Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Under decentralisation, the management carefully selects the decisions to be pushed down to lower levels and those to be retained for higher levels.
Statement II: Delegation is a philosophy that implies selective dispersal of authority, as it recognises the decision maker’s need for autonomy.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect.
Statement I: Under decentralisation, the management carefully selects the decisions to be pushed down to lower levels and those to be retained for higher levels. — Correct. The management chooses which decisions go down and which stay at the top. An organisation can never be completely decentralised.
Statement II: Delegation is a philosophy that implies selective dispersal of authority, as it recognises the decision maker’s need for autonomy. — Incorrect. This philosophy belongs to decentralisation. Delegation is a compulsory act, because no manager can perform all tasks on his own.
Delegation passes authority from a superior to his immediate subordinate. Decentralisation extends delegation to the lowest level of management.
NCERT (2026-27 Edition): “Importance Decentralisation is much more than a mere transfer of authority to the lower levels of management hierarchy. It is a philosophy that implies selective dispersal of authority because it propagates the belief that people are competent, capable and resourceful. They can assume the responsibility for the effective implementation of their decisions. Thus this philosophy recognises the decision maker’s need for autonomy. The management, however, needs to carefully select those decisions which will be pushed down to lower levels and those that will be retained for higher levels. …” |