Now-a-days committees are widely used in all areas of administration and management on

account of the following reasons:

Advantages
1. Pooling of knowledge and experience:
The personal skills and Hence of several persons are pooled together. Group deliberations and
combined judgment of all the members can be brought to bear on important problems. There can
be a more realistic and objective appraisal of the problem from all angles. This helps to improve
the quality of decisions. Business problems are multifaceted and require breadth of decision.
Subjective and unbalanced decisions can be minimized. "When several people study and
deliberate on each critical problem, there is more assurance that every facet will be thoroughly
explored and weighed in terms of the interests of the company as a whole."1 A group of people
can bring to bear a wider range of experience and a more thorough probing of facts than a single
person.
2. Improved communication:
Committees serve as important means of communication between the members of an
organisation. Information and ideas can be easily transmitted both upward and downward.
Unwritten policies and objectives can be explained effectively through deliberations of a
committee. Creative ideas emerge from interactions among the members. Doubts and ambiguity
can be removed on the spot.
3. Facility of coordination:
Participation in committee meetings promotes mutual understanding, team-work and cooperation
among employees. Committees serve as an important technique of coordination by bringing
together managers from different departments. Members of a committee come to appreciate each
other's point of view and they can pursue a common course of action. A committee is a useful
means of integrating and unifying various points of view.
4. Better motivation:
Committees help to improve the motivation and morale of employees by providing them an
opportunity to express them selves. Participation in the decision making process not only
improves quality of decisions, it creates a sense of belonging. Employees are keen on the
execution of decisions in the making of which they have taken an active part.
5. Executive development:
A committee is an useful device for educating and training subordinate managers. Participation
in committee meetings provides opportunity for learning through experience. A manager learns

to take an integrative view of organizational problems by serving on various committees.

Executive development ensures continuity of management in the organisation.
6. Democratic management:
As a plural executive, a committee helps to avoid the risk of concentration of too much authority
in the individual and the danger of abuse of power. There is no fear of delegating too much
authority to one individual. The tyranny of a powerful head can be reduced. Group authority
makes for diffusion of power and democratic leadership.
7. Representation of interests:
Various interest groups can be given representation on a committee. Such representation may be
necessary to secure the commitment and cooperation of people. Members can be enlightened on
policy matters and ideas beyond the capacity of one individual can be generated.
8. Consolidation of authority:
The manager of every department or section may have a portion of the total authority required to
take a decision. Such authority is known as splintered authority. In such a case, a committee of
different managers may be constituted to consolidate the authority. In this way the decision can
be taken without reference to the higher level. However, frequent need for consolidation of
splintered authority is the sign of a poor organisation structure.
9. Avoidance of action:
Sometimes, committees are constituted to postpone or avoid action. In order to cool off agitation
and temper on the part of employees, the matter may be referred to a committee. Delaying of
action through a committee is a strategy for overcoming resistance, pressure or opposition from
affected people.

Disadvantages:
The committee form of organisation suffers from the following weaknesses:
1. Indecisiveness:
In general, it takes longer to get decision or action from a committee than from an individual.
Members of a committee tend to indulge in lengthy, discussions. Every member has the right to
speak and be heard. Matters are unnecessarily dragged. Opinion is divided and decisions get
delayed. Group decision processes are not appropriate where prompt action is required. Due to
conflicting viewpoints, a committee fails to reach a decision in time.
2. High costs:

A lot of expenditure and time is incurred in convening meetings and giving travelling or other
allowance to members. Therefore, committees are an expensive form of administration. As such
a committee should be appointed only when the gains of committee work justify the s costs.
Committee work is very time-consuming.
. Compromised decisions:
Committee decisions are often mediocre compromises between conflicting viewpoints. The
ultimate decisions may reflect the opinion of none so that there is little enthusiasm for them.
Individual thinking is expected to conform to the average or group thinking. Such leveling effect
or log-rolling reduces the quality of decision. The compromise is often arrived at the least
common denominator. Therefore, committee decisions are not necessarily the best decisions but
merely acceptable ones.
4. Diffused responsibility:
No member can be individually held responsible for a wrong decision taken by a committee. As
no one feels accountable for results, members shirk their responsibilities. The committee
becomes an organized means of passing the buck. According to committees do not necessarily
increase the democratic process administration.
5. Domination by few:
A few aggressive or vocal members often dominate committee's deliberations. A minority group
exercises an unwarranted tyranny ignoring the interest of other members. Members frequently
seek to protect their narrow sectional interests. There is a tendency to cloud the real issues and
bring in extraneous matters for discussion often a committee becomes a battle-ground for
warring camps to settle personal scores.
6 Perpetuation:
Committees have a tendency to perpetuate them selves even after the purpose is served. There
exist too many committees even for routine problems. Sometimes committees are appointed to
just avoid actions. Such committees serve no useful purpose and the aggrieved people remain
aggrieved. It is often difficult to dissolve a committee even when it has outlived its utility.
7. Lack of secrecy:
It is difficult to maintain secrecy regarding the decisions and actions taken by a committee. A
large number of persons participate in committee meetings.
Due to its weaknesses and misuse, a committee has been described as "a group of unfits engaged
by the unwilling to do the unnecessary." Some people remark that a committee is a group of
people who individually can do nothing but who can meet together and decide that nothing can
be done. Such remark reflects wide-spread frustration and disillusionment with committees.