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BSEH SS Public Admin study materials
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BSEH SS Public Admin practice questions

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Question 1Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which definition best captures the classical meaning of public administration as the executive arm of government in action?

  1. The process by which courts interpret constitutional provisions
  2. The activity of implementing public policy and delivering services through the machinery of government Correct answer.
  3. The analysis of household consumption and market prices
  4. The study of how voters form preferences during election campaigns

Explanation

Public administration in the classical sense refers to the executive side of government: putting laws and policies into effect through organised administrative structures and personnel. It is distinguished from legislative law-making, judicial interpretation, and purely private economic behaviour.

Question 2Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Woodrow Wilson's essay on the study of administration is chiefly remembered for advancing which argument?

  1. Administration is simply another name for constitutional law
  2. Administration must be controlled directly by elected legislatures in all details
  3. Administration should be abolished in favour of market contracting
  4. Administration should be studied as a distinct field separate from partisan politics Correct answer.

Explanation

Wilson argued that administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics and should be developed as a field of systematic study, with a distinction drawn between politics and administration. This politics-administration dichotomy became a founding idea of the discipline.

Question 3Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Frank Goodnow's classic formulation divided the functions of the state into which two parts?

  1. Legislation and taxation
  2. Foreign affairs and defence
  3. Politics and administration Correct answer.
  4. Judiciary and bureaucracy

Explanation

Goodnow distinguished politics, the expression of the state will, from administration, the execution of that will. This twofold division popularised the politics-administration dichotomy in early American administrative thought.

Question 4Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which feature most clearly marks public administration as 'public' rather than private administration?

  1. It always employs more staff than any private firm
  2. It is funded entirely by voluntary donations
  3. It never uses performance measurement techniques
  4. It is accountable to the public through law, budget and political oversight Correct answer.

Explanation

What makes administration public is its subjection to public accountability: legal authority, legislative appropriation, transparency and political oversight. Private administration answers to owners and markets instead. Staff size, measurement practices and funding sources do not define the distinction.

Question 5Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

The scope of public administration is best described as covering which range of activity?

  1. The executive branch plus its interface with legislature, judiciary and civil society Correct answer.
  2. Only the work of central government ministries
  3. Only the delivery of welfare benefits
  4. Only the internal management of public personnel

Explanation

Modern treatments of scope extend beyond a narrow focus on ministries to include the whole executive apparatus and its relations with legislatures, courts, subnational bodies and non-state actors. Personnel management and welfare delivery are parts of this wider field, not its whole.

Question 6Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which statement reflects the 'POSDCORB' formulation associated with Luther Gulick?

  1. It ranks administrative systems by their degree of centralisation
  2. It describes the stages of economic development in new states
  3. It lists planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting as executive duties Correct answer.
  4. It sets out the rules of natural justice in administrative adjudication

Explanation

POSDCORB is an acronym for the seven functions Gulick identified as the work of the chief executive: planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. It is a functional description of executive duties rather than a ranking or legal doctrine.

Question 7Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Henri Fayol's principles of administration are primarily concerned with which level of organisational activity?

  1. The statistical sampling of public opinion
  2. The conduct of foreign diplomacy
  3. The general management of the whole organisation Correct answer.
  4. The judicial review of administrative decisions

Explanation

Fayol formulated principles such as unity of command, scalar chain and division of work to guide general management of an entire organisation. His framework is a management theory of organisational direction, not a legal or diplomatic doctrine.

Question 8Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

A city health department reallocates staff from a low-demand clinic to a district with a sudden outbreak. Which administrative function does this best illustrate?

  1. Constitutional amendment
  2. Judicial adjudication of a dispute
  3. Legislative authorisation of a new statute
  4. Directing and coordinating resources toward a public objective Correct answer.

Explanation

Redeploying staff in response to need is an exercise of the executive functions of directing and coordinating resources to achieve a public purpose. It is operational management rather than law-making, adjudication or constitutional change.

Question 9Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Why is public administration often described as an interdisciplinary field?

  1. It refuses to use any theory from the social sciences
  2. It is confined to the study of ancient administrative systems
  3. It depends solely on laboratory experiments
  4. It draws on political science, law, economics, management and sociology to explain administrative behaviour Correct answer.

