PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Q1. Discuss between delegation and decentralization.

Cite some of the important obstacles to effective delegation DELEGATION Delegate means to grant or confer. Delegation is conferring authority from one manager or organizational unit to another in order to accomplish particular assignments. A Manager simply does not delegate authority; he delegates authority to get certain work accomplished. However, the person who delegated the work remains accountable for the outcome of the delegated work. Delegation empowers a subordinate to make decisions, ie., it is a shift of decision making authority from a higher organization level to a lower level. Delegation, if properly executed, is not abdication. The opposite of effective delegation is micromanagement where a manager provides too much input, direction and review of assigned work. Proper delegation of work to a team member with the required information will result in achieving the targets successfully within the given timeframe. If a Manager is able to build a team of successful members, who can handle the delegated work efficiently and effectively, then he can be considered as a successful delegator. Delegation is a win-win approach when the assigned tasks are handled properly, however, that does not mean that all responsibilities can be delegated. EFFECTING DELEGATION Delegating a job effectively is the most important factor in delegation. We have to assess and analyze the skills and qualities of every person in your group to do a delegated task. Include team members in the delegation process, as they can provide certain new ideas or suggestions to help in this process. Provide adequate support to your group in order to let them accomplish their task successfully. Focus on results, analyze and assess their skills on a daily basis in order to understand that the work delegated is accomplished properly or not and which person is best suited for which work. Though there are many aspects involved in leadership skills but delegation is also an important quality to build if you want successful management of your tasks to your subordinates.

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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT 1) Assigns tasks to the most appropriate employee. 2) Assigns work by describing the end product / result and allows the employee to control the resources and make the decisions to reach it. 3) Delegates work to the lowest appropriate level (providing that the employee can finish the work, and it is in his / her area of expertise). 4) Recognizes opportunities to delegate. 5) Offers guidance and instruction based on each employee's needs. 6) Uses delegation to offer development experiences to others. 7) Assigns employees new responsibilities if appropriate. 8) Monitors after delegation to help employee reach goal. 9) Balances responsibilities and tasks not delegated with those that have been delegated. Delegation is the entrustment by a party of work or responsibility and authority to another and the creation of accountability for performance. A delegation can also be a group of individuals, often called delegates, who represent the interests of a larger organization or body, often from a geographical area. Delegation (also called deputation) is the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It allows a subordinate to make decisions, i.e. it is a shift of decision-making authority from one organizational level to a lower one. BARRIERS IN DELEGATION Delegation or redelegation is prohibited if the position to receive the delegation holds an inherent conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict, or if a conflict or the appearance of a conflict develops or occurs. If a conflict of interest arises once a delegation or redelegation is in place, the individual in the position or the person to whom that individual reports must determine how to manage the conflict of interest. The delegation or redelegation should be withdrawn if there is an ongoing conflict or the perception of a conflict. Authority is delegated to a position title, not to an individual. Delegations of authority should be addressed accordingly. It is not necessary to issue a new delegation when individual position incumbents change, unless the duties of the position also change. Likewise, it is not necessary to issue a delegation for routine office management and /or administrative responsibilities. By longstanding custom, delegations of authority flow down through the chain of command. The President delegates authority to a direct report, who then (if allowed) may redelegate that authority to a direct report, and so on. If a written delegation does not contain a statement disallowing or limiting redelegation, the presumption is that the authority may be redelegated, except where redelegation would violate one of the Principles.
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Giving decision making and other responsibilities to the appropriate employee. Supervisors must know about the need to delegate. Without this knowledge, they will overload themselves or refer matters that should be handled by them and their staff to higher levels. When supervisors delegate effectively, they: give the employee decision-making authority and room for action; clearly state the tasks, responsibilities, and controls; provide the necessary guidance and resources; sell the employee on a task's importance; and fit the task to the employee's skills and development needs. FACTORS AFFECTING DELEGATION Delegation requires effective communication. The delegation of authority may not be effective if a superior does not like to delegate, if he is afraid of his subordinates' advancement, if he fears that his shortcomings may be exposed or if he has a negative attitude towards his subordinates. Also, if the delegant is afraid of criticism, lacks information and resources, lacks self-confidence and if the rewards and incentives are not attractive enough, the delegant may not be willing to take on additional responsibility. Organizational factors such as its decentralization policy, control procedures, availability of managers and management philosophy also affect the delegation of authority. It is always important to strike a balance between centralized and decentralized functions in an organization. Major policy areas like finance, new product programs, marketing strategies, etc. should be centralized, whereas routine and monotonous tasks which do not need much guidance from superiors, can be decentralized. Since the costs of decentralization are high, the potential benefits must be high enough to justify the costs involved. DELEGATION IN GOVERNMENT Delegation is a more extensive form of decentralization. Through delegation central governments transfer responsibility for decision-making and administration of public functions to semi-autonomous organizations not wholly controlled by the central government, but ultimately accountable to it. Governments delegate responsibilities when they create public enterprises or corporations, housing authorities, transportation authorities, special service districts, semi-autonomous school districts, regional development corporations, or special project implementation units. Usually these organizations have a great deal of discretion in decision-making. Delegation of decision - making to the subunits of an organization. It is a matter of degree. The lower the level where decisions are made, the greater is the decentralization.
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

