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Ms-21 Question bank (11)

Ms-21 Question bank

MS-21 : SOCIAL PROCESSES AND BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES

June-2013

 

SECTION – A

 

1. Explain the reasons for group formation and describe various Group Decision making techniques and their relevance.

 2. Describe the similarities which exist in the theories of Maslow Mc Gregor and Herzberg. Discuss their implications for organisations with examples.

 3. Briefly describe the guidelines for implementing Behaviour Management programme and discuss the Misconception about the unethical aspect of modifying another persons behaviour.

 4. Briefly explain the role of culture in organisations and explain the importance of corporate culture in the functioning of organization. Give examples.

 5. Write short notes on any three of the following :

(a) Cross - cultural issues

(b) Overcoming barriers to communication

(c) Schedules of Reinforcement

(d) Work ethics

(e) Leadership in Team building

 

 SECTION-B

 

6. Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the end :

 Sundar Steel Limited was a medium-sized steel company manufacturing special steels of various types and grades. It employed 5,000 workers and 450 executives.

 Under the General Manager (Production) there were operation, maintenance, and services groups, each headed by a chief. The Chief of Maintenance was Shukla and under him Mukherjee was working as the Maintenance Engineer. The total strength of Maintenance was 500 workers, 25 executives, and 50 supervisors.

 Chatterjee was working in Maintenance as a worker for three years. He was efficient. He had initiative and drive. He performed his duties in a near perfect manner. He was a man of roven technical ability with utmost drive and dash. He was promoted as Supervisor.

 

Chatterjee, now a Supervisor, was one day passing through the Maintenance Shop on his routine inspection. He found a certain worker sitting idle. He pulled him up for this. The worker etaliated by abusing him with filthy words. With a grim face and utter frustration, Chatterjee reported the matter to Mukherjee. The worker who insulted Chatterjee was a "notorious character", and no supervisor dared to confront him. Mukherjee took a serious view of the incident and served a strong warning letter to the worker.

 Nothing very particular about Chatterjee or from him came to the knowledge of Mukherjee. Things were moving smoothly. Chatterjee was getting along well with others.

But after about three years, another serious incident took place. A worker came drunk to duty, began playing cards, and using very filthy language. When Chatterjee strongly objected to this, the worker got up and slapped Chatterjee. Later, the worker went to his union and reported that Chatterjee had assaulted him while he was performing his duties.

Chatterjee had no idea that the situation would take such a turn. He, therefore, never bothered to report the matter to his boss or collect evidence in support of his case.

 The union took the case to Shukla and prevailed over him to take stern action against Chatterjee. Shukla instructed Mukherjee to demote Chatterjee to the rank of a worker. Mukherjee expressed his apprehension that in such a case Chatterjee will be of no use to the department, and the demotion would adversely affect the morale of all sincere and efficient supervisors. But Chatterjee was demoted.

 Chatterjee continued working in the organisation with all his efficiency, competence, and bility for two months. Then he resigned stating that he had secured better employment elsewhere. Mukherjee was perturbed at this turn of events. While placing Chatterjee's resignation letter before Shukla, he expressed deep concern at this development.

Shukla called Chief of Personnel for advice on this delicate issue. The Chief of Personnel said, "I think the incident should help us to appreciate the essential qualification required for a successful supervisor. An honest and hardworking man need not necessarily prove to be an effective supervisor. Something more is required for this as he has to get things done rather than do himself."

Mukherjee said, "I have a high opinion of Chatterjee. He proved his technical competence and was sincere at his work. Given some guidance on how to deal with the type of persons he had to work with, the sad situation could have been avoided".

Shukla said, "I am really sorry to lose Chatterjee. He was very honest and painstaking in his work. But I do not know how I could have helped him. I wonder how he always managed to get into trouble with workers. We know they are illiterates and some of them are tough. But supervisor must have the ability and presence of mind to deal with such men. I have numerous supervisors, but I never had to teach anybody how to supervise his men,"

 Questions :

(a) What are the issues in this case ?

(b) Do you think the decision taken by Shukla is inkeeping with creating developmental climate in the organisation, critically evaluate.

(c) Do you think counselling/mentoring may help improving rough and tough employees ?

(d) Is the present situation likely to affect the work motivation ? As G.M. What developmental interventions would you recommend to improve work motivation and dyadic relationship ?

MS-21    June, 2007

MS-21 : SOCIAL PROCESSES AND  BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES

 

1. Describe  different  sources of  power  and  discuss its dynamics  in  an organisatioh,  with relevant  examples.

2.  What  is  motivation  ?  Discuss  the  Maslow's  and McClelland's  theories  of  motivation  and their  relevance  in the  present  day  context.

