'The principles of management are intended to apply to all types of organisations, business as well as non-business. But the extent of their applicability would vary with the nature of the organisation, business activity, scale of operations etc.'

Which feature of principle of management is highlighted in the above statement.

Universal applicability

The correct answer is option 1- Universal applicability.

In the given statement Universal applicability feature is highlighted.

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. For example, for greater productivity, work should be divided into small tasks and each employee should be trained to perform his/her specialised job. This principle is applicable to a government office where there is a diary clerk whose job is to receive and send mail or documents, a data entry operator whose task is to input data on the computer, a peon and an officer etc. This principle is also applicable to a limited company where there are separate departments like Production, Finance, Marketing and Research and Development etc. Extent of division of work, however, may vary from case to case.

OTHER OPTIONS

• General guidelines: The principles are guidelines to action but do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems. This is so because real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors.

• Mainly behavioural: Management principles aims at influencing behaviour of human beings. Therefore, principles of management are mainly behavioural in nature. It is not that these principles do not pertain to things and phenomenon at all, it is just a matter of emphasis.

• Formed by practice and experimentation: The principles of management are formed by experience and collective wisdom of managers as well as experimentation. For example, it is a matter of common experience that discipline is indispensable for accomplishing any purpose. This principle finds mention in management theory. On the other hand, in order to remedy the problem of fatigue of workers in the factory, an experiment may be conducted to see the effect of improvement of physical conditions to reduce stress.