Features of Co-operative Society - Class 11 | HSC

Following are the characteristics of Co-operative Society

1. Voluntary Association : A cooperative society is a voluntary association of people who have a desire of improving their financial condition through joint action.  It is a voluntary association of persons who have a common interest. The membership of cooperative society is open to all regardless of caste, religion, and gender of person. A person can join and leave the cooperative society at any time. Nobody is forced to become a member or to continue as a member. Everyone having a common interest are free to join a cooperatives society.

2. Religious and Political Neutrality: Anyone can become a member of a cooperative society irrespective of his/her religion, caste, creed or political affiliation.

3. Equal Voting Rights. Co-operative Society works on the principle of One Man One Vote. Every member has only one vote irrespective of the number of shares held by him/her. This prevents rich members (holding more shares) from dictating the terms. The society is run in a democratic manner.

4. Separate Legal Entity : A cooperative society has a separate legal identity of its own. In eyes of law, cooperative society and its members are different from each other. It can own a property and enter into contracts in its own name. It can sue and be sued in its own name. The death, insolvency or lunacy (insanity) of any member does not affect its existence.

5. Service Motive : The main aim of a cooperative society is to provide service to its members and not to maximize profits. However, a cooperative society may earn some profits for the benefit of its members.

6. Registration : Registration of a cooperative society is compulsory. A cooperative society has to be registered under the Co-operative Societies Act. A co-operative society has to be registered with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

7. State Control :  All the cooperative societies are closely regulated by the government. This is done to ensure healthy growth of these societies.

8. Distribution of Surplus : As mentioned earlier, a cooperative society may make some profit during the course of its business. A part of this profit is distributed among its members.

9. Limited liability: The liability of the members of a cooperative society is limited only to the extent of their capital contribution in the society.

10. Democratic control: Management and control of a cooperative society lies in the hands of the managing committee which is elected by the members themselves. 

Techniques of Scientific Management - HSC, Class 12

Techniques of Scientific Management refers to techniques which the managers can use to achieve the principles of scientific management laid down by F. W. Taylor.

Following are the techniques of scientific management-

1. Technique of Time Study:

The technique of time study can be used by the managers to ascertain the average time required to perform a particular task or job.

Under time study, the job is divided into very very small parts and then the small parts are studied carefully by the managers to arrive at the standard time required to complete that particular job. Thus time study can help managers to decide the time that an average worker will take to complete a particular task or job.

This can help managers decide the remuneration of the workers and also it can help the managers to plan out their activities properly.


2. Technique of Motion Study:

Motion study involves keeping a close watch on the body movements of the workers or the employees. The managers can make use of this study to determine the wasteful movements of the workers or employees. This study can help managers find out the amount of time that is wasted in the wasteful movements of the workers during the production.

After doing the motion study, the managers can plan their production in such a way or arrange their equipments in such a way that the minimum time is wasted on the movements of the workers during production. If done properly, this study can help managers to improve the productivity of the employees very drastically.

The movement of workers from one place to another or the movement of materials from one place to another, that requires labour, is an unproductive utilization of the time of workers. The same time can be utilized towards the production of the goods by eliminating the time wasted on wasteful the movements of the employees.

Thus it is very important for managers to conduct the motion study and then plan their production activities or arrange their equipments in such manner that minimum time of the employees or workers is wasted on movement from one place to another.




Related Article: Principles of Scientific Management

3. Technique of Functional Foremanship:

According to Taylor, no worker can be expert at all the parts of the job that he is required to do. Hence according to this technique, every worker should be made to work under the supervision of different specialists.

So there should be a time expert or time specialist who would guide the worker to increase the speed of the work and reduce the time taken for doing a particular job. Then there should be a route specialist who would guide the worker about the route or the process in which the work is to be done. There should be a discipline specialist who would ensure that there is discipline during the work. Then there should be a repair expert who would ensure that all the machines are in working condition. He will ensure that any machine which requires repair is repaired properly. So the worker should work under the supervision of these different specialists.

This technique is exactly the opposite of the principle of unity of command of Henri Fayol. As per the principle of unity of command given by Henri Fayol every worker should receive instructions from only one boss. Whereas as per this technique of scientific management a worker will have to work under the supervision of various different specialists or supervisors.

