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ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2014-2015)

E.P.A.-1
Administrative Theory
Disclaimer/Special Note: These are just the sample of the Answers/Solutions to some of the Questions given in
the Assignments. These Sample Answers/Solutions are prepared by Private Teacher/Tutors/Auhtors for the help
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has been taken while preparing these Sample Answers/Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before
you prepare a Particular Answer & for uptodate and exact information, data and solution. Student should must
read and refer the official study material provided by the university.

SECTION - I

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each.

Q. 1. Examine the evaluation of public administration under the broad paradigm of liberal democracy.
Ans. Firstly, the development of modern sciences and technology made an impact on the life of the
people and the functioning of Government. Rapid technological developments created large scale social
dislocations which made state intervention imperative and desirable. Hence scholars came to pay attention
to the problems of organisation and management.
Secondly, the scientific management movement founded by F.W. Taylor in USA, towards the end of
the 19th century gave impetus to the study of public administration.
Thirdly, a factor which helped the growth of this discipline, was the gradual evolution of the concept of
welfare state i.e. a shift from laissez-faire. In enlarged the scope of governmental functions and administration.
Lastly, the movement for governmental reform gathered momentum in the USA from the early year of
century, when efforts were made for the growth of an autonomous and specialized field of knowledge based
on the structure and functioning of public administration.
The first stage can be called the era of politicsadministration dichotomy. Functionally, administration
was separated from politics. It was argued that administration is concerned with implementation of policy
decision taken politically. Frank Goodnows Politics and Administration sought to conceptually distinguish
the two functions. According to him, Politics has to do with policies or expression of the state will.
Administration has to do with the execution of these policies. Apart from this, the institutional locations of
these two functions were differentiated. The location of politics was identified as the legislature and the
higher echelons of Government, while the location of administration was identified as the executive arm of
Governmentthe bureaucracy.
The second stage of evolution is marked by the tendency to reinforce the idea of politicsadministration
dichotomy and to evolve a value-free science of management. The public aspect of public administration
was dropped at this stage and the focus was almost wholly on efficiency. The central belief of this period

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was that there are certain principles of administration which was the task of scholars to discover and
advocate. Willoughby, Mooney and Reiley, Follett, Fayol, Gulick and Urwick were among the scholars who
ushered an upsurge of interest in this new theme.
So, while the earlier emphasis on the dichotomy of politics and administration was retained in the
second stage of evolution, the techniques of study shifted from legal to scientific forms (e.g. work flow
studies, time and motion studies, organisational charts, etc.) Empirical studies were undertaken to find a
scientifically accurate method of organising human relationships in large scale organisations the one best
way to achieve a desirable level of organisational efficiency and economy. Luther and Gulick coined the
word POSDCORB to promote these principles.
The third stage began with a reaction against this mechanical approach. The so-called principles of
administration were challenged asnaturalistic fallacies and proverbs. Meanwhile scientific management
was also undergoing a humanising process in response to societal needs and forces. The famous Hawthorne
experiments in late 1920s carried by a group of scholars at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company,
focused upon work groups, demonstrating the powerful influence of social and psychological factors on the
workers output. It drew attention to the effect of informal organisation in the formal setup, phenomenon of
leadership and influence, impact of conflicts and cooperation among groups. It revealed the vital importance
of human relations in an organisation.

The fourth stage was ushered in by two significant publications in the 40sSimons Administrative
Behaviour and Robert Dahls essay entitled: The Science of Administration: Three Problems. Simons
approach widened the scope of the subject by relating it to psychology, sociology, economics and political
science. Simon rejected classical principles and politics-administration dichotomy and argued that all
administration revolves around rationality and decision-making. He identified two mutually supportive streams
of thought. One was engaged in the development of pure science of administration and the other concerned
with normative aspects of administration and prescription for public policy. He favoured the coexistence of
both.
Dahl identified three issues in the evolution of public administration. First, it is impossible to exclude
normative considerations from public administration. Value permeate administration while science is valuefree. Second, study of administration should include a study of human behaviour. Third, there is a tendency
to enunciate universal principles based on few examples from national and historical settings.
The fifth stage was marked by efforts to build a new and theoretically rigorous science of administration.
Administration came to be viewed increasingly as a unit in the process of continuous interaction between
the people inside and outside the organisation at any given period of time. The last organisational goals must
be considered in combination with other equally legitimate aims of all groups concerned. Secondly, public
and private administration tended to merge into a single science of organisation. New insights in administration
came from management and cybernetic theories. Thirdly, increasing use of systems and behavioural approaches
encouraged the comparative study of administrative systems, in diverse social settings and environments.
New perspectives were needed for the study of comparative public administration and development
administration, came from great power competition and international humanitarianism. T.W. Riggs pioneered
a new administrative vocabulary to describe different societal typologies, administrative culture and system.
Fourthly, with the ushering in of the computer age, attempts were made to understand the decision-making
and problem-solving processes of human mind with the help of computer and other mechanical aids. With
increasing scientific and technical knowledge at his disposal man will come to possess more political power
of control over his fellow human beings.

