case study on principles of management with answers

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Case Study Chapter 2 Principles of Management

Please refer to Chapter 2 Principles of Management Case Study Questions with answers provided below. We have provided Case Study Questions for Class 12 Business Studies for all chapters as per CBSE, NCERT and KVS examination guidelines. These case based questions are expected to come in your exams this year. Please practise these case study based Class 12 Business Studies Questions and answers to get more marks in examinations.

Case Study Questions Chapter 2 Principles of Management

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Taylor suggested that method of production should not be decided by rule of thumb method but all the methods must be tried in the organisation and the one which brings maximum benefits with minimum cost must be selected. To determine the best way there are certain parameters right from procurement of raw materials till the final product is delivered. Taylor developed the concept of assembly line by using method study. The objective of method study is to minimise the cost of production and maximise the quality and customer satisfaction. Ford motors used this concept very successfully.

Questions :

Question. Taylor developed which concept by using method study? (a) Six sigma (b) Assembly line (c) Just in time manufacturing (d) None of the above

Question. As per above para which company used this concept successfully? (a) Nike (b) Adidas (c) Ford (d) Hyundai

Question. The objective of method study is (a) to differentiate between efficient worker and inefficient worker. (b) to maximise production. (c) to minimise cost, maximise production and maximise quality. (d) none of the above

Question. There is only one best method to do a thing is suggested in which scientific principle? (a) Science not rule of thumb (b) Harmony, not discord (c) Cooperation, not individualism (d) Development of workers to their greatest efficiency and prosperity

Read the source given below and answer the following questions. Ram is a class twelfth commerce student in a reputed school in Punjab. Mohan is his elder brother who is doing his Masters in Hospital administration from Delhi after completing his B.Sc course. During vacations when Mohan comes home, Ram shows him the businessstudies project that he is preparing on the topic ‘Principles of Management’. Mohan tells him that these principles are also a part of MBA course curriculum at the beginner’s level as they form the core of management in practice. But he finds these principles different from those of pure science.

Question. Management principles are taught in the MBA colleges also. This indicates which aspect of nature of management? (a) Management as Science (b) Management as Art (c) Management as Profession (d) Management as both science and art

Question. Management principles and scientific principles are : (a) Same (b) Different from each other (c) Both (a) and (b) (d) None of the above

Question. Management principles are derived or formed by (a) will and wish of Manager (b) overnight (c) deep observation and repeated experiments (d) none of the above

Question. Outline the feature of Principles of Management highlighted above. (a) Pervasive (b) Contingent (c) Behavioural (d) None of the above

Read the source given below and answer the following questions. Alpha Ltd. was engaged in business of garment manufacturing and selling its products under a popular brand. The demand for their product was increasing. In order to keep the market share in short run, the company directed its existing workforce to work overtime but this resulted in many problems. Due to increasing pressure of work the efficiency of workers declined. Sometimes workers worked under more than one superior. The departments which were producing one product were asked to produce more than one type of products. This resulted in lot of overlapping and wastage. The workers were becoming indisciplined. The spirit of team was also reducing. Workers were feeling cheated and their morale was declining. The quality of garments started declining and market share decreased.

Question. “Workers were feeling cheated and their morale was declining”. This is related to which principle? (a) Principle of Division of Work (b) Principle of Equity (c) Principle of Unity of Command (d) Principle of Initiative

Question. “Departments which were producing one product were asked to produce more than one type of products”. This is violation of which principle? (a) Principle of Discipline (b) Principle of Unity of Direction (c) Principle of Division of Work (d) None of the above

Question. “The spirit of team was also reducing”. This indicates violation of which principle ? (a) Principle of “Espirit De Corps” (b) Principle of Unity of Command (c) Principle of Unity of Direction (d) Principle of Discipline

Question. “Sometimes workers worked under more than one superior.” This is violation of which principle of management? (a) Principle of Discipline (b) Principle of Unity of Command (c) Principle of Unity of Direction (d) Principle of Equity

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : The principles of management are intended for all types of organisations, business as well as non-business, small as well as large, public as well as private sector, manufacturing as well as service sectors. They are not rigid prescriptions , which have to be followed absolutely. They can be modified by the manager as per the prevailing situation. Adherence to these principles adds to managers ’ knowledge, ability and understanding of managerial situations and circumstances. It enables managers to learn from past mistakes and conserve time by solving recurring problems quickly . These principles of management hold great relevance and managers should try to follow them as far as possible . Often certain principles of management are violated and the entire organization suffers. For example, Raman is working as a production manager in CFL Ltd. which manufactures CFL bulbs. His subordinate Arjun designed a plan for cost reduction but it was not welcomed by Raman. Another employee gave some suggestions for improvement in design but it was also not appreciated by Raman. This resulted in dissatisfaction among the employees which further resulted in poor performance of the employees. On the basis of the above paragraph answer the following questions:

Question. ‘It enables managers to learn from past mistakes and conserve time by solving recurring problems quickly’. According to this statement, the principles of management are important because they help in  ………………… (a) Meeting changing environment requirements (b) Optimum utilization of resources and effective administration (c) Providing managers with useful insights into reality (d) Fulfilling social responsibility

Question. As Raman did not welcome the suggestions of other employees, which principle of management is violated by him? (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Unity of direction (d) Initiative

Question. Identify the nature of principle of management discussed in the given para. (Choose the correct alternative) (a) General guidelines (b) Universal applicability (c) Formed by practice and experimentation (d) Contingent

Question. Identify the nature of management principles when it is said that principles of management can be modified as per the prevailing situation. (Choose the correct) (a) Flexible (b) Contingent (c) Behaviour (d) Absolute

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Principles of Taylor and Fayol are mutually complimentary. One believed that management should share the gains with the workers, while the other suggested that employees’ compensation should depend on the earning capacity of the company and should give them a reasonable standard of living. Taylor also developed certain techniques of scientific management which aimed at improving the performance of the employees. One of his techniques aimed at differentiating between efficient and inefficient workers. The purpose behind this technique is to reward efficient workers and motivate inefficient workers to perform better. 

Question. Which principle of scientific management advocates complete agreement between the managers and workers? (a) Harmony not discord (b) Cooperation not individualism (c) Science not rule of thumb (d) Development of each and every person to his/her greatest efficiency and prosperity.

Question. Which principle of Henri Fayol is being referred to in the above paragraph? (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Equality (d) Remuneration of employees

Question. ‘One of his techniques aimed at differentiating between efficient and inefficient workers’. Name the technique of scientific management reflected in the given statement. (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Functional foremanship (b) Method study (c) Differential piece wage system (d) Standardisation and simplification of work

Question. Which principle of scientific management is the extension of the principle ? (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Harmony not discord (b) Cooperation not individualism (c) Science not rule of thumb (d) Development of each and every person to his/her greatest efficiency and prosperity

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : The application of principles of management is dependent upon the prevailing situation at a particular point of time. The application of principles has to be changed as per the requirements .These principles are logical rather than blind faith. They are based on objective assessment of the situation. Management decision taken on the basis of principles are free from bias and prejudice. Managers often try to apply these principles in various day to day situations. violation of these principles can result in negative consequences in the organization. For example, Sushma and Suresh are working  in a Multinational company at the same level. Both are working hard and are happy with their employer. Suresh had the habit of backbiting and wrong reporting about his colleagues to impress his boss. All the employees knew about it. At the time of performance appraisal, the performance of Sushma was judged better than Suresh. Even then their boss Nikhil decided to promote Suresh stating that being a female Sushma will not be able to handle the complications of a higher post. This resulted in a great deal of dissatisfaction for Sushma. Nikhil gave priority to his own interest over the interest of the organization. Since he personally liked Suresh more than Sushma, hence he promoted Suresh instead of Sushma, ignoring the overall interest of the organization. On the basis of the above paragraph answer the following questions:

Question. “The application of principles of management is dependent upon the prevailing situation at particular point of time”. What is the nature of principles of management that is depicted by the above statement? (Choose the correct alternative)  (a) Universal applicability (b) Flexible (c) Contingent (d) Mainly behavioural

Question. ‘Decisions based on management principles are free from bias and prejudice’. This statement shows which importance of principles of management. (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Scientific decisions (b) Fulfilling social responsibility (c) Providing managers with useful insights into reality (d) Meeting changing environment requirements

Question. ‘Nikhil gave priority to his own interest over the interest of the organisation’. Which one of the following principles have been violated in the given case.  (a) Order (b) Equity (c) Discipline (d) Initiative

Question. Violation of which principle of management prompted Nikhil to further violate the managerial principle identified (a) Division of work. (b) Unity of direction (c) Subordination of individual interest to general interest (d) Centralization and decentralization

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Sakaar Foundation is an NGO (Non-Government organization) working to improve thelives of children with medical needs, the homeless and victims of natural disasters. Apart from donations in Cash, they collect dry ration, old clothes, shoes, toys, books, medicines, etc. from donors. At Sakaar Foundation’s office in Lucknow the material collected is segregated, classified and put in shelves and boxes that are numbered systematically. There is a specific place for each of these items and volunteers put everything at their respective places. The volunteer work is divided into specific jobs like fund raising, field visits, social media updates and so on. Each volunteer is a part of a particular team, depending on their competency and training. Each volunteer becomes specialized in their respective field , leading to efficient utilization of human effort. The management of Sakaar Foundation does not close its ears to any constructive suggestion made by the volunteers. There is an equal division of work and responsibility between volunteers and management. All day long the management works side by side with the volunteers helping ,  encouraging and smoothing the way for them.