Explanation

Public administration borrows concepts and methods from several social sciences, since administrative phenomena involve authority, law, resource allocation, organisation and social context. This borrowing is what makes the field interdisciplinary rather than mono-disciplinary.

Question 10Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

The 'politics-administration dichotomy' has been criticised mainly on which ground?

  1. Politics has no relevance to public organisations
  2. Administrators never influence policy decisions
  3. Administration is purely a matter of constitutional text
  4. Administrators inevitably exercise discretion and influence policy, so the two spheres cannot be cleanly separated Correct answer.

Explanation

Critics argue that administrators make policy through discretion, advice and rule-making, so a strict separation of politics from administration is unrealistic. The dichotomy is therefore treated as a normative ideal rather than an accurate description.

Question 11Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which pair correctly matches a thinker with a contribution to early public administration theory?

  1. Adam Smith with the theory of administrative neutrality
  2. John Locke with the science of organisational staffing
  3. Karl Marx with the principles of scientific management
  4. Max Weber with the theory of bureaucratic authority Correct answer.

Explanation

Weber analysed bureaucracy as a form of legitimate authority based on rational-legal rules, hierarchy and impersonal office-holding. The other pairings attach ideas to thinkers who did not develop those administrative theories.

Question 12Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Weber's ideal-type bureaucracy is characterised by which combination of features?

  1. Hierarchy, written rules, defined jurisdiction and impersonal application of authority Correct answer.
  2. Profit maximisation through market competition
  3. Rotating leadership chosen by lot and no fixed rules
  4. Charismatic leadership, personal loyalty and absence of records

Explanation

Weber's ideal type stresses legal-rational authority expressed through hierarchy, written rules, fixed jurisdictions, career officials and impersonal decision-making. These features distinguish bureaucracy from traditional and charismatic forms of authority.

Question 13Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

A ministry publishes draft regulations, invites public comments and then revises the text before adoption. This practice best exemplifies which administrative value?

  1. Transparency and participatory consultation Correct answer.
  2. Fiscal decentralisation
  3. Secrecy in decision-making
  4. Judicial independence

Explanation

Publishing drafts and inviting comment are mechanisms of transparency and public participation in rule-making. They open administrative decisions to scrutiny and input rather than concealing them.

Question 14Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which statement best explains the significance of public administration for development in low-income countries?

  1. It supplies the institutional capacity to design and deliver policies that markets and households cannot provide alone Correct answer.
  2. It replaces the need for any private economic activity
  3. It guarantees rapid economic growth regardless of policy content
  4. It removes the need for a legal framework in public affairs

Explanation

Effective public administration provides the organisational capacity needed to formulate and implement development policy and to supply public goods. It complements rather than replaces markets and depends on sound policy and law for results.

Question 15Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

In the study of public administration, the term 'administrative discretion' refers to which of the following?

  1. The power of courts to rewrite statutes
  2. The latitude officials have to choose among lawful courses of action when applying rules Correct answer.
  3. The obligation of officials to obey every instruction without judgement
  4. The right of citizens to vote in elections

Explanation

Discretion is the room for judgement that officials possess when rules cannot specify every circumstance in advance. It is exercised within legal limits and is a central concern for accountability and control.

Question 16Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which of the following best distinguishes 'administration' from 'management' in public sector usage?

  1. Administration applies only to private firms, while management applies only to government
  2. Administration emphasises carrying out public policy under legal and political authority, while management stresses efficient use of organisational resources Correct answer.
  3. Administration is concerned solely with profits, while management is concerned solely with law
  4. The two terms have identical meanings in every context

Explanation

In public sector usage, administration carries connotations of executing public policy within a framework of law and political direction, whereas management emphasises resource efficiency and organisational performance. The terms overlap but are not identical.

Question 17Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Frederick Taylor's scientific management contributed to public administration mainly by promoting which idea?

  1. The abolition of hierarchy in public organisations
  2. The supremacy of charismatic leadership over rules
  3. The replacement of budgets by voluntary contributions
  4. Systematic time-and-motion study to improve efficiency of work processes Correct answer.