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The final stage of the evolution of public administration coincides with a general concern in the social
sciences for public policy analysis. This approach was built upon two basic themes:
(1) The interpretation of politics and administration at many levels; and
(2) The programmatic character of all administration.
These themes directed attention in public administration towards political or policy-making processes
and specific public programmes.
Q. 2. Douglas McGregor examined the motivation process in management in terms of Theory X
and Theory Y. Elucidate.
Ans. While commenting on the traditional managerial strategies, Chris Argyris has insightfully observed
that such strategies for the direction and control of the human resources of an enterprise are eminently suited
to the capacities and characteristics of the child rather than the adult people at the top, according to McGregor,
hold two process exercised by top management. These alternative views have been called Theory X and
Theory Y. The assumptions about human nature and human behaviour underlying Theory X and Theory
Y are as follows:
(1) The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.
(2) Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled,
directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of
organisational objectives.

(3) The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little
ambition and wants security above all.
Theory Y

(1) The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. The average
human being does not inherently dislike work.
(2) External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort
towards organisational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives
to which he is committed.
(3) Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.
(4) The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility.
Avoidance of responsibility, lack of ambition, and emphasis on security are generally consequences of
experience, not inherent human characteristics.
The assumptions of Theory Y are diametrically opposite to those of Theory X. These assumptions hold
out different conception of man as a positive and dynamic being with substantial potentialities for growth
and development. The implications for management control are obvious. To quote McGregor, If employees
are lazy, indifferent, unwilling to take responsibility, intransigent, uncreative, uncooperative, Theory Y implies
that the causes lie in managements methods of organisation and control.
Control, according to this line of reasoning, need not be rigid and static. It is the managements
responsibility to understand the behaviour of organisational participants and take appropriate steps in specific
situations. The manager has to be an able diagnostician and organisational medicine man. A variable and
flexible control system follows from this management style.
Since management has to ensure best use of human resources to get the organisational objectives
fulfilled, Hezbergs motivationhygiene concept has significant bearing on organisational control system.

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Appropriate managerial strategy for effective use of human resources has been the subject of research by
another eminent behavioural scientist, Rensis Likert. He has evolved four types of management systems
called system 1, 2, 3 and 4. System 1 represents classical organisational design, and system its opposite. In
terms of leadership process, motivational process, communication process, interaction process, decision
process, goal-setting process, and performance goals, the system 4 model encourages greater utilisation of
the human potential and leads to significant improvement in organisational performance. The assumptions
and approaches of McGregors Theory Y are incorporated in Likerts system 4 model. The control process
in this model envisages dispersal of decision-making throughout the organisation, and it emphasises selfcontrol and participative problem-solving.
SECTION - II
Answer the following questions in about 250 words each.
Q. 3. Discuss the nature of comparative administrative studies.
Ans. After the Second World-War many Afro-Asian countries attained independence and are facing the
challenging task of development. The western administrative models and practices were found wanting in
many respects when they were applied in these countries. Thus, there arose the need for developing entirely
new concept, was felt and the result is the emergence of Comparative Public Administration, which emphasises
cross-cultural and cross-national administrative studies. Fred Riggs, a pioneer in this field, developed many
analytical models and approaches to study Public Administration in a comparative perspective.

Public Administration is viewed in three broad perspectives:

(i) Institutional description study, where we study the infrastructure and work of administrative devices;
(ii) Evolutional study, i.e. to know about the subject, we gather statistics/documentation to have apt
information about administrative process and behaviour
(iii) Human study in which different committees on administrative leadership are studied.
Comparative Public Administration has made the study contextual and modern and has become global.
However in Comparative Public Administration greater studies have been done in western systems. However,
the need is to focus on the administrative, social, economic systems of present nature of developing nations.
Q. 4. Highlight the relationship between Generalists and Specialists.