4. Technique of Standardisation:

Standardisation means that the raw materials and the tools used in the production of a particular product must be standard. For example, if you are producing a particular product which can be produced by two different raw materials say raw material A and raw material B then in such a case the organisation must decide whether it will be producing the product with raw material A or raw material B. It should not happen that for 15 days you are using raw material A then for next 15 days you are using raw material B then you are using raw material A again and raw material B again. This is not standardisation.

The organisation must decide whether it wants to produce the product using raw material A or raw material B and once it had been decided then the organisation must stick to it. Even the tools and techniques which are used for production should be standardised.

Standardisation results in saving of time. It also results in a reduction in the cost of production of the product. When you use standard raw material, standard tools and techniques the workers get used to those raw materials, tools and techniques and hence this increases the speed of their work. It also leads to a reduction in wastages and thereby reduction in the cost of production. It thus results in an increase in the efficiency of the workers.




5. Technique of Different Piece Rate Plan:

As per Taylor, the employees should be awarded based on their respective performances. The employees who perform well should be rewarded and the employees who perform below par should get a little less payment. First of all the company needs to decide the standard payment plan. For example, say the company decides to pay Rs.10/- per day to every worker and against that it expects every worker to produce 10 units of a particular product per day. Now it may so happen that some employees or some workers may produce more than 10 units in a day whereas some workers may produce less than 10 units a day. So, in this case, it is advisable for the company to pay say Rs. 12/- to the employees who produce 12 units, say Rs. 11/- to the employees who produce 11 units in a day and for the employees who produce less than 10 units a day (which is the standard output expected from the workers) the company may pay them something less than 10 bucks. For example, those who produce 9 units may be paid Rs. 9/- or Rs. 9.5/-. So as per Taylor, if the companies adopt such kind of payment system the efficient employees or the employees who perform well will get rewarded and they will feel motivated to keep up the good work. They will feel satisfied that their efforts are being recognised by the organisation. As against that the employees who get less than 10 bucks a day will also be motivated to work hard and improve their performance so that they can get better pay. So as per Taylor, not every employee should be paid the same otherwise there will be no motivation to perform better or work hard.

6. Other Techniques: And finally Taylor also suggested that the organisations must make use of tools and techniques like charts, graphs, bars, instruction cards to workers etc for implementation of the scientific management.

For example, you can have process maps on your shop floor so that the workers know the flow of activities and they know that how the processes are to be followed or which activity is to be done after which activity.

Also Read: Henri Fayol's 14 Principles of Management

Difference between Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) and General Partnership

Difference between Limited Liability Partnership and General Partnership-

1. In the case of limited liability partnership, every partner has limited liability. In the case of a general partnership, every partner has unlimited liability. So in case of a general partnership, if the business assets are not sufficient to pay off business liabilities then personal assets of the partners can be used to pay off the business liabilities.

2. The limited liability partnership needs to be registered whereas in case of general partnership it is not mandatory to register the partnership.

3. In case of limited liability partnership, the firm has a separate legal identity whereas in case of a general partnership the firm doesn't have any separate legal identity.

4. In case of limited liability partnership, there is no restriction on the number of partners whereas in case of a general partnership the number of partners is restricted. There are restrictions on the maximum number of partners that a general partnership can have.

5. In the case of limited liability partnership, the continuity of the firm is not affected by death, lunacy or bankruptcy of a partner. In case of general partnership death, lunacy or bankruptcy of a partner dissolves the firm.

Sole Proprietorship-Meaning, Examples, Features, Merits, Demerits, Class 11

What is a Sole Proprietorship/Sole Trading Concern?

Sole Proprietorship/Sole Trading Concern is one of the simplest and the oldest form of business organization. It is an informal type of business organization which has only one owner. The owner is called proprietor or sole proprietor or sole trader.

Usually (but not necessarily always) following businesses are run by a sole proprietor-

1. Local Chemist Shop

2. Small Travel Agency 

3. Local Grocery Shop, 

4. Small Food Joint
5. Small Bakery Shop
6. Tailoring, etc.

What are the features of Sole Proprietorship/Sole trading concern?

1. Minimum Government Regulations: Sole Trading Concern doesn't require any registration and hence it can be formed quickly and easily.

