KSLU Solved Question Papers
Principles and Practice of Management
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2014 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Principles and Practice of Management 2014 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2014 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2014 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Explain the major contributions of Henry Fayol to management.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: who Henri Fayol was and his book (1916, English translation 1949); his major contributions, each explained (management as a separate activity; its universality; management can be taught; the six groups of activities of an industrial undertaking and the changing importance of managerial ability by level; the qualities a manager needs; the five elements of management explained in turn; the fourteen principles in brief; the gang plank); a comparison with Taylor in a table; an assessment of his contribution and its limits; and a conclusion.
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol (1841 to 1925) was a French mining engineer and executive. He joined the Commentry-Fourchambault mining company in 1860 and rose to become its managing director, a post he held from 1888 to 1918. When he took over, the company was in serious financial difficulty. Under his leadership it recovered and prospered. From this long experience at the top, Fayol wrote Administration industrielle et générale (1916), translated into English as General and Industrial Management (1949).
Fayol is often called the father of modern management theory. His contributions laid the foundation of what is known as the administrative or process school of management.
Contribution 1: Management as a separate activity
Before Fayol, success in business was thought to depend mainly on technical skill. Fayol showed that managing is a distinct activity, different from technical, commercial or financial work. A brilliant engineer may be a poor manager. By separating management from other activities, he made it possible to study management in its own right.
Contribution 2: The universality of management
Fayol held that management is needed in every kind of organisation: industry, commerce, government, the army, religious bodies and even the home. Its basic elements and principles are the same everywhere, though they are applied differently. This idea of universality is still accepted in management thought.
Contribution 3: Management can be taught
Fayol argued that managerial ability is not simply inborn. It can be developed through education and training. He regretted that technical schools taught only technical subjects and urged that management be taught in schools and colleges. This view laid the base for management education as we know it.
Contribution 4: The six groups of activities
Fayol divided all the activities of an industrial undertaking into six groups.
- Technical activities: production, manufacture and adaptation.
- Commercial activities: buying, selling and exchange.
- Financial activities: the search for and best use of capital.
- Security activities: the protection of property and persons.
- Accounting activities: stock-taking, balance sheets, costs and statistics.
- Managerial activities: planning, organising, commanding, co-ordinating and controlling.
He showed that the relative importance of abilities changes with a person's level. For a worker, technical ability matters most. As a person rises, managerial ability becomes more important, and at the top it is the most important of all.
Contribution 5: The qualities a manager needs
Fayol listed the qualities and knowledge that a manager requires.
- Physical: health, vigour and good bearing.
- Mental: the ability to understand and learn, judgement, mental vigour and adaptability.
- Moral: energy, firmness, willingness to accept responsibility, initiative, loyalty, tact and dignity.
- General education: a general acquaintance with matters beyond the person's own function.
- Special knowledge: knowledge of the particular function, whether technical, commercial, financial or managerial.
- Experience: knowledge gained from doing the work.
Contribution 6: The five elements of management
Fayol defined management through five elements, which form the basis of the modern functions of management.
- Planning (prévoyance). Looking ahead and drawing up a plan of action. Fayol held that a good plan should have unity, continuity, flexibility and precision.
- Organising. Building up the structure of the undertaking, both material and human. It means providing the undertaking with everything useful to its working, such as materials, tools, capital and personnel.
- Commanding. Getting the best out of the employees, so that the organisation works. A manager who commands well knows the staff, sets a good example and removes incompetence.
- Co-ordinating. Binding together, unifying and harmonising all activities and efforts, so that departments work in step.
- Controlling. Seeing that everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the instructions issued and the principles established. It also points out errors so that they can be corrected.
Later writers renamed and extended these elements as planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. But the idea of management as a cycle of functions comes from Fayol.
Contribution 7: The fourteen principles of management
Fayol set out fourteen principles, which he insisted were flexible guides, not rigid rules.
| No. | Principle | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Division of work | Specialisation raises efficiency |
| 2 | Authority and responsibility | The two go together |
| 3 | Discipline | Obedience to fair agreements |
| 4 | Unity of command | One superior for each employee |
| 5 | Unity of direction | One head and one plan per objective |
| 6 | Subordination of individual interest | Organisation's interest first |
| 7 | Remuneration | Fair to employee and employer |
| 8 | Centralisation | The right degree depends on the case |
| 9 | Scalar chain | Clear line of authority |
| 10 | Order | Right place for things and people |
| No. | Principle | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Equity | Kindness and justice |
| 12 | Stability of tenure | Avoid high turnover |
| 13 | Initiative | Freedom to plan and act |
| 14 | Esprit de corps | Union is strength |
Contribution 8: The gang plank
Fayol saw that strictly following the scalar chain can cause delay. He proposed the "gang plank": a direct contact between two people at the same level in different departments. It needs the consent of their superiors, who are kept informed. This allowed quick co-ordination without breaking the chain of authority.
Fayol and Taylor compared
| Basis | Fayol | Taylor |
|---|---|---|
| Viewpoint | From the top, the whole enterprise | From the shop floor, the worker |
| Focus | General management, administration | Efficiency of work and workers |
| Method | Experience and observation | Experiment and measurement |
| Basis | Fayol | Taylor |
|---|---|---|
| Main contribution | Elements and principles of management | Scientific management techniques |
| Unity of command | Insisted on it | Functional foremanship broke it |
| Applicability | All organisations | Mainly factories |
Their work was complementary. Taylor improved efficiency at the operating level; Fayol gave a framework for managing the whole organisation. Together they form the classical school.
Assessment
Strengths
- He gave the first comprehensive theory of management.
- His functional view of management remains the basis of management textbooks.
- His principles still guide organisation design and practice.
- He began the case for management education.
- He showed that managerial ability grows in importance as a person rises, which shapes how managers are selected and trained.
Limits
- His principles were drawn from personal experience, not tested research.
- Some are vague, such as the right degree of centralisation.
- He gave less attention to human and social factors, later stressed by the Hawthorne studies.
- Some principles conflict with modern structures, such as matrix organisation.
How Fayol's contributions are used today
- Management education is built around his functions: courses on planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling follow his framework.
- Organisation charts and job descriptions apply his scalar chain, unity of command and division of work.
- Personnel practices such as fair pay, grievance handling, low turnover and suggestion schemes reflect his principles of remuneration, equity, stability and initiative.
- Selection and training of managers use lists of qualities much like his.
- Cross-departmental co-ordination through direct contact follows his gang plank.
Why he is called a founder of management theory
Fayol was the first to give a general theory that applies to all organisations and all levels of management. Taylor's work had been confined to the shop floor. Fayol's covered the whole enterprise, from the board room to the foreman, and his ideas could be taught. For this reason he is widely regarded as a founder of modern management theory, alongside Taylor, whose work his own complemented.
Conclusion. Henri Fayol's major contribution was to show that management is a distinct, universal activity that can be taught. He divided the activities of an undertaking into six groups and showed that managerial ability matters more as one rises. He described the qualities a manager needs, defined management through five elements and set out fourteen flexible principles, including the gang plank. Later research has qualified some of his ideas, but his functional approach still shapes how management is studied and practised a century after 1916.
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