Ans. Several arguments have been given in favour of the supremacy of the generalists. A person with
liberal education and varied multi-functional experience is much better than the specialist who has deep
knowledge of a very narrow field. It established contact of higher echelons of Civil Service with the grassroots administration. The administration in India is organised an area basis. Each area requires a generalist
administrator to coordinate the activities of the various technical departments working in that area. By their
education, training and experience, the generalists have a broad view of the problems facing the society. At
higher levels of administration, very little technical knowledge is required. The argument for specialist is
that the tasks of the administration have now become very complex and cannot be comprehended by the
generalists. In fact they have a better knowledge of their subjects and can explain it better to the minister.
Fulton Committee in England recommended greater role for the specialists in administration. In most of the
countries a large number of top positions are manned by technical people. However the functional expertise
is needed in the administration to promote economic development. But the generalist administrator has a
critical coordinating role as well which should not be ignored. No country can afford a war going on among
its generalist and specialist administrators. Some solutions have been suggested from time to time, like
creating more all-India service and class-I central services. Appointment to the top positions should not be
denied to the specialists.

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Creation of Parallel Hierarchy

This is a system prevalent in Australia.
Unified Civil Service
This is a radical suggestion of completely revamping the administrative system. If we could look at the
administrative system prevailing in different countries, we will find Britain at one extreme where generalist
services predominate and the USA on the other extreme where specialisation has reached extreme proportions.
They have argued that the generalist administrators should now try to get more training and specialise in
certain broad functional areas. They have also argued that the specialist should be given training in broad
general management principles. This should make it possible to have a happy mix of the broad view of the
generalist as well as the technical expertise of the specialist.
Q. 5. Examine the characteristics of Bureaucracy, as identified by Max Weber.
Ans. The growth of capitalism according to Weber, facilitated the birth and development of bureaucracy. As he wrote, Today, it is primarily the capitalist market economy which demands that the official
business of the administration be discharged precisely, unambiguously, continuously and with as much
speed as possible. In his view, the very large modern capitalist enterprises proved to be the unequalled
models of strict bureaucratic organisation.
A major technical advantage of bureaucratic organisation, according to Weber, is the optimum possibility
that bureaucratisation offers for carrying through the principle of specialising administrative functions
according to purely objective considerations. There is room for steady improvement of functioning through
training and constant practice. The objective discharge of business means, as Weber explained, the discharge
of business according to calculable rules and without regard or persons.

While discussing the permanent character of the bureaucratic machine and its socio-economic
consequences, Weber made some incisive comments on how the bureaucracy tends to operate in practice. A
fully developed bureaucracy, he argues, is among those social structures which are the hardest to destroy. As
an instrument of societalising relations of power, bureaucracy is practically unshatterable. The individual
bureaucrat is reduced to a single log in an ever-moving mechanism which prescribes to him as essentially
fixed rout of march.
On the part of the ruled, the bureaucratic apparatus of authority, once it comes into existence, becomes
almost fixed and unalterable. More and more the material fate of the masses depends upon the steady and
correct functioning of the increasingly bureaucratic organisations of private capitalism.
Weber had foreseen the far-reaching socio-economic consequences of bureaucratisation. But he thought
that the distribution of economic and social power in a specific country and the particular spheres of activities
placed under bureaucratic control would go to determine the actual results of bureaucratisation. He was very
emphatic on the idea that the consequence of bureaucracy would ultimately depend upon the direction
which the power using the apparatus give to it.
In Webers view, despite the fact that the modern state is undergoing bureaucratization, whether the
power of bureaucracy as such has been increasing cannot be decided a priori. As he argued, The drawing in
of economic interest groups or other non-official experts, or the drawing in of non-expert lay representatives,
the establishment of local, inter-local, or central parliamentary or other representative bodies, or of
occupational associations these seem to run directly against the bureaucratic tendency.
There are hints in these remarks of possible de-bureaucratisation in a polity that would be able to
develop institution and associational groups.

