OFFICE BUDGETING

A budget is a device consisting of an orderly arrangement of data determined by

computed guesses & covering all phases of enterprise for a definite period of time.
On the other hand, budgetary control is the process of using the budget by
comparing the actual results with the computed guesses in order to correct either the
estimates or the causes of difference.

IMPORTANCE OF BUDGETARY CONTROL:

The importance of budgetary control can be explained as follows:
1. PLANNING: Planning implies a future course of action in order to achieve the
desired program. Budgetary control involves preparation of budgets for different
departments in the organization. The consolidation of all small budgets into a
master budget serves the purpose to planning.

2. CO-ORDINATION: In an organization where budgetary control system is

implemented, the budget committee consisting of different departments is
formulated. Members of the committee discuss the various budgets at the
meeting. These discussions facilitate co-ordination which in turn avoids
duplication of efforts.

3. PROPER UTILISATION OF RESOURCES: Under budgetary control system,

budgets are prepared for each and every department in the organization. The
system adopts a planned approach for utilization of available resources. Proper
utilization of resources improves productivity of the organization.

4. MOTIVATION: Budgetary control provides motivation to the executives to word

hard for the organization. If the performance is not as set by the budget, the
management may take action against the concerned party. This fear of action
motivates the executives to put maximum possible efforts to achieve the budgeted
performance.

5. DEVELOPS A HABIT OF THINKING: Under budgetary control, all the executives

are required to think continuously right from the beginning of the budget. At each
& every stage the executives have to think in order to take right decisions & this
continuous thinking makes them creative.

6. TEAM SPIRIT: The technique of budgetary control generates team spirit in the
organization. Members of the budget committee belonging to different
departments come together for discussions. This promotes a feeling of
togetherness with the team.

7. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY: The management can delegate adequate

authority to the executives taking into account the amount of responsibility
assigned.
LIMITATIONS OF BUDGETARY CONTROL
1. BUDGETS ARE ONLY ESTIMATES: Budgets are prepared on the basis of
scientific analysis. Budgets which are not prepared scientifically may go wrong.
They are prepared on the basis of past performance .

2. DYNAMIC CIRCUMSTANCES: Preparation of budget under dynamic conditions

is a very difficult task. Government policies, political conditions, consumer
behavior, nature of competition are constantly changing. Under such a situation, it
is difficult to prepare a realistic budget.

3. EXPENSIVE: System of budgetary control is expensive. A small sized

organization having limited financial resources cannot go for budgetary control.
Similarly, a large sized organization having adequate financial resources can go
for budgetary control.

4. TENDENCY TO PASS THE BUCK(SHIFTING RESPONSIBILITY): The system

develops a tendency to pass the buck i.e. to shift the responsibility from one
person to another. The executive who is responsible for the budget may blame
others in case of non-achievement of budgeted performance. It becomes very
difficult for the management to pin-point the responsibility and take actions against
any executive.

5. SUPPORT OF TOP MANAGEMENT: Support of the top management is

necessary for the successful implementation of the budgetary control system. The
top management must provide continuous guidance to the executives during the
course of implementation of budgets. Lack of support from top management may
fail the system.

6. NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT: Budgetary control system cannot be

a substitute for management. Management is absolutely necessary for proper
control of the system. Management & budgetary control can together control the
overall performance of the organization effectively.
PROCEDURE FOR PREPARATION OF BUDGET PLAN
1. A conference meeting of top management members is held to discuss the trends
& general outlook & to formulate broad policies regarding the activities throughout
the coming year.
2. The basis for the entire programme including sales & net income is brought up by
the executive incharge of the particular activity. This is then submitted for
discussion & given for approval to the remaining top management members.
3. Each department head then prepares a budget for his own separate activity
guided by the data in the basic budget. These budgets covering separate
departments are submitted to the budget officer.
4. A conference meeting between the budget officer & each departmental is then
held for the purpose of discussion.
5. After an agreement on each individual budget has been reached, the master
budget is prepared. If necessary, then adjustments are made & final approval is
obtained.
6. At the end, budget is written in its approved form, & copies are sent to all persons.
Master budget is distributed to the executives who are responsible for the
execution of a particular plan.
CONCLUSION: If the budget are prepared carefully and executed, then results are
bound to be extremely promising & encouraging.

CLASSIFICATION OF OFFICE EXPENSES

Office expenses includes telephone, postage & mailing, stationary & supplies,
printing, rent & taxes, heat & light, filing costs, employee training etc.
The various office costs can be divided into 3 groups – Variable, Semi-variable &
Fixed costs.

1) VARIABLE COST: Variable cost are those costs which increase or decrease in
direct proportion to activities. For e.g. Commission to salesman.

2) SEMI-VARIABLE COST: Semi-variable costs are those costs which tend to

increase with increased amount of work in a small office. For e.g. Electricity. The
base rate for service may be constant, but as production grows, power
consumption & the company’s electricity also goes up.

3) FIXED COST: Fixed cost are those costs based on time rather than the quantity
produced or sold. For e.g. Rent, salaries etc.
TYPES OF BUDGET
The types of budget are as follows:

1. FUNCTIONAL BUDGET: A budget relating to a particular department is known as

functional, subsidiary or supporting budget. Functional budgets are the sections or
a part of master budget. Such budgets include sales, purchase, production, capital
expenditure budget. Functional budgets are used in achieving co-ordination
between different departments.

a. SALES BUDGET: It is the most important budget on the basis of which other
functional budgets are drawn. A sales budget is an estimate of sales to be
achieved during the period. It is prepared by the sales manager. However, the
sales manager has to consider the following factors while preparing sales budget:
(i) Expected sales for the product
(ii) Marketing conditions
(iii) Production capacity
(iv) Opinions of the experts i.e. salesman, dealers & distributors.

b. PRODUCTION BUDGET: It is an estimate of the number of units to be

manufactured during the budget period. It is prepared by the production manager.
However, the production manager has to consider the following factors while
preparing production budget:
(i) Sales as per sales budget
(ii) Production capacity available
(iii) Availability of raw materials
(iv) Storage capacity

c. PURCHASE BUDGET: Purchase budget includes the raw materials to be

purchased during the budget period. It is prepared by purchase manager.
However the purchase manager has to consider the following factors while
preparing purchase budget:
(i) Production
(ii) Types of raw materials required
(iii) Possibility of process loss
(iv) Input output ratio

d. COST OF PRODUCTION BUDGET: It is an estimate of cost of production to be

incurred for manufacturing the budgeted production. It shows the estimated cost
of materials, direct wages & direct expenditure.
• Estimated cost of raw materials is calculated on the basis of raw materials
required.
• Direct wages are estimated on the basis of labour hours & labour hour rate.
• Direct expenses are decided on the basis of part records.
e. FINANCIAL OR CASH BUDGET: It is an estimate of receipts & payments during
the budget period. It is prepared by the finance manager. Cash budget indicates
availability of cash during a certain period. In case of surplus cash the manager
can plan for investment & in case of deficiency he can arrange for overdraft in
advance.

f. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE BUDGET: It is an estimate of capital resources of an

enterprise. It is prepared to assure planned and timely capital investments in the
business specifying the capital intention of the management because the budget
reflects the management policy regards to investments, growth, expansion,
production, profits etc.

PERIOD & REVISING

1. The date of budgeting applies to a definite period of time; usually it is for one year.

2. The budgeting period selected should be long enough to include any seasonal or
characteristic variations, brought about by sales & production cycles. If a budget is
to serve as a quarterly check, the time period should include a three month period
& if it is a semi-annual check, then six month period will be used.

3. A widely adopted practice is to prepare the budget plan during November &
December for the following year.

4. Under periodic budgeting, major revisions are made 3 times a year i.e. March,
June & September for the remaining month of the year.
Example: In March, adjustments are made for the period from April to December.

5. Under progressive budgeting, whereby definite time for major revision are already
stated, such revisions cover definite periods after the revision date.

6. Under moving budget, a forecast of 12 months is maintained by adding a month

as each month is completed.
Example: At the completion of October 1976, a forecast of October 1977 is
added.
EFFECTIVENESS OF BUDGETARY CONTROL
Effectiveness of budgetary control can be enhanced by the following:

1. PARTICIPATION BY ALL: The best budgeting is everyone’s budgeting. The

broad limit of budgeting are set by top managers who are in a position to visualize
the needs of the organization. To develop & implement practical means of
achieving the goals is an opportunity for the management & the non-management
members to make the budgeting effective & beneficial to both i.e. for themselves
& the company.

2. SETTING SPECIFIC COUNTS: Budgeting is intended mainly to help to achieve

specific goals within specific expenditures. Budgeting should be thought of in
relation to complete the task. Budgeting should never be viewed as an official
means to approve or disapprove the stated expenditures.

3. PRACTICAL GOALS & VARIANCES: The best budgeting reflects neither

optimism nor pessimism. It realizes both satisfactory & unsatisfactory results in
the nature of things. View the future favourably but at the same time, recognizes
some obstacles which may arise.

