Discipline ; unity of command

1. Prepared by
Prof. Ravneet Kaur

2. • Discipline means obedience, respect for authority, and
observance of established rules.
• Fayol has emphasized that a sense of discipline should
be present in all employees of the organization at all
level of the organization in order to achieve the
objectives of organization.
• For maintaining discipline in the organization managers
should consider:
Clear explanation of the rules;
Effective supervision;
Reward system on better obedience;
Possible provision for penalty on non obedience.

3. Positive impacts of this principle:
• Helpful in achieving organizational objectives.
• Improved efficiency.
• Cordial relation between management and employees.
• Better working environment in the organization.
• Minimization of wastage;
Consequences of violation of this principle:
• Height of disorders.
• Confusion and chaos.
• Wastage of time and resources.
• Conflicting situations.

4. • It Unity of Command means getting orders/ command
from only one supervisor.
• This principle states that an individual should get orders
from a single superior so that he does not get confused
and can discharge his duties effectively.
• This principle advocates that only one boss should give
order to an individual so that he can understand what to
do and can perform systematically with greater
efficiency. If more than one boss will instruct an
individual, he will certainly get confused about his
responsibility and will not be able to perform even a
single activity because he faces the dilemma of “whom
should he follow?”

5. Positive impacts of this principle:
• Prevents dual subordination;
• Easy to fix responsibility to an individual;
• Harmonious and cordial relation among the management and the
employees; and
• Performance of the employees will increase.
Consequences of violation of this principle:
• Reduces efficiency of subordinates;
• Creates confused situation for the subordinates;
• Subordinates can easily escape from their responsibility and duties;
• Ego clash between managers;
• Overlapping of orders and instructions; and
• Hard to maintain discipline in the organization.

6. Thank you