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MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

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Term-End Examination
]uner. 2A09

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Ms-l: MANA;xTffiTJCrIoNs
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Time : 3 hours

Note :

(i)

Maximum Marks : 1A0

(Weightage70%)

(it

Thereare two sections:

A and B
Attemptany threequestions
from section A, each
questioncarries2A marks.

(iit

section B is compulsory and carries40 marks.

SECTION - A

1.

Explain the concept of MBO. Describeits key

features and critically analyse the extent of
feasibility and usefulnessof MBo in the present
day businessscenario.

2.

Briefly describevarious managerialprocessesand

explain major elementsof any two of them with
suitable examples.

3.

How do conflicts get generated in an

organizational situation ? How does it impact the
group behaviour and functioning of the
otganizabion ? Explain with relevant examples.

4.

J.

What is differentiation ? How is it done in an

organizational set-up ? Discuss briefly with
examples the basis of differentiation and its
relationship with the choice of shucture.
Write short notes on any three of the following :
(a)
(b)

Processof Organizational Change

Group Formation

(c)
(d)

Johari Window
Managerial Values and Ethos
Channels of communication

(e)

SECTION - B
(")

Readcarefullythecaseandanswerthequestions
giaen at the end.

Fine Constructions was engaged in the

fabricationof heavy structurals.The companyhad
six shops besides engineering, accounts,
personnel,sales,and administrative departments.
It employed 7000men. The chief executiveof the
company was the General Manager.
In one of the shops employing 1000 men,
900 tons of structurars were fabricated every
month. The day-to-day managementof the shop
was entrusted to the Manager, who was assisted
by the senior Foreman. T'he three main sections
of the shop were preparation, Marking, and
finishing.
In the Marking and Finishing Sections,the
work was supervised by two foremen each.The
Preparation Section was under the direct
supervision of the Senior Foreman, who, in
addition, planned and coordinated the work of
all the three sections.The preparationsection was
responsiblefor the collection and classificationof
works orders, for reading intricate machine and
structural drawings, determination of priorities
of execution orders, checking bilts of materials,
and processingraw materials for fabrication. This

section had 200 men on the rolls.

In L981,the shop started receiving heavy
orders, and as the work-load increased
considerably,the Senior Foreman was unable to
cope with it. On the Manager'srecommendation,
the General Manager sanctioned two new posts
of Foremen for the Preparation Section. Two
ProgressInchargesattachedto the SeniorForeman
were thus rendered surplus and their principal
work, namely, reporting progress of work in the
shop, was transferred to the Production Planning
Department. This action of the General Manager
had the concurrence of the Manager. The
Inchargesthemselveswere not transferred to the
Production Planning Department, as this had its
own departmentalmen to take care of this work.
They continued on the rolls of the shop, awaiting
orders for transfer to vacanciesof equivalent
grade in other shops.
The minimum qualifications for the recently
created posts of Foremen, prescribed by u Joint
Committee, were a diploma in engineering and
five years'experiencein structural shop.The posts
were advertised for in the organization but none
of the applicants was found suitable f or
appointment. The Incharges concerned, who
were non-matriculates, did not apply, as they did
not possessthe prescribedqualifications. The posts

were therefore advertised in the press.

Three
outside candidates applied. Only one appeared
for the interview and he was not considered
suitable for appointment.
The case of the two surplus Incharges did
not come within the purview of the grievance
procedure in operation, in the company,
as it
involved a change in the minimum quarifications
prescribed for the post of Foreman. As, however,
they were powerful members of the
Union
executive, the secretary of the reco gnized
trade
trade union took up their case for appointment
as foreman with the Generar Manager. The
union
Secretary argued that they had been doing
part
of the foremen's job before the posts were created
and, in the absence of suitable candidates
they
should be preferred for promotion.
The General Manager maintained that the
men concerned were not qualified for the
posts
and did not possess the technical background
required to perform the Foreman,s duties.
The
written job-descriptions of the posts of progress
Incharge and Foreman prepared by the
|oint
Committee indicated that the job content
of the
former was only about 25% of that of a Foremary
and only, on the administrative side. They did
not
supervise the work of the preparatio'Su.Uon
in

any way, whete there were mistries in line for

promotion. The latter, though good in their own
area,could not be promoted as they were not
technically qualified to hold the higher position.