3. Discuss  the importance  of counselling  in  organisations  and discuss the  ethical  issues involved  in  counselling in organisations.

4-  Describe  various  roles  in  group process  and discuss  how group effectiveness  can  be increased.

5-  write  short  notes  on any three  of the following  :

(i)  Cross-culture  differences

(ii)  Role  of leader  in Team-Building

(iii)  Halo  effect  and  Stereotyping

(iv)  Barriers  to  communication

(v)  Process  of conflict

 

6-  Read  the following  case  carefully  and  answer  the questions given  at the end.

Anju  and  Ria  are  two  sisters  and the  daughters  of Mr.  o.P.  Sharma  and Shama  Sharma.  Mr.  Sharma  is a well  known  advocate  practising  in  Surat (Gujarat  State), while  shama  sharma  is  a  housewife.  Right  from childhood,  the two  sisters  had shown  different  personality traits.  Anju was  an introvert,  quiet,  did not  express  much

and  was  always  involved  in  doing  her  own  things.  By contrast Ria  was a  typical  extrovert  always  speaking her mind, bubbling  with enthusiasm,  sociable.  Though  Ria

was usually  the  centre  of  attraction  at  social  events  and gatherings,  Mr.  and Mrs. Sharma   never  differentiated  or favoured  any one child.  Mr. Sharma  was  very busy  in  his professional  life  and  so  management  of  the  house and family  was totally  Mrs. Sharma's  priority/concern. Mrs. Sharma  was  very clear  in  her belief  that  if  one wants  anything,  nothing  is  impossible  and  also nothing  can  come  in  the  way  of  achieving  that something.  Mrs. Sharma  was responsible  in  shaping  her childrens'  aspirations.  She  always  encouraged  her daughters  to  pursue  their  dreams  by  overcoming obstacles.  Anju completed  her M.Sc.  in Microbiology  and left  for  the  U.S.,  to  study  as a  research  scholar  in  her area  of  specialisation.  Ria  after  graduation,  did  her  M.B.A.  from  one  of  the  premier  institutes  and through campus recruitment  was  placed in  an  MNC  'TCOLEE LTD.'  This company  also  had  a competitive  culture  which suited Ria's  personality.  Her  former  colleagues  used to say  "Ria  was  unafraid  to  speak  her mind and always  had an  inner  drive  to  seek  greater  responsibilities  and promotions."  Recognising her  talent,  the  company promoted  her as  a team  facilitator,  within one and a half years,  and  sent her  to  their  Singap  ore branch, where 150 persons  were  employed.  Within a few  months  in  her new  position, Ria  realised  that  her  immediate  superior Rajesh's  personality  was very different from  that  of  her former  boss. Rajesh  believed  that  situations  determined behaviour  and  in  case  of  situational  requirement  would hire  persons  at  random and then  structure  the  situation accordingly.  As a result,  Ria noticed  that members  of  her team  were  finding  it  difficult  to  work  together.  She realised  that it  was  a classic  case  of  personality  conflict  as they (team  members)  didn't like  each  other and this could prove to  be disruptive

Ria called  the  team members  and gave  them  a  time frame  within which  they  had  to  work things  out. she was very  firm  when she  spoke  to  the team  members.  "l  have communicated  to  you  all  about  the  problems  your behaviour  is  causing,  but I  hope  you realise  that  the work has to  be  completed  in  the  required  time  irrespective  of how  you  get along."  But  even alter  another  six months,

    Ria  realised that  the  team  was  still  not  working  well together, the  productivity  was inadequate  and the  morale was  also  low.  Ria  thought  "l  know  I  have  to  do

something  because  it  is  affecting  their work.  "  After  a  lot of  introspection,  Ria decides  that  the  best  way of  solving the  problem  was  by  simply  dissolving  the  team  and placing  its  members elsewh  ere  rather  than  trying  to determine  who was right or  wrong.

Questions

(a)  What  could  be  the  key  determinants involved  in shaping  Ria's  personality  ?

(b)  There  is  a  popular  saying  'When  the  going  gets tough,  the tough  get going'.  In  Ria's  case,  what  are the  implications  of  the  goal  orientation exhibited, and why ?

(c)  If  you  are  asked  to  select  candidates  for  developing  a team at Ria's office,  what traits  will you look  out for in  prospective  employees  ? Why ?

