Management Principles and Practices

(b) organizing

Organizing is the management function that identifies and lists the activities to be performed, groups (classifies) them according to the nature of the work, and then assigns them to positions or people on the basis of similarity of jobs and workload. Planning decides what to do in advance, leading involves directing and motivating staff, and controlling compares performance with standards — none of these involves grouping activities and assigning duties.

(b) Authority, Direction, Information

Of the four sets offered, this is the only one that describes what control needs in practice: authority to enforce corrective action, direction to guide subordinates back toward the plan, and information on actual performance to compare with standards. Note that the question is loosely worded; the textbook steps of the control process are setting standards, measuring performance, comparing it with the standards and taking corrective action.

(d) Information flows between different departments and functions

Lateral (horizontal) communication takes place between people or units at the same level of the organizational hierarchy — for example, between the marketing department and the production department. Information passing upwards is upward communication (option a), information passing downwards is downward communication (option b), and two-way flow describes vertical communication in both directions (option c).

(d) Receiver

The speaker's English words cannot be decoded by an illiterate villager, so the breakdown occurs at the receiver's end: the receiver is unable to interpret the message. The medium (channel) is not at fault. Options (a) and (c) are the same in the question, which is a misprint.

(d) workers like to be directed

McGregor's Theory X assumes that workers dislike work, avoid responsibility, lack ambition and must be directed and controlled. Options (a), (b) and (c) are Theory Y assumptions, which treat effort as natural and assume workers seek responsibility and show initiative.

(b) use of the work performed

Performance appraisal of Nepal's public sector employees (as per the Civil Service Act/Rules and the Employees' Performance Evaluation system) assesses quality of work, honesty/integrity towards work, and time taken to complete the work — along with quantity of work, job knowledge, discipline, etc. "Use of the work performed" is not a criterion of performance appraisal.