4. PROVIDING FOR EMERGENCIES: Flexibility is important in budgeting. The

successful completion of goals requires reasoning & intuition at all levels.
Budgeting should include all possible answers for what is to be done if such
situation takes place. Actions commonly change from those anticipated such as
workforce maybe increased or decreased, training programme altered, promotion
reduced etc. Provisions to meet the contingencies are needed otherwise
budgeting maybe reduced to a rigid tool in the hands of the management.

5. LOOKING FAVOURABLE AS WELL AS UNFAVOURABLE VARIANCES: The

natural tendency is to concentrate on unfavourable variances & to take proper
action to correct them. However, it is beneficial to review favourable variances
also. Some may cover activities that can be improved while others may be
combined with other activities or even eliminated in view of current situation.
OFFICE MANUAL
1. An office manual is a written record of instructions and information that can be
used to guide employees efforts towards goals of an enterprise.
2. It is a guidebook of a source of data considered essential for the best
performance of the job.
3. An office manual makes instructions definite, provides quick settlement of
misunderstandings & how an employee can contribute towards achievement of
office objectives.
4. The training of new comers is raised up because the manual gives them
information they need in a readily available form.
5. Some managers refuse the use of manuals on the basis that manuals cost too
much & too much work is to be prepared.

SOURCES OF OFFICE MANUAL

One of the best sources for a manual is the manual used by other enterprises.
The following are the major sources:
1. Minutes of the Board of Directors meetings.
2. Reports of executive conference meetings.
3. Bulletins & company’s circulars.
4. Agreements with employees & contracts with Trade Union.
5. Company magazines
6. Interviews with management members.

DISTRIBUTION OF OFFICE MANUALS

1. It is important to provide a copy of the manual to everyone concerned & in need of
information.
2. The extent of distribution depends upon the size of the enterprise.
3. One copy of manual should be available for ready reference in atleast each
department or division.
4. To increase the leadership of the manual, it should be given to the employee at
the time of appointment itself.
5. In certain cases depending upon the type of the manual it may be mailed to
employees residence.
6. In addition sometimes the employees are requested to sign & return an enclosed
card in the manual as an evidence of reading the complete booklet & in many
cases, questions are asked to make sure the employees understanding of manual
content.
MANUAL MAINTENANCE
1. The problem of keeping the manual up to date is an ever present problem in the
enterprises.

2. New pages must replace the old and be distributed to all the holders of the
manual.

3. Frequently changes are written in coloured ink to attract attention.

4. All changes should be processed through a Central Control Unit.

5. The three R’s of manual are –

(i) Easy Reading
(ii) Reference
(iii) Revision
Much concentration is placed on the last ‘R’ i.e. Revision. To help manual
maintenance an excellent practice is to find out what users think of it.

TYPES OF MANUALS
1. MANUAL OF POLICY: A policy is a basic guideline to action because it
prescribes the overall boundaries within which the activities are to take place.
Hence, manual of policies include broad managerial inventions & actions likely to
take place under certain conditions.
2. MANUAL OF OEPRATION: The manual of operations can serve as a convenient
source of information of how the work can be done. The authorized steps can be
listed & supplementary information can be given in the form of diagrams,
sketches, charts etc. to clarify the data.
3. MANUAL OF OFFICE RULES & REGULATIONS: Manuals are an excellent
medium in which it includes employee benefit plans such as group insurance,
hospitalization facilities etc. In addition it may also include items like sick
allowances, use of rest periods, hours of enjoyment, holidays, vacation, telephone
usage etc.
4. HISTORICAL MANUAL: Many employers feel that it is important to give
information regarding the history of the company, its beginning, growth of the
enterprise, accomplishments, present management, current status etc. This gives
the employees more motivation and also to think about the enterprise. It provides
better understanding, increases morale & helps the employees to feel that he/she
is a part of the company.
5. MULTI-PURPOSE MANUAL: This type of manual represents a combination of
any two or all types of manuals mentioned above. The company’s needs, size of
the employees & philosophy of the top management usually determines the make
– up of a multipurpose manuals.
ABSENTEEISM
Absenteeism means the failure of a worker to report to work when properly
scheduled to do so, either with or without notice. It is a cause for concern because it
affects both efficiency and productivity.
Absenteeism rate is the ratio of man-days lost through absence to the total number
of man-days in a given period of time expressed as a percentage.

The rates of absenteeism in Indian industries vary between 24% - 24.8%

1. Absenteeism is lowest on pay-day & highest immediate after pay-day/bonus.
2. It is high among workers less than 25 years & over 40 years.
3. The rate of absenteeism is higher in night shift than day shift.
4. The rate of absenteeism is higher before & after a holiday.

CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM
1. BULLYING & HARRASMENT: Employees who are bullied or harassed by co-
workers or bosses are more likely to call in sick to avoid the situation.
2. BURNOUT, STRESS & LOW MORALE: Heavy workloads, stressful meetings
and feelings of being unappreciated can cause employees to avoid going to work.
Personal stress can also lead to absenteeism.
3. CHILDCARE & ELDERCARE: Employees maybe forced to miss work in order to
stay home & take care of a child or relative if he/she is unwell.
4. DISENGAGEMENT: Employees who are not committed to their jobs are more
likely to miss work because they have no motivation to go to the office.
5. ILLNESS/INJURIES: Illness, injuries or medical appointments are the most
commonly reported reasons for missing work though not always the actual reason.
6. UNHEALTHY WORKING CONDITIONS: If the working conditions are not good
then workers frequently remains absent from work. Health, moisture, noise etc. can
affect workers health causing them to remain absent for longer periods.
7. SOCIAL & RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES: This are one of the major causes of
absenteeism. These functions divert the attention of workers and they spend too
much time on these activities. It is higher during festival periods.
8. ALCOHOLISM: When drinking becomes a habit and its hangover on the next day
compels them to remain absent. Also workers indulge in more drinking after the pay-
day & more absenteeism is reported following pay-days.
9. INADEQUATE LEAVE FACILITIES: When workers do not get adequate leave
facilities to attend to their family commitments, they remain absent from the place of
work.
EFFECTS OF ABSENTEEISM
1. It hampers smooth flow of work. As a result of loss of production, the cost of
production increases which in results in reduced profits.
2. Production targets are upset. Selling price of the commodities increases so the
customers have to pay more.
3. High rate of absenteeism affects personnel planning policy of an enterprise.
4. Absence of workers causes the machinery to remain idle. This results in
underutilization of machine capacity.
5. Available workers are overburdened with work and overtime wages need to be
paid to complete the task.
6. A chronic absentee may also become unacceptable to his colleagues in the
group. It may lead to disciplinary action including dismiss.
7. Absenteeism causes loss of wages for absentee. Absenteeism leads to decrease
in zeal, enthusiasm & morale of the group.

MEASURES TO REDUCE ABSENTEEISM

1. PROPER WORKING CONDITION: Provision of proper facilities at work, pure
drinking water, canteen facilities, clean washrooms, etc. reduces absenteeism.
2. PROPER SELECTION TECHNIQUE: There should be proper selection &
recruitment of employees. The worker will enjoy doing the work and gives his best
if the job suits to him.
3. PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS: Proper safety measures should be in place.
Workers should be properly trained for using machines. If they are not fearful of
accidents they will not skip their duties.
4. REASONABLE WAGE RATE: The wages should be sufficient to enable workers
to maintain a reasonable standard of living.
5. LIBERAL GRANT OF LEAVE: Management should have a liberal leave policy
which the workers can avail in case of genuine problems.
6. MAINTAINING DISCIPLINE: There should be well defined rules & regulations
and these should be followed strictly.
7. HOUSING & TRANSPORT FACILITY: Provision of housing/accommodation near
factory or transport facility will ensure regular attendances.
8. INCENTIVES: Special incentives should be offered to regular employees to
motivate others.
9. EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION: Supervisors can help reduce absenteeism
considerably if they maintain a happy/healthy sincere relationship with workers.
10. GOOD RELATIONS AT WORK: The supervisors should try to maintain a good
environment where everyone works with a positive attitude for achieving the
organizational goals.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas & opinions or emotions by two
persons.
Media for communication
1. CONVERSATION: It is the most common medium of communication. It is man to
man & direct communication. It is most effective and exists at all organisational
levels.
2. LETTERS: It is a written medium of communication. It exists at top management
& supervisory levels. It is excellent for statistical data and where permanent record is
desired.
3. ORGANISATIONAL MANUAL: It describes the organizational structure, all
management positions, line of promotion, extent of authority & responsibility.
4. SPEECHES: It is impressive at special events. It exists at top management &
supervisory level.
5. EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK: Some companies follow the practice of issuing
handbook to the new employee who joins the organization. It includes the history of
the organization, its achievements, facilities for employees etc.
6. HOUSE JOURNAL: It is generally a periodical publication which communicates
personal information about members, information about promotion, retirement
transfers, employees views about the company and the management.
7. ANNUAL REPORT: This gives employees authentic reports about working results
and financial position of the company, partially about profits. This helps to prevent
circulation of false rumours about profit, position, management, policy regarding
bonus etc.
8. NOTICE BOARDS: Notices are often posted in glass notice boards in an
organization specially in places where employees are likely to gather in large
numbers. For e.g. canteen, rest rooms etc.

CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION
It maybe defined as any means/ways used for transmitting a message from the
source to the destination.

1. NATURE OF MESSAGE: The means of communication depends upon the nature

of the message. Urgent, private & important messages should be distinguished
from ordinary, routine, & less important messages and the means are chosen
accordingly.

2. COST: The cost of sending a message is also considered while selecting a mode
of communication. The result obtained should justify the expenditure. The cost
should not outweigh the benefit of the message you are sending.

3. RECORD: If the record of the communication is important then it should be in

written form. This helps in preserving duplicate copies of written communication
and they are good proof against any legal disputes.
 4. DISTANCE: The mode of communication to be chosen depends on whether the
message is to be sent to a nearly place or somewhere at a long distance.

5. SCALE OF THE ORGANISATION: Means of communication in a large scale

business is different from that in the small scale.

6. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGY: Both the sender and the receiver must have
supporting technological communication tool to make communication through a
particular medium. Suppose ‘A’ sends e-mail to ‘B’. To get the e-mail ‘B’ should
have a computer system.

7. URGENCY/QUICKNESS/SPEED: Urgency of communication is also kept in

mind. Higher cost maybe justified for sending the message on time.

8. SECRECY: If the message to be communicated is confidential such means are

required to be adopted that can maintain secrecy. When one aims at secrecy,
letter will achieve the aim.

9. SAFETY: The sender has to be careful about the safety of the message. The
manager has to decide whether the message would be sent by ordinary
post/registered post, through courier or messenger etc.

10. RELATIONSHIP: Message of private nature may require personal contact

whereas formal relationship demands official and conventional mode of
communication.

11. ACCURACY: If accuracy of the message is the prime motive, a letter will serve
the purpose.
RECRUITMENT
The process of recruitment is a permanent activity. Finding the right person for the
right job at the right time is a problem for a manager. There is always separation on
account of marriage, resignations, promotions & transfers, retirement & death.
CONCEPT OF RECRUITMENT
Recruitment consists of four important concepts:
1. Determining the future man power requirements of the organization.
2. Establishing sources for procurement of different kinds of employees.
3. A list of contacts or referrals for candidates.
4. The process of recruitment & the preparation material required for its conduct.
EFFICIENT RECRUITMENT
In order to conduct recruitment successfully certain important information must be
gathered in advance:
1. Job analysis data in order to determine the exact specification and nature of job.
2. The qualification & experience which would be required for individual jobs.
3. The time of vacancy when new person would be required so that there could be
avoidance of delay in recruitment.
4. A constant build up of the reputation of the organization so that the best
employees may be attracted towards it.
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT / TOOLS OF RECRUITMENT
A. Internal sources of recruitment: When job vacancies are filled out from people
already working in the organisation it is called internal recruitment. There are two
main sources of internal recruitment:
Promotions: Vacancies at higher level may be filled up by promoting persons
working at lower levels. Promotion involves shifting an employee to the higher
post caring a higher status and more salary.
Transfers: Transfer means shifting an employee from one factory branch or office
to fill vacancy in other factory branch or office of the company. Transfer involves
shifting an employee to do similar job without change in status and salary.
Advantages of internal recruitment:
1. Filling vacancies for higher job from within the organisation motivates and
improves the morale of the employees this brings loyalty among them.
2. It minimises labour turnover and absenteeism. Employees wait for promotions and
work hard for the company.
3. It is cheaper source of recruitment because time on interviews test and money on
advertising need not be spent.
4. Induction training will not be required as the candidate is already familiar with the
organisation and the people working in it
Disadvantages of internal recruitment:
1. Same method of working is followed no new and fresh knowledge is introduced to
the working system.
2. As the choices are limited the incapable candidate may be promoted to the
position of higher responsibility
3. Employees become lazy and do not perform well when they are sure of time
bound promotions
4. There may be infighting among those who wants promotion within the
organization.
B. External sources of recruitment: External recruitment refers to recruitment of
employees from outside the organization. Under external recruitment there is wide
choice available. Recruitment from outside may create frustration among the
employees already working in the firm
There are various sources of external recruitment :
1. ADVERTISEMENTS: Advertisements in newspapers and journals is the most
widely used method of recruiting staff. Advertisement is a convenient and it
provides a large pool of candidates from all parts of the country. Details of the
organization and the job is given in the advertisement for the candidate to do self
screening. If the organisation feels to keep its identity secret then the applicants
can be asked to reply to a post box number. The disadvantage of advertising is
that it brings too many applications and also some time unqualified candidates.
This increases the time and expenses of selection.
2. EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE: The government of India has set up employment
exchange throughout the country to tackle the problem of unemployment. The
candidate needs to register the name, address and other particulars. Whenever
employers need candidate for the job, employment exchange and their suitable
candidate is recommended The employer does not have to spend money on
advertisements but the record of employment exchange are generally outdated
and many candidates do not turn up for the interview.
3. Placement agencies: There are several recruitment agencies providing
recruitment & selection services. The employer can hire any agency for the
complete job of recruitment. This agency will advertise the job, receive the
applications & will select the candidate. Here, employer saves his time & effort.
This source of recruitment is employed for senior managers and technicians.
4. Campus interview: Jobs in business has become very technical and requires
educated persons. Campus recruitment is very convenient and inexpensive. Well
educated person is become available very quickly without any advertisements.
Even the educational institutions gain popularity as their students get job even
before they leave the institution. For example IlMs, lITs, etc
5. Casual callers: The candidates who need job they submit their bio- data in the
firms even if there is no vacancy as and when there is vacancies they can be
referred. The advantage of this source of recruitment is that it avoids the cost of
recruitment from other sources but this unsolicited applicants disturbs the daily
routine work of the enterprise.
6. Direct recruitment: Here, the notices placed on the noticeboard of the enterprise
specifying the details of the job available. Jobseekers assemble outside the
premises of the organisation on the specified date and selection is done on the
spot, this kind of recruitment is usually for unskilled or semiskilled jobs as
plumber, tunners, fitters and welder etc. This is also known as recruitment at
factory gate.
7. Labour contractors: Labour contractors maintain contacts with labours and
provide the required number of workers at a short notice. Labour or contractors
constitute an important source of recruitment in many industries in India they are
known by different names such as Sardar Mukaddam Thekedars etc. The
disadvantage of the system is if the contractor decides to leave the enterprise all
the workers recruited through him also leaves the organization.
PROCEDURE OF RECRUITMENT / SELECTION
The following procedure of recruitment are as follows:
1. THE RECEIPT OF APPLICATION: Once the source of recruitment has been
decided the vacancy is made known and applications are received from various
candidates.
2. SHORT LISTING: Once the deadline for the receipt of applications are over,
shorting of the candidates is done in a reasonable manner such as on the basis of
qualification, age & experience, etc.
3. CALL LETTER: After short listing of the candidate, communication is sent to them
via letters, telephones or emails asking them to appear for an interview.
4. INTERVIEW: This is a basic tool of selection which gives an opportunity to meet
the applicant & observe his verbal ability, appearance, confidence, general
personality & attitude. At the same time the interview is a platform for collection as
well as giving of information between employers & employees.
5. WRITTEN TEST: In almost all kinds of job a technical assessment or written test
is necessary to access the knowledge & skill of the candidate. Such a test may be
short or detailed depending on the job for which the candidate is being selected.
6. GROUP DISCUSSION: Many a times a casual conference or a group discussion
with several candidates is organized in order to find out the ability of the person to
get along another. Also communicative skills & the ability to debate & discuss as
well as knowledge on various subjects can be made out or observed through this
medium.
7. REFERENCES: This is an important part of the selection process. The candidate
is asked to provide the names of important persons who can vouch for their
integrity. These references are contacted to learn something about the
background of the candidate. Such references may also include previous
employees, head of the institution, where the candidate has studied or established
person or established person within the candidate’s social circles.
8. MEDICAL EXAMINATION: The purpose of such examination is to determine the
physical fitness of the candidates for the type of work he is being appointed to
perform. In some cases the test may be strict while in other it may be routine or
normal in order to ensure the sound health of the employees. This part of the
selection process would to a large extent reduce the level of absenteeism &
tardiness on account of the ill health of the worker. It would also reduce the liability
of the organization for medical expenses to be paid.
9. LETTER OF APPOINTMENT: The last stage in the selection process is the issue
of the letter of appointment to the candidates. This letter is drawn up in duplicate &
one copy is duly signed by the candidate & is taken back as an acceptance of the
terms of employment. This completes the entire process of selection of candidate
for a vacant job.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANISATION
Organising is allocation of total work to be done among employees, establishing
relative authority & responsibility of each individual who is placed incharge of each
work component.
The principles are explained below:
1. PRINCIPLE OF SPECIALISATION: According to this principle, the work is
divided into different kinds such as technical, financial, commercial. Security
operations, accounting & managerial. It is assigned to employees as per their
qualities & capabilities. Specialisation leads to division of work. It results in
improvement in quality, increase in quantity & reduction in costs. It also leads to
innovation.
2. PRINCIPLE OF OBJECTIVE: The organization as a whole must have a clear
idea about its objectives. Every organization exists for a purpose. A common goal
so derived for the business will help everyone to work together for the
achievement of that goal.
3. PRINCIPLE OF CO-ORDINATION: There should be an orderly arrangement of
group efforts & unity of action in persuit of a common purpose. Co-ordination is
the process that ensures smooth working. Its main purpose is to gain maximum
effectiveness with minimum friction. It includes the activities of different individuals
& groups towards achieving the common goals.
4. PRINCIPLE OF DEFINITION: The scope of authority & responsibility must be
clearly specified. Everyone in the organization must have a clear idea about what
is his authority, his responsibility & how he stands in relationship with other
positions in the organization. Duties should be clearly assigned & relationships
between different departments must be clearly specified to make work smooth &
efficient.
5. PRINCIPLE OF BALANCE: An organization is made up of different units & all
these units should be kept in proper balance. Each function should be given
proper emphasis with regards to its basic purpose in the organization. Giving
importance to one activity over the other will hamper the smooth & balanced
working of an organization.
6. PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY: Organisation should be dynamic & non-static. The
organization structure should be serviceable for a long time & this is possible if it
is dynamic & capable of adopting itself to the changing circumstances.
Organisation is a continuous process. As the organization grows its activities
become varied & complex.
7. PRINCIPLE OF SUPREMACY OF ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The
organization goals or objectives should be given wide importance within the
organization. The people contributing to it should be made to understand that the
organization objectives are more important to comparison to motive. The primary
focus is on the organization objectives & this applies to all the levels of
organization.

