2009 (August)
Paper: 102
Full Marks: 80
Time: 3 hours
1. (a) In what respect the system approach to
organisation is superior to the traditional approach. 16
Ans: The systems approach
focuses on understanding the organisation as an open system that transforms
inputs into outputs. The systems approach began to have a strong impact on
management thought in the 1960s as a way of thinking about managing techniques
that would allow managers to relate different specialties and parts of the
company to one another, as well as to external environmental factors. The
systems approach focuses on the organisation as a whole, its interaction with
the environment, and its need to achieve equilibrium.
In simple words, a system may be defined as a
set a interrelated and interdependent parts forming an organized unit or
entity. These parts are known as sub-systems which interact with each other and
are subject to change. They are interrelated as well as interdependent. Hence,
changes in any sub-system lead to changes in others. Any working organisation
may be said to have three sub-systems as follows:
System approach is superior to Traditional
Method
A common drawback of the classical,
behavioural and quantitative schools is that they weigh down one characteristic
of the organisation at the expense of others. While the classical approach
emphasizes the ‘task’ and ‘structure’, the behavioural approach emphasizes
‘people’ and the quantitative approach emphasizes ‘mathematical' decision
making’.
The whole system faces functional inability
in the absence of proper knowledge of the respective parts. Every part bears a
relation of interdependence to every other part. In other words, rather than
individually dealing with the various parts of one organisation, the systems
approach aims to give enables the manager to perceive the organisation as a
whole.
The employees of the research and
development, manufacturing or the marketing division of a company, should
perceive the company en bloc since the activities of either part of the company
influence the activities of other parts.
If the business has managed to grow
beyond the start-up stage, it will certainly demand new things you may not
provide. Hence, there will surely come a time, when you distance yourself from
the chain of command, put a management team in command and, as per requirements
bring in external consultants for assisting in development of the systems
approach, necessary for ensuring the company is in good shape in the long run.
People need order, structure and
predictability; they need to know their agenda for the day when they come to
the office each day. Business should be predictable and organised. A business
eventually attains a state when it has sufficient funds to sustain itself and,
when it attains that state, it drifts from that critical stage of its inception
with all the problem-solving challenges and initiates development of a whole
new set of needs - management, stability and structure.
In other words, it is delegation.
However, delegating authority is not devoid of complications: it is very
complicated to alter the way you run business your business – going from
one-person rule to professional management.
The first challenge may well be to
find someone else to manage the transition to professional management for you.
This does not signify you have to seek out a new CEO, but a new management
system. If your strengths do not lie in convening or facilitating meetings -
for instance, presiding over a staff-meeting with 10 people discussing how
things should be done - then it would be advisable to appoint someone else to
lead the process like a manager type, or a consultant type who specialize in
such transitions. In the end, if you are an entrepreneur, a long-range plan is
a week; for a manager, a short-range plan is a year.
Another challenge you could face over
this transition is to redefine your role in the business. Identify your
strengths and work on them. If you are good at sales be the face of the
business to the key customers. If it is product development, be ready to be
involved in identifying market opportunities and analysing customer base for
its needs. Perhaps there is an export market that needs some investigation? Get
on a plane and speak to the key people.
If you aim to hand over 100 % of your
authority to the management team, monitor this turning point. In some
businesses, the decision-making can shift from 100 % to zero i.e. wherein you
do not have to make any decisions at all. This does necessitate a certain
approach such as: 'As long as the managers stay within the budget and meet the
financial goals, why should I care how they do it?'
Feedback is an important mechanism
that enables a system to adapt and fine-tune according to the changing
conditions of its environment and to control its operations. The operations of
the system should be initiated and feedback must be given to the appropriate
people so that their work can be assessed and if required corrected.
FEATURES OF SYSTEMS APPROACH
1. An organisation comprises of many
sub-systems.
2. All the sub-systems are interred-
related.
3. The sub-parts should be studied in
their inter-relationships rather than in isolation.
4. The organisation provides a
demarcating line that separates it from other systems. It determines the
internal and external parts.
5. The organisation is responsive to
environmental effect. It is vulnerable is the changes in environment.
6. An organsation is a system
consisting of many interrelated and interdependent parts or sub-systems. These
elements are then arranged in an orderly fashion.
7. As a system, an organisation draws
inputs (energy. Information, materials, etc) from its environment. It
transforms these inputs and returns the output into the environment in the form
of goods and services.
8. Every system is a part of a super
system.
9. Organisation is an open system and
it interacts with its environment. It is also a dynamic system as the
equilibrium in it is always changing.
10. Management is expected to regulate
and adjust the system to secure better performance.
11. Management is multidisciplinary as
it draws and integrates knowledge from various disciplines.
Systems theory
has made the following advantages as compared to traditional theories:
1. It
provides a manager a way of thinking about the job he has to managed and finds an
opportunity to him for looking it the organization as a whole and for achieving
overall effectiveness.
