The correct answer is option (1)- Discipline.
The principle requiring good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements, and judicious application of penalties is Discipline.
Discipline is the obedience to organisational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organisation. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. Suppose management and labour union have entered into an agreement whereby workers have agreed to put in extra hours without any additional payment to revive the company out of loss. In return the management has promised to increase wages of the workers when this mission is accomplished. Here discipline when applied would mean that the workers and management both honour their commitments without any prejudice towards one another.
OTHER OPTIONS
- Unity of Command: According to Fayol there should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. If an employee gets orders from two superiors at the same time the principle of unity of command is violated. The principle of unity of command states that each participant in a formal organisation should receive orders from and be responsible to only one superior. Fayol gave a lot of importance to this principle. He felt that if this principle is violated “authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened”. The principle resembles military organisation. Dual subordination should be avoided. This is to prevent confusion regarding tasks to be done.
- Unity of direction. All the units of an organisation should be moving towards the same objectives through coordinated and focussed efforts. Each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan. This ensures unity of action and coordination. It prevent overlapping of activities.
- Esprit de corps. Management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees. Management should promote teamwork especially in large organisations because otherwise objectives would be difficult to realise. It will also result in a loss of coordination. A manager should replace ‘I’ with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers to foster team spirit. This will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. It will also minimise the need for using penalties.
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