2. Liability of the owner is unlimited: Liability of the owner is unlimited in case of a sole trading concern, which means that if business liabilities cannot be paid out of the business assets, the personal assets of the owner can be used for repayment of the business liabilities

3. Freedom in the selection of business: Another important feature of a sole trading concern is that there is a lot of freedom in the selection of the business. There are hardly any restrictions on the kind of business that a sole trader can do. Also, registration for sole trading concern is not mandatory which makes it easier for the sole trader to start the business

4. Highest Secrecy: The sole trader doesn't have to share his accounts with anyone. He does not have to share his business details with anyone. He does not have to involve anybody else in decision making and hence this form of a business organization provides the highest level of secrecy.

5. Single Ownership and Management: In this form of business organization, there is only one owner and he is the only person who takes all the important decisions. So there is only one person who does the management. Sole Proprietor himself takes all the managerial decisions.

6. Direct Contacts with the customers and employees: In this form of business organization, the owner/sole trader/sole proprietor directly deals with the customers and employees of the business since the size of the business is generally not very large. This gives an opportunity to him to build a personal rapport with all his customers and employees

7. Suitable for small businesses: This form of business organization is more suitable for small businesses like a cake shop or a beauty parlour. Such businesses require a limited amount of capital and can be managed by a single person

8. No sharing of profits or losses/risks: In this form of business organization, there is no sharing of profits or losses. So all the profits that the business makes goes to the owner or the sole proprietor. Similarly, if there are losses they are borne solely by the sole trader.




Also Read- Difference between Sole Proprietorship and Partnership

What are the merits of Sole Proprietorship/Sole Trading Concern?

1. Easy Formation: One of the biggest advantages of sole trading concern is that it is very easy to form. There is no registration required in case of sole trading concern. So you can start a sole trading concern without any registration. There are very few legal formalities that are involved in starting a sole trading concern.

2. The benefit of Secrecy: In the case of sole trading concern, there is only one person who is the owner and the manager. Since only one person owns and manages the business, a lot of secrecy can be maintained. The proprietor does not have to consult anyone before making any decision nor he is required to share any of his business details with an outsider. Sole Proprietor does not even have to publish his accounts or financial statements.

3. Direct Motivation: In the case of a sole trading concern, the sole proprietor or the owner does not have to share his profits with anyone. He is the only one who manages the business and gets all the profit. So there is a lot of motivation for the owner to work hard. The more efforts he puts into the business, more profits he will get.

4. Quick Decisions: We have already discussed that in the case of the sole trading concern, the owner or the proprietor does not have to consult anyone for taking his decision. This helps him to make quick decisions. Also, it becomes easy for him to implement his decision because he is the sole owner and the manager of the business. Hence this form of business organization is very useful in case of businesses which require quick decisions.

5. Flexibility in Operations: There is a lot of flexibility in operations of the sole trading concern. There is only one decision-maker who is the owner. So it helps him take quick decisions. Also, he does not have to consult anyone before implementation or changing his plans. So if need be, he can change his plan immediately and implement a new plan. This brings a lot of flexibility in running the business.





What are the Limitations of a Sole Proprietorship/Sole Trading Concern?

1. Limited Managerial Ability: In this form of business organization, there is only one owner who himself is responsible for managing the entire business. It's not possible for a single person to manage a business beyond a certain point. Running a business involves a lot of activities like Marketing, Sales, Production, Operations etc. You can't expect an individual to be an expert at all these activities. Hence limited managerial ability is one of the biggest shortcomings of a sole trading concern.

2. Limited amount of Capital: One more shortcoming of a Sole Trading Concern is a limited amount of capital. There is only one person who is the owner. And so he cannot contribute capital beyond a certain amount. The Sole Proprietor can take loans or financial assistance from his friends, relatives or even banks. But again, being a sole borrower, he cannot borrow money beyond a particular point. Limited amount of capital starts hurting the business after a certain point

3. Unlimited Liability of the owner: This is also one of the biggest limitations of sole trading concern. Under this form of business organization, the liability of the owner is unlimited which means that in case business suffers any loss and if the business liabilities cannot be paid out of business assets then the personal assets of the owner will be used to pay off the business liabilities. Unlimited liability may prevent the owner from expanding his business in certain areas which may involve a little bit of risk. So unlimited liability also sometimes comes in the way of expansion of the business

4. Not suitable for large scale operations: This form of business organization is not suitable for large scale operations and we know the reasons why. There is only one owner and hence it results in limited managerial ability and a limited amount of capital for the business. So this form of business organization is not suitable for large scale operations.