2. It
provides main focus to organizational efforts towards a direction which people
should move.
3. It
draws attention of managers to an important factor and that is the environment
in which an organization works. The interaction with the environment is
dynamic.
4. It
includes within it focus both micro and macro aspects of the organizations.
Hence it serves a multi-level and multi-dimensional approach.
5. It
implies that the modern manager should have analytical orientation should be
expert in motivating to achieve goals and open mandate to receive and respect
new ideas, i.e. creativity and innovation.
6. It
also implies that management education must seek to develop the ability to work
with and motivate others.
7. The
feed back mechanism provides and opportunity to rearrange organizations part
according to the change in the environment.
The system theories have been criticized on
the following grounds.
1. Systems
theory is not a complete explanation of the whole organizational system. It
does not explain how the sub-system of the specific organization is uniquely
related in a given environment.
2. The
conceptional framework for understanding organization provided by system theory
is too abstract.
3. It
does not really offer any new thing. Managers do understand interrelationship
between different parts and the influence of environment on organization and it
sub-systems.
Or
(b)
Outline Taylors Scientific Management and examine its relevance to management
in the present day business. 16
Ans: F.W. Taylor is one of the founders (the
other two are Max Weber and Henry Fayol) of classical thought/classical theory
of management. He suggested scientific approach to management also called
scientific management theory. Frederick Winslow Taylor well-known as the
founder of scientific management was the first to recognize and emphasis
the need for adopting a scientific approach to the task of managing an enterprise.
He tried to diagnose the causes of low efficiency in industry and came to the
conclusion that much of waste and inefficiency is due to the lack of order
and system in the methods of management. He found that the management
was usually ignorant of the amount of work that could be done by a
worker in a day as also the best method of doing the job. As a result,
it remained largely at the mercy of the workers who deliberately shirked work.
He therefore, suggested that those responsible for management should
adopt a scientific approach in their work, and make use of
"scientific method" for achieving higher efficiency. The scientific
method consists essentially of:
a)
Observation
b)
Measurement
c)
Experimentation and
d)
Inference.
He advocated a thorough planning of
the job by the management and emphasized the necessity of perfect understanding
and co-operation between the management and the workers both for the
enlargement of profits and the use of scientific investigation and knowledge in
industrial work. He summed up his approach in these words:
a)
Science, not rule of thumb
b)
Harmony, not discord
c)
Co-operation, not individualism
d)
Maximum output, in place of restricted output
e)
The development of each man to his greatest
efficiency and prosperity.
Concept
of Scientific Management
Scientific
Management may be defined as the scientific study and analysis of work,
scientific selection and training of employees, standardization and scientific
rate setting. It is an art of knowing exactly what a manager wants his workers
to do and seeing it that they do it in the best and cheapest way.
According to F.W.Taylor who is
regarded as the father of scientific management, “Scientific Management is the
art of knowing exactly what you want your men to do and seeing that they do it
in the cheapest way”.
Scientific management has the
following main objectives:
a) With the
use of standardized tools, methods, equipments, and development of workers
increasing the rate of production.
b) Reducing
the cost of production by using the different cost control techniques.
c) Improvement
in the quality of product through quality control and inspections.
d) To place
the right person at the right place.
e) Providing
the wages to the workers according to their efficiency.
Characteristics of Scientific
Management
a) Predetermined objectives: The objective of
every job is predetermined and in order to achieve that objective physical and
human resources are applied.
b) Predetermined plans: In order to achieve the
predetermined goal of every job, effective plans for the most appropriate use
of the available resources are prepared. Planning in this case is goal
oriented.
c) Scientific analysis of plans: The utility,
effectiveness and suitability of plans is tested and ascertained before it is
put in practical operation.
d) Set of rules: In order to implement the plans
a set of rules are made.
e) Work studies: Standardization of time, motion,
fatigue and work is done after careful time, motion, work & fatigue
studies, so that maximum output could be achieved at minimum sacrifice.
Relevance
principles of scientific management:
a)
Replacing rule of thumb with science:
According to this principle, scientific investigation should be applied in the
scientific management, which will replace the rule of thumb. Taylor had made
study of every job and fixed the method and timing for performing the job so
that the worker should know that what, when, and how is required to perform the
job. This principle is the starting point of scientific. This principle is concerned with selecting the best way of
performing a job through the application of scientific analysis and not by
intuition or hit and trial methods.
b) Harmony in group
action: This principle
states that there should be cooperation between the management and the workers.
In order to achieve the best possible results from the business operations, it
is essential that there should be harmonious relations between the management
and the workers.
c) Division of
responsibility between workers and management:
According to this principle there should proportionate division of the responsibility
between the managers and the workers, clearly defined, and predetermined.
d) Maximum Output: Scientific Management aims for the continuous
production and productivity. According to this principle management and the
workers should try to increase the production at the minimum cost.
e) Selection,
training, and development of the workers in the scientific manner: According to this principle the right men is
placed on the right job. The jobs are determined first for which the workers
are required and then the qualifications required for the job are determined.