Question. _____________ is considered as the father of scientific management. (Fill up the blank with the correct alternative) (a) Peter Drucker (b) F.W.Taylor (c) Henri Fayol (d) Abraham Maslow

Question. Identify the principle of scientific management adopted by Sakaar Foundation in the above case. (Choose the correct alternative)  (a) Science not rule of thumb (b) Cooperation not individualism (c) Harmony not discord (d) Development of each and every person to his/her greatest efficiency and prosperity.

Question. Which principle of management means “a specific place for everything and everyone” as adopted by Sakaar Foundation? . (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Initiative (d) Scalar chain

Question. Identify the importance of principles of management that can be linked with the given case. (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Fulfilling social responsibility (b) Optimum utilization of resources and effective administration (c) Meeting changing environment requirements (d) Providing managers with useful insights into reality

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Vishesh completed his MBA at a reputed business school in Lucknow. He was impressed by the principles and techniques of scientific management developed by F.W.Taylor. On completing his MBA, he wanted to apply Scientific Management in his family’s business of fast food chain of restaurants named ‘Burger Mania’. His main goal was to reduce costs with increased output. To begin with, he wanted to develop a standard method which would be followed throughout the organization. So, he investigated traditional methods through work study and unified the best practices. The standard method,i.e., the best way of doing the job was then developed taking into account all parameters right from the procurement of raw materials till the delivery of the final product to the customer. Vishesh also believed that each person should not only be scientifically selected but should also be given the required training to increase efficiency. For this, he set up a special training unit called ‘Hamburger’ in Bengaluru where the workers were given the required training to learn the best method. At the factory, the ingredients making up a burger were strategically placed to reduce the time taken for excess movements. The standard time and other parameters were determined on the basis of work study and Vishesh rewarded the workers for meeting the standard output . Now, ‘Burger Mania’ has standardized processes, raw material, time, machinery, trained staff and working conditions that ensure that the food they send out to their customers has the same high standards of excellence and level of quality in every chain or franchise. The application of Scientific Management to every aspect of restaurant operations led to ‘Burger Mania’s’ widespread success.

Question. Identify the principle of Scientific Management that helped Vishesh in investigating the traditional methods through work study and unifying the best practices. (Choose the correct alternative) (a) Science not rule of thumb (b) Method study (c) Harmony not discord (d) Cooperation not individualism

Question. ‘Vishesh also believed that each person should not only be scientifically selected but should also be given the required training to increase efficiency . ’ Identify the principle of Scientific Management mentioned in the given statement. (a) Cooperation not individualism (b) Stability of personnel (c) Harmony not discord (d) Development of each and every person to his/her greatest efficiency and prosperity.

Question. Identify the technique of Scientific Management used by Vishesh to reward the workers for meeting the standard output. (a) Time study (b) Motion study (c) Differential piece system (d) Functional foremanship

Question. ‘At the factory, the ingredients making up a burger were strategically placed to reduce the time taken for excess movements.’ Identify the technique of Scientific Management mentioned in the given statement. (a) Method study (b) Motion Study (c) Standardization and simplification of work (d) Time study

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Amar is the Managing director in a garment manufacturing company. He is an experienced manager and firmly believes in application of principles of management in day to day managerial situations. He believes that management principles are flexible to adapt to dynamic business environment. He believes in producing more and better work for the same effort. He always hires specialists for various job positions. This results in efficient and effective output. Hence the organization has separate departments for finance, marketing, production and human resource. Being a management expert, Amar believes in the concept of having one and only one boss for every individual employee. He always aims at avoiding dual subordination within the organization. Under his direction and supervision, his company has achieved new heights within a short span of time. As the Managing director, he formulates policies that aims at minimizing employee turnover and maintaining organizational efficiency. Hence his organization selects personnel after due and rigorous procedure, and once a person is selected, he is kept at his post for a minimum fixed tenure. This helps in improving the overall efficiency of the organization.

Question. Identify which importance of principles of management is mentioned here? (a) Providing managers with useful insights into reality (b) Meeting changing environment requirements (c) Fulfilling social responsibility (d) Scientific decisions

Question. ‘He always aims at avoiding dual subordination within the organization’. Name the principle of management that aims at avoiding dual subordination. (a) Order (b) Equity (c) Unity of direction (d) Unity of command

Question. Identify the principle of management that suggests setting up of separate departments for finance, marketing, production etc. within an organization. (a) Discipline (b) Centralization and Decentralisation (c) Division of work (d) Authority and responsibility

Question. “As a Managing Director, he formulates policies that aim at minimizing employee turnover and maintaining organizational efficiency”. Which principle of management Amar is following? (a) Order (b) discipline (c) Equity (d) Stability of personnel

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : After completing her Bachelors in Fashion Designing from a well-known college in France, Aditi has opened a boutique in a posh market in Kolkata. She has divided the work in smaller units and each employee is well trained to perform his /her task efficiently. The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 5 percent discount , whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Aditi as the final authority. In the earlier period of her business venture, employees were asked to put in extra hours of work. In return she had promised to give them a special incentive with in a year. Therefore, when the business was doing well, she honoured her commitment by giving bonus to her employees. She also instructed her employees that communication from top to bottom should follow the official lines of command. However, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees, when it comes to solving the conflicts among employees. 

Question. “Therefore, when the business was doing well, she honoured her commitment by giving bonus to her employees.” Which principle of management is being highlighted here? (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Remuneration to Employees (d) Unity of Direction

Question. Aditi tends to be more biased towards her female employees, when it comes to solving the conflicts among employees. Which principle is being violated here? (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Equity (d) None of these

Question. Aditi has divided the work in smaller units and each employee is well trained to perform his/ her task efficiently. Which principle of management is being followed here? (a) Centralization and Decentralization (b) Division of work (c) Discipline (d) Order

Question. “The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 5 percent discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Aditi as the final authority”. Identify the principle of Management being followed here: (a) Centralization and Decentralisation (b) Authority and Responsibility (c) Unity of Command (d) Unity of Direction

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Ramesh is day and night involved in the organizing of his business. He has given job to every employee based upon his capability and experience. As there has been proper division of work and systematic allocation of tasks the productivity is increasing. The size of the company has increased in the recent past. The related activities which are similar in nature are grouped together. Everything was going well in the organisation until recently. The company has recently seen a deficit of exchange of information across functionally different departments. 

Question. Now the related activities which are similar in nature are grouped together. Which step of organising is highlighted in the above case: (a) Identification and division of work (b) Departmentalisation (c) Assignment of duties (d) Establishing authority relationship

Question. The company has recently seen a deficit of exchange of information across functionally different departments. Which one disadvantage of functional structure is highlighted above: (a) Function allocative (b) Conflict of interests (c) Inflexibility (d) Problems in coordination

Question. Which importance of organizing is highlighted in be above case: (a) Optimum utilisation of resources (b) Effective administration (c) Benefits of specialisation (d) Expansion and growth

Question. Identify the type of organisational structure which facilitates occupational specialisation. (a) Functional structure (b) Horizontal structure (c) Network structure (d) Divisional structure

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Ganesh Leathers is a shoe manufacturing company. The firm has decided to increase the productivity of its workers. For this the firm has chalked out a plan. It will be hiring operational managers to work at the lower levels of management. It has decided to keep eight managers over a group of workers. Thus every worker has to report to all these eight managers. The managing director of the company Mr. Ganesh Tiwari is of the view that the principles of management are guidelines to action but do not provide readymade straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems. This is so because real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors. According to him it is necessary to differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. Hence, he introduced specific rate of wage payment for those who performed above standard and for those who performed below standard. The basic idea behind is to improve the productivity of all the workers.