PRINCIPLE OF SCALAR CHAIN, AUTHORITY & RESPONSIBILITY, UNITY OF

COMMAND, UNITY OF DIRECTION REFER OC NOTES.
DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY
LOUIS ALLEN: “Delegation is the dynamic of management, it is the process a
manager follows in dividing the work assigned to him so that he performs that part
which only he because of his unique organizational placement can perform
effectively and so that he can get others to help him with what remains.”
GEORGE TERRY: “To delegate means to grant or confer and delegation means
conferring authority from one executive or organizational unit to another in order to
accomplish particular assignments.”
DOA is an important process in an organization. In the process of delegation 3
actions are involved:
1) ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY/TASKS/DUTIES: When manager assigns
certain functions, work, duty to his subordinates, it is termed as assignment of
responsibility.
2) GRANTING OF AUTHORITY: A manager grants authority i.e. rights and powers
to be exercised by subordinates. Superior may transfer certain rights such as the
right to spend money, to direct the work of others, to use materials etc.
3) CREATING RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNATBILITY: Once the subordinate
is entrusted with responsibility to perform certain job and is given sufficient authority
to perform the assigned work the final phase in delegation is holding the subordinate
answerable.
ELEMENTS OF DELEGATION:
1) AUTHORITY: In context of a business organization, authority can be defined as
the power and the right of a person to use and allocate the resources efficiently, to
take decisions and to give orders so as to achieve organizational objectives. Certain
things to be kept in mind:
• Authority must be well defined.
• People must know the scope of their authority.
• Authority flows from top to bottom.
• Authority should be accompanied with an equal amount of responsibility.
• Authority is the right to give orders, commands and get things done.
• It refers to the power that is delegated formally and legally.
• If managers are not given adequate authority they will not be able to perform their
duties properly.
2) RESPONSIBILITY: Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the
assigned duty properly. When a superior assigns a job to his subordinates, it
becomes the responsibility of the subordinate to complete that job. Assigned
responsibility should be made in terms of goals or results to be accomplished.
However manager can only assign the responsibility and in case the subordinates
messes up the manager will be answerable to his seniors. Responsibility arises from
superior- subordinate relationship. According to George Terry: “Responsibility is the
obligation to carry out assigned activities to the best of his abilities.”
3) ACCOUNTABILITY: Absolutely essential for an organization. Without it, it is
difficult to get people to assume responsibility for their actions or performance.
Accountability in the workplace means that all employees are responsible for their
actions, behaviors, performance and decisions. When done right accountability can
increase your team members skills and confidence. Accountability is a self driven
skill, one that makes you feel good, feel accomplished and without boundaries and
when this skill is developed you develop confidence.
NEED / IMPORTANCE FOR DELEGATION:
1) RELIEF TO TOP MANAGERS: By delegating regular and routine activities to
lower levels they can concentrate on important policy matters.
2) DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGERS: By delegating routine jobs, managers can
take up more challenging projects and expand their skills as competent managers.
3) DEVELOPMENT OF SUBORDINATES: When work is delegated to subordinates,
their skill in managing the delegated tasks increases. Proper training facilities can be
provided to develop them as potential managers. Subordinates become more
confident and also accept more responsibility in future.
4) FASTER DECISIONS: Faster and effective decisions are possible as the
subordinates have the authority to do the jobs without going to the superiors every
time they face a problem.
5) SPECIALIZATION: Division of work in sub units and delegation of responsibility
according to skills, enhances their specialization on the job and results in greater
and better output.
6) JOB SATISFACTION: Delegation provides Job Satisfaction and motivates
subordinates to perform better in future if they achieve the better standards of
performance within the specified time and costs limits.
7) PROMOTES INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP: Delegation increases
interaction of managers with subordinates and promotes healthy relationship
amongst them.
BENEFITS/ADVANTAGES OF DOA:
1) MINIMIZE WORK LOAD OF MANAGERS: Delegation of Authority minimizes the
work load of managers. It relieves the managers from attending routine types of
work/duties. They can concentrate effectively on managerial and creative functions.
2) SPECIALIZATION: The manager delegates authority to subordinates on the
basis of their ability and knowledge. Since, the work is assigned to the persons who
have specialized knowledge and expertise, this contributes in the development of
the concept of specialization among the subordinate. Delegation helps the superior
to get the benefit of specialized knowledge of various persons at lower levels.
3) MOTIVATION AND MORALE: DOA develops a feeling of status and prestige
among the subordinates. Subordinates usually respond to delegated authority with a
favourable attitude. It promotes a sense of initiative and responsibility among them.
They feel proud of being given authority/responsibility this in turn boosts their morale
and motivates them to perform their best.
4) TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: DOA provides a background for training and
development of subordinates. It encourages the employees/subordinates to
undertake new and more challenging jobs and also promotes job satisfaction.
5) FACILITATES GROWTH AND EXPANSION: DOA provides flexibility in the
organizational structure. Subordinates when given control over the problems they
able to analyze the situation and make decisions accordingly.
6) QUICKER AND BETTER DECISIONS: Subordinates get the authority to decide
on the matters of their own area by remaining within the limits. Decisions can be
made immediately whenever deviations occurs or situation demands.
PROBLEMS IN DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY: WHY SUPERIORS DO
NOT DELEGATE?
1) FEELING OF INSECURITY: Senior executives may find it difficult to trust that the
job will be done in a competent way by the employee to whom they delegate. This is
especially true of individuals who micromanage. They will keep watching over the
shoulder because they are scared that things will go wrong and they will be
ultimately be blamed.
2) OBSESSION WITH CONTROL: Some bosses get an ego kick out of being the
boss. Doing things themselves makes them feel important, powerful and in control.
Such people find it difficult to delegate.
3) DESIRE FOR THE LIMELIGHT: Some managers do not delegate to subordinates
because they fear that the focus may shift from them to the subordinates and make
them appear redundant.
4) AVOIDING OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES: Senior employees may not delegate to
show their boss already have their hand full because they want to avoid some other
responsibility. Perhaps other tasks waiting are difficult or require further business
coaching or involve greater responsibility and accountability.
5) NO WANTING TO LET GO AND FEEL ‘I CAN DO IT BETTER MYSELF.’ :
The feeling of attachment and love for the job makes him unwilling. Some managers
may have personal issues with some members of his team owing to various reasons
like competition, insecurity, personal bias etc. and this may act as a barrier in the
process of delegation to give it up to someone else. He feels that the subordinates
may not be able to do the job as well as he can.
WITHOUT SUFFICIENT DELEGATION:
1. You will end working longer because you all doing all the tasks.
2. You spend too much time on details when you should be planning and
supervising.
3. No time to focus on priorities.
4. You feel stressed out.
5. Your career may stagnate because you are not proving your ability to manage.
WITHOUT PROPER DELEGATION YOUR EMPLOYEES:
• Won’t be improving their skills and capabilities.
• Won’t be developing valuable networks and relationship.
• Won’t feel trusted and empowered, feel frustrated by lack of challenge,
opportunities to use their talents.
WHY SUBORDINATES DO NOT ACCEPT:
Here are common reasons why they may resist:
1) They are not sure how much authority they will have.
2) They do not feel equipped with necessary tools, information and direction.
3) They don’t see what is in it for them.
4) They have made past mistakes that have caused anger and embarrassment.
5) They feel that they already have too much to do

