Revision Notes for Class 12 Business Studies Chapter 7 Directing
Here we are providing Revision Notes for Class 12 Business Studies Chapter 7 Directing. These are the important points related to the chapter. Students should remember these points.
INTRODUCTION
Directing is the executive function of management. Direction is also referred to as management in action. Directing is considered to be the heart of management.
CONCEPT OF DIRECTING
Directing refers to the process of instructing, guiding, motivating and leading people in the organisation for the purpose of achieving organisational goals.
FEATURES OF DIRECTING
The various salient features of directing as one of the key functions of management are
described below:
(a) Directing initiates action: All the functions of management that precede directing, be it planning, organising and staffing seek to set the foundation for the activities to be carried out. However, the actual work starts only when the directing function is in action.
(b) Directing takes place at every level of management: This implies that the directing function is performed wherever the superior-subordinate relation exist.
(c) Directing is a continuous process: The function of directing is to be performed continuously throughout the lifetime of an organisation.
(d) Directing flows from top to bottom: The function of directing is first initiated at the top level management and then it flows down along the management hierarchy up to the lowest level.
IMPORTANCE OF DIRECTING
The following points highlight the importance of directing:
(a) Directing initiates action: Directing seeks to initiate action by telling people in the organisation as to what they are supposed to do and ensuring that they do it to the best of their ability and skill.
(b) Directing helps to integrate goals: Directing leads to integration of individual goals of the employees with organisational goals in such a manner that while working towards the realisation of the organisational goals and individual is also able to realise his personal goals.
(c) Directing guides employees: Directing seeks to provides effective guidance, motivation and leadership to the employees so that they are able to optimise their potential.
(d) Directing facilitates changes: Since a business operates in a dynamic environment, there is constant need to introduce changes within the organisation. Directing ensures cooperation of the employees in order to implement changes effectively by overcoming resistance of people.
(e) Ensures stability and balance: Effective directing helps to ensures the continuous cooperation of employees and creates stability in the organisation. Moreover, a balance is maintained among the various groups, activities and the departments.
ELEMENTS OF DIRECTING
The process of directing involves various activities that may be broadly grouped into four
categories which constitute the elements of directing namely;
(a) Supervision
(b) Motivation
(c) Leadership
(d) Communication
CONCEPT OF SUPERVISION
Supervision is the process of overseeing the work of a subordinate by his superior.
The term supervision can be interpreted in two ways.
> As an element of directing
> As the function to be performed by a supervisor.
IMPORTANCE OF SUPERVISION
The importance of supervision is evident from the multiple roles performed by a supervisor.
These are described below:
(a) Provides support: A good supervisor acts as a guide, friend and philosopher to the workers.
(b) Acts as an intermediary: Supervisor serves as a linking pin between the workers and management.
(c) Maintains unity and harmony: Supervisor resolves the internal differences among workers and motivates them to carry out the work according to the targets set.
(d) Provides training: A skilled and knowledgeable supervisor can provide good on the job training to the workers.
(e) Increase the morale: A supervisor plays a key role in influencing the workers and build up high morale among workers.
(f) Achievement of targets: Supervisor takes responsibility for task achievement and motivates his workers effectively.
(g) Provides feedback: A good supervisor analyses the performance of the workers and provides feedback to them.
CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION
The term ‘motivation’ literally means incitement or inducement to act or move.
Motivation is the process of stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals.
FEATURES OF MOTIVATION
The various salient features of motivation are stated below:
(a) Motivation is an internal feeling: Motivation is an internal feeling. It refers to the urge, drives, desires, aspirations, which are innate to an individual but likely to influence his/ her behaviour.
(b) Motivation produces goal directed behaviour: Motivation produces goal directed behaviour.
(c) Motivation can be either positive or negative: The motivation provided to a person may be either positive or negative in nature.
(d) Motivation is a complex process: The very fact that the individuals may differ in terms of their expectations, perceptions and reactions makes the process of motivation in very complex in nature.
IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION
The various points which highlight the importance of motivation are described below :
(a) Motivation helps to increase the performance: Motivation leads to higher productivity of the individual employees as well as the organisation.
(b) Motivation helps mould the attitudes: Through the use effective motivators a manager can successfully mould the negative or in different attitudes of employee to positive attitudes in order to realise the organisational goals.