Questions : Question. Which technique of scientific management is employed by Ganesh leathers by keeping eight managers. (a) Time study (b) Motion study (c) Functional foremanship (d) Standardisation of work

Question. Which principle of Henri Fayol is followed by the company in the above case. (a) Unity of direction (b) Unity of command (c) Initiative (d) Discipline

Question. Which nature of principles of management is mentioned in the given para. (a) Universal applicability (b) Flexibility (c) General guidelines (d) Contingent

Question. Which technique of scientific management is used by the firm to differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. (a) Time study (b) Motion study (c) Differential piece rate system (d) method study

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Care Ltd. is a well known cement company in India. It is able to earn adequate revenues to cover costs. Its capital base, number of employees and production turnover has increased manifolds over the years. The rate of profitability of the business is also creditable. The employees of the company are happy and satisfied. The overall pay and compensation paid by the company is fair to both- employees and the organisation. There is complete cooperation between the workers and management. The spirit of competition has been replaced by the spirit of cooperation within the organisation. As a part of its moral obligation, the company has taken many initiatives for providing employment to specially abled persons and promoting literacy in the rural areas. 

Questions : Question. ‘It is able to earn adequate revenue to cover costs’.the company in the given statement. (a) Growth (b) Survival (c) Profit (d) Diversification

Question. Which importance of management is discussed in the given case. (a) Management increases efficiency (b) Management helps in the development of society (c) Management creates a dynamic organisation (d) Management is an intangible force

Question. Name the principle of Fayol followed by the company in the given case. (a) Discipline (b) Order (c) Remuneration of employees (d) Unity of direction

Question. Which principle of scientific management is followed by the company in the given case: (a) Scientific not rule of thumb (b) Harmony not discord (c) Cooperation not individualism (d) Development of each and every person to his or her greatest efficiency and prosperity.

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Rajat Joined as a CEO of Bharat Ltd. a firm manufacturing computer hardware. On the first day he addressed the employees. He said that he believed that a good company should have an employee suggestion system and he wished to minimize employee turnover to maintain organisational efficiency. He informed all employees that he would ensure that all agreements were clear, fair and there was judicious application of penalties. However, he said that he believed that lazy personnel should be dealt with sternly to send the message that everyone was equal in the eyes of management . Also that he would want to promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees, which would give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members and eventually minimize need for using penalties. He told all present that the interests of the organization should take priority over the interests of any one individual employee.

Questions : Question. Identify the principal of management in the following line. “ He said that he believed that a good company should have an employee suggestion system” (a) Unity of command (b) Unity of direction (c) discipline (d) initiative 

Question. Identify the principal of management in the following lines “Which would give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. (a) Discipline (b) Unity of command (c) Initiative (d) Esprit de corps. 

Question. Identify the principal of management in following line. “He wished to minimize employee turnover to maintain organizational efficiency.” (a) Stability of personnel (b) Discipline (c) Centralization and Decentralization (d) Remuneration of employees 

Question. Identify the principal of management in the following lines. “He informed all employees that he would ensure that all agreements were clear, fair and there was judicious application of penalties.” (a) Initiative (b) Equity (c) Discipline (d) Esprit de corps.

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : Radhika opens a jewellery showroom in Jaipur after completing a course in jewellery designing. She has employed eleven persons in her showroom. For greater productivity, she divides the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/ her specialised job. The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discounts rests with Radhika as the final authority. In the earlier days of starting of the business, five of her employees were asked the put in extra hours of work. In return she had promised to give them a special incentive within a year. Therefore, after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment. However, when it comes to settling the conflicts among her employees, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees.

Question. Identify the principal of management in the following lines. “Therefore after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment. (a) Discipline (b) Initiative (c) Scalar chain (d) Remuneration 

Question. Which principle is violated in the following lines. “However when it comes to setting the conflicts among her employees, She tends to be more biased towards her female employees.” (a) Discipline (b) Equity (c) Division of work (d) Justice 

Question. Identify the principal of management in “She divided the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/her specialised job” (a) Unity of command (b) Unity of direction (c) Division of work (d) Discipline 

Question. Identify the principal “The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Radhika as the final authority” (a) Division of work (b) Discipline (c) Initiative (d) Centralisation and decentralisation 

Read the source given below and answer the following questions : As students of a management course Karan and Kunal were asked to prepare a project report on applicability of principles of management in real business situations. In order to conduct the survey Kunal had selected an outlet of a popular chain of fast food restaurant whereas Karan visited a nearby department store. When Kunal presented his report to class, Karan realised that their observations were matching on various grounds. In both the business units, work is divided into small tasks and each is performed by a trained employee. A set of rules are predetermined and communicated to employees for compliance and these is a fixed place for every thing and all employees have been allotted individual space. Moreover, the manager encourage a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among the employees so that need for imposing penalties is reduced.

Question. Identify the principles of management in the following lines: “There is a fixed place for everything and all employees have been allotted individual space” (a) Unity of direction (b) Order (d) Scalar chain (d) Equity 

Question. Identify the principal of management in the following lines “work is divided into small tasks and each is performed by a trained employee.” (a) Unity of direction (b) Unity of command (c) Division of work (d) Initiativ

Question. Identify the principal of management in following lines “A set of rules are predetermined and communicated to the employees for compliance.” (a) Discipline (b) Scalar chain (c) Unity of command (d) Unity of direction 

Question. Identify the principle of management in the following lines: “Managers encourage a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among the employees” (a) Unity of command (b) order (c) Equity (d) Esprit de corps 

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Class 12th Business Studies - Principles of Management Case Study Questions and Answers 2022 - 2023

By QB365 on 08 Sep, 2022

QB365 provides a detailed and simple solution for every Possible Case Study Questions in Class 12 Business Studies Subject - Principles of Management, CBSE. It will help Students to get more practice questions, Students can Practice these question papers in addition to score best marks.

QB365 - Question Bank Software

Principles of management case study questions with answer key.

12th Standard CBSE

Final Semester - June 2015

Business Studies

After completing her Bachelors in Fashion Designing from a well-known college in France, Aditi has opened a boutique in a posh market in Kolkata. She has divided the work in smaller units and each employee is well trained to perform his/her task efficiently. The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 5 percent discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Aditi as the final authority. In the earlier period of her business venture, employees were asked to put in extra hours of work. In return she had promised to give them a special incentive within a year. Therefore, when the business was doing well, she honour her commitment by giving bonus to her employees. She also instructed her employees that communication from top to bottom should follow the official lines of command. However, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees, when it comes to solve the conflicts among employees. 1. Aditi has divided the work in smaller units and each employee is well trained to perform his/ her task efficiently. Which principle of management is being followed here?

2. "The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 5 percent discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Aditi as the final authority." Identify the principle of Management being followed here:

3. “Therefore, when the business was doing well, she honoured her commitment by giving bonus to her employees.” Which principle of management is being highlighted here?

4. Aditi tends to be more biased towards her female employees, when it comes to solve the conflicts among employees. Which principle is being violated here?

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Principles of management case study questions with answer key answer keys.

1. (b) Division of work 2. (a) Centralization and Decentralisation  3. (a) Discipline 4. (c) Equity

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CBSE Class 12 Case Studies In Business Studies – Principles of Management

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Principles of Management: Definition The principles of management serve as broad and general guidelines for the managerial decision making and action.

Types of Principles of Management

• Fayol’s Principles of General Management
• Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management.

Significance of Principles of Management

• They help to provide managers with useful insights into reality and increase their efficiency in dealing with recurring problems.
• They ensure optimum utilisation of resources as due to the presence of cause and effect relationship the outcome of the decisions and actions can be predicted. Moreover, it leads to effective administration as the principles tend to restrict the personal prejudices and biases.
• They facilitate scientific decision making as they emphasise on logical thinking rather than blind faith.
• They help to meet the changing requirements of the environment to the best advantage ofa organisation.
• They help in fulfilling social responsibility of an organisation.
• They facilitate the process of management training, education and research as they are at the core of management theory.

Features of Principles of Management

• Universal Applicability: The principles of management are deemed to apply to all types and sizes of organizations.
• General Guidelines: The principles are guidelines to action but do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems as the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors.
• Formed by practice and experimentation: The principles of management are formulated by the management experts through observation and tested through repeated experimentation.
• Flexible: The principles of management are not rigid prescriptions, which have to be followed absolutely. They are flexible and can be modified by the manager in the light of given situation so as to achieve the desired goals.
• Mainly Behavioural: The principles of management aim at influencing behaviour of human beings in a desired manner.
• Cause and effect relationships: The principles of management seek to establish relationship between cause and effect so that they can be used in similar situations in a large number of cases.
• Contingent: The application of principles of management is contingent or dependent upon the prevailing situation at a particular point of time.

