Identify the Characteristic of Principles of Management from following statement
"The principles of management are intended to apply to all types of organisations, business as well as non-business, small as well as large, public sector as well as private sector, manufacturing as well as the services sectors"
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Universal applicability
Option (1) Formed by practice and experimentation — Incorrect. This is also a feature of the principles: they come out of the experience of managers. But the statement in the question is about where the principles apply, not how they were formed.
Option (2) Flexible — Incorrect. Flexibility means the principles are not rigid rules; a manager changes them to suit the situation. The statement says nothing about changing them.
Option (3) General guidelines — Incorrect. This means the principles guide action but do not give ready-made answers to every problem. That is a different feature.
Option (4) Universal applicability — Correct. The principles apply to all types of organisations: business and non-business, small and large, public and private, manufacturing and services. How much they apply may still differ from one organisation to another.
NCERT (2026-27 Edition): “Universal applicability: The principles of management are intended to apply to all types of organisations, business as well as non-business, small as well large, public sector as well as private sector, manufacturing as well as the services sectors. However, the extent of their applicability would vary with the nature of the organisation, business activity, scale of operations and the like. …” “(ii) General guidelines: The principles are guidelines to action but do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems. …” |