On the basis of these standards the employees are selected.
2. (a)
What do you mean by Delegation of authority? As a manager, how will you
determine what authority and to what extent it should be delegated? 16
Ans: Delegation
of Authority: When the
work of an office manager increases so much that he cannot cope with it, he may
divide the work among his subordinates. During, the course of division he
expects that each subordinate will do the job as he himself would have done.
This process of dividing the work among the subordinates is called delegation.
The process of division of work whereby the subordinates are entrusted with a
part of the work is called delegation. Delegation is termed as the ability to
get results through others.
According
to Koontz and O'Donnel "the cement that binds the organisation together is
called delegation." According to Brech delegation means the passing on to
others of a share in the essential elements of management process.
When
the business grows beyond the capacity of a manager, he has to delegate because
his authority is limited. The success in delegation lies in his ability to cope
with others. According to Alien one man's job grows beyond Ms capacity, his
success lies in his ability to multiply himself through other people.
Delegation
involves three important aspects like assigning duties by the executives,
granting of authority and creation of obligation or accountability.
Basic
Principles of Delegation: The followings are some of the
important principles of delegation of authority:
(a)
Authority should commensurate with responsibility- It is not correct to say
that authority should be equal to responsibility. Authority is the power to
carryout an assignment and responsibility is the obligation to accomplish them.
It is logical to say that authority needed to do a job should correspond to the
responsibility. Though equalisation of authority and responsibility is not
possible, authority should be co-extensive or commensurate with responsibility.
(b)
Responsibility cannot be delegated— When authority is delegated to a
subordinate by an executive, the executive does not pass on the responsibility
for it. He is still accountable for it to his immediate superior. As the responsibility
to the superior is absolute, it is also termed as the principles of absolute
responsibility.
(c)
Dual subordination should be avoided— There is a saying that a man can-not
serve two masters in the same way. Every subordinate in the organization must
know who delegates authority to him and to whom the matters beyond his
authority will be referred. The executive should ensure that authority passes
through the formal chain of command and the line supervisors are not bypassed.
The
most important step in the organization of office work is to assign definite
duties and responsibility to each executive. This should be accompanied by
delegation of authority. Authority flows downward as it implies the right to
acquire action of others. Responsibility flows upward because a person is
accountable to another in the higher rank.
7
important Principles of Delegation formulated by Koontz and O'Donnell: Koontz
and O'Donnell give the following principles as guides to delegation of
authority.
1.
Principle of Delegation by Results Expected: Authority
is delegated to achieve the enterprise objectives. 'Delegation by results
expected implies that goals have been set and plans made, that these are
communicated and understood, and that jobs have been set up to fit in with
them'.
2.
Principle of Functional Definition: The functions undertaken by managers
are clearly explained. 'The more a position or a department has clear
definitions of results expected, activities to be undertaken, organisation,
authority delegated, and authority and informational relationships with other
positions, the more adequately individuals responsible can contribute toward
accomplishing enterprise objectives'.
3.
Scalar Principles: This refers to the chain of authority
relationships from superior to subordinate throughout the organisation. 'As the
scalar principle indicates, this clearer thin line is from the top of the
bottom of the organisation structure, the better delegation and orderly
decision making are facilitated'.
4.
Authority Level Principles: Each manager can take his own
decision within his authority and only matters not within his authority must be
referred to his superior.
5.
Principle of Unity of Command: This means that a subordinate is
answerable to only one boss. 'The more completely an individual has a
relationship to a single superior, the less the problem of conflict in
instructions and the greater the feeling of personal responsibility for
results'.
6.
Principle of Absoluteness of Responsibility: The
responsibility of the subordinate to his superior for the assigned
responsibility is absolute.
7.
Principle of Parity of Authority and Stability: This
principle states that authority should correspond to the responsibility. 'The
responsibility for action cannot be greater than that implied by a authority
delegated, nor can it be less'.
Or
(b) Discuss the need for “Departmentation”.
What are the key considerations for choosing a basis for Departmentation? 16
Ans: Departmentation: The
process of dividing activities into units and subunits is referred to as
departmentation. The term departmentation is used in a generic sense n is not
only confined to the creation of such units as are called departments, but it
includes divisions, sections and jobs also.
Dividing up work calls or identification of total activities and
classification of such activities into units and subunits. There are three
bases for primary grouping of activities at the second level of the
organisation just below the top level. Units at the second level are commonly called
departments when business functions are adopted as the pattern of grouping
activities. Such units go by the name of divisions when either products
manufactured or territories are adopted as the means of classifying activities.
