Vibhu joined as a Chief Executive Officer. (CEO) of 'Mega Marut Ltd.’, a firm manufacturing cars. On the first day he addressed his subordinates saying that organisations should have a chain of authority and communication that runs from top to bottom and should be followed by managers and the subordinates. He also added that for routine matters a worker can not directly contact the CEO but in an emergency he/she may contact directly. Vibhu discussed an important principle of management. Identify and explain the principle with the help of an example.

Principle of management discussed by Vibhu is ‘Scalar Chain’. Organisations should have a chain of authority and communication that runs from top to bottom and should be followed by managers and the subordinates. The formal lines of authority from highest to lowest ranks are known as Scalar Chain. Example: Let us consider a situation where there is one head ‘A’ who has two lines of authority under her/him. One line consists of B-C-D-E-F. Another line of authority under ‘A’ is L-M-N-O-P. If ‘E’ has to communicate with ‘O’ who is at the same level of authority then he/she has to transverse the route E-D-C-B-A-L-M- N-O. This is due to the Scalar chain being followed in this case. This is for routine matters. But in case of emergency ‘E’ may directly contact ‘O’ through Gang Plank.