MS-21    June, 2008

MS-21 : SOCIAL PROCESSES AND  BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES

1. Review  and  describe  Herzberg's  work  motivation  theory and discuss  its relevance  for  organizational  processes.

2.  Describe  the  importance  of  counselling  process  in organisations  and  discuss  the  ethical  issues  involved  in counselling.  Discuss  how  an organization  can handle them.

3. Identify  and  deliberate on  group  processes.  Discuss the measures  ons  could adapt  to  improve  group  productivity.

4. Describe  different types of  organisational  culture and  their significance  in  the  Indian  context.

5. Write short notes on  any  three  of  the  following  :

(a)  Interpersonal  Perception

(b)  Importance of  persuasion

(c)  Sociometry

(d)  Leadership  effectiveness

(e)  Barriers to  communication

 

6. Read the  following  case  carefully  and answer the  questions given at  the  end  :

Hari  Iyer;  the  Vice  President (Marketing) of  Victor Computer  Systems  Ltd.,  was immersed  in  thoughts, about the  happenings,  taking  him  few  years  (1999)  down  the

memory  lane.  This  was  when  George  (the  Marketing Manager)  had  proudly  walked  down  the  aisle  to  shake hands  with  the  founder and chairman  Victor  at the  latter's residence in  England  and  all  the  company's  employees and  special  invitees  standing  and  cheering  him.  There were  another  49  employees along with  George, to  have dinner with  the  founder chairman at his home  in  England. This  dinner  was  a  part  of  the  'Quality  performance  circle programme'  in  which  the  chairman rewards  quality  top performers,  who  are  exceeding their  quarterly  targets  by more  than  15  per  cent  for  the  entire  year.  All  winners were  given  a  cash award, a  certificate  and  also had  their pictures  taken  with  the  chairman  and  printed  and published  in  the  company's inhouse magazine.

Victor  Computer  Systems  Ltd.  is  a  20  year  old  global company,  having  set  up  base in  I99I  and  has  a  sound product  range  of  computer  peripherals.  Right  from  the beginning,  the  company  has  been  able  to  build  up  a goodwill  for  its  quality products. Very  soon,  it  was  selling its  products at  a  higher  price  in  the  market.  George had   joined  the  company  in  1997  and  his  immediate  boss Gaurav  Patei  was  thoroughly  satisfied  with  him  an,C  also liked  him.  Because  of  his  excellent  track  record  and performance,  George was  not  only  liked  by  his  superior but  also enjoyed many  company  benefits.

George had earned  the  reputation  of  a go-getter,  who enjoyed  working  on  challenging  customers  (or  clients) though  he  doesn't believe  in  wasting much time  on  trying to  please very  hard  to  please customers. He  was  very focussed on  the  targets  set  for  the  month  for  all  his teams.  He  tries  to  instill  in  his  teams  (executives  and managers)  the  idea  of  always  being ahead in  the  race  of hard  core  selling and  also put  it  into  practice  by  working hard himself. He  was also  very smart at  closing  sales  with institutional  buyers  thereby bring in  a  lot  of  sales  in  terms of  volume  for  the  firm.  Seeing  George's  potential, Gaurav  always tried  to  provide  enough  scope  to  explore the  potential of  bis  customers  on  his  own. Inspite  of  all  this,  Gaurav was  a  little  worried  about George's  attitude  towards  those  Area  and  Regional Managers  who  made  efforts  to  sell  to  small  customers. Even  though  he  had  heard  rumours  about  George's belittling attitude towards  few  of  such Regional Managers, he  had  ignored  them  because  of  George's performance.

    However, from  2000  onwards,  the  recession  world over  was  having  its  impact  on the  Indian  IT  industry.  This slack  also  affected  Victor Computer  Systems  in  business with a  noticeable  dip in  corporate  customers  demand  for its  products.  The  company  also  had  redesigned  its marketing  strategies  and  reallocated  its  targets  to  its marketing  teams.  But keeping  in mind  George's  obsession for  big  customers  and  a  person  of  strong  likes  and dislikes,  Gaurav  thought  it  right to  bring up  this  matter with the Vice President,  Hari lyer.  After hearing  Gaurav, Hari  was  in  a  dilemma  because  he  knew  people  like George  were  always in  demand  and  chased by  head hunters.

Questions  :

(a)  Which  aspects  of  goal  setting model  have  gone wrong  in  George's  case  ?

(b)  What strategy  should  be  adopted  by Gaurav  and  Hari to  motivate  George  ?

(c)  Suggest  how  you  would  chann  elize  the  social processes  to  avoid  attitude  problems.

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