FAYOL’S PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

• Division of work: The whole organisation work, both managerial and technical, should be divided into smaller jobs and the task involved in doing each such job should be determined. It leads to specialization, speed, efficiency and accuracy of work.
• Discipline: It refers to the obedience to organizational rules and the employment agreement. It is necessary for the systematic working of the organisation. It requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties.
• Authority and Responsibility: There should always be a balance between the authority given and responsibility entrusted to an employee. This is because if authority is more than responsibility, the employees are likely to misuse it whereas if authority is less than responsibility, he/she will be unable to do the desired work.
• Unity of command: There should be one and only one boss for every individual employee from whom he should receive orders and be responsible to. Dual subordination should be avoided.
• Unity of Direction: All the units of an organisation should be moving towards the same objectives through coordinated and focused efforts. Each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan.
• Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest: In all the situations, the interests of an organisation should take priority over the interests of any one individual employee .
• Remuneration of employees: The overall pay and compensation should be fair to both employees and the organization. The employees should be paid fair wages, which should give them at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time it should be within the paying capacity of the company i.e. remuneration should be just and equitable.
• Centralisation and Decentralisation: The concentration of decision-making authority is called centralisation whereas its dispersal among more than one person is known as decentralization. Large organizations have more decentralization than small organizations.
• Scalar Chain: The formal lines of authority along which the communication flows from highest to lowest ranks are known as scalar chain. Gang Plank is a shorter route that has been provided so that communication is not delayed during emergencies. However, the superior has to be informed later on.
• Order: The people and materials must be in suitable places at appropriate time for maximum efficiency i.e. ‘a place for everything (everyone) and everything in its place/
• Equity: It emphasizes kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise caste, creed.
• Stability of Personnel: The employee turnover should be minimized to maintain organizational efficiency. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation.
• Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
• Espirit De Corps: The management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees. A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers.

Difference between Unity of Comman and Unity fo Direction

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT Scientific Management: Definition Scientific Management means knowing exactly what you want your employees to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way. Fredrick Winslow Taylor is known as the ‘Father of Scientific Management’.

Techniques of Scientific Management

• Time Study is the technique to determine the standard time taken bya worker of average skill and knowledge to complete a standard task.
• Fatigue study seeks to determine the amount and frequency of rest intervals required in completing a task.
• Method study seeks to find out one best way of doing the job.
• Motion study refers to the study of movements of limbs which are undertaken while doing a typical job.This helps to eliminate unnecessary movements so that it takes less time to complete the job efficiently.
• Standardisation refers to the process of setting standards for every business activity Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous varieties, sizes and dimensions of products.
• Instruction Card Clerk: He assigns work to all the employees.
• Route Clerk: He decides how work will progress regarding total productions. So that production is on time.
• Time and Cost Clerk: He determines what will be the total cost and how much time each job take.
• Disciplinarian: He sees that there is discipline at work place.
• Speed boss: He ensures that the work is moving at a suitable pace.
• Gang Boss: He ensures sufficient availability of raw material, tools etc.
• Repair Boss: He sees that whenever some repair is involved in any work, the work is done properly.
• Inspector: He sees that whether the quality of output is good or not.
• Differential piece wage system was introduced to reward efficient workers by paying them at a higher rate than those who performed below standard.

PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

• Taylor believed that there was only one best method to maximise efficiency which can be developed through study and analysis and should substitute ‘Rule of Thumb’ or hit and trial method throughout the organisation.
• The scientific method involved investigation of traditional methods through work-study unifying the best practices and developing a standard method, which would be followed throughout the organisation.
• In the present context, the use of internet has brought about tremendous improvements in internal efficiencies and customer satisfaction.
• Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead ofa kind of class-conflict, the managers versus workers.
• To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers.
• The prosperity for the employer cannot exist fora long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa.
• He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice.
• This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony Not Discord’
• There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism.
• Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management.
• Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which results in substantial reduction in costs.
• At the same time workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management
• Taylor was of the view that the concern for efficiency could be built in right from the process of employee selection.
• Each person should be scientifically selected and the work assigned should suit her/his physical, mental and intellectual capabilities.
• To increase efficiency, they should be given the required training.
• Efficient employees would produce more and earn more. This will ensure their greatest efficiency and prosperity for both company and workers.

Difference between Fayol’s and Taylor’s Approach to Management

Latest CBSE Questions

Question 1. Explain ‘unity of command’ and ‘equity’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

• Unity of command: According to Fayol, there should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. Dual subordination should be avoided. Fayol felt that if this principle is violated “authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened”.
• Equity: According to Fayol, “Good sense and experience are needed to ensure fairness to all employees, who should be treated as fairly as possible.” This principle emphasizes on kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. The managers should not discriminate against anyone on account of gender, religion, language, caste, belief or nationality etc.

Question 2. Sanchit, after completing his entrepreneurship course from Sweden returned to India and started a coffee shop ‘AromaCoffeeCan’ in a famous mall in New Delhi. The speciality of the coffee ship was the special aroma of coffee and a wide variety of flavours to choose from. Somehow, the business was neither profitable nor popular. Sanchit was keen to find out the reason. He appointed Sandhya, an MBA from a reputed college, as a Manager to find out the causes for the same. Sandhya took feedback from the clients and found out that though they loved the special unique aroma of coffee but were not happy with the long waiting time being taken to process the order. She analysed and found out that there were many unnecessary obstructions in between which could be eliminated. She fixed a standard time for processing the order. She also realised that there were some flavours whose demand was not enough. So, she also decided to stop the sale of such flavours. As a result with in a short period Sandhya was able to attract the customers. Identify and explain any two techniques of scientific management used by Sandhya to solve the problem. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer: The two techniques of scientific management used by Sandhya to solve the problem are: (any two)

• Time study: It seeks to determines the standard time taken to perform a well-defined job. The objective of time study is to determine the number of workers to be employed , frame suitable incentive schemes and determine labour costs. By using time measuring devices for each element of task the standard time is fixed for the whole of the task by taking several readings.
• Simplification (Standardisation and Simplification): Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous diversity of products in terms of varieties, sizes and dimensions. It not only helps to reduce inventories but also save cost of labour, machines and tools. Thus it helps to increase turnover by ensuring optimum utilisation of resources.
• Motions which are required
• Motions which are unnecessary
• Motions which are incidental. Thus, motion study helps to eliminate unnecessary movements of a work and enables him to complete the given task efficiently.

Question 3. Explain briefly ‘discipline’ and ‘scalar chain’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

• Discipline: Discipline refers to the obedience to organisational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organisation. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. .

Question 4. Explain ‘order’ and ‘initiative’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

• Order: According to Fayol, “People and materials must be in suitable places at appropriate time for maximum efficiency.” The principle of order states that ‘A place for everything (everyone) and everything (everyone) in its (her/his) place’. A sense of orderliness will lead to increased productivity and efficiency in the organization.

Question 5. Explain briefly ‘Unity of Direction’ and ‘Order’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

• Unity of direction: According to Fayol, each group of activities having same objective must have one head and one plan. It prevents overlapping of activities. For example if a company is manufacturing handmade carpets as well as machine made carpets there is likely to be a lot of overlapping of activities. Therefore, there should be two separate divisions for both of them wherein each division should have its own in charge, plans and execution resources.

Question 6. Explain briefly ‘Initiative’ and ‘Esprit de Corps’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

• Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should’ be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
• Espirit de corps: According to Fayol, ‘Management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees.” A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers to promote teamwork. This approach is will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. It will also reduce the need for using penalties.

Question 7. Explain briefly ‘Remuneration of Employees’ and ‘Scalar Chain’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

• Remuneration of employees: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management.

Question 8. What did Taylor want to communicate through mental revolution? (CBSE, Sample Paper, 2017) Answer: Through the concept of mental revolution Taylor emphasized that there should be complete transformation in the outlook of the management and workers towards each other. Managers should share surplus with workers and the workers should work with full devotion instead of indulging in any form of class conflicts.

Question 9. Briefly explain work study techniques that help in developing standards to be followed throughout the organization. Answer: The various work study techniques that help in developing standards to be followed throughout the organization are described below:

• Time study: It seeks to determine the standard time taken to perform a well-defined job. The objective of time study is to determine the number of workers to be employed, frame suitable incentive schemes and determine labour costs. By using time measuring devices for each element of task, the standard time is fixed for the whole of the task by taking several readings.
• Method study: The objective of method study is to find out one best way of doing the job among the various methods available of doing the job. This can be done by taking into consideration several related parameters.
• Fatigue study: It seeks to determine the amount and frequency of rest intervals that should be provided to the workers for completing a task. This technique helps in increasing productivity as the rest intervals will help a person to regain stamina and work again with the same capacity.

