KSLU Solved Question Papers
Principles and Practice of Management
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2026 Jan Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Principles and Practice of Management 2026 Jan 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 2026 Jan examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2026 Jan 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.
Q1What are the major functions of management ? Explain.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what management is, with two definitions; why it is studied as a set of functions; Fayol's five elements and the later lists (Gulick, Koontz); each major function explained with its steps and an example (planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling); co-ordination as the thread through all of them; a table; how the functions work as a cycle; and a conclusion.
Meaning of management
Management is the work of getting things done through other people. The manager plans what is to be done, arranges the people and resources, guides them and checks the result. Every group effort needs it, whether the group is a factory, a bank, a hospital or a college.
Two definitions are usually quoted.
- Henri Fayol (1916): "To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control." This definition is itself a list of functions.
- Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich describe management as the process of designing and maintaining an environment. In it, people working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims.
A shorter description, widely attributed to Mary Parker Follett, calls management "the art of getting things done through people."
Why management is explained through its functions
A manager's day looks like a stream of unrelated jobs. Fayol's great contribution was to show that all of them fall into a few groups. These groups are the functions of management. They are the same at every level. The chairman of a large company and the supervisor of a small shop both plan, organise, direct and control. Only the scale and the time span differ.
Writers have listed the functions in slightly different ways.
| Writer | Functions |
|---|---|
| Henri Fayol (1916) | Planning, organising, commanding, co-ordinating, controlling |
| Writer | Functions |
|---|---|
| Luther Gulick (1937), "POSDCORB" | Planning, organising, staffing, directing, co-ordinating, reporting, budgeting |
| Koontz and O'Donnell | Planning, organising, staffing, directing (leading), controlling |
The list most used today has five major functions: planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. Co-ordination is treated as the essence of all five rather than a separate step.
1. Planning
Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who will do it. It bridges the gap between where the organisation is now and where it wants to be. It is the first function, because every other function serves the plan.
The main steps in planning are these.
- Setting objectives, such as raising sales by ten per cent in a year.
- Making planning premises, which are assumptions about the future, such as demand, prices and government policy.
- Finding the alternative courses of action.
- Evaluating each alternative and choosing the best one.
- Making supporting plans, such as policies, procedures, budgets and programmes.
- Putting the plan into action and following it up.
Example: a biscuit company plans to enter a new State. It studies demand, compares selling through dealers with selling online, and chooses dealers for the first year.
2. Organising
Organising is arranging the work and the people so that the plan can be carried out. It answers the question "who will do what, and who reports to whom?"
Organising involves these steps.
- Identifying the activities needed to reach the objectives.
- Grouping them into departments, such as production, sales and finance. This is called departmentation.
- Assigning duties to positions.
- Delegating authority, so that each person has the power needed to do the job.
- Fixing relationships, so that the line of command and the flow of reports are clear.
The result is the organisation structure, usually shown on an organisation chart. A good structure avoids overlap, gaps and confusion.
3. Staffing
Staffing is filling the positions in the structure with the right people and keeping them fit for the job. Koontz and O'Donnell treated it as a separate function because people are the most important resource.
Staffing covers the following.
- Manpower planning, that is, estimating how many people of what kind are needed.
- Recruitment, which means finding and attracting candidates.
- Selection of the most suitable candidates through tests and interviews.
- Placement and induction, which means putting the person in the right job and introducing him or her to the organisation.
- Training and development.
- Performance appraisal, promotion, transfer and remuneration.
Example: a bank that opens twenty new branches must recruit, select and train cashiers and officers before the branches open.
4. Directing
Directing is guiding, instructing and inspiring people so that they do their work willingly and well. Fayol called it commanding. Plans and structures do nothing until people act on them, and directing is what sets them in motion.
Directing has four parts.
- Supervision: watching over the work of subordinates and helping them.
- Motivation: giving people reasons to work hard. Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor explained how needs and attitudes drive effort.
- Leadership: influencing people to follow willingly, not only because of rank.
- Communication: passing information, orders and ideas up, down and across the organisation.
A manager who gives clear instructions, listens to problems and praises good work is directing well.
5. Controlling
Controlling is checking whether the work is going according to plan, and correcting it where it is not. It is the last function, but it feeds back into planning.
Control works in four steps.
- Setting standards, such as output per day or cost per unit.
- Measuring actual performance.
- Comparing performance with the standard and finding the deviations.
- Taking corrective action, such as repairing a machine, retraining a worker or revising the plan.
Example: a factory sets a standard of 1,000 units a day. Output falls to 900. The manager finds that a machine is faulty and has it repaired.
Co-ordination: the essence of all functions
Co-ordination is the harmonising of the efforts of different people and departments so that they work towards one goal. Fayol listed it as a separate element. Most modern writers say it is not a separate function. It is achieved through good planning, a clear structure, the right people, effective direction and timely control. Without it, the sales department may promise what production cannot make.
How the functions fit together
| Function | Question it answers | Main output |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | What is to be done, and how? | Objectives, plans, budgets |
| Organising | Who does what, and who reports to whom? | Structure, roles, authority |
| Staffing | Who will fill each post? | Selected and trained people |
| Directing | How are people guided and motivated? | Willing and effective work |
| Controlling | Is the work going to plan? | Corrections and a better next plan |
The functions are not done once and in a strict order. They form a continuous cycle. Control shows what went wrong. That becomes the basis of the next plan. A manager may plan, direct and control on the same day.
The functions at work: one example
Take the manager of a new hospital pharmacy.
- Planning: she fixes the aim of serving every in-patient within an hour of a prescription, and plans stock for the first quarter.
- Organising: she divides the work into purchase, storage, dispensing and billing, and sets out who reports to whom.
- Staffing: she recruits pharmacists and assistants, selects them by test and interview, and trains them on the billing software.
- Directing: she explains the rules, leads by example and recognises the quickest team each month.
- Controlling: she checks the time taken for each prescription. When delays appear at night, she adds a second pharmacist to the night shift.
Each function depends on the one before it, and the last one leads back to the first.
The time spent on each function differs by level. Top management spends more time on planning and organising. Lower management, such as supervisors, spends more time on directing and control on the shop floor.
Conclusion. Management is the process of getting things done through people, and it is best understood through its functions. Fayol named five elements in 1916. The modern list is planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling, with co-ordination running through all of them. Planning sets the goal. Organising and staffing provide the structure and the people. Directing sets them to work. Controlling checks the result and starts the next round of planning. A manager who performs all five functions well turns scattered effort into the achievement of the organisation's objectives.
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