UGC NET Management Unit - I Syllabus

What is departmentation and name its common bases.

Departmentation is grouping activities into units. Common bases: by function, by product, by territory/geography, by customer, by process, and by time/shift.

Differentiate between formal and informal organization.

Formal organization is the deliberately designed structure of roles and authority to achieve goals; informal organization arises spontaneously from social interactions and relationships among members.

What is line and staff organization?

A structure where line authority (direct command toward objectives) is combined with staff authority (advisory/specialist support that assists line managers).

Define staffing as a function of management.

Staffing is the managerial function of filling and keeping filled the positions in the organization structure through manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development.

List the main elements/steps of the staffing process.

Manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement and orientation, training and development, performance appraisal, promotion/transfer, and compensation.

Differentiate between recruitment and selection.

Recruitment is the positive process of searching for and attracting prospective candidates (enlarging the pool); selection is the negative process of screening and choosing the most suitable candidates (eliminating unsuitable ones).

Define coordination in management.

Coordination is the process of synchronizing and integrating the activities, efforts, and resources of different individuals and departments to achieve unity of action toward common goals.

Why is coordination called the 'essence of management'?

Because it is not a separate function but is inherent in every managerial function (planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling), binding them together to achieve harmony of effort.

What is the difference between coordination and cooperation?

Coordination is a deliberate, orderly arrangement of group effort by management to ensure unity of action; cooperation is the voluntary willingness of individuals to help one another.

Define controlling as a management function.

Controlling is the process of measuring actual performance against standards, identifying deviations, and taking corrective action to ensure goals are achieved as planned.

What are the steps in the control process?

(1) Setting standards, (2) Measuring actual performance, (3) Comparing performance with standards, (4) Analyzing deviations, and (5) Taking corrective action.

Name important techniques/tools of control.

Budgetary control, ratio analysis, break-even analysis, PERT/CPM, statistical/quality control (SQC), Management Audit, ROI, and Management Information System (MIS).

What is the principle of 'management by exception' in controlling?

Managers should focus their attention only on significant deviations from standards (exceptional/critical cases) rather than examining every routine variation.

What is feedforward control versus feedback control?

Feedforward (preventive) control anticipates problems before they occur (acts on inputs); feedback control measures results after the activity and corrects future performance based on past deviations.

Define decision-making.

Decision-making is the process of selecting the best course of action from among two or more available alternatives to achieve a desired objective.

What are the main types of decisions?

Programmed vs. non-programmed; strategic vs. tactical vs. operational; individual vs. group; routine vs. basic; and policy vs. operating decisions.

Differentiate between programmed and non-programmed decisions.

Programmed decisions are routine, repetitive, and made using established rules/procedures; non-programmed decisions are novel, unstructured, and require judgment for one-off complex problems.

List the steps in the decision-making process.

Identifying the problem, analyzing the problem, developing alternatives, evaluating alternatives, selecting the best alternative, implementing the decision, and following up/feedback.

Name important quantitative techniques and tools used in decision-making.

Linear programming, decision tree, payoff matrix, game theory, queuing theory, simulation, marginal analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and PERT/CPM.

What is the difference between decision-making under certainty, risk, and uncertainty?

Certainty: outcomes are fully known; Risk: outcomes are known with assignable probabilities; Uncertainty: outcomes and their probabilities are not known.

What is Herbert Simon's concept of 'bounded rationality' and 'satisficing'?

Bounded rationality means decision-makers are limited by information, time, and cognitive capacity, so instead of the optimal choice they 'satisfice'—accepting a satisfactory/good-enough alternative.

Define communication.

Communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas, and understanding from a sender to a receiver in a way that the message is correctly received and understood.

What are the elements/steps of the communication process?

Sender, encoding, message, channel/medium, receiver, decoding, and feedback (with noise as a disturbing factor).

What are the main types of communication based on direction?

Downward, upward, horizontal (lateral), and diagonal communication.

Differentiate between formal and informal communication.

Formal communication flows through official channels and the established chain of command; informal communication (the 'grapevine') flows through unofficial social relationships outside formal channels.

What is the 'grapevine' in communication?

The grapevine is the informal communication network that spreads information rapidly through social relationships, independent of the formal hierarchy.

What are the major barriers to communication?

Semantic barriers, physical/mechanical barriers, organizational barriers, psychological/emotional barriers, personal barriers, and cultural barriers.

Distinguish between authority and responsibility.

Authority is the right to give orders, make decisions, and command resources; responsibility is the obligation/duty to perform the assigned task. Authority flows downward, responsibility flows upward.

What is delegation of authority and its three elements?

Delegation is entrusting part of a manager's authority to subordinates. Its three elements are: assignment of responsibility (duty), grant of authority, and creation of accountability.

Differentiate between centralization and decentralization of authority.

Centralization concentrates decision-making authority at the top levels; decentralization systematically disperses decision-making authority to lower/middle levels of the organization.

What is span of control (span of management)?

Span of control is the number of subordinates a manager can effectively supervise. A narrow span creates a tall structure with many levels; a wide span creates a flat structure with fewer levels.