There are, however, two approaches to departmentation- top down
and bottom-up approaches. In the top-down approach, activities are divided step
by step downward form the chief executive's job to the operating jobs. In the
bottom-up approach, the division of activities is carried on in a reverse
order. Starting form operating jobs, there arise sections form combining some
correlated jobs, departments from combining some sections and finally the chief
executive position form putting departments together. While the top-down approach
gives emphasis on co-ordination and managerial action, the bottom-up approach
gives emphasis on co-ordination and managerial action, the bottom-up approach
focuses attention on employee performance. Although the top-down approach is
easy for understanding the departmentation process, both the approaches are
utilized in actual practice
Bases or
Methods of departmentation
Departmentation provides motivation by
developing feeling of autonomy to the extent possible. There are several bases
of departmentation. The more commonly used bases are function, produt,
territory, process, customer, time etc. Some of these bases are
internal-operation – oriented like function, process, time while others like
product, territory and customer are output-oriented.
a.
Functional Departmentation: The grouping of common or homogeneous
activities to form an organisation unit is known as functional departmentation.
Functional departmentation is the most widely used basis for organising
activities and is present almost in every large organisation at some level.
Functional
departmentation is most commonly used because it offers certain advantages
which include advantages of specialization, ensuring performance of activities
necessary for the achievement of organisational objectives, elimination of
un-necessary activities, easier control over functions, easier way for
pinpointing training need of the managers and maintaining the relative
importance of functions in the organisation.
b.
Product wise departmentation: Product departmentation involves the
grouping together of all activities necessary to manufacture a product or
product line. Product departmentation is preferred for product expansion and
diversification when manufacturing and marketing characteristics of each
product are of primary concern. Product departmentation offers several
advantages places attention to product lines, reduces problems of coordination
for different products, provides opportunities for further diversification and
expansion of organisation and provides product specialization necessary for
managers specially when each product is different from other.
c. Territory – wise
Departmentation: Territorial
or geographical departmentation is specially useful to large-sized
organisations having activities which are physically or geographically spread such as banking,
insurance, transportation etc., Territorial departmentation provides certain
efficiency in operation. Local factors such as customers, culture, styles,
preferences etc., always affect organisational functioning.
d. Production processes
– wise departmentation: In process departmentation, processes involved
in production or various types of equipments used are taken as basis for
departmentation. When the production activities involve the use of several
distinctive processes, these can be used as the base for grouping of
activities. Such activities may be textiles, oil production etc., The process
are set in such a way that a series of operations is feasible making operations
economic. It provides advantages of specialization required at each level of
total processes, maintenance of plant can be done in better way, and manpower
can be utilized effectively.
e. Customer – wise
departmentation: Customer
based departmentation is basically
market – oriented in which departments are created around the markets served or
around marketing channels. The basic idea of this departmentation is to provide
services to clearly identified groups of customers. Each group of customers has
different purchase behavior, payment schedule, demand pattern etc., Therefore
they can be attracted to the organisation’s business by satisfying them by
providing services, payment schedule demand pattern etc.
Choice of bases for departmentation Or
DETERMINANTS OF DEPARTMENTATION
The selection of bases for departmentation
involves a consideration of the relative advantages of each base for the
organisation. Ideally speaking, a suitable basis of departmentation is one
which facilitates the performance of organisational functions efficiently and
effectively so that its objective are achieved.
1)
Specialization: While assigning activities
into departments, care must be taken to ensure that the benefits of
specialization are achieved.
2)
Control: One of the primary aims of
departmentation is to facilitate control. Departments should be so created as
to fix clear responsibilities so as to enable effective control.
3)
Coordination: Coordination involves that all
the related activities are performed in a way that their performance is
synchronized so that each activity contributes to others.
4)
Economy: A balance should be maintained
between the cost of creating a department and its contribution. The existence
of a department is desirable only when it contributes more than its cost.
5)
Focus on Result: Those activities which
contribute to the achievement to these results should be given proper
attention.
6)
Human Considerations: Departments should be
created on the basis of availability of personnel, their aspirations and value
systems, informal work groups and attitudes of people towards various forms of
organisation structure.
7)
Emphasis on Local Conditions: while assigning
activities proper emphasis should be given to local conditions at the places
concerned, viz. the personality of the individuals who may be given the
responsibilities, the nature of informal relationship among the people, the
attitude of the people, etc.
8)
Economy: Another important factor to be
considered while creating separate departments is the expense involved and
economy in its operations.
9)
Key Activities: there are certain activities
which are very crucial. Such activities should be placed in separate divisions.
3. (a) Define organisational behaviour. Why
should organisations give importance in understanding human behavior? 6+10=16
Ans: Meaning of Organisational Behaviour
Organisational
behaviour is concerned with people's thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions
in setting up a work. Understanding an individual behaviour is in itself a
challenge, but understanding group behaviour in an organisational environment is
a monumental managerial task.
As
Nadler and Tushman put it, "Understanding one individual's behaviour is
challenging in and of itself; understanding a group that is made up of
different individuals and comprehending the many relationships among those individuals
is even more complex. Ultimately, the organisation's work gets done through
people, individually or collectively, on their, own or in collaboration with
technology. Therefore, the management of organisational behaviour is central to
the management task—a task that involves the capacity to "understand"
the behaviour patterns of individuals, groups and organisations, to
''predict'" what behavioural responses will be elicited by various
managerial actions and finally to use this understanding and these predictions
to achieve "control".
