"Shining" limited was engaged in the business of food processing and selling its products under a popular brand. Lately the business was expanding due to good quality and reasonable prices of the products. Also with more people working, the market for processed food was increasing. New players were also coming to cash in on the new trend. In order to keep its market share in the short run, the company directed its existing workforce to work over time. But this resulted in many problems. Due to increased pressure of work, the efficiency of the workers declined. Sometimes the subordinates had to work for more than one superior resulting in declining efficiency. The divisions that were previously working in one product were also made to work on two or more products. This resulted in a lot of overlapping and wastage. The workers were becoming indisciplined. The spirits of teamwork, which had characterized the company previously was beginning to take back seat, workers were feeling cheated and initiative was declining. The quality of the products was beginning to decline and market share was on the verge of decrease. Actually the company had implemented changes without creating the required infrastructure.

"Sometimes the subordinates had to work for more than one superior resulting in declining of efficiency."

Identify the principle being violated in the above lines.

Unity of command

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.