Taxmann’s -Management Principles & Applications | UGCF – By V.S.P. Rao

This book, designed in compact and easy-to-understand language, reflects the latest thinking in management while balancing time-tested principles with practical applications. The third edition includes enhanced readability features like examples, charts, and tables. Each chapter offers case studies, skill-building, and role-play exercises to foster creative thinking and problem-solving.

Description

This book is designed with a compact, easy-to-understand language and incorporates new topics to reflect the latest thinking in the field. It harmoniously balances time-tested management principles with their successful application in a dynamic world. The third edition has undergone significant enhancements, making it more compact and accessible. To maintain readability, the revised edition includes examples, charts, tables, and various study aids.

Each chapter features case studies and skill-building exercises to provoke creative thinking and problem-solving. Additionally, role-play exercises offer students valuable learning opportunities by allowing them to assume roles or act out given situations, which can be performed individually, in pairs, or groups.

This book is designed to meet the needs of students in:

• B.Com. (Hons.) Core Paper based on Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) for the University of Delhi
• Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB)
• School of Open Learning (SOL) of the University of Delhi
• Various universities throughout India

The Present Publication is the 3^rd Edition, authored by V.S.P. Rao, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Chapter Outline] Each chapter begins with a clear statement of topics covered, helping students to outline a clear road map from an examination perspective
• [Textual Matter] The book is divided into 19 chapters, covering:
  • Introduction
  • Planning
  • Organising
  • Directing & Controlling
  • Salient Developments & Contemporary Issues

The content is research-based, student-friendly, and eminently readable due to its straightforward language. The text offers a lively commentary in a conversational style on the ongoing nature of real organisations and the behaviour of individuals and teams within them.

• [Contemporary Examples] Complex theoretical topics are explained through contemporary examples
• [Charts | Boxes | Tables] These are included to present the content in a concise format
• [Case Studies & Skill-Building Exercises] Provided at the end of each chapter to develop problem-solving skills and show how theoretical concepts are applied in real-life
• [Role Play Exercises] Offer students great learning opportunities by assuming roles or acting out given situations
• [Chapter Summary & Review Questions] Each chapter concludes with a summary of important points and test questions to help students check their understanding of key issues

The contents of the book are as follows:

• Introduction
  • An Overview of Management
    • Introduction to management and defining who managers are
    • Examination of traditional and modern views of management
    • Different perspectives on management and the core functions managers perform
    • Importance of studying management
    • Summary, test questions, skill builder (Select your Venture), and case study (Ordinary People Delivering Extraordinary Results)
  • Managerial Roles, Levels, Skills & Competencies
    • Nature of managerial work and the roles managers play (interpersonal, informational, decisional)
    • Classification of managerial levels and required skills
    • Understanding managerial competencies, their classification, and methods to improve them
    • Summary, test questions, skill builder (Role Play Exercise), learning exercise (Managerial Skills Test), and case study (To Do or Not to Do?)
  • Coordination
    • Introduction to coordination, its need, and significance
    • Principles, processes, techniques, and types of coordination
    • The systems approach to coordination
    • Summary, test questions, skill builder (Where You Stand Now and Where You Want to Be?), learning exercise (How to Save a Sinking Ship?), and case study (In Search of Greener Pastures).
  • Theories of Management
  • Overview of modern management thought
  • Summary, test questions, learning exercise (What to Do with Munna Bhai?), and case study (Bureaucracy Still Works at UPS)
  • Appendix on value-oriented holistic management with lessons from Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana
• Planning
  • Planning & Objective Setting
    • Introduction to planning, its importance, and limitations
    • The planning process, principles, effective planning techniques, and types of planning
    • Setting organisational objectives and goals
    • Summary, test questions, learning exercise (A Time Management Plan), skill builder (How Do You Plan to Achieve the Goals?), role-play exercise, and case study (New Management Challenges for the New Age)
  • Decision Making
    • Introduction to decision making, its characteristics, and importance
    • Types of decisions, the rational decision-making process, and the concept of rationality
    • Administrative decision-making, satisficing decisions, and decision-making conditions
    • Role of information in decision-making, group decision-making, and related techniques
    • Summary, test questions, learning exercises (Keep a Journal, Group Decision Making at Work), and case study (Ethical Dilemma of the Spitzer Group)
  • Business Firm Environment & Industry Structure
    • Concept, features, and importance of business environment
    • Internal and external environment, micro and macro environment
    • Industry Structure and the Five Forces Model
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (ABC Limited)
  • Business Level Strategic Planning
    • Relationship between planning and strategy
    • Strategic management, the strategic management process, and business-level strategic planning
    • Competitive advantage, resources and capabilities, and competitive strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focus)
    • Summary, test questions, learning exercise (Core Strengths of a Company), and case study (Walmart’s Failure in Germany).
• Organising
  • Organising
    • Introduction to organisation as a structure and process
    • Principles of organisation and organisation design (contingency theory)
    • Traditional organisational structures
    • Summary, test questions, learning exercises, and case studies (Changing the Organisational Culture, Work Redesign in an Insurance Company)
  • Departmentalisation & Types of Organisation Structure
    • Need and importance of departmentalisation, bases for it, and choosing a basis
    • Types of organisational structure, making matrix organisation work
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercise (Developing an Organization Structure), and case study (The Wrong Job)
  • Delegation and Decentralisation
    • Introduction to authority, responsibility, and accountability
    • Nature, process, and principles of delegation
    • Centralisation vs. decentralisation, advantages, disadvantages, and factors determining degree
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercise (The Ethical Dilemma), and case study (The National Sales Manager)
  • Interface Between Formal and Informal Organisations
    • Emergence, features, and types of informal organisations
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (Fish Out of the Pond)
• Directing & Controlling
  • Motivation
    • Importance, nature, determinants, and theories of motivation
    • Techniques for motivating employees using financial and non-financial incentives
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (Fool’s Paradise)
  • Leadership
    • Effective leaders, leadership styles, and theories
    • Improving leadership potential and effectiveness, followership
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercise (Between the Devil and the Deep Sea), and case study (Choice of a Leader)
  • Controlling
    • Features, importance, limitations, and types of controlling
    • Control techniques (traditional and modern), accountability for performance
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercise (Meeting Water Bed Demand), and case study (A Purchase Manager’s Troubles)
• Salient Developments & Contemporary Issues
  • Values and Ethics
    • Types, impact, and management of values, value systems across cultures
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (The Loyal Employee)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation
    • Qualities, functions, and roles of entrepreneurs
    • Entrepreneurial decision-making process, social entrepreneurship, innovation, and its challenges
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (The Demise of Boo.com)
  • Managerial Challenges in the 21st Century
    • The new workplace, rewards and challenges of being a manager
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (The Dilemma)
  • Contemporary Issues
    • Workforce diversity, internationalisation, digitisation, and subaltern management ideas
    • Summary, test questions, skill-building exercises, and case study (Smart Beginning)

V.S.P. Rao

Dr V.S.P. Rao is the Executive Vice President of the MIM Group of Institutions, and he formerly served as Professor and Dean at IBS, Hyderabad. Dr Rao is a distinguished academician and educationist with nearly four decades of experience at Delhi University (SVC). He is a former Director of MIM, Lucknow, and a recipient of two gold medals for being the University Topper at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, along with national scholarships for academic excellence.

Dr Rao is an award-winning author and consultant with an extensive publication record, having authored or co-authored 25 books and numerous articles and research papers in Management, Organizational Behaviour, and Human Resource Management. He has completed three research projects funded by UGC and ICSSR and has conducted numerous highly regarded Management Development Programs for middle and senior managers across various industries. Notably, two of his books received the Best Book Award in 2013 and 2014, and he has also earned the Best Article Award from the Chartered Secretary.

Dr Rao is a respected member of technical committees and editorial boards for international HRM, OB, and Management conferences. As a visiting faculty member, he has delivered lectures to MBA and PhD students at several prestigious management institutes in India and abroad, further contributing to his reputation as a leading educator and thought leader.