(c) Motivation helps to reduce the labour turnover: In order to avoid such a situation where employee leaves the organisation it is important that effective motivation is provided to them.
(d) Motivation helps managers to introduce changes: Motivation helps to overcome the resistance of employees in this regard and facilitate the process of smooth transition in the organisation.
PROCESS OF MOTIVATION
The various steps involved in the process of motivation are as follows:
(a) Identify unsatisfied needs
(b) Tension
(c) Drives
(d) Search behaviour
(e) Satisfied need
(f) Reduction of tension
MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory is considered fundamental to understanding of motivation.
This theory provides an insight into the five different kinds of human needs which influence
the process of motivation as described below:
(a) Basic Physiological Needs: It refers to the needs that are most basic in the hierarchy like hunger, thirst, shelter etc.
(b) Safety/Security Needs: It refers to the needs to get security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
(c) Affiliation/Belonging Needs: It refers to the needs that relate to affection, sense of acceptance and companionship, belongingness etc. which are innate in every individual.
(d) Esteem Needs: The esteem needs relates to self respect for oneself and the prestige or status of self in the eyes of others.
(e) Self Actualisation Need: It refers to need to become everything one is capable of becoming.
INCENTIVES
Incentive means all measures which are used to motivate people to improve performance.
Types of Incentives
(a) Financial incentives
(b) Non-financial incentives.
Financial Incentives
The incentives which are in direct monetary form or measurable in monetary term are known as financial incentives.
The various types of financial incentives are described below:
(a) Pay and allowances
(b) Productivity linked wage incentives
(c) Bonus
(d) Profit Sharing
(e) Co-partnership / Stock option
(f) Retirement Benefits
(g) Perquisites
NON-FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
The non-financial incentives are the ones which cannot be expressed in terms of money, but at the same time they are important to fulfil the social and emotional needs of the individual.
Types of Non-Financial Incentives
Some of the important non-financial incentives offered to the employees are described below:
(a) Status
(b) Organisational Climate
(c) Career Advancement Opportunity
(d) Job Enrichment
(e) Employee Recognition
(f) Job security
(g) Employee Participation
(h) Employee Empowerment
CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of people by making them strive voluntarily towards achievement of organisational goals.
Features of Leadership
The various features of leadership are stated below:
(a) Leadership shows the ability of an individual to influence others.
(b) Leadership seeks to bring about a desired change in the behaviour of others.
(c) Leadership reflects the interpersonal relations between leaders and followers.
(,d) Leadership is an effective tool to achieve common goals of the organisation.
(e) Leadership is a continuous process.
Importance of Leadership
The role of leadership in management can be described through the following points:
(a) Leads to positive changes: Good leaders helps to bring about a positive change in the employees by influencing their behaviour.
(b) Achievement of goals: A good leader creates a healthy work environment by providing the required support to the employees so as to build up their self confidence and morale.
(c) Introduce changes smoothly: A good leader helps to introduce the required changes in the organisation smoothly and with least amount of discontentment.
(d) Resolves conflicts: A leader tries to resolve the conflicts among the employees amicably without leading to any adverse consequences.
(e) Provides training: considering the fact that nothing is permanent a good leader provides training to their followers so as to create future leaders. He ensures that the process of his succession is carried out smoothly.
Leadership Style
Depending upon the use of authority the leadership styles can be classified into three types namely;
(a) Autocratic leadership: An Autocratic leader is the one who believes in centralising control in his own hands and does not take any advice from his subordinates.
(b) Democratic leadership: A democratic leader encourages active participation of a subordinates in the process of decision making and action although the final authority rests with him.
(c) Laissez-faire leadership: A laissez faire leader believes in giving complete freedom to their subordinates, so as to enable them their own targets and also determine the ways of achieving them.
CONCEPT OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is defined as a process of exchange of ideas, views, facts, feelings etc., between or among people to create common understanding.
ELEMENTS INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The various elements involved in the process of communication are outline below:
• Sender • Message
• Encoding • Medium
• Decoding • Receiver
• Feedback • Noise
Importance of Communication
The importance of communication as an element of directing is evident from the following
points:
(a) Acts as basis of coordination: Effective communication lays down the base for establishing coordination among the various interrelated and interdependent activities of an organisation.