LEADERSHIP
Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a
common goal. Leadership involves showing workers how to effectively perform their
responsibility & regularly supervising the completion of their tasks. Leadership is the
ability of a manager to induce subordinates to work with confidence.
An effective leader should possess the following characteristics:
1) Self confidence
2) Strong communication & management skills
3) Creative & innovative things
4) Willingness to take risk
5) Openess to change
Qualities of a good leader:
1) VISION: The greatest ability any leader can have is vision-the ability to see the
big picture of where the team they are working with is headed, what it is capable of
& what it will take to get there.
2) INSPIRATION: Equally as important as having a vision is the ability to convey
that vision to others & get them excited about it. Thus, maintaining positive attitude &
helping the team members stay motivated & engaged.
3) INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: Good leader must be able to interact
with people in a way that feels genuine.
4) OPEN MINDNESS & CREATIVITY: Being a good leader means being open to
new ideas, possibilities & perspectives. Leaders must able to listen, observe & be
willing to change course when necessary.
5) FLEXIBILITY: Leadership also means being adaptable when situation calls for it.
6) TRUTHFULLNESS: A good leader should be open & honest.
7) RESPONSIBILITY: True leadership means 100% responsibility for his/her actions
8) ABILITY TO LISTEN: Employees respect bosses who gives thoughtful & patient
attention to what is being presented to them.
9) CONFIDENCE: As a leader you should reflect confidence to ensure that your
followers trust you as a leader.
10) DECISION MAKING CAPABILITIES: Apart from having a futuristic vision, a
leader should have the ability to take the right decision at the right time.
11) EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: With EI, leaders can control their emotions
which prevent negative emotions from influencing their decision making skills.
12) TRANSPARENCY: Transparency gives clarity & make your subordinates feel
more empowered while keeping them engaged.
13) COURAGE: Courage means willingness to take risks for the achievement of
goals.
14) FOCUS: Leaders always focus on the needs of the company. They focus on the
results, on what must be achieved by themselves, by others & by the company.
15) EMPATHY: Good leaders praise in public & address problems in private. A good
leader understands his team’s feelings & guide their subordinates through
challenges & are always on the lookout for a solution.
16) ACCOUNTABILITY: A good leader takes responsibility for everyone’s
performance. When any problem arises, they identify it, finds solutions & gets the
team back on track.
JOHN QUINCY ADAM SAYS, “If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more & become more, you are a leader”.

STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
1) AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP: Autocratic leaders also known as authoritarian
leaders, generally have all the power, authority, responsible in an organization.
There is rarely any input or decision making on the part of team or group members.
Team members are tasked only with implementing the leader’s decisions and
choices. An Autocratic Leader is exemplified when a leader dictates policies and
procedure, decides the goals to be achieved, directs and control all activities without
any meaningful participation by the subordinates. This type of leadership is seen
mostly in businesses which are relatively small with fewer employees. This style may
not be the most productive approach when it comes to leading people and teams.
ADVANTAGES OF AUTOCRATIC LEADER:
1. It allows for fast decisions to be made .
2. It reduces employees stress.
3. It handles crisis situations effectively.
4. It provides for quick decision making.
5. Clearly defined chain of command .
6. Very helpful for projects requiring strong leadership.
DISADVANTAGES OF AUTOCRATIC LEADER:
1. Too much pressure on the leader.
2. Little or no flexibility.
3. Can cause worker resentment(feeling of angry displeasure at something regarded
as a wrong, insult).
4. Discourages group input.
5. Ignores creative solutions and expertise from subordinates.
6. Affects the morale of the group.
2) DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP: Also known as participative leadership.
Democratic leaders emphasize equality and encourage discussion and flow of ideas.
It encourages creativity, emphasizes fairness, values intelligence and honesty.
Team members thus feel included engaged and motivated to contribute. It helps in
the creation of a strong team. High level of productivity can be achieved. It increases
employee motivation and job satisfaction. Democratic leaders work best in situations
where group members are skilled and eager to share their knowledge.
ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRATC LEADER:
1. Increased staff productivity
2. Diverse ideas
3. Innovation and creativity
4. Builds a strong team
5. It improves job satisfaction
6. It encourages a stronger commitment levels
7. Promotes free flow of ideas
DISADVANTAGES OF A DEMOCRATIC LEADER:
1. The Democratic Leadership Style requires extra time to implement a decision or
delays decision making.
2. It can lead to procrastination(the act of putting off doing something that you
should do till another day or time, because you do not want to do it).
3. It does not guarantee the best possible situation/solution.
4. Democratic Leadership requires favorable conditions i.e. the labor must be
literate, informed and organized. This is always not possible.
5. Employees must be fully receptive(ready to listen to new ideas) to this approach
to make it meaningful.

3) LAISSEZFAIRE LEADERSHIP: It is also known as delegative leadership in

which leaders are handoff and allow group members to make decisions. This kind of
style leaves it to the team to discover the best way of working, the leader is always
on hand to provide support and assistance in any way. The more autonomy you give
your employees by listening to them, putting trust in them and trusting the vision you
have set out for the, the group will grow into a collaborative team that manages
itself. Thus, LF or Free-Rein is the leadership style wherein the leader gives full
freedom to his subordinates to act on their own. The leader maintains contact with
outside people and bring in information to the group which they need for the
accomplishment of the given task.
ADVANTAGES OF LAISSEZFAIRE LEADER:
1. It encourages innovation and creativity.
2. It allows for faster decision making.
3. It creates an environment of independence.
4. It allows ream members to maximize their leadership skills.
5. It facilitates learning and development opportunities.
6. It encourages personal growth.
DISADVANTAGES OF LAISSEZFAIRE LEADER:
1. Lack of role clarity.
2. Low accountability.
3. It fails to be effective if the team lacks knowledge or has less experience leading
to poor job performance and decreased job satisfaction.
4. Not suitable for situations where efficiency and high productivity are the main
concerns.
5. Projects can go off track when team members do not get enough guidance /
feedback from lenders.

4) PATERNALISTIC LEADERSHIP: Under Paternalistic Leadership the leader

assumes that his function is paternly or fatherly. He works to help, guide, protect and
keep his followers happily working together as members of a family. He provides
them with good working conditions. It is said that employees under such leadership
will work harder out of gratitude. This mode of leadership produces good and quick
results if the followers are highly educated and brilliant and have a sincere desire to
go ahead and perform with responsibility.
ADVANTAGES OF PATERNALISTIC LEADER:
1. High employee loyalty due to employees feeling like they are being heard and
their needs are met.
2. Good behavior is rewarded.
3. Absenteeism rates and Labor Turn Over is reduced as the emphasis is an
employees’ needs.
4. Most decisions made with the employees’ best interests in mind/considered.
5. Feedback is invited and encouraged which improves employee morale and
makes employees feel important.
6. Open line of communication between managers and employees thus keeping
employees content and satisfied.
DISADVANTAGES OF PATERNALISTIC LEADER:
1. Poor decisions may cause employee dissatisfaction.
2. Employees will become more dependent on the leader which can cause an
increase in necessary supervision in order to get things done in a timely and
appropriate manner.
3. If roles are not well defined and employees do not know what is needed from
them, there can be power struggles and internal issues.
ORGANIZATION CHART
An Organization Chart is a diagram that usually conveys a company’s internal
structure by detailing the roles, responsibilities and relationships between individual
within an entity. It is useful for illustrating the lines of authority and responsibility,
work flow, span of control.
THE MAIN CONTENTS OF AN ORGANIZATION ARE:
1. Ranks, titles, names, line of command of various authorities from top to bottom.
2. Authority and responsibility of various executives.
3. Kinds of relationship which exists in authority.
4. Relationship between different managers.
5. Channels of communication.
AN ORGANIZATION CHART HELPS A MEMBER IN PROVIDING ANSWERS TO
THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1. Who am I? (What is my position in the organization)
2. What do I do? (What are my organizational duties)
3. To whom am I accountable to?
4. What are my prospects?
New employees also benefit from OC. Even before they get a chance to interact with
their colleagues, they can easily determine who they are going to work with. It helps
them to connect effectively and with purpose.
Preparing the chart helps ensure that no necessary positions are overlooked and
there are no departments with surplus staff.
TYPES OF ORGANIZATION CHART:
1. VERTICAL TO TOP TO BOTTOM: In this chart major functions are shown at the
top and subordinate functions in lower positions. The supreme authority is shown
at the top while the lowest authority at the bottom.
2. HORIZONTAL CHART: In HC the supreme authority i.e. BOD is shown on the left
and chief executive and functional managers and other levels more towards right.
3. CIRCULAR CHART: In circular chart the center of the circle represents the
position of supreme authority and the functions radiate in all directions from the
center. The higher the positions of authority, the nearer they are to the center and
lesser the positions of authority more distant they are from the centre.
4. TREE CHART: The fourth method is the form of a tree, here the roots represent
the top management i.e. the CEO, MD etc. the trunk represents the middle
management, the branches represent the superior, foreman, and the leaves
represent the rank and file workers.
ADVANTAGES:
1. An organization chart is a managerial tool. It helps specializing authority &
responsibility of every position.
2. It helps in defining organizational relationship i.e. the organization can be
understood as a whole.
3. It acts as a blueprint.
4. The OC acts as an information centre to the new entrants & they can easily
understand different levels of authority and responsibility.
5. It provides easy reference, helps in decision making and avoiding
misunderstanding & any conflict.
6. The chart being a representation of the organizational structure serves as a
basis for studying the organization.

