he should be held responsible for getting the work done in the desired manner.
3. Principle of Span of Control: It is about the number of subordinates who report directly to a specific manager. If there are too many employees reporting to a manager, it may lead to inefficiency and too few employees reporting to a manager could escalate the cost. Therefore, there is a limit to the number of employees who could report to a manager
4. Principle of Unity of command: Each employee should receive orders or instructions from one superior only. If the employee has too many masters to report to simultaneously, he may be confused and it would ultimately lead to deterioration in employee - employee and employee - manager relationships.
5. Principle of Scalar chain: It states that the chain of authority in an organization extends from the top to the bottom of the organization. It reflects the communication path in an organization.