Explanation

Taylor advocated studying work processes systematically to identify the most efficient methods, an idea that influenced administrative reform. It is an efficiency doctrine, not a theory of abolishing hierarchy or charismatic rule.

Question 18Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

The Hawthorne studies are significant in administrative thought because they drew attention to which factor?

  1. The influence of social and human relations on worker productivity Correct answer.
  2. The irrelevance of employee attitudes to performance
  3. The primacy of formal written rules over all other factors
  4. The necessity of abolishing supervision entirely

Explanation

The Hawthorne experiments suggested that social relationships and attention to workers affected productivity, giving rise to the human relations school. This challenged purely formal and mechanical views of organisation.

Question 19Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which concept from systems thinking describes an organisation taking in resources, transforming them and returning outputs to its environment?

  1. The organisation as a fixed budget line
  2. The organisation as a legal fiction
  3. The organisation as a closed hierarchy
  4. The organisation as an open system Correct answer.

Explanation

Open-systems theory treats organisations as interacting with their environment through inputs, transformation and outputs, with feedback sustaining adaptation. This contrasts with treating organisations as closed and self-contained.

Question 20Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

A civil servant refuses a minister's instruction to award a contract without competitive tender, citing procurement rules. Which administrative principle does this best reflect?

  1. The irrelevance of procedure in public spending
  2. The fusion of political and administrative roles
  3. The supremacy of ministerial preference over rules
  4. Adherence to law and due process over personal or political convenience Correct answer.

Explanation

Refusing to bypass procurement rules demonstrates the administrative commitment to legality and due process, which constrains arbitrary action even when a political superior requests it. This is a core element of bureaucratic accountability under law.

Question 21Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which of the following is the strongest reason for studying public administration as an academic discipline?

  1. It generates knowledge to improve the design, performance and accountability of public institutions Correct answer.
  2. It removes the need for empirical research in government
  3. It replaces political debate with technical calculation
  4. It guarantees a government job for every graduate

Explanation

The academic value of the discipline lies in producing knowledge that can improve institutional design, performance and accountability. It does not promise employment, dispense with research or substitute for democratic politics.

Question 22Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

The New Public Management reform wave of the 1980s and 1990s is associated with which set of ideas?

  1. Rejection of private-sector management techniques
  2. Centralised command planning and elimination of contracting
  3. Market-style competition, performance targets and managerial autonomy Correct answer.
  4. Abolition of performance indicators in public agencies

Explanation

New Public Management borrowed private-sector tools such as competition, contracting, performance measurement and devolved managerial responsibility. It sought to make public organisations more responsive and efficient rather than to restore command planning.

Question 23Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which statement accurately describes the relationship between public administration and public policy?

  1. Public policy is solely the product of courts
  2. Public administration is centrally involved in implementing policy and also shapes it through advice and rule-making Correct answer.
  3. Public administration has no role once a policy is adopted
  4. Administration and policy are unrelated activities

Explanation

Administration is the machinery through which policy is implemented, and officials also influence policy through advice, drafting and rule-making. The two are therefore closely intertwined rather than unrelated or sequential in a simple way.

Question 24Introduction to Public Administration: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Significance

Which of the following best illustrates the 'public interest' orientation of public administration?

  1. A manager awards a contract to a relative's firm
  2. A department sets fees to maximise its own revenue surplus
  3. An agency designs a rural transport subsidy to reach isolated low-income communities Correct answer.
  4. An official keeps procurement records confidential without legal basis

Explanation

Orientation to the public interest means directing administrative action toward collective welfare, such as extending services to underserved groups. Self-dealing, unwarranted secrecy and revenue maximisation serve narrower interests.

Question 25Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

In the classical principles of organization, 'hierarchy' primarily refers to which arrangement?

  1. A graded series of superior-subordinate levels running from top to bottom Correct answer.
  2. A flat grouping of employees who share the same job grade
  3. A temporary committee formed to coordinate two agencies
  4. A horizontal division of work among departments of equal status

Explanation

Hierarchy, often called the scalar principle, is the vertical ordering of positions into successive levels of authority, each level accountable to the one above. It establishes the chain of command and the formal lines through which orders and reports travel.

