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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Leadership, management and supervision

A manager is given responsibility for launching a new product but is not allowed to approve any spending or to request staff from other departments. Which management principle is most clearly breached?

The principle that authority should be commensurate with responsibility is breached. The manager is held responsible for the launch but cannot approve spending or obtain staff, so they lack the means to deliver. Unity of command, span of control and scalar chain are not the issue.

  1. AAuthority should be commensurate with responsibilityCorrect
  2. BUnity of command
  3. CSpan of control should be narrow
  4. DScalar chain should be shortened

Explanation

Where a person is held responsible for results but lacks the authority and resources to act, the principle that authority should match responsibility is breached. Unity of command concerns receiving orders from one superior only, and nothing about multiple bosses is described. Span of control and scalar chain relate to numbers of subordinates and levels of hierarchy, not to this mismatch.

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