2011 (August)
Paper: 102
Full Marks: 80
Time: 3 hours
1. (a)
Explain the various linkages that need to be examined in studying
organisational – environmental interface. 16
Or
(b) What
is the contingency view of organisation? Does it adequately help in designing
structure? 10+6=16
2. (a)
Describe the important elements of bureaucracy. What are its unintended
consequences? How would you reduce these dysfunctions? 6+5+5=16
Or
(b)
Define span of management. What is the optimum number of subordinates that
should be under the superior, as suggested by various experts? 6+10=16
Ans:
SPAN OF MANAGEMENT: In the
words of Spriegal, "Span of control means the number of people reporting
directly to an authority. The principle of span of control implies that no
single executive should have more people looking to him for guidance and
leadership than he can reasonably be expected to serve. The span of supervision
is also known as span of control, span of management, span of responsibility,
span of authority and span of direction.
Factors
influencing the span of Management
There
are number of factors that influence or determine the span of Management in a
particular organisation, the most important of these are as follows:
a)
The
capacity and ability of the executive: The characteristics and abilities
such as leadership, administrative capabilities; ability to communicate, to
judge, to listen, to guide and inspire, physical vigour, etc. differ from
person to person. A person having better abilities can manage effectively a
large number of subordinates as compared to the one who has lesser
capabilities.
b)
Competence
and training of subordinates: Subordinates who are skilled, efficient,
knowledgeable, trained and competent require less supervision, and therefore,
the supervisor may have a wider span in such cases as compared to inexperienced
and untrained subordinates who requires greater supervision.
c)
Nature of
Work: Nature and importance of work to be supervised is another factor
that influences the span of supervision. The work involving routine,
repetitive, unskilled and standardized operations will not call much attention and
time on the part of the supervisor.
d)
Time
available for supervision: The capacity of a person to supervise and
control a large number of persons is also limited on account of time available
at his disposal to supervise them. The span of control would be generally
narrow at the higher level of management because top manager have to spend
their major time on planning, organising, directing and controlling and the
time available at their disposal for supervision will be less.
e)
Degree of
Decentralization and Extent of Delegation: If a manager clearly delegates
authority to undertake a well-defined task, a well trained subordinate can do
it with a minimum of supervisor's time and attention.
f)
Effectiveness
of communication system: Faulty communication puts a heavy burden on
manager's time and reduces the span of control.
g)
Quality of
Planning: Effective planning helps to reduce frequent calls on the superior
for explanation, instructions and guidance and thereby saves in time available
at the disposal of the superior enabling him to have a wider span.
h)
Degree of
Physical Dispersion: If all persons to be supervised are located
at the same place and within the direct supervision of the manager, he can
supervise relatively more people as compared to the one who has to supervise
people located at different places.
i)
Assistance
of Experts: the span of supervision may be wide where the services of experts
are available to the subordinate on various aspects of work. In case such
services are not provided in the organisation, the supervisor has to spend a
lot of time in providing assistance to the workers himself and a such the span
of control would be narrow.
Type
of span of supervision: Broadly speaking there are two types, of span
of supervision:
(a) Wider Span of Supervision: In this
type of span, the supervisor controls and guides the activities of subordinates
directly under his control. Wider span or supervision is favoured where workers
are competent and trained.
(b) Narrow
Span of Supervision: under this type of supervision, there are many levels and
more supervisors are required to perform the job of guidance and control for
different activities. It increases the efficiency of supervision but the cost
of supervision is very high as compared to wider span of supervision. This type
of supervision is favored at higher levels of management where all the other
activities of planning, organising, directing, and controlling are also to be
performed. But more the levels of supervision, more difficult are the task of
coordinating the activities of various groups of people.
3. (a)
Bring out the role of groups in an organisation. Substantiate the claims that
group task influences group performance and satisfaction. 8+8=16
Or
(b)What
are the fundamental concepts that determine behaviour in an organisation? 16
4. (a)Why
control is necessary? Mention the guidelines for dealing with the controlling
process. 6+10=16
Or
(b)Explain
the nature and functions of leadership based on the following formula: L = f
(l, f, s). Also suggest measures of effective leadership. 10+6=16
5. (a)
Analyse the concept of organisational effectiveness. What, according to Resins
Likert, are the determinants of organisational effectiveness? 8+8=16
Or
(b) Why do
people tend to resist change in organisation? Discuss the various approaches
for reducing resistance to change.
7+9=16
Post a Comment
Kindly give your valuable feedback to improve this website.