Question 26Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Mooney and Reiley's 'scalar principle' is best described as the requirement that authority in an organization:

  1. Be shared equally among all members of the governing board
  2. Run in an unbroken line from the top to every subordinate position Correct answer.
  3. Be delegated only to employees with formal academic qualifications
  4. Be exercised only through written circulars issued by staff units

Explanation

The scalar principle holds that authority should flow through a continuous chain of graded levels, so every subordinate is connected to the top by an unbroken line. Gaps in that line weaken accountability and coordination.

Question 27Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

The 'span of control' of a supervisor is measured by:

  1. The number of hierarchical levels beneath the supervisor's position
  2. The number of subordinates who report directly to that supervisor Correct answer.
  3. The number of committees the supervisor is required to attend
  4. The total budget allocated to the supervisor's unit

Explanation

Span of control, also called span of supervision or span of management, counts the subordinates directly accountable to one superior. It does not measure levels, budget, or ancillary duties.

Question 28Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Which statement correctly states the principle of unity of command?

  1. Each employee should receive orders from only one superior Correct answer.
  2. Each superior should control no more than five subordinates
  3. Each employee should be consulted before any order is issued
  4. Each department should prepare its own independent budget

Explanation

Unity of command requires that every subordinate be accountable to a single superior for a given task, so that orders do not conflict and responsibility is unambiguous. Fayol listed it among his general principles of management.

Question 29Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Delegation in public administration is complete only when the delegating superior transfers which three elements?

  1. Seniority, promotion, and pension rights
  2. Policy, legislation, and judicial review
  3. Authority, responsibility, and accountability Correct answer.
  4. Budget, staff, and office space

Explanation

Delegation involves assigning a task, granting the authority needed to perform it, and creating accountability for results, while the delegating superior retains overall responsibility. All three elements must accompany the assignment.

Question 30Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Centralization of authority in an organization means that:

  1. Decision-making power is dispersed to the lowest operating units
  2. All field offices are physically relocated to the headquarters city
  3. All staff functions are abolished in favour of line functions
  4. Decision-making power is concentrated at higher levels of the hierarchy Correct answer.

Explanation

Centralization refers to the concentration of decision authority at upper levels, with lower levels referring matters upward. It is a matter of degree on a continuum with decentralization, not a physical or structural abolition.

Question 31Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

According to the principle of 'correspondence of authority and responsibility', a subordinate who is held answerable for a task must:

  1. Be promoted before the task is assigned
  2. Be given the authority sufficient to perform that task Correct answer.
  3. Be exempted from reporting on the task
  4. Be supervised by at least two superiors

Explanation

Authority must match responsibility: a person cannot be held to account for work that cannot be controlled. Where authority is insufficient, accountability becomes unfair and the delegation is defective.

Question 32Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A revenue department reorganizes so that each district officer may sanction expenditure up to a fixed limit without prior head-office approval. This change is best described as:

  1. Decentralization of authority Correct answer.
  2. Centralization of authority
  3. Reduction of the span of control
  4. Deconcentration of staff functions

Explanation

Decentralization disperses decision-making authority to lower or field levels, and a fixed sanctioning power exercised without prior approval is a classic example. The head office retains overall control through limits and reporting.

Question 33Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A hospital administrator is told that the nursing service must take orders from the medical superintendent and also from the hospital matron for the same ward duties. Which principle is most directly violated?

  1. Delegation of responsibility
  2. Unity of command Correct answer.
  3. Hierarchy of objectives
  4. Span of control

Explanation

When one employee is answerable to two superiors for the same work, orders may conflict and accountability is split, which is precisely what unity of command forbids. The remedy is to define one line of authority for the ward duties.

Question 34Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

As an organization adds more subordinates under a single superior without adding levels, what is the most likely consequence?

  1. The scalar chain shortens and discipline improves automatically
  2. The delegation of authority becomes unnecessary
  3. The unity of command is strengthened at every level
  4. The span of control widens and supervisory effectiveness may decline Correct answer.

Explanation

Adding direct reports widens the superior's span, and beyond a point the superior cannot supervise, coordinate, and communicate effectively. Graicunas and Urwick both argued that relationships multiply faster than the number of subordinates.