DISADVANTAGES/LIMITATIONS:
1. The OC’s show the relationship of different positions and not the degree of
authority and responsibility.
2. It shows a static picture whereas a business enterprise is a dynamic organization.
Many charts shows structure as they are supposed to be rather than as they really
are.
3. It destroys team spirit.
4. Human relationship cannot be portrayed on chart. An OC shows how and where
the men are tied and nothing else.
5. Most of OC’s do not enjoy the element of flexibility. It may not be easy to keep
them the chart up to date.
To sum up, OC does not produce either good or bad management it simply
visualizes the structure and to that extent an OC is must for every organization.

STATUS OF A SUPERVISOR
• Supervisors are the key personnel in an office organization. Many problems are
reduced to simple tasks when supervisors are competent & receive cooperation from
their subordinates.
•The supervisor is charged with seeing that the work in his unit of operation is
performed within a reasonable time and at a reasonable cost. He is the ultimate
regulator of what is accomplished.
•A supervisor may be defined as a management member at an organizational level
where personal oversight of tasks assigned to small groups is usually assumed in
order to assure satisfactory performance and meet the personnel needs of the group
members.

WORK OF THE SUPERVISOR

The supervisor’s work consists of getting work performed properly by others. This is
the heart of supervisory success.
The following outline gives an idea of the work performed by him:
1. UNDER PLANNING THE SUPERVISOR HAS SUCH ACTIVITIES AS:
a. Participation in the formulation of establishing objectives for his unit.
b. Understanding and knowing the work to be done.
c. Keeping up with new developments.
d. Knowing and interpreting company policies to the employees.
2. UNDER REGULATING THE SUPERVISOR HAS ACTIVITIES SUCH AS:
a. Following stated policies and procedures.
b. Utilizing standards established for work.
c. Checking accuracy and quantity of work.
d. Minimizing peak work loads.
3. ORGANIZING EFFORTS OF A SUPERVISOR INCLUDE:
a. Delegating work to others.
b. Allocating work among the members of the unit.
c. Placing similar work in the same unit.
d. Establishing proper authority relationships among members of the unit.
4. THE SUPERVISOR’S MANGERIAL ACTUATING EFFORTS INCLUDE:
a. Informing employees about changes.
b. Evaluating and disciplining employees.
c. Securing teamwork and harmony among employees.
d. Increasing the value of employees.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUPERVISOR

To perform his work efficiently and effectively, the supervisor must have certain
knowledge and must be able to do skillfully certain activities. The basic knowledge
needs are:
1. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE:
This includes knowledge of systems, procedures, materials, office forms, etc. Much
of this knowledge might be acquired while one is serving non- supervising category.
The supervisor should know enough about the detailed work that is done to provide
the necessary leadership to those performing the tasks and to plan and control their
work so that orderly and reasonable rates of accomplishments are realized.
2. KNOWLEDGE OF RESPONSIBILITIES:
This includes knowledge of the company’s policies, rules and regulations of the
extent of the supervisor’s authority and responsibility and of matters in which he can
make final decisions.

SKILL OF THE SUPERVISOR

Basic needs concerning the supervisor’s skills are:
1. SKILL IN TEACHING:
A supervisor gives specific instructions on a particular job, makes assignments in
fairly broad terms and it is necessary that he passes his knowledge to others and
develop them. Skill in teaching is a prime means for making supervision more
effective.
2. SKILL IN METHODS IMPROVEMENT:
Better utilization of materials, machines and manpower is the constant aim of
progressive managers. Skill in analyzing, supplemented by ingenuity, usually results
in improved ways of performing work.
3. SKILL IN HUMAN RELATIONS:
This sometimes suffers as a result of the pressure of volume of day-to-day work.
Working with and getting along with people are vital to the supervisor. He
emphasizes the important areas of understanding the behavior and attitude of
individual employees and of recognizing and using basic human motivations.
SUPERVISING FEMALE EMPLOYEES
• The majority of the office employees are female, the subject of supervising female
employees is important. In many respects, what has been stated about
supervision applies equally to female and male employees.
• An important point is to give very careful considerations to the women’s work
assignments. They do many things extremely well, but usually are outstanding on
work requiring manual skill and caring. That is, women are likely to do better in
work where patience, interest in human beings and women needs are considered.
• But women, like men, should also be encouraged to do what they can do. It is also
helpful to treat each female as an individual.
• Pay correspondingly greater attention to the work place of women employees.
Women want ‘a nice place of work’ including a clean, attractive area with good
decor. They are actively aware of their surroundings.
• They tend to show their emotions more readily than men do, probably because it
is more culturally acceptable in our society. Moods in women differ and change
throughout the day.

COACHING AND COUNSELING:

• The office supervisor has frequent occasions to make use of coaching and
counseling.
• Coaching stresses on the values of information and inspiration. The particular
data needed for a given situation are supplied and the unique capacities of
members of a group are both stimulated and integrated by a coach. In contrast,
counseling emphasizes leading a person to self insight and improvement by
means of carefully selected questions and suggestions along with skillful listening.
To get the person to see what he can do to improve his accomplishments is the
goal of counseling.
• To be able to use coaching and counseling successfully, certain important points
must be considered:
1. It is necessary to make clear what you want the employees to do and to be sure
that he knows it.
2. Be sensitive to capabilities, behavior and the likes of the employees. Some excel
in physical pursuits, others rank high in mental pursuits. Find out these individual
differences and be guided by them in coaching and counseling.
3. Stress the immediate future. Concentrate on the present job. Reach agreement
on what is to be done for the next day, week or month at the most. It is easy to make
commitments for three or four years ahead and then gradually forget about them.
4. Stay with specific and concrete examples. Talk about actual happenings. Discuss
annual incidents and their effect on his work and standing.
SUPERVISORY TRAINING:
• Any educational activity designed to prepare the candidate for supervisory work or
to improve the supervisor in carrying out his duties carefully can be termed as
supervisory training.
• Supervisory training is not confirmed to learning to perform a set of movements
efficiently but includes the development of attitudes, control of emotions and the
broadening of one’s view.
• Years of intensive research and many tryouts with groups of supervisors have
helped develop highly successful training programmes. Among the more important
for normal use are:
1. JOB INSTRUCTION: This course is intended to give skill in instructing. It is
especially helpful when there is work involving long periods, numerous errors or
difficulty in getting the work done on time. The course consists mainly of 4 parts-
b. Preparing the employee.
c. Presenting the operation.
d. Trying out the performance.
e. Following up the performance.
2. JOB METHODS: It gives skills in improving methods through practice sessions
and on-the –job coaching . This programme is effective in finding better methods of
accomplishing office work.
3. JOB RELATIONS: It helps provide skill in leadership and is recommended where
there are too many employees and too many misunderstanding amongst the
employees.
4. DISCUSSION LEADING: It is designed to give skills for participating in meetings
and in discussing thoroughly matters of common interest.
5. PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT: The course is intended for the instruction of one
person in the company who has responsibility for designing and conducting training
programmes in his company or some unit thereof.

SECURING EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION

The following points are included in order to indicate in general the type of activity
which is recommended:
1. TREAT ALL WORKERS ALIKE: Show no favouritism. His personal likes and
dislikes are not permitted to influence his work.
2. PRACTICE CONSULTATIVE SUPERVISION: This practice includes talking
things over with employees and giving them the opportunity to suggest the best way
to accomplish a task.
3. ENFORCE ALL RULES AND REGLATIONS PROMPTLY: Nothing is gained by
delaying action in cases where violations are involved. In fact, delay might be
interpreted as an inability to cope with the situation.
4. KEEP YOUR INSTRUCTIONS SIMPLE AND REPEAT THEM FREQUENTLY TO
THE NEW EMPLOYEE: Good supervision requires mutual understanding between
the supervisor and the employee. In addition, a patient, helpful attitude must be
assumed particularly in working with the employee who is not yet familiar with all the
job requirements.
5. INSIST UPON AND STRESS THE NEED FOR EACH EMPLOYEE TO GIVE A
FULL DAY’S WORK FOR A FULL DAY’S PAY: Satisfactory outputs are the chief
responsibility of the supervisor.
6. WATCH MATERIAL WASTED AND TIME LOST: One of the chief obstacles of
efficiency is waste. Guarding against this enemy will add significantly to the work
output.
7. KEEP FULLY INFORMED ON COMPANY POLICIES AND THEIR
INTERPRETATION: The superior is constantly called upon to interpret company
policies to the employees. Knowing the policies and keeping informed of any
changes and additions is a supervisory must.
8. SECURE EMPLOYEES OPINION REGARDING SUPERVISION: Through some
means such as an attitude survey, casual conversations, find out what is bothering
the employees. Adequate & correct information at the right time & place may avoid
much needless trouble.
9. DEVELOP CAPABLE ASSISTANTS: Good management requires that qualified
replacements be available to maintain the supervisory force at the satisfactory
number & calibre.
10. LET THE TOP & MIDDLE MANAGEMENT MEMBERS KNOW WHAT YOU
ARE DOING & WHY: Supervision is vital to the enterprise, top & middle
management members. They should know what supervisory action is taking place.
Effective supervision requires complete backing by these employees & one of the
best ways to retain this is to tell what is going on along with the reason why.