5. No Perpetual Existence: This form of business organization lacks stability. A sole proprietorship may come to an end in case of the event of death or insolvency of the owner

6. Absence of specialization and unprofessional decisions: We have already discussed that we cannot expect the proprietor to be an expert at all the functions of the business. Business involves quite a lot of functions like sales, production, operations etc. One single person cannot be an expert in all these areas. Hence this also results in unprofessional decisions occasionally. To make good decisions in the area of finance, you need to be a finance professional. To make good decisions in the area of production, you need to be a production professional. And since a proprietor cannot be an expert in all these, sometimes he may end up making decisions which are unprofessional or not the best for the business.

Nature and Significance of Principles of Management- Class 12

What are the principles of management?

Principles of management are a set of guidelines that assist managers to conduct the management properly and effectively. They are set of guidelines that assist the managers in making management decisions. It's important to note the word guidelines. These are all just the guidelines. The principles of management are just the guidelines and not the rules. There is a difference between guideline and a rule. Rules are compulsory whereas guidelines are optional. However, it is always advisable to follow the guidelines. It doesn't matter whether it pertains to management or something else.

Nature of Principles of Management :

1. Universal applicability - The principles of management have a universal application which means that it can be applied to any form of business organisation or any size of business organisation irrespective of their location. This means that these principles of management can be applied to a business organisation which is in a hotel business or even in the airline business. There are no separate principles for separate kinds of business organisations. The same rules apply to all kinds of business organisations or all sizes of business organisations irrespective of their geographical location.



Also Read - Taylor's Scientific Management

2. Flexible - Management principles are flexible. As I already said earlier, these are principles and not the rules. Management principles are guidelines and as such, they can be modified based on situation and circumstances

3. Cause and effect relationship - The principles of management establish cause and effect relationship of a particular action. They highlight what could be the possible effect of a particular action. For example, one of the principles of management is that the division of work leads to specialisation and an increase in efficiency & productivity. So this principle basically determines the relation between the division of work and increase in productivity/efficiency & specialisation. This principle states that if you implement division of work, its effect would be an increase in productivity & efficiency and it will also lead to specialisation of work.

4. Equally important - All management principles are equally important. All the principles are supposed to be given equal importance and are supposed to be implemented together. It is important for managers to use all these principles simultaneously to achieve the maximum output from the team. The managers cannot afford to leave out any single principle. Yes, they can modify the principles as per their requirement, as per the requirement of their organisations but they cannot afford to ignore anyone or two principles. If a manager ignores or gives less importance to a particular principle, it will be a big mistake on his part which can badly affect the performance of his team. Managers don't have any choice. They have to apply all the principles together.

5. Relative in Nature - Management principles are relative in nature. They are to be applied in relation to the atmosphere in which the organisation operates. It means that the principles are supposed to be applied, depending upon the atmosphere in which the organisation functions. For example, one of the principles of management is 'Fair Remuneration to the Employees'. However, what is fair remuneration is something which is related to the country or the atmosphere in which the business organisation is operating. For example, what is fair remuneration in India may not be the fair remuneration in the United States. So what is a fair remuneration is something which is related to the country/area in which the organisation operates. So the Indian companies should pay remuneration which is supposed to be fair in India whereas companies in the United States should pay a remuneration which is fair as per the US standard.



6. Aimed at influencing behaviour - Management principles aim at influencing human behaviour. Management is all about getting things done. So the job of a manager is to get things done from a group of people and hence Management is a group activity. So, the principles of management aim at influencing the behaviour of people working in a group to achieve a common goal. Principles of Management are applied to influence the behaviour of a group of people working together towards achieving a common goal.

Significance of principles of management or why are the principles of management so important -

There are various reasons why the managers should use the principles of management in day to day business.

1. Improves Understanding - The principles help managers to understand the organisation and people better. Principles of management have been developed over a period of time through observation of human behaviour and research. These principles help managers to understand the organisation and employees better. They can understand the problems of the employees better and can find a better solution to their problems. This is because the principles of management have been developed, tried and tested over a period of time.

2. Increased Efficiency - The principles of management help the managers to increase efficiency. For example, the principle of division of work says that if you divide the work among employees based on their strengths, it results in specialisation and an increase in productivity. Hence it is important for managers to understand and implement the principles of management as it can help managers to increase the efficiency of his team.