Question 35Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Graicunas' analysis of superior-subordinate relationships is chiefly used to demonstrate that:

  1. Every superior should have an identical number of subordinates
  2. Staff units should report to line units
  3. Cross relationships multiply rapidly as subordinates are added Correct answer.
  4. Formal authority should be abolished in flat structures

Explanation

Graicunas identified direct, cross, and direct-group relationships and showed that their number grows much faster than the number of subordinates. This supports caution about excessively wide spans.

Question 36Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Which factor most supports a relatively wider span of control for a supervisor?

  1. Frequent changes in policy requiring continuous interpretation
  2. Highly complex tasks requiring constant personal guidance
  3. Routine, standardized work performed by experienced subordinates Correct answer.
  4. Subordinates located in widely scattered field stations

Explanation

Span can be wider when work is simple, routine, and standardized and subordinates are competent, because less personal supervision is needed. Complexity, novelty, and physical distance all narrow the feasible span.

Question 37Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

In line and staff organization, the principal role of a staff unit is to:

  1. Approve the annual budget of line departments
  2. Advise and support line units without commanding them Correct answer.
  3. Exercise command over the operating units it advises
  4. Replace line authority during emergencies

Explanation

Staff units provide advice, information, and specialized services to line units but ordinarily lack command authority over them. Line units remain responsible for achieving the organization's primary objectives.

Question 38Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A superior delegates a task to a subordinate but continues to be answerable to higher management for the outcome. This illustrates that delegation:

  1. Transfers accountability away from the superior
  2. Requires the subordinate to be promoted first
  3. Removes the need for any reporting relationship
  4. Does not transfer ultimate responsibility for results Correct answer.

Explanation

Delegation transfers authority to act but not ultimate responsibility, which remains with the delegating superior. The subordinate becomes accountable for performance while the superior remains answerable upward.

Question 39Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A central ministry retains all policy decisions but transfers routine administrative execution to regional offices. This arrangement is best characterized as:

  1. An increase in the unity of command
  2. Abolition of the scalar chain
  3. Complete decentralization of authority
  4. Deconcentration within a centralized policy framework Correct answer.

Explanation

Deconcentration disperses routine execution to field units while policy control stays at the centre. It is a limited form of dispersal and should not be confused with full decentralization of decision authority.

Question 40Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Which situation is the clearest example of a violation of the scalar principle?

  1. A department head delegates signing authority to a deputy
  2. A junior clerk receives instructions directly from the minister, bypassing all intermediate levels Correct answer.
  3. A field officer submits a monthly report through the district office
  4. A section officer consults a colleague in another division on a technical matter

Explanation

The scalar principle requires authority to flow through each successive level, so a top official instructing a junior directly bypasses the chain. Such shortcuts create confusion about who is accountable at the intermediate levels.

Question 41Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Fayol treated centralization and decentralization as:

  1. An issue irrelevant to managerial practice
  2. A purely legal question settled by statute
  3. A choice in which decentralization is always superior
  4. A ratio to be varied according to circumstances, not a fixed rule Correct answer.

Explanation

Fayol described centralization and decentralization as a matter of proportion, to be adjusted to the situation and the ability of personnel. Neither extreme is universally right.

Question 42Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A large department discovers that decisions on minor leave applications are pending at headquarters for weeks. Which reform most directly addresses this problem while preserving control?

  1. Delegate leave sanctioning to section heads with clear limits and reporting Correct answer.
  2. Require all employees to route applications through the minister's office
  3. Reduce the number of subordinates reporting to each section head
  4. Add two more levels of review above the section head

Explanation

Delegating routine decisions with defined limits and reporting requirements reduces delay while keeping accountability through oversight. This is a targeted decentralization of routine authority rather than a loss of control.

Question 43Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Urwick's principle of 'definition' requires that in a well-designed organization:

  1. Every superior be appointed for a fixed short term
  2. Every employee be given an oral briefing each morning
  3. Every department be located in the same building
  4. Every position's duties, authority, and relationships be clearly defined Correct answer.

Explanation

Urwick stressed that each position should have clearly defined duties, authority, and relationships so that members know what is expected and to whom they are accountable. Ambiguity in definition undermines coordination.