'

After prolonged discussion,the General

Manager concededthat in the circumstances,the
Inchargeswould be given an opportunity to prove
their fitness for the iob. It was also agreedthat in
the first place, test specificationsfor the posts of
Foreman would be worked out by a Joint
Committee and given to the men concerned' If
they wished, they would also be given guidance
for a period of three months, to learn the iob. They
wouldthenbesubjectedtoatestbytheTraining
Officer, and if they passedthe test, they would be
promoted to Foremen.
TheManagercommunicatedthisdecision
to the senior Foreman in the presenceof the two
men. He readily agreedto give them the necessary
guidance whenever they requested it' I{owever'
they maintained that the decision was not only
to give them guidance when asked for, but fulltime training and guidance in order to enablethem
to pass the test. On hearing this, the Senior
Foreman remarked: I have no one to spare
primarily for the Purpose of training them to pass
the test.'

Questions :
(i)

What is the main problem in the case?

(ii)

Identify and discuss the stage and action

required to tackle the problem before it
becamea grievance.Comment on the role
of the mdnagement.

(ii|

Critically evaluate the grievance and the

follow-up action. Evaluate the unionmanagement compromise and its possible
consequences
with your own point of view,
in detail.

(iv)

If you were the manager of the 'shop', how

would you handle the problem, after the
Senior Foreman'sremark about sparing the
'Incharges' for
three months ?

6.

(b)

Readthe casegiaen belozuand answer the

questionsgiaen at the end.

Ms. Renu had graduated with a degree in

foreign languages. As the child of a military
family, she had visited many parts of the world
and had travelled extensivelyin Europe. Despite
thesebroadening experiences,shehad never given
much thought to a careeruntil her recentdivorce'
Needing to Provide her own income,
Ms. Renu began to look for work. After a fawly
intense but unsuccessfulsearchfor a job related
to her foreign language degree, she began to
evaluate her sther skills. She had become a
proficient typist in collegeand decidedto look into
secretarialwork. Although she still wanted a
careerutilizing her foreign language skills, she felt
that the immediate financial pressureswould be
easedin a temporary secretarialposition.
Within a short period of time, shewas hired
as a clerk/ typist in a typing pool at Life Insurance
Company. Six months later, she became the top
fypist in the pool and was assignedas secretary
to Mrs. Khan, Manager of marketing research.She
was pleasedto get out of the pool and to get a iob
that had more variety in the tasks to perform.
Besides,she also got a nice raise in pay.

Everything seemed to proceed well for the next

nine months. Mrs. Khan was pleasedwith Renu's
work, and sheseemedhappy with her work. Renu
applied for a few other more professionaljobs in
other areasduring this time. Flowever, eachtime
her application was rejectedfor lack of related
education and/or experiencein the area.
Over the next few months, Khan noticed
changesin Renu. She did not always dress as
neatly as shehad in the past, shewas occasionally
late for work, some of her lunches extended to
two hours, and most of her productive work was
done in the morning hours. Khan did not wish
to say anything becauseRenu had been doing an
excellentjob and her job tasks still were being
accomplished on time. However, Renu,sjob
behaviour continued to worsen. She began to be
absent frequently on Mondays or Fridays. The
two-hour lunch periods becamestandard,and her
work performance began to deteriorate. In
addition, Khan began to suspect that Renu was
drinking heavily, due to her appearancesome
mornings and behaviour after her two-hour
lunches.
Khan decided that she must confront Renu
with the problem. However, she wanted to find a
way to help her without losing a valuable
employee.Beforeshecould setup a meeting, Renu

burst through her door after lunch one day and

said:
"I want to talk to You Mrs. Khan"
"That's fine," Khan replied' "Shall we set a
convenient time?"
"No! I want to talk now."
"OK, why don't you sit down and let's talk?"
Khan noticed that Renu was slurring her
words slightly and she was not too steady'
"Mrs. Khan, I need some vacation time'"
trlrfitsure we can work that out' You've been
with the company for over a year and have two
weeks vacation coming."
"No, you don't understand. I want to start
it tomorrow."
"But , Renu, we need to Plan to get a
temporary replacement.We can't just let your iob
go for two weeks."
rr!\irhynot? Anyway anyone with an IQ
above 50 can do my job. Besides,I need the time
off."
"Renu, are you sure you are all right?"
"Yes, I just need some time away from the
job".
Khan decided to let Renu have the vacation,
which would allow her some time to decide what
to do about the situation.

Khan thought about the situation the next

couple of days. It was possiblethat Renu was an
alcoholic"However, she also seemedto have a
negative reaction to her job. May be Renu was
bored with her job. She did not have the
experienceor job skills to move to a different type
of job at present.Khan decided to meet with the
PersonnelManagerand get somehelp developing
her options to deal with Renu'sproblem.
Questions :
(i)

What is the problem in your opinion ?

Elaborate.

(ii)

How would you explain the behavior of

Renu and Mrs. Khan ? Did Mrs. Khan
handle the situation timely and properly ?

(ii|

Assume that you are the personnel

Manager. What are the alternatives
availablewith Mrs. Khan ?

(-)

What do you consider the best alternative ?

\Alhy ?
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