Functional Foremanship
Functional foremanship is defined as a system of organizing subordinate managers.
For example, in a factory, the plant manager may be assisted by two or three departmental managers. They are called “functional foramen.”
The functional specialists are responsible for the training, supervision, and control of their group of workers.
The departmental managers are responsible for their respective departments, and they are given authority to supervise the work of employees in their respective departments.
They also have to prepare reports on the performance of their respective departments for the plant manager.
The plant manager has the ultimate responsibility to achieve the high productivity and profitability of the entire factory.
Thus, functional foremanship brings together all those jobs where more than one type of work is performed so that a worker performs only one function at a time.
A worker will be engaged in performing only one type of operation on one machine.
He will not be engaged in any other operation or any other machine.
This limits his activities to one function.
Final answer :
Functional Foremanship:
Functional foremanship is defined as the function of a foreman which is carried out on a functional basis.
It is performed by the workers in addition to their other functions.
In this system, the company may not have to employ a huge number of supervisors and workers, thus keeping the administrative costs low.
The employees are supervised by a trained and experienced person who has full knowledge of their job.
It also helps in developing the personalities of subordinates through proper guidance and supervision.
Some significance of Functional Foremanship :
1. Foremanship is a part of the hierarchy of management in an organization.
2. It is one of the oldest forms of authority and leadership.
3. In the early days, people used to work in groups, and every group had a leader who would be known as a foreman, who would guide and direct their work.
4. Functional foremanship is mainly concerned with the growth of production, efficiency, and quality in a factory or an industry.
5. Functional foremanship is based on the division of labor, scientific management, time study, and operational research.