(b) Helps in smooth working of an enterprise: It is only through effective communication a manager is able to integrate the various resources so as to achieve the organisational goals in the desired manner.
(c) Acts as basis of decision making: In order to take correct decisions, it is very important that the managers are provided timely, accurate and complete information about the related aspects.
(‘d) Increases managerial efficiency: Effective communication serves to work as a lubricant and facilities smooth working of an organisation.
(e) Promotes cooperation and industrial peace: Effective communication seeks to develop a sense of mutual cooperation between the workers and management so that industrial peace prevails within the organisation.
(f) Establishes effective leadership: Good communication skills is considered to be one of the prime qualities of a effective leader.
(g) Boosts morale and provides motivation: Without effective communication it is unlikely that the manager will be able to boost the moral of this subordinates.
Types of Communication
Communication that takes place within an organisation can be broadly grouped into two categories namely;
(a) Formal communication: Formal communication flows through scalar chain which is official chain of communication. Formal communication may take place vertically, or horizontally within the organisation. Vertical communication is of two types i.e. upward and downward communication. Horizontal communication takes place between one division and another.
(b) Informal communication: Informal communication takes place independent of the formal lines of communication and helps to fulfil the social and emotion needs of employees.
Barriers to Communication
Barrier to communication means anything that does not allow a person to either receive or understand a message in its original sense. The existence of such barriers in the organisation will lead to delay in decision making, confusions, misunderstanding etc.
The barriers to communication in the organisations can be broadly categorised as:
(a) Semantic barriers: Semantic barriers relate to the difficulties and hindrances that may occur in the process of encoding and decoding of the message in the desired mode. The various kinds of semantic barriers are listed below:
(i) Badly expressed message (ii) Symbols with different meanings (iii) Faulty translations
(iv) Unclarified assumptions
(v) Technical jargon
(zn) Body language and gesture decoding
(b) Psychological barriers: In those situations where the emotions or psychological factors obstruct the smooth flow of communication, psychological barriers are said to exist. Some of the psychological barriers are:
(z) Premature evaluation
(ii) Lack of attention
(iii) Loss by transmission and poor retention
(iv) Distrust
(c) Organisational barriers: When the factors related to the organisation obstruct the smooth flow of communication organisational barriers are said to exist. Some of these barriers are:
(i) Organisational policy (ii) Rules and regulations
(in) Status (iv) Complexity in organisation structure
(v) Organisational facilities
(d) Personal barriers: When the personal factors related to both sender and receiver create and influence on effective communication personal values are said to exist. Some of the personal barriers of superiors and subordinatesare mentioned below:
(i) Fear of challenge to authority
(ii) Lack of confidence of superior on his
(iii) Unwillingness to communicate
(iv) Lack of proper incentives
Way of Improving Communication Effectiveness
(i) Clarify the ideas before communication: A manager should be himself be crystal clear about the various aspects of a problem, before he communicates the same to his subordinates.
(ii) Communicate according to the needs of receiver: A manager should always match his communication with the level education and comprehension of the subordinates.
(iii) Consult others before communicating: A manager should seek the involvement of the subordinates right from the inception of the plan he is likely to get their ready acceptance and wholehearted cooperation.
(iv) Be aware of languages, tone and content of message: The message being communicated should not offend the receiver in any manner and at the same time it should be successful in evoking the desired response from them.
(v) Convey things of help and value to listeners: In order to ensure that the message has been conveyed in the original sense, it is important that the sender it gives due consideration to the interest and needs of the receiver.
(vi) Ensure proper feedback: The receiver should be stimulated so give a timely and appropriate feedback with reference to the message conveyed.
(vii) Communicate for present as well as future: In order to ensure continuous survival and growth of the organisation it is important that the communication is so designed that it fulfils not only the existing needs of the organisation but also incorporate a vision about its future.
(viii) Follow up communications: In order to ensure effective and efficient implementation of plans, it is important for the managers to seek regular follow up and review from their subordinates. (ix) Be a good listener: In order to ensure efficient management in action a manager needs to give due attention to the problems, grievances, complaints or suggestions that are shared by his subordinates.
