por What is unity of command?
The control unit It is the management principle that states that no subordinate in an organization should receive orders and report to more than one superior. Its purpose is to ensure unity of effort, under one responsible person, to complete a task.
Unity of command is one of Henri Fayol’s fourteen management principles. This principle states that there should only be one superior for a subordinate. That is, an employee or worker should not have many bosses.
If an employee or subordinate has to work under the influence of many bosses, this creates a confusing situation, a dilemma and a mess. It also affects the overall efficiency, productivity and profit of the organization.
Therefore, according to the principle of unity of command, too many bosses or superiors should not direct or supervise the same amount of work done by one worker or employee.
In other words, the work of a worker or an employee must always be supervised by a single boss.
Control unit characteristics
– The unit of command refers to a management principle, which establishes that the holder of a position should receive orders from a single boss and report to that same boss.
– The purpose of unity of command is to prevent dual subordination. Therefore, it avoids subordination to multiple supervisors.
– It focuses on a single employee or subordinate.
– The result of unity of command is that this principle leads to effective work by subordinates.
– It can exist in both large and small organizations.
– Establishes the relationship that should exist between a superior and a subordinate.
– It is needed to establish the responsibility of each person in the organization.
– In a small business, the structure may automatically follow unity of command when a single owner or manager has full control over each management responsibility.
– Unity of command means that any worker reports to a single supervisor. Your supervisor in turn reports to only one person. However, each supervisor can have more than one subordinate.
Importance of unity of command
Unity of command prevents the possibility of an employee not knowing what orders to follow or who to report to. This applies even when an organization is run by a committee.
For example, in the United States, a superintendent of public schools is accountable in his daily activities to the president of the school board, not to the general school board.
Unity of command can help prevent problems, such as an employee feeling the need to answer to more than one boss, or a situation where a senior supervisor directly reports to a team member, without consulting that person’s immediate supervisor. member.
This adds clarity to the management process for both team members and supervisors. It generates as a result less confusion and chaos, with respect to the task assigned to the employee and the results obtained in the effective performance of their functions.
Management principles
Henri Fayol, a French mining engineer and manager, was the one who listed the 14 management principles. Two of these management principles are unity of command and unity of direction.
Common to all members of this school was the attempt to extrapolate, from their practical experiences in managerial roles in large organizations, a set of rules for how to effectively and efficiently manage management.
This was defined by Fayol in terms of foresight, planning, organization, command, coordination and control.
To this end, management must operate according to a set of principles that are valid regardless of the environment and the organization’s objectives. These principles included the principle of unity of command, a clear hierarchy, and job specialization.
Unity of command and unity of direction
The unity of command says that each employee is responsible to a single supervisor and, therefore, receives orders from him, related to the task to be performed.
According to this principle, dual subordination is completely ignored. That is, an employee will report to a single supervisor, who in turn will report to a manager, and so on.
The person to whom the employee reports to is directly above the employee’s position, called the immediate boss.
On the other hand, the unity of direction means that the set of activities that have a common objective must be carried out according to a single plan and also under a single boss.
Unity of command is related to the effective work of subordinates in the organization. In contrast to the unity of direction, it is indicated that each unit of the organization must be aligned towards the same objective, through organized efforts.
Advantages of the control unit
– The unity of command helps to develop a better relationship, much clearer, between superiors and their subordinates.
– Results in clear and well-organized authority, responsibility, and accountability among the various levels of the organization’s workforce.
– Helps reduce or avoid duplication of work between different levels of the organization’s workforce.
– The unity of command helps managers to be able to correctly make quick or immediate decisions.
– Unity of command will ensure effective and efficient discipline among personnel within an organization.
– The unity of command guarantees better coordination and teamwork of workers in the organization.
– Increases motivation and generates a positive attitude among the workers of the organization.
– Leads to higher productivity of goods and services. Consequently, this creates a better image or brand of the organization in the market.
Example
A proper unity of command flows from the manager to the deputy manager, from the deputy manager to the supervisor, from the supervisor to the executive, and finally from the executive to the workers.
According to the principle of unity of command, the organization must follow a correct unity of command.
References
Surbhi. Difference Between Unity of Command and Unity of Direction. Taken from keydifferences.com.
Classical management theory. Taken from financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com.