Public Administration Principles of Organization

I. Hierarchy (Pad Sopan)

• Definition: The structural arrangement of junior-senior relationships that determines the roles, responsibilities, work, and duties of employees within an organization.
• Visual Representation: A pyramid or triangle, with higher authority at the apex and increasing numbers of subordinates at the base. This reflects the typical organizational structure.
• Universality: Applicable to all organizations, regardless of location or type. Even hypothetical organizations (e.g., on the moon) require a hierarchical structure to function.
• Alternative Names: Scalar process (Munro and Reilly), Scalar chain (Fayol).
• Example: Revenue administration (Collector > ADM > SD > Tehsildar > Nayab Tehsildar > RI > Patwari). The number of employees increases at each lower level.
• Features:
  • Root and soul of other principles.
  • Defines roles and duties of employees.
  • Top-to-bottom flow of orders.
  • Pyramidal structure.
  • Proper channel for communication.
  • Increasing number of employees from top to bottom.
• Types (Pinner and Sherwood):
  • Work/Task-based
  • Salary-based
  • Skill-based
  • Rank-based (e.g., military, police)
• Merits/Importance:
  • Ensures division of work.
  • Identifies junior and senior employees.
  • Enables delegation.
  • Develops administrative leadership.
  • Facilitates employee promotion.
  • Ensures clarity in communication.
  • Develops integrity and cooperation.
• Demerits/Limitations:
  • Increased red tape and delays.
  • Success/failure depends heavily on higher authority.
  • Can lead to disinterest among subordinates.
  • Creates an orthodox organizational structure.
• Solutions:
  • Utilize IT (e.g., e-filing, online noting systems).
  • Implement flexible hierarchy (level jumping).
  • Employ the Gang Plank principle.
  • Consider Matrix organizations.

II. Matrix Organization (Umbrella Organization)

• A less traditional organizational structure where employees at the same level have equal power and responsibilities, overseen by a higher authority with limited direct involvement. Example: NASA's space department.

III. Gang Plank Principle

• Allows subordinates to communicate directly with each other, bypassing traditional hierarchical channels, while informing their immediate superior. This increases flexibility and reduces delays.

IV. Span of Control (Niaantaran Ka Kshetra)

• Definition: The number of subordinates an officer can effectively and efficiently control and direct.
• Different Perspectives:
  • Fayol and Graicunas: 5-6 subordinates.
  • Urwick: 4-6 (upper level), 6-8 (middle level), 8-12 (lower level).
• Features:
  • Related to the hierarchy principle.
  • Aims to ensure qualitative work.
  • Affected by internal and external factors.
• Factors Affecting Span of Control:
  • Formal Factors:
    • Nature of work (similar work increases span; different work decreases span).
    • Location (same location increases span; different locations decrease span).
    • Age and experience of the authority (more experience increases span).
    • Delegation facilities (increases span).
    • Modern supervision techniques (increases span).
    • Levels of hierarchy (fewer levels increase span).
  • Informal Factors:
    • Personality of the higher authority.
    • Family circumstances of the higher authority.
• Importance:
  • Effective and efficient control.
  • Maintains discipline.
  • Timely completion of goals and tasks.
  • Ensures quality work.
  • Increases productivity and performance.
• Graicunas's Perspective: Focuses on controlling the relationships between subordinates, not just the number of subordinates. Introduces formulas for calculating direct, group, and cross relationships.
  • Formulas: (where 'n' is the number of subordinates)
    • Direct group relations: n(n-1)
    • Cross relations: n(n-1)(n-2)/2
    • Total relations: n + n(n-1) + n(n-1)(n-2)/2
• Methods of Span of Control Expansion:
  • Modern supervision techniques (CCTV, video conferencing).
  • Biometric attendance.
  • Increased role of specialists.
  • Impact of staff organization.
  • Decreasing levels of hierarchy.

V. Unity of Command (Aadesh Ki Ekta)

• Definition: An employee should receive commands, instructions, and duties from only one higher authority.
• Origin: Military administration.
• Importance:
  • Effective control and discipline.
  • Clarity of authority and leadership.
  • Reduces confusion and misconceptions.
  • Increases subordinate accountability.
  • Improves coordination and cooperation.
  • Reduces delays and red tape.
  • Facilitates effective decision-making.
• Relevance in Civil Administration: Less relevant due to multiple reporting lines (e.g., Collector receiving orders from Divisional Commissioner and ACS).
• Relationship with Taylor's Functional Foremanship: Taylor rejects unity of command through functional foremanship, where a worker receives orders from multiple specialists (e.g., planning and production). This contradicts the unity of command principle.