Basic Principles and Practice of Business Administration

By Dr. Ambrose E. Edebe MBA PhD

The primary purpose of this book is to provide students and others with a concise, thoroughly up-to-date book which will enable them to obtain a sound knowledge of the basic principles and practice of business administration for examination and practical purposes.

This book has been produced to make the learning of business administration simple as well as interesting, and intelligent study should equip the reader with a basic knowledge of business administration.

This book is a review and study guide. It helps in preparing for exams, in doing homework, and remains a handy reference source at all times. It will thus save hours of study and preparation time.

The book provides quick access to the important principles, definitions, strategies, and concepts in business administration. Materials needed for exams can be reviewed in summary form eliminating the need to read and re-read many pages of textbook and class notes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483602394

Dr. Ambrose E. Edebe MBA PhD

Dr. Ambrose E. Edebe, served as the general secretary of the Morning Star Church, London, England, from 1985 to 1995. From 1992 to 1995, he also served as an administrative officer with the UK Department of Education in London, England. In 1990, he was awarded the Fellowship of the College of Teachers, England, for a research thesis in education. He currently serves as the president of Trinity Professional Services, LLC in Maryland, USA. He is a dynamic teacher and a regular speaker in national and international conferences. He is married to Josephine; and they are blessed with four children: Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, and Samuel.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Ambrose E. Edebe, MBA, PhD.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013903717

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4836-0238-7

                Softcover       978-1-4836-0237-0

                Ebook            978-1-4836-0239-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/14/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

129007

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

PART ONE:   PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

1.   Introduction

2.   The Nature of Management

3.   Planning

4.   Control

5.   The Process of Control

6.   Co-ordination

7.   Motivation

9.   Policy Formulation

10.   Policy Implementation

11.   The Framework of Management

12.   Span of Control

13.   Process of Delegation

14.   Centralization and De-centralization

15.   Leadership

16.   Decision Making

17.   The Social Responsibilities of Management

18.   Committees

19.   Channels of Communication

20.   Reports and Report Writing

21.   Form of Report

22.   Management Techniques

PART TWO:   THE HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTION

1.   Introduction

2.   The Establishment

3.   Recruitment and Interviewing

4.   Training

5.   Types of Training

6.   Manpower planning

7.   Job analysis

8.   Promotion

9.   Transfers

10.   Withdrawals

11.   Labor Turnover

12.   Welfare

13.   Safety and Health

14.   Management by Objectives (MbO)

15.   Staff reports

16.   Staff records

17.   Wages and salaries Determination

18.   Industrial Relations

PART THREE:   THE PURCHASING AND MARKETING FUNCTIONS

1.   The Purchasing Department

2.   Purchasing Policy

3.   Storage and stock Control

4.   Introduction

5.   The ‘Marketing Concept’

6.   Marketing Policies

7.   Market Planning

8.   Market Research

9.   Promotion

10.   Advertizing

11.   The Advertising Budget

12.   Pricing and Costing

13.   Public Relations

14.   Distribution

15.   Sales Management

16.   The Sales Force

17.   Sales Forecasting

18.    Delivery

19.   After Sales Service

20.   Export Marketing

21.   Product Development

PART FOUR:   THE PRODUCTION FUNCTION

1.   Introduction

2.   Production Policy

3.   Types of Production

4.   Factory Location

5.   Factory Layout

6.   Estimating

7.   Preliminary Planning

8.   Production Planning and Control

9.   Inspection

10.   Materials Handling

11.   Maintenance

12.   Maintenance Control Department

13.   Work Study

14.   Value Analysis

15.   Automation

16.   Ergonomics

17.   Research

18.   Development

19.   Design

PART FIVE:   THE ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION

1.   Introduction

2.   Office Organization

3.   Servicing Departments

4.   Centralization of general services

5.   Organization and Methods

6.   Organization and Methods (O&M) in Operation

7.   Charting

8.   Mechanization

9.   Limitations of mechanization

10.   Electronic equipment

11.   Computers

12.   Methods of filing

13.   Internal audit

14.   Internal check

15.   The Use of Forms

16.   Design of Forms

17.   The Use of Forms

18.   Forms Control

Reference

About The Author

PREFACE

T HE PRIMARY PURPOSE of this book is to provide students and others with a concise, thoroughly up-to-date book which will enable them to obtain a sound knowledge of the basic principles and practice of business administration for examination and practical purposes.