Question 10. Nutan Tiffin Box service was started in Mumbai by the Mumbai Dabbawalas. The Dabbawalas who are the soul of entire Mumbai aim to provide prompt and efficient services by providing tasty homemade tiffin to all office goers at the right time and place. The service is uninterrupted even on the days of bad weather, political unrest and social disturbances. Recently, they have started online booking system through their website ‘mydabbawala.com’. Owing to their tremendous popularity amongst the happy and satisfied customers and members, the Dabbawalas were invited as guest lecturer by top business schools. The Dabbawalas operate in a group of 25-30 people alongwith a group leader. Each group teams up with other groups in order to deliver the tiffins on time. They are not transferred on frequent basis as they have to remember the addresses of their customers. They follow certain rules while doing trade—no alcohol during working hours; no leaves without permission; wearing white caps and carrying ID cards during business hours. Recently, on the suggestion of a few self-motivated fellow men, the dabbawalas thought out and executed a plan of providing food left in tiffins by customers to slum children. They have instructed their customers to place red sticker if food is left in the tiffin, to be fed to poor children later.

• State any one principle of management given by Fayol and one characteristic of management mentioned in the above case.
• Give any two values which the Dabbawalas want to communicated to society. (CBSE, Sample Paper 2016)
• The relevant principle of management given by Fayol is: Stability of Personnel: The employee turnover should be minimized to maintain organizational efficiency. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation. (The other correct answers are principle of Discipline / Initiative / Espirit de corps) The characteristic of management mentioned in the above case is: Management is goal oriented as it seeks to integrate the efforts of different individuals towards the accomplishment of both organizational and individual goals. (The other correct answers are management is intangible/ group activity/dynamic)
• Concern for poor/ Humanity
• Responsibility

Question 11. ‘Aapka Vidyalaya’ believes in the holistic development of students and encourages team building through a mix of curricular, co-curricular and sports activities. On its Founder’s Day, a stage performance had to be put up. A committee of ten prefects was constituted to plan different aspects of the function. They all decided to use recycled paper for decoration. There was a spirit of unity and harmony and all the members supported each other. With mutual trust and a sense of belonging, the programme was systematically planned and executed. Kartik, one of the prefects, realised that the group had unknowingly applied one of the principles of management while planning and executing the programme. He was so inspired by the success of this function that he asked his father to apply the same principle in his business. His father replied that he was already using this principle.

• Identify the principle of management applied for the success of the programme.
• State any two features of management highlighted in the above paragraph.
• Identify any two values which ‘Aapka Vidyalaya’ communicated to society. (CBSE, Delhi 2015)
• The principle of management applied for the success of the programme is Espirit De Corps.
• Management is goal oriented as it seeks to integrate the efforts of different individuals towards the accomplishment of both organizational and individual goals.
• Management is pervasive as it is applicable to all types of organizations, (economic, social, political) all sizes of organizations (small, medium, large) and at all levels of management (top, middle and lower).
• Sustainable development.

Question 12. Telco Ltd. manufactures files and folders from old clothes to discourage the use of plastic files and folders. For this, they employ people from nearby villages where very less job opportunities are available. An employee, Harish, designed a plan for cost reduction but it was not welcomed by the production manager. Another employee gave some suggestions for improvements in design, but it also was not appreciated by the production manager.

• State the principle of management that is violated in the above paragraph.
• Identify any two values that the company wants to communicate to the society. (CBSE, OD 2014)
• The principle of management that has been violated in the above case is Initiative. Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
• Concern for environment
• Providing job opportunities

Question 13. Pawan is working as a Production Manager in CFL Ltd. which manufactures CFL bulbs. There is no class-conflict between the management and workers. The working conditions are very good. The company is earning huge profits. As a policy, the management shares the profits earned with the workers because they believe in the prosperity of the employees.

• State the principle of management described in the above paragraph.
• Identify any two values which the company wants to communicate to society. (CBSE, OD 2014)
• The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Harmony, not Discord’. Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead of a kind of class-conflict, the manager versus workers. To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers. The prosperity for the employer cannot exist for a long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa. He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice.

Question 14. Voltech India Ltd. is manufacturing LED bulbs to save electricity. However, it is running under heavy losses. To revive from the losses, the management shifts the unit to a backward area where labour is available at a low cost. The management also asks the workers to work overtime without any additional payments and promises to increase the wages of the workers after achieving its mission. Within a short period, the company starts earning profits because both the management and workers honour their commitments.

• Identify any two values that the company wants to communicate to the society. (CBSE, Delhi 2014)
• The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Discipline’. Discipline- It refers to the obedience to organizational rules and the employment agreement. It is necessary for the systematic working of the organization. It requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties.
• Sustainable development

Question 15. ABC Ltd. is engaged in producing electricity from domestic garbage. There is almost equal division of work and responsibilities between workers and the management. The management even takes workers into confidence before taking important decisions. All the workers are satisfied as the behaviour of the management is very good.

• Identify any two values which the company wants to communicate to society. (CBSE, Delhi 2014)
• The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Cooperation, Not Individualism’. This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism. Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management. Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which results in substantial reduction in costs. At the same time, workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management
• Participation

Question 16. The principles of Taylor and Fayol are mutually complementary. One believed that management should share the gains with the workers while the other suggested that employees’ compensation should depend on the earning capacity of the company and should give them a reasonable standard of living. Identify and explain the principles of Favol and Taylor referred to in the above paragraph. (CBSE, Delhi 2014) Answer: The principles of Fayol and Toylor referred to in the above paragraph are ‘Remuneration of employees’ and ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. Remuneration of Employes: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time, it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management. Harmony, Not Discord: Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead of a kind of class-conflict, the managers versus workers. To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers. The prosperity for the employer cannot exist for a long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa. He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice

Question 17. The principles of Taylor and Fayol are mutually complementary. One believed that management should not close its ears to constructive suggestions made by the employees while the other suggested that a good company should have an employee suggestion system whereby suggestions which result in substantial time or cost reduction should be rewarded. Identify and explain the principles of Taylor and Fayol referred to in the above paragraph. (CBSE, Delhi 2014) Answer: The principles of Fayol and Taylor referred to in the above paragraph respectively are ‘Initiative’ and ‘Cooperation and Not Individualism’. Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization. Cooperation and Not Individualism: This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’.There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism. Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management. Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which result in substantial reduction in costs. At the same time, workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management.

Question 18. Nikita and Salman completed their MBA and started working in a multinational company at the same level. Both of them worked hard and were happy with their employer. Salman had the habit of back-biting and wrong reporting about his colleagues to impress his boss. All the employees in the organisation knew about it. At the time of performance appraisal, the performance of Nikita was judged to be better than Salman. Even then their boss, Mohammed Sharif, decided to promote Salman stating that being a female, Nikita would not be able to handle the complications of a higher post.

• Identify and explain the principle of management which was not followed by this, multinational company.
• Identify the values which are being ignored quoting the lines from the above paragraph. (CBSE, OD 2013)
• The multinational company didn’t follow the Principle of Equity. It emphasizes kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise.
• Honesty: “Wrong reporting about his colleagues to impress his boss.”
• Justice: “At the time of performance appraisal, the performance of Nikita was judged better than Salman. Even then their boss, Mohammad Sharif, decided to promote Salman.”

Question 19. Hina and Harish are typists in a company having the same educational qualifications. Hina gets Rs.3,000 per month and Harish gets Rs.4,000 per month as salaries for the same working hours. Which principle of management is being violated in this case? Name and explain the principle. (CBSE, Delhi 2006) Answer: The principle of Equity has been violated in this case. It emphasises kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise.