3. Assist in Controlling and Coordination - The principles of management help in better coordination between various departments of the organisation. They also help in better control over the activities of the organisation. The principles of unity of command and unity of direction ensure that the employees receive direction from only one person and hence there is no confusion in their minds as to whose instructions are to be followed. When different departments work in sync with each other to achieve the overall objective of the organisation, it results in better coordination of activities.



4. Develops an objective approach in the managers - The principles of management help managers to approach the problems of the organisation in a scientific manner. Managers make use of the techniques of scientific management like time study and motion study to arrive at the best possible solution to every problem. These techniques assist managers in decision making. Principles of management help managers in better understanding of the problems.

5. Increasing the awareness of corporate social responsibility - As a part of society, every organisation has certain responsibilities towards the society. One of the principles of management is giving fair remuneration to employees. No organisation can succeed without the efforts of its employees. Employees play a very important role in the growth of an organisation. These principles make the managers aware of their responsibility towards their human resources. These principles make the managers aware that they need to pay a fair remuneration to employees and also provide good working conditions. Land, Labour, Capital and Enterprise are the four resources that every organisation requires. Business gets all these resources from society. Hence every business has the responsibility of giving something back to society.

6. Promotes Research and Development - The principles of management are not static. They are dynamic in nature. Managers need to modify the principles of management to suit their organisational needs. As the business environment keeps changing and as the business grows, the managers need to keep finding new and better methods of implementing the principles of management to their organisations. Principles of Management thus promote research and development within the organisation.

Also refer - Henri Fayol's 14 Principles of Management  

Co-operative Society and Types of Co-operative Societies-Class 11,Class 12,HSC

What is a Co-operative Society? Types of Co-operative Societies

A Co-operative Society is a voluntary association of people who come together and invest their small savings to form the organization. The Co-operative Society is formed for the mutual benefit of all the members. The members of the co-operative society are people who come together and invest their small savings to form the organization which will work towards their common cause. The Co-operative Society is formed with an idea of supporting each other to achieve a common economic objective. For example, the farmers may come together and form a co-operative society to work jointly and take advantage of economies of scale. When they work together they will have a better bargaining power for buying raw materials. They will also enjoy a better bargaining power while selling their agricultural output. Minimum no of members required to start a cooperative society is 10. However, there is no upper limit to the number of members that a cooperative society can have.




Types of Co-operative Societies-

1. Consumers cooperative society. Consumers cooperative society is an organization which buys goods in bulk either from a wholesaler or from the manufacturer and sells those goods to its members in small quantities and at a very reasonable rate. So the members of Consumers cooperative society get goods at a rate which is cheaper as compared to the market rate. Members are also paid a bonus out of the profits made by the consumer co-operative society. 

2. Credit cooperative societies- Credit Co-operative Societies are financial institutions which are established with the objective of providing loans to its members at a reasonable rate of interest. The main objective of credit co-operative society is to provide financial assistance to its members when they require. Credit cooperative societies also create employment opportunities for its members by providing loans to buy a rickshaw or a taxi. Such credit cooperative societies can also be found in a lot of government companies or organizations. The employees of such organizations form employee credit cooperative societies. The employees are granted loans quickly and without many formalities in such credit cooperative societies. The main objective of such credit cooperative societies is to provide financial assistance to the employees quickly as and when they require. A certain portion of the employees' salary is deducted every month from his salary and is deposited in such employees cooperative credit societies. This is how the employees' credit cooperative society generates funds to lend to the needy employees.



3. Farming cooperative societies- Such societies are formed by the farmers who come together and pool their land to conduct the agricultural activities jointly. By conducting the agriculture activities jointly, they can make use of the scientific and modern methods of cultivation which they probably cannot afford working individually.

4. Producers cooperative societies- Such societies are formed by small scale producers. Such cooperative societies provide their members with raw materials, modern tools and techniques so that they can compete with bigger producers.

5. Marketing cooperative societies - The marketing cooperative societies provide marketing assistance to its members. The output of the members of the marketing cooperative societies is sold centrally through marketing cooperative societies. Such societies perform all marketing functions like standardizing, grading, branding, packaging, advertising, transportation, etc on behalf of its members.

6. Housing cooperative societies - Such a co-operative society is formed by members who come together and buy a piece of land and then develop it as a residential building. The flats of the building are then allotted to all the members