Organisational
behaviour can then be defined as: "The study of human behaviour in
organisational settings, the interface between human behaviour and the
organisational context, and the organisation itself."
The
above definition has three parts—the individual behaviour, the organisation and
the (interface between the two. Each individual brings to an organisation a
unique set of beliefs, values, attitudes and other personal characteristics and
these characteristics of all individuals must interact with each other in order
to create organisational settings. The organisational behaviour is specifically
concerned with work-related behaviour, which takes place in organisations.
In
addition to understanding; the on-going behavioural processes involved, in
'their own jobs, managers must understand the basic human element of their
work. Organisational behaviour offers three major ways of understanding this
context; people as organisations, people as resources and people as people.
Above
all, organisations are people; and without people there would be no
organisations. Thus, if managers are to understand the organisations in which
they work, they must first understand the people who make up the organisations.
As
resources, people are one of the organisation's most valuable assets. People
create the organisation, guide and direct its course, and vitalise and
revitalise it. People make the decisions, solve the problems, and answer the
questions. As managers increasingly recognise the value of potential
contributions by their employees, it will become more and more important for
managers and employees to grasp the complexities of organisational behaviour.
Finally,
there is people as people - an argument derived from the simple notion of humanistic
management. People spend a large part of their lives in; organisational
settings, mostly as employees. They have a right to expect something in return
beyond wages and benefits. They have a right to expect satisfaction and to
learn new skills. An understanding of organisational behaviour can help the
manager better appreciate the variety of individual needs and' expectations.
Organisational
behaviour is concerned with the characteristics and behaviours of employees in
isolation; the characteristics and processes that are part of the organisation
itself; 'and the characteristics and behaviours directly resulting from people
with their individual needs and motivations working within the structure of the
organisation. One cannot understand an individual’s behaviour completely
without learning something about that individual's organisation. Similarly, he
cannot understand how the organisation operates without; studying the people
who-make it up. Thus, the organisation influences and is influenced by individuals.
Importance of Organisational Behaviour
in any organisation
Organisational
behaviour offers several ideas to management as to how human factor should be
properly emphasised to achieve organisational objectives. Barnard has observed
that an organisation is a conscious interaction of two or more people. This
suggests that since an organisation is the interaction of persons, they should
be given adequate importance in managing the organisation. Organisational
behaviour provides opportunity to management to analyse human behaviour and
prescribe means for shaping it to a particular direction.
Understanding
Human Behaviour Organisational behaviour provides understanding the human
behaviour in all directions in which the human beings interact. Thus, organisational
behaviour can be understood at the individual level, interpersonal level, group
level and inter-group level.
Organisational
behaviour helps to analyse 'why' and 'how' an individual behaves in a
particular way. Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon and is affected by a
large number of factors including the psychological, social and cultural
implications. Organisational behaviour integrates these factors to provide*
simplicity in understanding the human behaviour.
1)
Interpersonal
Level: Human behaviour can be understood at
the level of interpersonal interaction. Organisational behaviour provides •
means for understanding the interpersonal relationships in an organisation.
Analysis of reciprocal relationships, role analysis and transactional analysis
are some of the common methods, which provide such understanding.
2)
Group Level: Though people interpret anything at their individual level, they
are often modified by group pressures, which then become a force in shaping
human behaviour, Thus, individuals should be studied in groups also.. Research
in group dynamics has contributed vitally to organisational behaviour and shows
how a group behaves in its norms, cohesion, goals, procedures, communication
pattern and leadership. These research results are advancing managerial
knowledge of understanding group behaviour, which is very important for
organisational morale and productivity.
3)
Inter-group Level: The organisation is made up of many groups that develop complex
relationships to build their process and substance. Understanding the effect of
group relationships is important for managers in today's organisation.
Inter-group relationship may be in the form of co-operation or competition. The
co-operative relationships help the organisation in achieving its objectives.
Organisational behaviour provides means to understand and achieve co-operative
group relationships through interaction, rotation of members among groups,
avoidance of win-lose situation and focussing on total group objectives.
4)
Controlling and Directing
Behaviour: After understanding the mechanism of
human behaviour, managers are required to control and direct the behaviour so
that it conforms to the standards required for achieving the organisational
objectives. Thus, managers are required to control and direct the behaviour at
all levels of individual interaction. Therefore, organisational behaviour helps
managers in controlling and directing in different areas such as use of power
and sanction, leadership, communication and building organisational climate
favourable for better interaction.
5)
Use of Power and
Sanction: The behaviours can be controlled and
directed by the use of power and sanction, which are formally defined by the
organisation. Power is referred to as the capacity of an individual to take
certain action and may be utilised in many ways. Organisational behaviour
explains how various means of power and sanction can ,be utilised so that both
organisational and individual objectives are achieved simultaneously.