DECENTRALIZATION Decentralization means dispersion of authority. The terms decentralization should not be confused with that of delegation. Although the two are closely related, decentralization is much more wider in scope reflecting managements philosophy regarding which decisions to be taken at the top as well as down the line in the organization. It is the process of systematic dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management, science, political science, political economy, sociology and economics. Law, science and technological advancements lead to highly decentralized human endeavors. IMPORTANCE OF DECENTRALIZATION Decentralization has been looked at as a singularly useful mode of administration to deliver the public services from convenient local centres close to the clients' locality. Bringing administration to the doorstep of the citizen and establishing a direct relationship between the client and the administration have been the driving force behind decentralization in most of the developing countries. The urge for decentralization has come from many sources. 1. 2.
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It has been prompted by the need to deliver the basic public goods like food, housing, water from local units of administration as soon as possible. Most people in the developing countries live in rural areas which are away from the National Capital located in distant urban area. Administration has to 'penetrate' the rural areas and link these up with the nation as a whole. In many countries sociological diversities manifest themselves in ethnic, linguistic and religious differences. Administration needs to be decentralized in response to regional diversities. Regional and local resources can be utilised for area development purposes, only if administration would move out to the regions and localities. Decentralization, therefore, facilitates local planning and development with the help of local resources. Decentralization has its own value in political and administrative terms. Politically, local participation in development activities, with intensive responses paves the way for meaningful articulation of local demands.

TYPES OF DECENTRALIZATION Four different types of decentralization can be identified, viz., administrative, functional, political and geographical.
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Administrative decentralization refers to decentralization of authority to the lower officials in the administrative hierarchy of organisations Functional decentralization implies that the functions are decentralized to the specialised units or departments like education or health. Political decentralization involves that the political powers and functions concentrated in the hands of higher-level political units are decentralized to lower level political units We are all aware that Panchayati Raj agencies are units of decentralization wherein political powers of decision making are decentralized from state governments to panchayats, samitis and zilla parishads. Geographical decentralization refers to the powers and functions of headquarters decentralized to the field departments of the state government, which are further decentralized to their field officers at the regional and district levels. This facilitates quick decision-making keeping in view the local requirements. COMPARISION BETWEEN DELEGATION AND DECENTRALISATION The terms decentralization should not be confused with that of delegation. Although the two are closely related, decentralization is much more wider in scope reflecting managements philosophy regarding which decisions to be taken at the top as well as down the line in the organization. Delegation is not a transfer of authority but it is simply an assignment of authority to a lower body by a higher level of government. Delegation is merely a technique of administration or management while decentralization deals with deep urgencies of democracy. Like delegation, decentralization is also a technique of administration. Decentralization denotes assignment of certain functions to the agent of the central or state government in the field. Examples : The District Collector, being vested with authority over development departments in the district is an example of decentralization. The Commissioner of Police delegating powers to permit holding of public meeting to the Assistant Commissioner of the concerned area is an example of delegation. DECONCENTRATION Deconcentration is the weakest form of decentralization and is used most frequently in unitary states-- redistributes decision making authority and financial and management responsibilities among different levels of the national government. It can merely shift responsibilities from central government officials in the capital city to those working in regions, provinces or districts, or it can
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT create strong field administration or local administrative capacity under the supervision of central government ministries. The costs of decentralization include, (1) managers have a tendency to look at their division and lose sight of overall company goals; (2) there can be costly duplication of services; (3) costs of obtaining sufficient information increase. DECENTRALIZATION IN HISTORY Decentralization and centralization are themes that have played major roles in the history of many societies. An excellent example is the gradual political and organizational changes that have occurred in European history. During the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, Europe went through major centralization and decentralization. Although the leaders of the Roman Empire created a European infrastructure, the fall of the Empire left Europe without a strong political system or military protection. Viking and other barbarian attacks further led rich Romans to build up their latifundia, or large estates, in a way that would protect their families and create a self-sufficient living place. This development led to the growth of the manorial system in Europe. DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE Decentralization is the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the central government to subordinate or quasi-independent government organizations and /or the private sector is a complex and multifaceted concept. It embraces a variety of concepts. Different types of decentralization show different characteristics, policy implications, and conditions for success. Political, administrative, fiscal, and market decentralization are the types of decentralization. Drawing distinctions between these various concepts is useful for highlighting the many dimensions of successful decentralization and the need for coordination among them. Nevertheless, there is clearly overlap in defining these terms and the precise definitions are not as important as the need for a comprehensive approach. These can also appear in different forms and combinations across countries, within countries and even within sectors. ADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALIZATION Administrative decentralization seeks to redistribute authority, responsibility and financial resources for providing public services among different levels of governance. It is the transfer of responsibility for the planning, financing and management of public functions from the central government or regional