Additional Questions

Question 1. Radhika opens a jewellry showroom in Jaipur after completing a course in jewellry designing. She has employed eleven persons in her showroom. For greater productivity, she divides the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/her specialised job. The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Radhika as the final authority. In the earlier days of starting of the business, five of her employees were asked to put in extra hours of work. In return she had promised to give them a special incentive within a year. Therefore, after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment. However, when it comes to settling the conflicts among her employees, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the various principles of management that are being applied by Radhika by quoting lines from the paragraph.
• Identify and explain the principle of management which is being violated by Radhika by quoting lines from the paragraph.
• State any one effect of the violation of the principle of management by Radhika as identified in part(b) of the question.
• Principle of Division of Work: According to Fayol, “The intent of division of work is to produce more and better work for the same effort. Specialisation is the most efficient way to use human effort.” He advocates that the principle of division of work is applicable to all kinds of work both technical as well as managerial. “For greater productivity, she divides the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/her specialised job.”
• Principle of Centralisation and Decentralisation: The concentration of decision-making authority is called centralisation whereas its dispersal among more than one person is known as decentralisation. According to Fayol, “There is a need to balance subordinate involvement through decentralisation with managers’ retention of final authority through centralisation.” “The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Radhika as the final authority.”
• Principle of Discipline: Discipline refers to the obedience to organisational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organisation. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. “Therefore, after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment.”
• The principle of management which is being violated by Radhika is Equity. According to Fayol, “Good sense and experience are needed to ensure fairness to all employees, who should be treated as fairly as possible.” This principle emphasizes on kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. The managers should not discriminate against anyone on account of gender, religion, language, caste, belief or nationality etc. “However, when it comes to settling the conflicts among her employees, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees.”
• One effect of the violation of the Principle of Equity is that it may lead to job dissatisfaction among the male workers.

Question 2. Rajveer works as a plant superintendent in a carpet making factory. In order to complete the export orders on time, the production manager asks him to make the workers work over time whereas the finance manager is strictly against this practice because it will increase the cost of production. Moreover, Rajveer feels that since the company is manufacturing handmade carpets as well as machine made carpets there is a lot of overlapping of activities. Therefore, there should be two separate divisions for both of them wherein each division should have its own in charge, plans and execution resources. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the principle of management which is being violated.
• Also identify the principle of management that Rajveer feels should be implemented in the factory.
• Give any two differences between the principle of management as identified in part (a) and part (b) respectively.

Answer: The principle of management which is being violated is stated below:

• Unity of command: There should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. Dual subordination should be avoided. Fayol felt that if this principle is violated, “authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened”.
• Unity of direction: All the units of an organization should be moving towards the same objectives through coordinated and focused efforts. Each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan. This will lead to unity of action and coordination.

Question 3. Neeraj is selected for the post of software developer in an IT Company. On the first day of his joining Mehul, his project manager tells Neeraj that during the course of his work he will come across many such opportunities which may tempt him to misuse his powers for individual or family’s benefit at the cost of larger general interest of the company. In such situations, he should rather exhibit exemplary behaviour as it will raise his stature in the eyes of the company. Also, for interacting with anyone in the company on official matters, he should adopt the formal chain of authority and communication. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the various principles of management that Mehul is advising Neeraj to follow while doing his job.
• List any two values that Mehul wants to communicate to Neeraj.
• Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest: Through this principle, Fayol advocates that in all circumstances, the interests of an organisation should take priority over the interests of any one individual employee. This is essential because larger interests of the other employees and the stakeholders i.e., owners, shareholders, creditors, debtors, financers, tax authorities, customers and the society at large cannot be sacrificed for the interest of any one person. For example, Mehul tells Neeraj that he might get tempted to misuse his powers for his or his family’s benefit and so he must display exemplary behaviour to raise his stature in the eyes of the company.
• Self restraint

Question 4. Davinder is a class twelfth commerce student in a reputed school in Punjab. Satinder is his elder brother who is doing his Masters in Hospital Administration from Delhi after completing his B.Sc course. During vacations when Satinder comes home, Davinder shows him the business studies project that he is preparing on the topic ‘Principles of Management’. Satinder tells him that these principles are also a part of MBA course curriculum at the beginner’s level as they form the core of management in practice. But he finds these principles different from those of pure science. In context of the above case:

• Outline the concept of principles of management.
• Why does Satinder find the principles of management different from those of pure science?
• Why do the principles of management form the core of management in practice? Explain by giving any two points highlighting the importance of principles of management.
• The principles of management serve as a broad and general guideline for the managerial decision making and action.
• Satinder finds the principles of management different from those of pure science because the management principles are not as rigid as principles of pure science. This is due to the fact that they deal with the human behaviour and thus, need to be applied creatively in the light of given situation.
• Providing managers with useful insights into reality: The principles of management provide the managers with useful insights into real world situations and help them to enrich their knowledge, ability and understanding of the diverse managerial situations and circumstances. It also enables the managers to learn from past mistakes and conserve time by solving recurring problems quickly.
• Optimum utilisation of resources and effective administration: The knowledge of management principles enables the managers to foresee the cause and effect relationships of their decisions and actions. As a result, it leads to optimum utilisation of scarce resources by avoiding wastage associated with a trial-and-error approach. Principles of management limit the boundary of managerial discretion so that their decisions may be free from personal prejudices and biases. This facilitates effective administration within the organisation.

Question 5. Gurpreet is running a retail mart in Varanasi to provide various types of products of daily use under one roof to the buyers. The employee turnover in his business is very high and he is perpetually on a look out for new staff. The fact of the matter is that he lacks managerial skills and assigns work to his employees on adhoc basis without letting them settle down in a specific work. This approach of his creates a sense of insecurity among the employees and they tend to leave the job very quickly. However, he is a very god fearing person and offers fair wages to his employees so they can afford a reasonable standard of living. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the principle of management which Gurpreet is unable to apply and is perpetually on a look out for new staff.
• “He is a very god fearing person and offers fair wages to his employees so they can afford a reasonable standard of living.” Name and explain the relevant principle of management will has been brought into effect by Gurpreet.
• Stability of Personnel: Stability of personnel is principle of management which Gurpreet is unable to apply and is perpetually on a look out for new staff. According to Fayol, “Employee turnover should be minimised to maintain organisational efficiency”. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation.
• Remuneration of Employees: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time, it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management.

Question 6. After finishing her BBA degree course, Tanya gets a job of Assistant Manager in a retail company through the reference of her cousin Taruna who works in the same company as a Senior Manager. Taruna decides to guide Tanya through her experience by making her aware of the important facts about management in practice. She tells her that neither the principles of management provide any readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems nor they are not rigid prescriptions, which have to be followed absolutely. In context of the above case :

• Identify the two features of principles of management mentioned in the above paragraph by quoting lines from the paragraph.
• Why do the principles of management not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems?
• General guidelines: The principles of management are guidelines to action. Since the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors, these principles do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems. But the importance of principles cannot be underestimated because even a small guideline may help to solve a given problem.
• Flexibile: The principles of management are not rigid prescriptions which have to be followed absolutely. They are flexible and can be modified by the manager when the situation so demands. They give the manager enough discretion to decide which principle should be used under what circumstances as individual principles are like different tools serving different purposes.
• As the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors, the principles of management not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems.

Question 7. Raj and Simran are both qualified eye surgeons and good friends. After obtaining a certificate of practice, they decide to persue a career of their own choice. Raj starts an eye care centre in the city whereas Simran joins a government hospital in a small village. They meet after a long time in a party. Raj invites Simran to visit his eye care centre and she accepts his invitation. She observes at his clinic that there is a fixed place for everything and everyone and it is present there so that there is no hinderance in the activities pf the clinic. Also, Raj always tends to replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with the staff members. Later on Raj shares with her that he always deals with lazy staff sternly to send the message that everyone is equal in his eyes. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the various principles of management that Raj is applying for the successful management of his eye care centre.
• List any two values that Simran wants to communicate to the society by taking up a job in a village.
• Espirit De Corps: According to Fayol, “Management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees.” A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers to promote teamwork. This approach will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. It will also reduce the need for using penalties.
• Concern for poor

Question 8. Hritik is desirous of setting up a small factory to manufacture different kinds of eco-friendly packaging materials. He proposes to adopt a logical approach to his business rather than hit and trial method as he knows that this can result in tremendous saving of human energy as well as wastage of time and materials. He plans to adopt paternalistic style of management in practice in order to avoid any kind of class-conflict that may emerge between him and the workers. Moreover, he plans to seek the opinion of his workers before taking any important decisions and also offers incentives to them for providing valuable suggestions for the business. In context of the above case:

• Identify and explain the various principle of scientific management that Hritik plans to apply in his business.
• List any two values that he wants to communicate to the society by offering eco¬friendly packaging material.
• Science, not Rule of Thumb: Taylor believed that there was only one best method to maximise efficiency and it could be developed through scientific study and analysis. This is because if the managers rely on personal judgment in attending to the work related problems, it may suffer from the limitation of a trial and error approach. Therefore, it is important for them to know what works and why does it work. For this, they should adopt scientific method to substitute the ‘Rule of Thumb or hit and trial method’ throughout the organisation.
• Harmony, Not Discord: In the paternalistic style of management, the employer takes care of the needs of employees like a father. Taylor said that any kind of class conflicts between the workers and the managers were not good; rather they must realise that each one is important. Therefore, he emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers. To achieve this, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers by transforming their thinking. The management should share the gains of the company, if any, with the workers and at the same time, workers should work hard.
• Cooperation, Not Individualism: Through this principle, Taylor suggests that there should be complete cooperation between the workers and the management instead of individualism. This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. Both should realise the importance of each other. In order to replace the feeling of competition with cooperation, the management should not close its ears to any constructive suggestions made by the employees. Rather, the workers should be rewarded for any of their valuable suggestions which results in substantial saving in costs. Also, the workers should be taken into confidence by the management whenever any important decisions are to be taken.
• Sense of responsibility

Question 9. ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ is company dealing in stationery items. In order to establish standards of excellence and quality in materials and in the performance of men and machines, the company adheres to benchmarks during production. Moreover, its products are available in limited varieties, sizes and dimensions thereby eliminating superfluous diversity of products. Identify the technique of scientific management which has been adopted by ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ Answer: Standardisation and Simplification of Work is the technique of scientific management which has been adopted by ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ Standardisation implies devising new varieties instead of the existing ones. It refers to the process of setting standards for every business activity; it can be standardisation of process, raw material, time, product, machinery, methods or working conditions. These standards are the benchmarks which must be adhered to during production. It helps to reduce a given line or product to fixed types, sizes and characteristics, establish interchange ability of manufactured parts and products, determine standards of excellence and quality in materials and of performance of men and machines. Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous diversity of products in terms of varieties, sizes and dimensions. It not only helps to reduce inventories but also to save cost of labour, machines and tools. Thus it helps to increase turnover by ensuring ‘optimum utilisation of resources. Most large companies like Samsung, Toyota and Microsoft etc. have successfully implemented standardisation and simplification.

Question 10. Anshul owns a small scale factory where utility items are prepared from waste material like paper mache items, paper and cloth bags, decorative material etc. Over the past few weeks, he was observing that the productivity of one of his very efficient worker, Ramdas, is going down. So he decides to probe into the matter and confronts Ramdas one day. On being asked, Ramdas shares with Anshul that he has deliberately slowed down in his work as many of the less efficient workers often pull his leg saying that there is no need for him to be more efficient when everybody is being paid at the same rate. Taking a lesson from this insight, Anshul decides to implement an incentive bonus plan so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. In context of the above case:

• Name and explain the incentive bonus plan that Anshul may implement so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers.
• State any two values that Anshul wants to communicate to the society by setting up a special type of business.

Answer: Differential Piece Wage System is the incentive bonus plan that Anshul may implement so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. Differential Piece Wage System is a performance based wage system which was introduced by Taylor so as to distinguish between the workers who were able to achieve the standard or performed above standard from those who performed below standard. For example, it is determined that standard output per worker per day is 10 units and those who made standard or more than standard will get Rs. 40 per unit and those below will get Rs. 30 per unit. Now an efficient worker making 11 units will get 11 x 40 = Rs. 440 per day whereas a worker who makes 9 units will get 9 x 30 = Rs. 270 per day. According to Taylor, the difference of Rs. 170 should be enough for the inefficient worker to be motivated to perform better.

Question 11. Swaraj is running an office furniture showroom. Most of his clients are businessmen and they prefer to buy goods on credit. Keeping this in mind, he has given the power to the sales manager, Mr. Bhardwaj, to offer a credit period of only 20 days, while negotiating a deal with a buyer. On a specific day, Mr. Bhardwaj finds that if he can offer a credit period of 30 days as an exception to a prospective buyer, he is likely to finalise a highly profitable deal for the business. So Mr. Bhardwaj requests Swaraj to grant him additional authority for offering a credit period of 30 days in the interest of the business. But Swaraj refuses to extend his authority and as a result, the deal is not finalized. In context of the above case:

• Can Mr. Bhardwaj be held responsible for loss of the deal? Why or why not ? Give a suitable reason in support of your answer.
• Also, explain the related principle.
• No, Mr. Bhardwaj cannot be held responsible for loss of the deal in the above case as he was not given the necessary authority to carry out his responsibility. There is an imbalance in authority and responsibility.
• The name of the related principle is Authority and Responsibility. Authority is the right to give orders and obtain obedience by the virtue of one’s position in the organization. Responsibility is the obligation of a person to carry out the assigned task to the best of one’s abilities and skills. There are two types of authorities, namely the official authority, which is the authority to command, and personal authority, which is the authority of the individual manager. Authority is both formal and informal. According to Fayol, there should be balance between the authority given and responsibility entrusted to an employee so that he is able to carry out the assigned task. Any kind of imbalance in authority and responsibility is not good for the organisation. If the authority granted to an employee is less than what is required, he will ineffective in doing his work. On the other hand, if the authority delegated to an employee is more than what is required, he may tend to misuse it.

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• MCQs – Nature & Significance of Management
• MCQs- Principles of Management
• MCQs – Chapter – Business Environment
• MCQs – Chapter Planning
• MCQs – Chapter – Organizing
• MCQs – Chapter Staffing
• MCQs – Chapter – Directing PART-1
• MCQs – Chapter – Directing – Part-2
• MCQs- Chapter Controlling
• MCQs- Chapter – Financial Management
• MCQs – Chapter – Marketing Management Part-1
• MCQs- Chapter- Marketing Management -Part-2
• MCQs – Chapter- Marketing Management – Part-3

Case Studies- Principles of Management

• Case Study – Business Environment
• Case Study-Planning
• Case Study-Organizing
• Case Study- Staffing
• Case Study-Directing
• Case Study – Chapter Controlling
• MCQs – Ch-2 – An Entrepreneur – Part-1
• MCQs – Ch-2 – An Entrepreneur – Part-2
• Ch-3 MCQs for ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
• MCQs – Ch-4 Entrepreneurship As Innovation And Problem Solving
• Ch-5 MCQs Analysis of Market Env & Market Research
• CH-6 MCQs Unit of sale – Unit cost – Gross Profit
• Unit-2 Entrepreneurial Planning
• Download PDF| Unit-3 Marketing Strategies
• Download PDF | UNIT-4 Enterprise Growth Strategies
• Download PDF | UNIT-6 Resource Mobilization
• Download PDF |Unit 1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• Download PDF | Unit-3 Marketing Strategies
• Download PDF| UNIT-4 | Enterprise Growth Strategies

CASE STUDIES- PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

This case study is hand picked original case study. It is created keeping in mind CBSE 10+2 CBSE Students. Many students get benifit out of it. You will find these in form of simple questions and answers.

Q1: Anshul a commerce student visited a hospital . He observed that in hospital to treat different type of disease there is a separate department and each department is lead by dean of that respective department who is expert in that particular field having knowledge , training and experience of that particular area only. He could relate it to one of the principle of management. Identify and explain.

Q2; Harshita , a sales manager has to negotiate a deal with a buyer. She finds that if she can offer credit period of 60 days she is likely to clinch the deal which is supposed to fetch the company a net margin of Rs. !,00,000 . Now the company gives power to the manager to offer a credit period of 40 days due to which she could not get the deal. Identify the principle of management violated above.

Q3; In Ashu limited Management and labour union entered into an agreement whereby workers have agreed to put in extra hours without any additional payment to revive the company out of loss. In return the management has promised to increase wages of the workers when this mission is accomplished But afterwards management refused to fulfill its commitment. Identify the principle of management violated by the management of Ashu Ltd. .

Q4; Akshit a sales person is asked to clinch a deal with a buyer and is allowed to give 10% discount by marketing manager. But finance department tells him not to offer more than 5% discount. Due to which Akshit is confused. Which principle of management is violated?  Identify.

Q5; Stuti Industries is engaged in manufacturing Cars and Motorbikes. It has two separate departments for both the products. Each department has its own Incharge , plans and execution resources which leads to focused efforts of all the employees. Identify the principle of management followed by Stuti Industries.

Q6;  Udhay is working as Plant superintendent in Tanish Industries. But he is given a salary of a clerk as his compensation.  Which act as a demotivator for udhay and he does not feel like working whole heartedly for the company. Identify the principle of management violated in Tanish Limited.

Q7; Amita and Shamita are working as  typist in Ashiana Ltd. . But Amita is paid salary of Rs. 4,000 pm and Shamita is apid salary of Rs. 5,000 pm. After knowing this Amita got discouraged and started thinking of shifting the job. Which principle of Fayol is violated in above case?

