Directing – Class 12 Business Studies Chapter 7 Notes & NCERT PDF

Introduction: Grassroot Leadership at Ford

Ford had always nurtured capable managers and technicians but failed to do the same for change agents and leaders. As part of a cultural overhaul it set out to "mass-manufacture leaders" - an army of "warrior-entrepreneurs" with the courage to topple old ideas. Ford views grassroot leadership as the best vehicle for a successful business. The case shows why managers must lead, motivate, inspire and communicate - together called the directing function.

Meaning and Characteristics

Directing refers to the process of instructing, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading people in the organisation to achieve its objectives. Characteristics:

Importance of Directing

Principles of Directing

Maximum individual contribution; harmony of objectives; unity of command; appropriateness of direction technique; managerial communication; use of informal organisation; leadership; follow through (reviewing whether orders are implemented).

Elements of Directing

Supervision, Motivation, Leadership and Communication.

Supervision

Supervision means overseeing what subordinates do and instructing them to ensure optimum use of resources. It is also the function of the supervisor, the operative-level position immediately above workers. Importance: day-to-day contact (guide, friend and philosopher); link between workers and management; maintains group unity; ensures targets are met; provides on-the-job training; supervisory leadership builds morale; analyses work and gives feedback.

Case: Rashmi Joshi

A capable district sales manager at Fine Productions was passed over for marketing manager because she took credit for others' work. She became despondent, late with reports and slow in decisions. The new marketing manager must find how to motivate her - showing that formal authority alone cannot get the best out of people.

Motivation

Features: an internal feeling; produces goal-directed behaviour; can be positive (pay rise, promotion) or negative (punishment, stopping increments); a complex process.

Process: Unsatisfied need -> Tension -> Drives -> Search behaviour -> Satisfied need -> Reduction of tension. (Ramu, hungry after skipping breakfast, walks 2 km and pays ₹10 for roti and dal.)

Importance: improves performance; changes negative attitudes; reduces employee turnover; reduces absenteeism; helps introduce changes smoothly. Tata Steel used personal development programmes, job rotation, performance-linked compensation and multi-path communication such as 'MD Online'.

Maslow's Need Hierarchy (1943)

Assumptions: behaviour is based on needs; needs are hierarchical; a satisfied need can no longer motivate; a person moves up only when the lower need is satisfied. Though the classification is questioned, the theory remains relevant.

Financial and Non-Financial Incentives

Financial: pay and allowances; productivity-linked wage incentives; bonus; profit sharing; co-partnership/stock option (shares below market price, used at Infosys); retirement benefits (provident fund, pension, gratuity); perquisites (car, housing, medical aid).

Non-financial: status; organisational climate; career advancement opportunity; job enrichment (more variety, skill, autonomy); employee recognition programmes; job security (may cause complacency); employee participation; employee empowerment.

Leadership

Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of people so that they strive voluntarily towards organisational goals. Features: ability to influence; brings change in behaviour; interpersonal relations between leader and followers; aims at common goals; continuous. Followers make a leader by accepting leadership. Stephen Covey: managers are important but leaders are vital.

Importance: influences behaviour; maintains personal relations; introduces change; handles conflicts; trains subordinates and builds successors.

Styles (based on use of authority):

A leader may combine styles as situations demand.

Communication

From the Latin 'communis' (common). Elements: sender, message, encoding, media, decoding, receiver, feedback, noise. A manager spends about 90% of time communicating; Barnard calls it the foundation of all group activities.

Importance: basis of coordination; smooth working; basis of decision making; increases managerial efficiency; promotes cooperation and industrial peace; establishes effective leadership; boosts morale.

Formal communication follows official channels - vertical (upward: leave application, progress report; downward: notices, orders) or horizontal. Networks: single chain, wheel, circular (slow), free flow (fast), inverted V.

Informal communication (grapevine) spreads rapidly and may get distorted. Networks: single strand, gossip, probability, cluster (most popular).

Barriers and Remedies

Improvements: clarify ideas; communicate to the receiver's needs; consult others; mind language, tone and content; convey things of value; ensure feedback; communicate for present and future; follow up; be a good listener.

Board Exam Focus

Key Terms (Hindi)

Common Mistakes