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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT governments and its agencies to local governments, semi-autonomous public authorities or corporations, or area-wide, regional or functional authorities. The line and staff conflicts can be avoided by having clearly defined authority relationships between line and staff functions and by ensuring proper use of staff talent. The staff personnel should also be made accountable for the outcome of their actions and present line managers the solutions for problems in as complete a form as possible, leaving only its acceptance or rejection to the line manager. Organizations differ from each other in the amount of authority given to the lowerlevel employees regarding decision-making. Centralization is the retention of decision-making authority with the top management, whereas decentralization is granting of decision-making powers to the lower-level employees. It is not possible for an organization to be either completely centralized or completely decentralized. An organization can either follow a centralized or decentralized approach depending upon the manner in which it has grown over time, its size, the technical complexity of its tasks and the geographical dispersion of its business operations. Apart from these, other factors like time frame of decisions, importance of a decision to the organization, the planning and control procedures used and influence of various environmental factors determine the level of decentralization in an organization. Moreover, decentralization is facilitated if competent and experienced managers are present in the organization and subordinates are willing to take on additional responsibilities. Depending on whether the organization follows a centralized or decentralized approach, authority is either retained with the top management or is delegated to the lower-level managers. The amount of authority delegated depends on the delegator and the delegant, as well as organizational factors. POLITICAL DECENTRALIZATION Political decentralization aims to give citizens or their elected representatives more power in public decision-making. It is often associated with pluralistic politics and representative government, but it can also support democratization by giving citizens, or their representatives, more influence in the formulation and implementation of policies. Advocates of political decentralization assume that decisions made with greater participation will be better informed and more relevant to diverse interests in society than those made only by national political authorities. The concept implies that the selection of representatives from local electoral constituency allows citizens to know better their political representatives and allows elected officials to know better the needs and desires of their constituents. Political decentralization often requires constitutional or statutory
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT reforms, creation of local political units, and the encouragement of effective public interest groups. MEASURING DECENTRALIZATION While diversity in degree of decentralization across the world is a fact yet there is no consensus in the empirical literature over the questions like which country is more decentralized? This is because decentralization is defined and measured differently in different studies (Sharma, 2006). A true assessment of the degree of decentralization in a country can be made only if a comprehensive approach is adopted and rather than trying to simplify the syndrome of characteristics into the single dimension of autonomy, interrelationships of various dimensions of decentralization are taken into account." Decentralization is defined and the potential links between decentralization, improved governance and increased efficiency of service delivery examines the various forms that decentralization can take, viz., deconcentration, delegation, devolution, partnerships and privatization which concludes with a discussion of the potential benefits of decentralization and the challenge and risk of diversity. Decentralization reforms focus on the relationships between three major sectors of governance, namely, the public sector, the private sector, and the voluntary sector. In defining decentralization the concept of the level of the system of governance is extensively used. With regard to the public administration five different levels are normally recognized. The transfer of responsibilities and resources involves different relationships between the central administration and the organizations to which the transfer is made. Similar objectives regarding production and allocative efficiency can also be achieved by separating the production or delivery from the financing of a specific public service, introducing modification of the existing structure of the public administration. Responsibility and resources for implementing specific tasks and delivering certain services are transferred to a public agency, a state enterprise, a private enterprise, or an NGO under a contract that may provide some autonomy in interpreting the tasks assigned under the contract. DECENTRALIZATION IN INDIA As part of UN Solution Exchange a mail group discussion was conducted in order to explore the idea of creating on Decentralization in India to find out the technical issues, to identify the funding requirements, to make out the drawbacks and content management. The objective of the proposed Wiki site would be to collect, organize, maintain, edit further and disseminate the growing body of
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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT information/knowledge pertaining to decentralization and local governance in India.

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