Q8; Rajeev joined Anamika Ltd. As training manager . After joining he observed that employees are lacking the feeling of belongingness with the organization. To encourage the feeling of beloningingness and self motivation he decided to apply one of the principle of fayol and started employee suggestion system whereby employees are encouraged to give suggestion and whereby suggestions which result in substantial cost/ time reductions will be rewarded. Identify the principle.

Q9; In Tanya Ltd, there is discord among all the employees due which objectives are not realized and there  is no coordination among employees . there is no mutual trust and belongingness among employees . So managers have to apply penalities on employees which further increases the inefficiency. What do you is wrong with above organization . Give your answer in respect to Principle of Fayol.

Q10; In Ayesha Ltd. Losses are pouring in. So for their rescue Vishal CEO of the company decided to  hire  Aryan the cost control expert at higher salary . Maximum of the directors opposed the decision of hiring  Aryan in company’s crisis period when company is already going into losses. After taking charge of the Job Aryan advised the company to eliminate superfluous varities , sizes and dimensions . because these are the reason for undue high cost Expenditures . Which concept of principle of management is applied above.

Q11; In Model Motor Company For designing a car the assembly line production is entailed which decided the sequence od operations, place for men, machines and raw material etc. This exercise helped in minimizing the cost of production and maximize the quality of products. Identify the concept in relation to scientific management in the above case which is the reason for minimizing cost.

Q12;  On the basis of several observations it is determined that one worker can make one cardboard in 2o minutes. So in one hour he will make 3 boxes. Assuming that a worker has to put in 8 hours of work in a shift and deducting    one hour for rest and lunch, it is determined that in 7 hours a worker makes 21 boxes @ 3 boxes per hour. Now this is the standard  task workers have to do . Wages are decided accordingly. The base of above technique is one of the technique of F.W. Taylor. Identify that technique.

Q13; It si determined that standard output per worker per day is 10 units and those who made standard or mopre than standard will get Rs. 50 per unit and those below will get Rs. 40 per unit. Now an efficient worker making 11 units will get Rs. 11x 50= Rs. 550 per day whereas a worker who produces 9 units will get 9×40= Rs. 360 per day. This example is concerned with one of the technique of scientific management whose objective  is to encourage the inefficient workers to work harder. KIdentify the gtechnique.

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1.1 Introduction to Principles of Management

Managers make things happen through strategic and entrepreneurial leadership.

Unsplash – CC0 Public Domain.

What’s in It for Me?

Reading this chapter will help you do the following:

• Learn who managers are and about the nature of their work.
• Know why you should care about leadership, entrepreneurship, and strategy.
• Know the dimensions of the planning-organizing-leading-controlling (P-O-L-C) framework.
• Learn how economic performance feeds social and environmental performance.
• Understand what performance means at the individual and group levels.
• Create your survivor’s guide to learning and developing principles of management.

We’re betting that you already have a lot of experience with organizations, teams, and leadership. You’ve been through schools, in clubs, participated in social or religious groups, competed in sports or games, or taken on full- or part-time jobs. Some of your experience was probably pretty positive, but you were also likely wondering sometimes, “Isn’t there a better way to do this?”

After participating in this course, we hope that you find the answer to be “Yes!” While management is both art and science, with our help you can identify and develop the skills essential to better managing your and others’ behaviors where organizations are concerned.

Before getting ahead of ourselves, just what is management, let alone principles of management? A manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively, and you should view management as “the art of getting things done through the efforts of other people.” 1 The principles of management , then, are the means by which you actually manage, that is, get things done through others—individually, in groups, or in organizations. Formally defined, the principles of management are the activities that “plan, organize, and control the operations of the basic elements of [people], materials, machines, methods, money and markets, providing direction and coordination, and giving leadership to human efforts, so as to achieve the sought objectives of the enterprise.” 2 For this reason, principles of management are often discussed or learned using a framework called P-O-L-C, which stands for planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Managers are required in all the activities of organizations: budgeting, designing, selling, creating, financing, accounting, and artistic presentation; the larger the organization, the more managers are needed. Everyone employed in an organization is affected by management principles, processes, policies, and practices as they are either a manager or a subordinate to a manager, and usually they are both.

Managers do not spend all their time managing. When choreographers are dancing a part, they are not managing, nor are office managers managing when they personally check out a customer’s credit. Some employees perform only part of the functions described as managerial—and to that extent, they are mostly managers in limited areas. For example, those who are assigned the preparation of plans in an advisory capacity to a manager, to that extent, are making management decisions by deciding which of several alternatives to present to the management. However, they have no participation in the functions of organizing, staffing, and supervising and no control over the implementation of the plan selected from those recommended. Even independent consultants are managers, since they get most things done through others—those others just happen to be their clients! Of course, if advisers or consultants have their own staff of subordinates, they become a manager in the fullest sense of the definition. They must develop business plans; hire, train, organize, and motivate their staff members; establish internal policies that will facilitate the work and direct it; and represent the group and its work to those outside of the firm.

1 We draw this definition from a biography of Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) written by P. Graham, Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1995). Follett was an American social worker, consultant, and author of books on democracy, human relations, and management. She worked as a management and political theorist, introducing such phrases as “conflict resolution,” “authority and power,” and “the task of leadership.”

2 The fundamental notion of principles of management was developed by French management theorist Henri Fayol (1841–1925). He is credited with the original planning-organizing-leading-controlling framework (P-O-L-C), which, while undergoing very important changes in content, remains the dominant management framework in the world. See H. Fayol, General and Industrial Management (Paris: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 1916).

Principles of Management Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

• Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
• Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
• The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
• Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
• A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
• Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
• The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

Fundamentals of Management

Introduction to management.

Management is the process of coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively. The fundamentals of management involve four key functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Mastering these functions is essential for success in any managerial role.

Common Terms and Definitions

Planning : The process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish those goals.

Organizing : The process of arranging and allocating work, authority, and resources among an organization's members to achieve the organization's goals.

Leading : The process of influencing, motivating, and directing employees to work effectively and efficiently towards achieving organizational goals.

Controlling : The process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance to ensure that organizational goals are met.

Decision-making : The process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values, preferences, and beliefs of the decision-maker.

Problem-solving : The process of identifying, analyzing, and resolving issues or obstacles that hinder the achievement of organizational goals.

Key Management Theories and Approaches

Scientific Management : Developed by Frederick Taylor, this approach emphasizes the use of scientific methods to analyze and optimize work processes for maximum efficiency.

Administrative Management : Pioneered by Henri Fayol, this approach focuses on the management functions of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.

Behavioral Management : This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding human behavior and motivation in the workplace, as exemplified by the works of Mary Parker Follett and Elton Mayo.

Contingency Approach : This perspective suggests that there is no one best way to manage and that the most effective management style depends on the situation and context.

Essential Management Skills

• Communication: The ability to effectively convey information, ideas, and instructions to others, as well as actively listen and provide feedback.
• Leadership: The capacity to inspire, motivate, and guide others towards achieving common goals.
• Time management: The ability to prioritize tasks, allocate resources, and meet deadlines efficiently.
• Delegation: The process of assigning tasks and responsibilities to others while providing the necessary authority and resources to complete them.
• Conflict resolution: The ability to identify, address, and resolve disagreements or disputes among individuals or groups in the workplace.

Common Questions and Answers

What is the difference between a manager and a leader?

While managers focus on planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals, leaders inspire and motivate others to work towards a shared vision. Effective managers often possess strong leadership skills, but not all leaders hold formal managerial positions.

How can managers motivate employees?

Managers can motivate employees by providing clear goals and expectations, recognizing and rewarding good performance, offering opportunities for growth and development, fostering a positive work environment, and leading by example.

What is the importance of effective communication in management?

Effective communication is essential for managers to convey information, provide guidance, and build trust with employees. It helps ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals, reduces misunderstandings and conflicts, and facilitates collaboration and teamwork.

Understanding the fundamentals of management is crucial for success in any business or organizational setting. By mastering the core functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, as well as developing essential management skills, you will be well-equipped to effectively coordinate and oversee the work of others to achieve organizational goals.

Case Studies in Business Management

Project management, leadership and managerial effectiveness, digital transformation and technology in business, international business and globalization, business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

Chapter Review Questions

• What does a mission statement explain about a firm that a vision statement does not?
• Describe the three levels of strategy and what a manager developing strategy at each level is concerned with.
• Give an example for why a firm would pursue each of the three grand strategies.
• What actions can help a firm grow?
• What managerial skills and actions are included in the planning process?
• Why are good goals important to the planning process?
• What are the strategic planning time frames? How do they work together?
• Why is performance measurement often the start of new strategy development?

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• Authors: David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Principles of Management
• Publication date: Mar 20, 2019
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-management/pages/1-introduction
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