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Weber had, however, admitted that normally, the power position of a fully developed bureaucracy, was
everywhere overtowering. The political master is no match for the expert bureaucrat. Another feature of
bureaucracy as he pointed out, is to increase the superiority of the professionally informed by keeping their
knowledge and intentions secret. The concept of the official secret is an invention of bureaucracy, as it tries
to hide its knowledge and action from criticism. It does not want to divulge information even to the
representative parliament. As Weber puts it, Bureaucracy naturally at lest in so far as ignorance somehow
aggress with the bureaucracys interests.
Q. 6. Explain the different stages in the enactment of the budget.
Ans. A budget is a financial report of statement and proposals which are periodically placed before the
legislatures for its approval and sanction. A budget is a balanced estimate of expenditures and receipts for a
given period of time. In the hands of the administrator the budget is a record of past performance, a method
of current control, and a projection of future plans. It is a report of the entire financial operations of the
government of the past and gives us a glimpse into future government fiscal policy. Budgeting aims to gather
legislative support for government proposals. It is an attempt to allocate financial resources through political
processes. It reflects on organisations goals and aspirations and its policies and proposals to realise them.
The real significance of the budget lies, states Willoughby, in providing for the orderly administration of
the financial affairs of a government. The entire budgetary process can be summed up in the following
way:

An estimate is first made of the expenditure that will be required, for the proper conduct of governmental
affairs during a fixed period, usually one year, together with proposals for raising the money to meet these
expenditures. On the basis of this estimate, revenue and appropriation acts are passed giving legal authority
for the action determined upon. Following this, the operating services open revenue and appropriation accounts
corresponding to the items of the revenue and appropriation acts, and proceed to expand the money so voted.
The data recorded in these accounts are examined by the auditing and accounting department to ensure their
accuracy, to see that they correspond to the real facts and represent a full compliance with all provisions of
law. The information furnished by these accounts is then summarised and given publicity in the form of
reports. Finally, on the basis of these data new estimates for the next year are made and the circuit is begun
again. In this chain of operations the budget is the instrument through which several operations are correlated,
compared and examined at one and the same time.
SECTION - III

Answer the following questions in about 100 words each.

Q. 7. Bring out the features of new public administration.

Ans. The New Public Administration rejects the definition as value-free. The study of formal organisation,
its structures and processes is of secondary importance to the new theorists. With the changing times, it
sought to have organisational changes. The New Public Administration was to have increasing orientation
towards changing reality. It was to influence policies which can improve the quality of working life, as well
as have competence to implement such polices. This new administration was to have more orientation
towards measuring the impact of laws on citizens rather than resting content with their mechanical application.
It was to be more normative and less neutral.
Q. 8. Discuss the modes of organisation influence.

Ans. Organisational effectiveness is the extent to which an organisaton achieves its objectives (goals)
within the constraints of limited resources. The seeking of goals leads to the issue of goal accomplishment

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or effectiveness. Efficiency is quite often considered a synonym to effectiveness. It can be suggested that
efficiency needs to be related to the objective of an organisation. Organisation can thus be effective without
being efficient.
The organisation takes resources (input) from the larger system (the environment) processes these
resources and returns them to the environment in the form of (output). The system concept emphasises two
important elements. The ultimate survival of the organisation depends on its ability to adapt to the demands
of environment. And in meeting these demands, the total cycle of input-process output must be the focus of
managerial attention. Criteria of effectiveness must reflect there two considerations and effectiveness can
thus be defined in terms of the optimum balance among the various adaptation and maintenance activities.
Organisational effectiveness is influenced basically by two factors. At the societal level organisational
goals are really an extension of what the society needs for its own survival. At the extreme end is the
position that organisational goals are nothing more than the goals of the individual members of the organisation.
Organisational goals are creations of individuals and groups in the organisation. The important point is that
the goal of an organisation is an abstraction distilled from the desires of members and pressures from the
environment and the internal system. Thus organisational effectiveness is greatly influenced by the structure
of organisations, people, external and internal environment and the changing technology. The operation
goals of an organisation can undergo drastic changes due to changes in the power system of the organisation.
There can be sudden influx of new kinds of people or leaders in the organisation who might set new standards
and change earlier goals when organisations tend to organise their activities around more early quantifiable
spheres, organisational goals become deflected.

The final source of goal change is a more generalised environmental pressure. New technological
developments, for instance, may lead to internal readjustment of strategy and structure of organisation.

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