6)
Leadership: Organisational behaviour brings new insights and understanding to
the practice and theory of leadership. It identifies various leadership styles
available to a manager and analyses which style is more appropriate in a given
situation. Thus, managers can adopt styles keeping in view the various
dimensions of organisations, individuals and situations.
7)
Communication: Communication helps people to come in contact with each other. To
achieve organisational objectives, the communication must be effective. The
communication process and its work in inter-personal dynamics have been
evaluated by organisational behaviour.
8)
Organisational
Climate: Organisational climate refers to the
total organisational situations affecting human behaviour. Organisational
climate takes a system perspective that affect human behaviour. Besides
improving the satisfactory working conditions and adequate compensation,
organisational climate includes creation of an atmosphere of effective
supervision; the opportunity for the realisation of personal goals, congenial
relations with others at the work place and a sense of accomplishment.
9)
Organisational
Adaptation: Organisations, as dynamic entities are
characterised by pervasive changes. Organisations have to adapt themselves to
the environmental changes by making suitable, internal arrangements such as
convincing employees who normally have the tendency of resisting any changes.
Or
(b)Discuss
citing example, why perception is the key factor in management. 16
Ans: Perception: Perception
is an important mediating cognitive process. Through this complex process,
people make interpretations of the stimulus or situation they are faced with.
Both selectivity and organization go 'into perceptual, interpretations.
Externally, selectivity is affected by intensity, size, contrast, repetition,
motion and novelty and familiarity. Internally, perceptual selectivity is
influenced by the individual's motivation, learning and personality. After the
selective process filters the stimulus situation, the incoming information is
organized into a meaningful whole.
Individual
differences and uniqueness are largely the result of the cognitive processes.
Although there arc a number of cognitive processes, it is generally recognized
that the perceptual process is a very important one. It is a process that takes
place between the situation and the behaviour and is most relevant to the study
of organizational behaviour. For example, the observation that a department
head and a subordinate may react quite differently to the same top management
directive can be better understood and explained by the perceptual process.
In
the process of perception, people receive many different kinds of information
through all five senses, assimilate them and then interpret them. Different
people perceive the same information differently.
Perception
plays a key role in determining individual behaviour in organizations.
Organizations send messages in a variety of forms to their members regarding
what they are expected to do and not to do. In spite of organizations sending
clear messages, those messages are subject to distortion in the process of
being perceived by organizational members. Hence, managers need to have a
general understanding of the basic perceptual process.
Basic Perceptual Process
Perception
is influenced by characteristics of the object being perceived, by the
characteristics of the person and by the situational processes.
a)
Characteristics of the
object include contrast, intensity, movement, repetition
and novelty.
b)
Characteristics of the person include
attitude, self-concept and personality.
The
details of a particular situation affect the way a person perceives an object;
the same person may perceive the same object very differently in different
situations. The processes through which a person's perceptions are altered by
the situation include selection, organization, attribution, projection,
stereotyping process, and the halo effect process. Among these, selective
perception and stereotyping are particularly relevant to organizations.
a)
Selective
Perception: Selective perception is the process of screening out
information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs. For
example, a manager has a very positive attitude about a particular worker and
one day he notices that the worker seems to be goofing up. Selective perception
may make the manager to quickly disregard what he observed. For example, a
manager who has formed a very negative attitude about a particular worker and
he happens to observe a high performance from the same worker. In this case
influenced by the selective perception process he too will disregard it. In one
sense, selective perception is beneficial because it allows us to disregard
minor bits of information. But if selective perception causes managers to
ignore important information, it can become quite detrimental.
b)
Stereotyping:
Stereotyping is the process of categorizing or labeling people on the basis of
a single attribute. Perceptions based on stereotypes about people's sex exist
more or less in all work places. Typically, these perceptions lead to the
belief that an individual's sex determines which tasks he or she will be able
to perform. For example, if a woman is sitting behind the table in the office,
she will be very often, perceived as a clerk and not an executive at first. But
it would induce holding an exactly opposite assumption about a man.
Stereotyping consists of three steps: identifying categories of people (like
women, politician), associating certain characteristics with those categories
(like passivity, dishonesty respectively) and then assuming that any one who
fits a certain category must have those characteristics. For example, if
dishonesty is associated with politicians, we are likely to assume that all
politicians are dishonest.
4. (a)
Distinguish between “Management” and “Leadership” in the management of an
organisation. 8+8=16
Leadership
vs Management
“Leadership
and managership are two synonymous terms” is an incorrect statement. Leadership
doesn’t require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand,
a manager can be a true manager only if he has got the traits of leader in him.
By virtue of his position, manager has to provide leadership to his group.
Leadership is the ability to build up
confidence and deal among people and to create an urge in them to be led. To be
a successful leader, a manager must possess the qualities of foresight, drive,
initiative, self-confidence and personal integrity. Different situations may
demand different types of leadership.