TRAINING
• Training is a process of increasing knowledge, aptitude, skills & abilities of
employees to do specific jobs where by they contribute to organizational goals.
• Training is a process of teaching the new or present employees the basic skills
they need to perform their jobs effectively.
• Increased employee performance lead to increased productivity & increased
organizational profits. Trained employees are less likely to make mistakes.
• Training not only improves the ability of employees but also brings a positive
attitude.
• Employees acquire the training formally & informally. Formal efforts are effective
provided they are properly managed. It is sometimes theoretical in nature in
contrast to the practical aspects of other types. The informal way is a natural
process i.e. through personal performance, observations, experiences, etc.

TYPES OF TRAINING
Following are the different types of training:
1. PRE-EMPLOYMENT TRAINING: This type begins with the amount of instructions
needed by an inexperienced employee prior to entering the office. Educational
institutions such as high schools, universities, business colleges provide this
training. It is broader & more fundamental then other types of training. It seeks to
provide an intellectual background & to develop the art of thinking & reasoning.
2. INDUCTION TRAINING: The objective of induction training is to provide the new
employee with necessary information for a complete knowledge & understanding of
companies practices & procedures. The main purpose of induction training is to
integrate the new employees into the company & help them to understand the
system & procedures followed by the organization.
3. ON THE JOB TRAINING: It aims to give the employees the necessary skills
required to perform a specific job. It is based on the principle of ‘Learning by doing’.
During the training, employees are familiarized with the working environment they
will become a part of. This training can be for a job that is to be done presently or in
future. While the goal of on the job training is to teach the basic work skills, it also
installs aspects of workplace culture & performance expectations from new
employees.
4. SUPERVISORY TRAINING: Supervisory training means ensuring that a
supervisor contines to grow & develop as a person at the same time become more
professiant in managerial skills. They need to be skilled in leading & motivating their
teams to attain their highest level of efficiency & effectiveness. They need to have a
detailed understanding of the complexities of the work, his team & the undertaking.

COST OF TRAINING
• Well trained employees are essential to the success of any company.
• A right training programme has a lot of benefits for a company.
• It decreases the need for supervision, reduces absenteeism, improves customer
service & boosts sales.
• Training cost are tangible as well as intangible. Tangible cost includes training
materials, non productive time of the trainee or fees charged by an outside
instructor.
• Intangible cost includes longer time for the trainee to attain a reasonable level of
production, loss of time of the experienced employees in guiding new employees,
loss due to errors & work spoilage.
• Training is a necessity in modern management & a reasonable expenditure
should be made for it.
• Training cost will depend upon the needs & aims of the organization. Management
should have a clear idea of what is being accomplished for the expenditure being
made.

EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING
• From the management point of view it is important to measure the effectiveness of
training.
• Training effectiveness refers to the quality of training provided & measuring
whether the training has met its goals & objectives.
• Employees should be able to work more independently & requires less
supervision.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of training following Q’s are to be answer:
a) How the participants feel about the value of the training?
b) Whether the participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, attitude,
confidence & commitment from the training.
 c) How much the participants applied, what they learnt when they return to work
after training.
• Statistics prove that companies across the globe invest heavily in employee
training & development.
• Organization should ensure the employees can demonstrate a positive impact of
training through improve productivity & overall skilled development.
• Post training quizzes, one to one discussion, employee surveys are some ways to
measure training effectiveness.

ADVANTAGES OF TRAINING
• The responsibility of the supervisor is reduced.
• Training does not eliminate the need for a good supervisor but it reduces the need
for a detailed supervision. A trained employee is self reliant & knows what to do &
under such conditions close supervision is not necessary.
• Well trained employees show greater level of interest & higher quality of work
output then an untrained group.
• They possess the necessary knowledge, have better understanding of their jobs &
are also familiar with companies policies & procedures.

DISADVANTAGES OF TRAINING
• Regular office work is lightly to get affected / delayed / interrupted by the time
spend in training.
• The output of training may be temporarily reduced.
• Self reliance & capacity to absorb new ideas may be stifled.
• Competent training leaders are difficult to find and with less competent leaders
results of training may prove harmful.

MAKE UP OF A TRAINING PROGRAMME

A basic training needs assessment in a four step process:
1) Identify clear business goals that a training supports.
2) Determine the tasks the employee needs to perform so that the company can
achieve its objectives.
3) Determine the training activities which helps the employees to perform better.
4) Determine the learning characteristics of the employees that make the training
more effective.
AUTOMATION
Office automation normally means the arrangement whereby one or more machines
are operated without human participation except to press the start button. It is an art
of applying mechanical devices to:
a) Perform the set, routine & repetitive operations.
b) Creates a link between various process of production
c) Indicate & rectify mistakes
d) Control the operations of other machines

NEED / IMPORTANCE
1. It relieves mankind from the dullness of work. Hence, the employees are free to
employ their mind on work which only human brains can perform.
2. Quick & accurate decision making is facilitated. Also, collection, processing &
distribution of data is simplified.
3. Automation leads to reduction in office cost.
4. A machine which is installed & managed properly will return a savings of
approximately 30% – 40% on the total investment in each year.
5. With automation there is reduction in error. Machines do not commit mistakes. If
they do it is mostly because of mistake committed by the person handling it.
6. Another reasons why companies automate their data processing because it
reduces the number of employees. When the work load increases, the office no
longer has to employ additional staff & face increased expenses but can depend on
machines whose uses are flexible.
Thus, growing automation is likely to have a great impact on the society as a whole.
As a matter of fact, it would completely change the living habits of people. It would
result in greater need for executive development programme, workers training
programme, reduce the number of operators & supervisors. In India, automation is
both a challenge & an opportunity. It confers benefits & also creates leadership.

ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATION
Automation is becoming increasingly important in the modern industrial setup
because of its following advantages:
1. It permits large scale production.
2. It reduces the cost of production.
3. Economies of large scale production can be enjoyed.
4. It avoids wastage of resources.
5. It permits quality control.
6. It provides wider market
7. It increases sales & profit
8. It helps to face competition
9. It reduces the load on workers.

DISADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATION
1. It requires huge capital investment
2. It demands advanced technical knowledge
3. The maintenance cost is high
4. It is always opposed by the trade union
5. It creates large scale unemployment
6. It destroys small scale & cottage industry.
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AUTOMATION
1. Change stimulated by office automation brings about on employment
modifications.
2. Automation offers greater opportunity to the society by helping to shift from
manual to mental work & from mental to more challenging work.
3. Many workers fear introduction of automation. Their fear is of losing their jobs, but
past experiences have indicated that technological advancements have increased
the level of employment.
4. This is mainly due to demand for new machines which in turn requires a large
labour force for their construction & maintenance.
5. A good manager will always train the displaced employees & place them on a
new job instead of removing them from their present job.
6. Many critics of automation say that the alternative to automation is to refrain from
utilizing technological progress & instead develop faster & better ways of performing
the work.
7. There are usually two classes of personnel:
a) The unskilled labour force who are required to the jobs of repetitive nature like
sorting, filing etc. which is common in most companies.
b) Personnel with more experience, more skill & more knowledge in specific field.

FEASIBILITY OF AUTOMATION
It implies reliability & practicability on introducing automation. To ensure successful
usage of automation a number of factors have to be considered which are as
follows:
1. Cost & return aspect: Huge investment is necessary for the implementation of full
scale automation. The returns may be immediate or may take some time but useful
planning is a must.
2. Management philosophy: It is an important aspect of management. There are
certain old fashioned organizations which still prefer to stick to the traditional
methods of obtaining work from their personnel.
3. Availability of funds: All the organizations are not in a position to investment a
huge amount of money for automation. Hence, only the companies having large
amount of funds can implement automation to its fullest extent.
4. National labour policy: It is often noticed that in nations where there are labour
intensive industries, there is less of automation as many labourers may be rendered
jobless & it will be difficult for the govt. to provide employment to all.
To introduce automation in the office is not an easy task. It involves careful study of
the entire task which has to be automated.
To undertake automation one has also to know the aspects of data processing:
a) Make up of paper work which includes the design of entire work, data included,
form of presenting the data & how the data is used.
b) The actual processing of data which includes the use of actual equipments.
When some office managers plan to undertake automation for processing their work,
they assume that automation is essential in their office without consider the current
methods of work.
Even if the work is going smoothly they feel the need to automate the work & in this
process they change the basic procedure initially incorporated & change in basic
procedure may result in confusion.
The office sometimes assumes that their inefficiency may be reduced by automation
but the fact is that some inefficiencies may be due to weakness in the basic policy &
it cannot be rectified by automation.
The proper approach therefore is to conduct a proper & sound study prior to the
decision to use any form of automation. Only in this way, it will be beneficial to install
automatic machines.
To start the study, first the objectives of enterprise & contributors accepted from
each organizational unit have to be determined.
The authority & responsibility of each organizational unit & each managerial member
has to be clearly identified so that information needed by each person can be
determined.
Secondly, it is better to know the importance of various basic functions of the
enterprise such as marketing, financing, etc. so as to get accustomed.
In automation, the necessary adjustments are made automatically without the help
of human monitors.
Increasing automation demands better managers & ratio of managers to operating
personnel naturally increases.
It is wrongly assumed during the feasibility study that installation of automatic
machines automatically means grand success of any office but the fact remains that
the success depends upon the time taken in processing the work or to meet the
future requirements.
Some equipments have standardized way of processing the data so that firms
having similar features can process pay roll, accounts & so on, on similar machines.
Their paper work may be different from the others so they have to be evaluated
separately in feasibility studies.