Question 44Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A public agency creates a matrix arrangement in which a project officer reports to both a functional head and a project director. Which statement best captures the classical critique?

  1. It converts all line functions into staff functions
  2. It strengthens unity of command by giving each officer two sources of guidance
  3. It eliminates the need for a span of control
  4. It creates dual subordination and strains the unity-of-command principle Correct answer.

Explanation

Matrix structures deliberately create two reporting lines, which classical theory treats as a departure from unity of command. The tension is managed through clear role definitions and conflict-resolution procedures rather than denied.

Question 45Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Which argument most strongly supports decentralization of authority in a large public bureaucracy?

  1. It speeds response to local conditions and develops decision skills at lower levels Correct answer.
  2. It eliminates the accountability of field officers
  3. It guarantees uniformity of decisions across all regions
  4. It removes the need for any central policy guidance

Explanation

Decentralization improves responsiveness to local circumstances and builds capacity among lower-level officials. Uniformity and central guidance are arguments for centralization rather than against it.

Question 46Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A superior with a very narrow span of control, only two subordinates, may still be overloaded. Which explanation is most consistent with span-of-control theory?

  1. A narrow span always guarantees light supervisory work
  2. Span counts only formal subordinates, so workload depends entirely on their number
  3. The nature of the work and the number of cross-relationships may make even a small span demanding Correct answer.
  4. Overload is impossible when the span is below five

Explanation

Span theory recognizes that the quality and complexity of relationships, not merely the count of subordinates, determine supervisory load. A small span with highly interdependent or novel work can still burden the superior.

Question 47Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

A department head assigns a difficult function to a junior officer but withholds the power to commit funds needed to perform it. The delegation is defective chiefly because:

  1. The scalar chain was lengthened by one level
  2. The subordinate's span of control was too wide
  3. The superior retained accountability for the outcome
  4. Authority was not commensurate with the assigned responsibility Correct answer.

Explanation

Effective delegation requires that the authority granted be sufficient for the responsibility assigned. Withholding the power to commit funds makes performance impossible and the assignment unfair.

Question 48Principles of Organization: Hierarchy, Span of Control, Unity of Command, Delegation and Centralization/Decentralization

Which comparison of centralization and decentralization in public administration is most accurate?

  1. Both terms describe the physical location of government offices
  2. Centralization favours local initiative; decentralization favours uniform standards
  3. Centralization favours uniformity and control; decentralization favours responsiveness and initiative Correct answer.
  4. Both terms are synonymous with the span of control

Explanation

Centralization concentrates decision power at the top, promoting uniformity and control, while decentralization disperses authority, promoting responsiveness and initiative. Most systems mix the two rather than adopting either extreme.

Question 49Administrative Thinkers and Theories: Taylor, Fayol, Weber, Simon, Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor

Frederick W. Taylor's system of scientific management is most closely associated with which core principle?

  1. Designing jobs to maximise the variety of skills each worker uses
  2. Decentralising all production decisions to informal shop-floor leaders
  3. Rotating managerial authority among work groups on a weekly basis
  4. Replacing rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of tasks Correct answer.

Explanation

Taylor argued that managers should determine the 'one best way' to perform each task through time and motion study rather than relying on workers' traditional rule-of-thumb practices. This scientific determination of work methods, together with selection, training and cooperation with workers, forms the backbone of his system.

Question 50Administrative Thinkers and Theories: Taylor, Fayol, Weber, Simon, Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor

In Taylor's functional foremanship, how is supervision organised in the shop?

  1. Each worker reports to a single general foreman who coordinates all planning and production
  2. Each worker reports only to the owner, with no intermediate supervision
  3. Each worker elects a rotating supervisor from among the work group
  4. Each worker reports to eight specialised bosses, four in the planning room and four on the shop floor Correct answer.

Explanation

Taylor proposed functional foremanship in which the old single 'all-round' foreman is replaced by eight specialists. Four of them (route clerk, instruction card clerk, time and cost clerk, shop disciplinarian) work from the planning room, and four (speed boss, inspector, maintenance boss, gang boss) work on the floor.