Leadership means influencing the
behaviour of the people at work towards realizing the specified goals. It is
the ability to use non-coercive (no force) influence on the motivation,
activities and goals (MAG) of others in order to achieve the objectives of the
organisation.
Management may be defined as a process
including various activities like planning, organising , directing,
controlling co-ordination etc in order
to make optimum use of men machinery, materials and money by way of preparing
plans, policies and purposes, for achieving organisational goals under healthy
internal environment. Management is the coordination of all resources through
the process of planning, organising, directing, staffing and controlling in
order to attain stated objectives effectively and efficiently. Effectively means doing the right task,
completing activities and achieving goals and efficiently means to attain
objectives with least amount of resources at a minimum cost. This process starts at the top and
continues in more or less degree at every level of the organisation.
Leaders and Managers can be compared
on the following basis:
|
Basis
|
Manager
|
Leader
|
|
Origin
|
A person becomes a manager by virtue
of his position.
|
A person becomes a leader on basis
of his personal qualities.
|
|
Formal Rights
|
Manager has got formal rights in an
organization because of his status.
|
Rights are not available to a
leader.
|
|
Followers
|
The subordinates are the followers
of managers.
|
The group of employees whom the
leaders leads are his followers.
|
|
Functions
|
A manager performs all five
functions of management.
|
Leader influences people to work
willingly for group objectives.
|
|
Necessity
|
A manager is very essential to a
concern.
|
A leader is required to create
cordial relation between person working in and for organization.
|
|
Stability
|
It is more stable.
|
Leadership is temporary.
|
|
Mutual Relationship
|
All managers are leaders.
|
All leaders are not managers.
|
|
Accountability
|
Manager is accountable for self and
subordinates behaviour and performance.
|
Leaders have no well defined
accountability.
|
|
Concern
|
A manager’s concern is
organizational goals.
|
A leader’s concern is group goals
and member’s satisfaction.
|
|
Followers
|
People follow manager by virtue of
job description.
|
People follow them on voluntary
basis.
|
|
Role continuation
|
A manager can continue in office
till he performs his duties satisfactorily in congruence with organizational
goals.
|
A leader can maintain his position
only through day to day wishes of followers.
|
|
Sanctions
|
Manager has command over allocation
and distribution of sanctions.
|
A leader has command over different
sanctions and related task records. These sanctions are essentially of
informal nature.
|
Or
(b) There
is no universally consistent motivational device. Justify in your own
words. 16
5. (a) Describe the process of interpersonal
communication. Distinguish between formal and informal communication. 8+8=16
Ans: Process
of Communication
The process of communication is the
inter relationship between several independent components. It consists of a
chain of related actions and reaction which together result in exchange of
information. In order to understand the process of communication, it is
necessary to describe each of these components. A model of communication
process is as follows:
1. Sender: The sender is the first component of the process of c
communication. The sender may be a speaker, a writer or any other person. He is
the one who has a message and wants it to share it for some purpose.
2. Ideation: Ideation is the preliminary step in communication where sender
creates an idea to communicate. This idea is the content and basis of the
message to be communicated. Several ideas may generate in the sender’s mind.
The sender must identify, analyze and arrange the ideas sequentially before
transmitting them to the receiver.
3. Message: Message is the heart of communication. It is what the sender wants
to convey to the receiver. It may be verbal i.e. written or spoken or non
verbal i.e. body language, space language, etc.
4. Encoding: To encode is to put an idea into words. In this step the communicator
organizes his ideas into a series of symbols or words which will be
communicated to the intended receiver. Thus the ideas are converted into words
or symbols. The words and the symbols should be selected carefully, it should
be understandable and most of all it should be suitable for transmission and
reception.
5. Transmission: Next in the process of communication is
transmission of the message as encoded messages are transmitted through various
media and channels of communication connects the sender and the receiver. The
channel and media should be selected keeping in mind the requirement of the
receiver, the communication to be effective and efficient the channel should be
appropriate.
6. Receiver: Receiver is the person or group for whom the message is meant. He
may be a listener, a reader or a viewer. Any neglect on the part of the
receiver may make the communication ineffective. Receiver is thus the ultimate
destination of the message. It the message does not reach the receiver the
communication is said to be incomplete.
7. Decoding: Decoding means translation of symbols encoded by the sender into
ideas for understanding. Understanding the message by receiver is the key to
the decoding process. The message should be accurately reproduced in the
receiver’s mind. If the receiver is unable to understand the message correctly
the communication is ineffective.
8. Behaviour of the receiver: It refers to the response by the receiver of
the communication received from the sender. He may like to ignore the message or
to store the information received or to perform the task assigned by the
sender. Thus communication is complete as soon as the receiver responses.
9. Feedback: Feedback indicates the result of communication. It is the key
element in the communication and is the only way of judging the effectiveness
of communication. It enables the sender to know whether his message has been
properly interpreted or not. Systematic use of feedback helps to improve future
message. Feedback, like the message could be oral, written or non verbal. It
has to be collected from the receiver.