NEW OFFICE TECHNOLOGY

Office technology means application of modern technology & equipments in an
office. The new office technology is a part of great technological advances that can
be applied to every branch of industry.

Significance
a. Office technology involves two distinct processes i.e. one is research which
means finding new technologies & the other is development i.e. application of these
technologies for actual improvement of work.
b. Indian industries are passing through an era of automation & modernization.
c. Automation involves the use of machines to replace manual labour not only
physical but also mental.
d. Workers have to function nearly as supervisors & not operators.
e. New tools, micro processors, electronic technology & computer controls make it
possible to reduce time & cost. This means greater production at lower cost.
f. According to George & Wallin, “Automation is a form of technological change” that
puts renewed emphasize on thinking about the total & continuous process rather
than the component parts of intermitant process.
Features of New Office Technology
1. STANDARDISATION: It means restricting production to a few varieties or uniform
standard of qualities, technicalities, price etc. thus goods are provided at optimum
level with minimum cost.
2. SPECIALISATION: Standardization leads to specialization. It helps to reap the
benefits of specialization such as lower cost, higher output, increase efficiency etc.
3. SIMPLIFICATION: Both standardization & specialization ultimately leads to
simplification of production activities resulting in higher productivity & efficiency.
4. AUTOMATION & MECHNIZATION: Office technology relies more on machine
than on manual labour. The machines used should not be obsolete but most
advanced modern & automatic thereby reducing the cost of production & saving
time.
5. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT: R & D are responsible for innovations into
industries through technological advancement.
6. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT: Office technology discards traditional system of
management & emphasizes on modern techniques of management.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES ----- Refer Automation

OFFICE COMPUTER
A computer is a replica of the human brain & performs all types of clerical operations
very quickly & accurately. It is used to solve business problems through the
application of a variety of mathematical & logical or decision making techniques.
Functions of computers:
a) To receive one or more programs of instructions, store them & obey them as &
when required.
b) To take new information through one or more input channels & store it for
reference as required by any of the programs.
c) To perform any arithmetical calculation, which may be repetitive in nature, as
required by the program.
d)To select and carry out alternative courses of actions, according to the information
it produces.
e)To store the data produced for future references.
ADVANTAGES:
The outstanding advantages offered by computers are:
a) Provision of more information than would be otherwise available.
b) Provision of control information at a great speed.
c) Indirect financial saving by having various types of applications.
d) Elimination of human labour to an extent which no other machine can do.
e) Extraordinary speed with complicated calculation & elimination of human errors.
f) Selection of significant information out of a mass of data.
g) Where the volume of data to be processed is sufficient, the computer offers the
most economical method of working.
DISADVANTAGES:
The disadvantages of a computer are:
a) It is very costly to install and run, and therefore can only be used by large
organizations.
b) A single computer can do the work of hundreds of workers, resulting in
retrenchment of staff, which may strain personnel relations.
c) Computers upset all office systems and procedures, and adversely affect the
working of the organization in the initial stage.
d) Any breakdown of the computer would completely dislocate office work.
e) Properly trained staff or computers is often is short supply. This may raise acute
maintenance problems.

BASIC TYPES OF COMPUTERS:

1) DIGITAL COMPUTER: Digital computer or arithmetic machines make calculation
as they deal with actual numbers and their answer is a set of numbers which can be
made as accurate as desired. These computers performs hundreds and hundreds of
respective calculations.
2) ANALOG COMPUTERS: The analog computer deals only with scientific
measures. It is used for solving differential equation. It can instantly solve an
arithmetical equation, with 10 variables. Analog computers are mostly used by
engineers and scientists for research and investigation.
3) HYBRID COMPUTERS: It is a combination of the digital and analog used to
obtain a computer capable of more work, than the two of them can accomplish
working separately. It has been advantageously used for outer space projects and
satellite program.
FEATURES / CHARACTERSTICS:
1) SPEED: The speed of work of a modern computer cannot be described to be just
‘high’. It is enormous.
2) ACCURACY: It is one of the most important characteristic of computers. It can do
computation, with high amount of precision.
3) STORAGE CAPACITY MEMORY: The main and secondary storage capacity of a
computer can have wonderful data bank.
4) DILIGENCE & RELIABILITY: Unlike human beings a computer can perform
same work repeatedly for a number of times, without getting tired. Its results are
constant. It follows instructions perfectly.
5) VERSATILITY: With the help of a series of logical steps and instructions, the
computer can perform almost any task.
6) AUTOMATIC: It is possible for the computer to complete one process, after it has
begun, without any need for human intervention.
NEED FOR COMPUTER UTILIZATION:
1) Computers have reached the heights of utilization and the areas in which they
can be applied are increasing day by day.
2) They prepare and process all types of data for documents, assist engineers in
designing, control manufactured operation, aid material, doctor and guide astronauts
in orbits.
3) The basic reason for wide range of computers in various areas is to increase
productivity.
4) Computer supplies the information needed to help enterprise operate quickly.
They give the information process and refine it to facilitate decision making and it
serves as a major tool to management.
5) Computers encourage careful and intelligent planning, organizing, actuating and
controlling. Computer contributes not only in supplying processed data but also in
monitoring production activities, solving scientific problems etc.
6) The third major reason for computer utilization is to reduce office costs. With
adequate volume speed and versatility of the computer, the paper work cost is
reduced.
7) Computer helps in getting work done, with a limited number of people and
encourage the employment of a computerized arrangement which is sufficient.
8) There are also several additional reasons for adopting, acquiring a computer. One
is reduction in errors, they minimize the handling of data by human beings who
usually commits mistakes. Another reason is the desired status symbol which the
computer supplies.

MAJOR USES OF COMPUTERS:

1) Computers provides better information, with respect to both quality and quantity.
There are a number of computer uses, but for office purposes they can be grouped
under the following heads.
1) DECISION MAKING: In usual sense of the word, decision making can be
considered to mean the selecting from possible problem solutions or courses of
action, giving due consideration to the objectives and available. information. When
computer are utilized, the decision making can be either- i. A programme and routine
type, usually featuring measurable quantities. ii. A programme, but, non- routine
type, where interruption is necessary.
2) CONTROLLING: When a computer is used for controlling purposes the facts
about what has taken place are put into the machine in order to obtain specific
performance measurement, these values are compared to information showing what
is desired and the respective differences reveals the area in which corrective action
is to be taken.
3) SIMULATING: It refers to the testing of numerous operating plans, to determine
the most productive plan. However, the data must be of a measurable type, with the
help of computers, advertising agencies can determine the best combination of
media for a particular advertising campaign. The computer is used to try out
hundreds of different media combinations and thus, reveal the one which maximize
the particular qualities that are being sought.
4) DESIGNING: It results to the confirmation or rejection of a hypothesis by the
results obtained, from carefully affected experimentation. The characterstics of each
guess are calculated and checked against specifications. The computer performs
these calculations very rapidly. A wide range of possibilities can be considered by
the designer and as result, the best possible design is identified and used.
5) SPECIFIC PROCESSING OF DATA: This includes the preparation of bank
cheques, bills, inventory records and reports of various types. To justify a computer
for this work, there usually must be a relatively large volume of work requiring
considerable calculating, sorting or comparing.

COMPUTERIZED OFFICE APPLICATIONS:

Some of the most important applications of computers are:
1. Computers are applied in preparing the data and writing of pay cheques. In
addition, the computers keeps up to date revised address, accounts due and
changes occurring from time to time.
2. A super computer that has come in operation can perform 8 million additions or 5
millions multiplications in one second. It is used in atomic physics, theoretical
astronomy and weather forecasting.
3. By means of computerized typesetting systems. The computer justifies the line
makes the right margin, automatic word correction, bold typing, even divides
hyphenated word correctly, controls line width and selects type sizes.
4. Computer audio response units make information within a computer available
over the telephone. Words and sounds are related by human voice and sorted within
a computer.
5. Equally striking is the sketch pad, the Robot draftsman. The face of a television
type display tube is used like a sheet of paper on which sketches are drawn using
electronic stylus.
6. Computer has also made no cheque banking possible by debits and credits to
bank accounts electronically via telephone.