Principles and Practices of Management Notes
Subject Overview
Principles and Practices of Management is BBA's foundational paper on how organizations are managed — the natural counterpart to B.Com's Business Organization and Management paper, but built specifically around management as a standalone discipline. You'll study the evolution of management thought from classical and scientific management to contingency approaches, then move through planning (including MBO and strategic planning with growth strategies), organizing structures and teamwork, staffing and motivation theories, and the mechanics of authority, delegation, and control. The final unit closes with genuinely current material — Total Quality Management (TQM) and Just-in-Time (JIT) — connecting classical management theory to how organizations actually operate today. This is a 6-credit core paper across 4 units, and it's the conceptual backbone for later BBA papers like Organizational Behaviour, Strategic Management, and Human Resource Management.
Subject at a glance
4
Units
32
Topics
6
Credits
4
Infographics
Unit-wise Syllabus
4 units — open any unit for detailed topic-wise notes, diagrams and important exam questions
- Meaning
- definitions
- nature and scope of management
- managerial roles and skills
- forms of organization (sole proprietorship, partnership, joint stock company)
- evolution of management thought — classical and neoclassical systems
- contingency approaches
- scientific management
Scientific management
Taylor: one best way, time and motion study
Administrative theory
Fayol: 14 principles of management
Bureaucracy
Weber: rules, hierarchy, impersonality
Neoclassical
Hawthorne studies: human relations matter
Systems and contingency
It depends on the situation
Study guide
Management is the art of getting things done through people. You study the meaning, nature and scope of management, managerial roles and skills, forms of organisation (sole proprietorship, partnership, joint stock company) and how management thought evolved: scientific management, classical, neoclassical, systems and contingency approaches. Match each school of thought with its main thinker, such as Taylor and Fayol, and a one-line idea.
- Nature
- purpose and types of plans
- Management by Objectives (MBO)
- steps in planning
- decision-making process and techniques
- strategic planning concepts and process
- internal and external growth strategies
- 1
Establish objectives
What the firm wants to achieve
- 2
Develop premises
Assumptions about the future
- 3
Identify alternatives
Different ways to reach the goal
- 4
Evaluate and select
Choose the best course
- 5
Derivative plans and budgets
Support plans and numbers
- 6
Implement and follow up
Study guide
Planning and decision-making set direction. You study the nature, purpose and types of plans, MBO, the steps in planning, the decision-making process and techniques, and strategic planning including internal and external growth strategies. Learn the steps of strategic planning and give a company example of a growth strategy.
- Formal and informal organizations
- task forces
- departmentation
- organizational structures
- avoiding organizational inflexibility
- teamwork and team-building stages
- staffing — recruitment and selection
- motivation concept and theories
- 1Forming
Members meet, polite and unsure
- 2Storming
Conflict over roles and ideas
- 3Norming
Rules and trust develop
- 4Performing
Team works smoothly toward goals
- 5Adjourning
Task ends, team disbands
Study guide
Organising and people management come next: formal and informal organisations, task forces, departmentation, organisation structures, avoiding inflexibility, teamwork and stages of team building, staffing through recruitment and selection and the concept and theories of motivation. Compare structures such as functional, divisional and matrix with their pros and cons.
- Authority
- responsibility and accountability
- delegation
- decentralization vs. centralization
- line and staff authority
- functions and types of control
- direct vs. preventive control
- Total Quality Management (TQM)
- Just-in-Time (JIT)
Nature
Direct command over subordinates
Advisory, supports the line
Role
Achieves core objectives
Provides expert advice
Examples
Production manager, sales manager
Legal adviser, HR specialist
Accountability
For results
For quality of advice
Study guide
This unit covers authority, responsibility and accountability, delegation, centralisation versus decentralisation, line and staff authority, the functions and types of control, direct and preventive control and modern approaches such as TQM and JIT. Learn how authority and responsibility differ from accountability.
Why Principles and Practices of Management Matters
Management principles are the starting point of every BBA specialisation and a staple of MBA entrance tests and interviews. They help you work in teams, lead projects and understand how organisations are run.
How to Prepare for Principles and Practices of Management
- Prepare comparison tables for schools of management thought and for organisational structures.
- Use real company examples, such as Tata or Amul, for planning, control and motivation.
- Practise writing short, structured answers using headings and bullet points.
Principles and Practices of Management: Frequently Asked Questions
Who is called the father of scientific management?
Frederick W. Taylor is regarded as the father of scientific management.
What is the difference between delegation and decentralisation?
Delegation is assigning authority to a subordinate for specific tasks, while decentralisation is the systematic spreading of decision-making authority throughout the organisation.