Difference between Formal and Informal
Communication Channel
|
Basis
|
Formal
Communication
|
Informal
Communication
|
|
01. Rules
|
In Formal communication, Organizational rules are strictly
followed.
|
It does not generally follow the rules of organization
|
|
02. Recognition
|
Such communication requires official’s recognition.
|
In informal communication, It does not require any official’s
recognition.
|
|
03. Flexibility
|
It is inflexible in nature as it cannot be changed when desired.
|
Being flexible, It can be changed easily.
|
|
04. Secrecy
|
Such Communication is not free and open to all. So,
Secrecy is maintained here.
|
It is free and open to all, So it is very difficult to maintain
secrecy here. i.e. Grapevine communication which
spread informally.
|
|
05. Time & Cost
|
It follows various rules of organization. So, It requires much
time and cost.
|
Informal communication does not bother for the formalities of
organization and therefore it requires less time and cost.
|
|
06. Record Keeping
|
This type of communication involves written procedure, So record
can be kept in formal communication.
|
Permanent record is impossible here because almost nothing is
written here.
|
|
07. Errors or Mistakes
|
Very careful attention is given here in encoding the message and
sending the message through formal way. Due to this seriousness, there is
less chance of placing mistakes or errors.
|
It is personal in nature and therefore less attention is
involved which can cause many errors or mistakes.
|
|
08. Compulsion
|
It is bound to follow the formal rules of communication.
|
There is no pressure here to follow any rules.
|
|
09. Necessity
|
Formal communication is necessary to achieve organizational
goal.
|
Informal communication is necessary to improve personal relation.
|
|
10. Delegation or Authority
|
Authority can be delegated through formal communication.
|
Authority cannot be delegated through such communication.
|
Or
(b)
Describe the characteristics of organizational development. Explain the steps
involved in the organization’s Development process. 6+10=16
Ans:
Organisational
Development Process
OD interventions
refer to various activities which consultant and client organization perform
for improving organizational functioning by enabling organization members to
better manage their team and organization cultures. French and Well have
defined OD interventions as "sets of structured activities in which
selected organizational units (target groups or individuals) engage with a task
or a sequence of tasks where the task goals are related directly or indirectly
to organizational improvement. Interventions constitute the action thrust of
organization development; they make things happen and are what is happening.”
Intervention Techniques
a)
Sensitivity Training
b)
Process Consultation
c)
Team Development
d)
Grid Organization Development
a)
Sensitivity Training: Sensitivity training is a
small-group interaction under stress in an unstructured encounter group, which
requires people to become sensitive to one another's feelings in order to develop
reasonable group activity. In sensitivity training, the actual technique
employed is T-group. T-group has several characteristic features:
a)
The T-group is generally small, from ten to
twenty members
b)
The group begins its activity with no formal
agenda
c)
The primary role of trainer is to call attention
of members from time to time lo the ongoing process within the group
d)
The procedure lends to develop introspection and
self-examination, with emotional levels of involvement and behavior.
e)
The objectives of such training are increased
openness with others, more concern for others, increased tolerance for
individual differences, less ethnic prejudice, understanding of a group
process, enhanced listening skills and increased trust and support.
b)
Process Consultation: Process
Consultation (P-C) represents a method of intervening in an ongoing system. The
basic content of P-C is that the consultant works with individuals and groups
to help them learn about human and social processes and learn to solve problems
that stem from process events. P-C consists of many interventions and
activities which affect the various organizational processes such as.
communication, roles and functions of group members, group problem-solving and
decision-making, group norms, authority and leadership and inter-group
cooperation and conflicts.
c) Team
Development: The underlying aim of team development is to increase
trust among team members because people work better together when there is open
and honest sharing about the problems and difficulties that they have with one
another. As such, at the initial level, the attempt should be to develop such
an environment where such trust can be developed among the team members
d)
Grid Organization Development:
Grid organization development, developed by Blake and Mounton, is a
comprehensive and systematic OD Program. The Program aims at individuals,
groups and the organization as a whole. It utilizes a considerable number of
instruments, enabling individuals and groups to assess their own strength and
weaknesses. It also focuses on skills, knowledge and processes necessary for
effectiveness at the individual, group and inter-group and total organization
levels.
In addition to
these people focused interventions, there may be other types of interventions
too. e.g. structural and job interventions such as job enlargement, job
enrichment, management by objectives, rules, procedures and authority
structure.
OD offers some
very attractive methodologies and philosophies to practicing managers and
academicians. William Halal is right when he says "OD in future includes
any method for modifying the behavior in the organization, hereby, encompassing
the entire spectrum of applied behavioral science". There also have been
experiences of failure in OD but these are being recorded and collected to be
reviewed. In general, OD shows a promising future, since there are no rigid
sets of procedures in OD work and different strategies have to be evolved for
different types of organizations.
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