This book has been produced to make the learning of business administration simple as well as interesting, and intelligent study should equip the reader with a basic knowledge of business administration.

This book is a review and study guide. It helps in preparing for exams, in doing homework, and remains a handy reference source at all times. It will thus save hours of study and preparation time.

The book provides quick access to the important principles, definitions, strategies, and concepts in the field of business administration. Materials needed for exams can be reviewed in summary form—eliminating the need to read and re-read many pages of textbook and class notes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I GIVE GLORY to God Almighty for making it possible for me to start and complete this book. May His name be praised!

I acknowledge the unflinching support received from my wife, Josephine, and the ceaseless prayers of my children—Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, and Samuel—for my success. I would like to thank my father, Senior Apostle Thomas Edebe and my mother, Mother of Grace (Mrs.) Esther Edebe, for their unconditional love. I also wish to thank my brothers and sisters for their support.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support and contributions received from my professional colleagues. The book is all the better for their advice, but full responsibility for it rests with me.

PART ONE

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

1.   Introduction

T HE STUDY OF management has increased substantially and the subject has been approached in many ways:

Three main classifications are:

a)   The ‘classical approach’ (often termed ‘Traditional Management’) which studies technical activities, division of labor, specializations etc., and their co-ordination along the chain of command.

b)   The ‘human relations’ approach which concentrates on the needs of the individual and views organizations from the point of view of group behavior. Emphasis is on employee participation and co-operation.

c)   The ‘systems approach’ which views organizations from the point of view of a decision-making system. Concentration is on information needs of decision-makers and the design of communications channels. The actual task or function involved is viewed as subordinate to these. This ‘approach’ has currently come to the fore with the rapid advances of computer technology.

2.   The Nature of Management

The activities of industrial undertakings can be divided into the following:

a)   Technical (e.g. Production)

b)   Financial (i.e. Provision and Utilization of Capital)

c)   Commercial (e.g. Buying, Selling)

d)   Accounting (i.e. Recording, Costing, Preparation of Accounts, Control Information)

e)   Security (i.e. Protection of Property and Persons).

Management is a separate skill, though many persons who exercise a managerial function may have been trained in one or more of those techniques, e.g. a factory manager may be a qualified engineer, but when acting as manager he uses quite different skills and techniques from those understood as ‘engineering’. The chief difference between the skill of management and the skill exercised in other crafts or callings is its human or social character; it is a responsibility exercised over other people, concerned with getting their co-operation and their unified response in the performance of a given task.

The following are broad classifications of the functions of management:

Planning: i.e. determining the broad lines for carrying out the operations (policy, general program, the overall plans, the organization) and planning the appropriate methods for effective action (equipment, tools, material supplies, working instructions, techniques, teams, etc.).

Control: i.e. checking current performance against predetermined standards, and recording the experience gained as a guide to future operations.

Co-ordination: i.e. balancing and keeping the team together by a suitable allocation of work among the members, and seeing that harmony is preserved among them.

Motivation (or ensuring morale): i.e. getting all members of the team to pull their weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group so as to carry out properly the activities allocated to them and generally to play an effective part in the task undertaken.

3.   Planning

The major difference between traditional and modern scientific approaches to management lies in the separation of planning from other aspects of management. As a specialized function, planning is akin to policy formulation. Where policy is concerned with future courses of action in general terms, plans provide detailed instructions to implement policy. Clear policy objectives are essential for successful planning.

There are two further prerequisites:

a)   As plans are carried out in the context of a specific organizational framework, the organizational structure of the undertaking must be fully defined before