Unit 6 Business Management and Human Resource Management PYQ’s 17th Oct 2020 Shift 2

The correct answer is – Group norms

Key Points

Group norms:

• Every group develops and follows its own beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and expectations for how the things in the group will be done.
• This pattern and expectations of the group are known as Group norms.
• Group norms are nothing but ground rules that encourages group members to work efficiently and discourage behavior that hinders its effectiveness.

Therefore, beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and expectations which are shared by group members are called group norms.

Additional Information

Group communication:

• Group communication refers to the exchange of information and interaction between members of a small group of individuals.
• Groups can consist of family members, work teams, committees, friendship circles, and other such teams.
• In an organization, group communication is a mode of communication between the employers and the employees in teams/groups

Group cohesiveness:

• Group cohesiveness refers to the degree of attachment between the members of the group.
• It is one of the characteristic features of the group which is very significant from the behaviouristic point of view.
• It arises when the bond links members of the social group to one another and to the group as a whole.

Group structure:

• Group structure refers to the rules of the group norms, roles, and status among the members that define and organize the group.
• The group structure is an underlying pattern or layout of the group.
• It is also influenced by the size and degree of group cohesiveness.

The correct answer is – Apprenticeship

Management development is a systematic process of growth and development by which managers develop their abilities to manage. It is concerned with not only improving the performance of managers but also giving them opportunities for growth and development.

Key Points

A large variety of methods of training are used in business. Even within one organization, different methods are used for training different people. All the methods are divided into two classifications:

1. On The Job Training Methods:

• The On-the-Job Training is a technique wherein the workers, i.e., operative staff, are given direct instructions to perform their jobs on the actual work floor.
• The workers can learn the skills that are required to be performed in the actual work conditions and also get accustomed to the working environment.
• Also, the organizations need not bear any additional cost of setting up a classroom or a simulated setup for imparting training to the workers, away from the actual work floor, as in the case of Off-the-Job training.

2. Off The Job Training Methods:

• Off-the-Job Training is the training method wherein the workers/employees learn their job roles away from the actual work floor.

• Simply, off-the-job training comprises of a place specifically allotted for the training purpose that may be near to the actual workplace, where the workers are required to learn the skills and get well equipped with the tools and techniques that are to be used at the actual work floor.

Important Points

Hint

Apprenticeship:

• This type of training is generally given to the people in crafts, trade, and technical fields that require long-term learning before they actually gain proficiency in their respective disciplines.
• This training is a blend of classroom and on-the-job training and is conducted under close supervision.
• This can be extended up to 3 to 4 years as apprentices need to go through the learning process till they become an expert in their fields. E.g. The craftsmen job, mechanic, electrician, plumber, toolmaker, etc. have to undergo this type of training.
• On-the-Job training is based on the principle of “learning by doing”, i.e. the workers learn the job while performing it within the actual work environment.
• This type of training is beneficial for both the workers and the organization.
• Thus, Apprenticeship is NOT a part of the off – the job training method.

Therefore, Option 3 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

1. Sensitivity training is a form of training with the goal of making people more aware of their own goals as well as their prejudices, and more sensitive to others and to the dynamics of group interaction. It is a part of the off-the-job training as it is not directly related to “learning by doing”.

2. Transactional Analysis is a training method to develop interactive and communication skills among trainees. Transactional analysis is a means to know why people are as they really are, and also why they say or do things that they actually say or do. When applied to job situations, it provides an understanding of how people relate to each other, and how communication and human relationships between them can be made more effective. It is a part of the off-the-job training as it is not directly related to “learning by doing”.

3. A meeting of several people to discuss any subject is called a conference. Each participant contributes by analyzing and discussing various issues related to the topic. Everyone can express their own viewpoint. It is a part of the off-the-job training as it is not directly related to “learning by doing”.

The correct answer is – D only

Organizational socialization is one very important aspect of orientation, the introduction of a new employee to the enterprise. Filling a vacant position is not designed for the socialization of new managers.

Key Points

• Organizational socialization is the process by which people learn about and adjust to the knowledge, skills, attitudes, expectations, and behaviors needed for a new or changing role within an organization.
• The socialization process truly begins when a future employee simply considers working for a company. The candidate forms expectations of what the daily realities and culture of a workplace will be.
• This preliminary socialization continues during the hiring process. In interviews, those responsible for hiring communicate the organization’s norms and values and try to ascertain whether or not a candidate will be a good fit.
• During this process, candidates may already be purposely or subconsciously altering their behavior in order to better reflect what they perceive to be the dominant organizational values.

Formal Socialization

• Most organizations engage in some type of formal socialization for new hires.
• In some cases, this occurs via an orientation or training program that new employees undergo before assuming the functions of their new positions. Formal socialization may also occur through a mentoring process whereby values, skills, and habits are communicated to a new hire by a more senior employee.
• In both cases, the intended effect is to alter the behavior and values of the new employees until they are in line with those behaviors and values prized by the organization.

Informal Socialization

• Organizational socialization also occurs through any number of informal channels via peer interactions and informal interactions with management.
• In many ways, this is where the most effective and lasting socialization takes place.
• As new hires observe and interact with fellow employees in the lunchroom and around the water cooler, and as they observe the accepted behaviors of both peers and superiors in a variety of workplace situations, they gain an understanding of the true values of an organization and soon change their behaviors accordingly.

Hence, Filling a vacant position is not designed for the socialization of new managers.

The correct answer is – i, ii and iii

The span of management, also called the span of control refers to the ability of a superior to efficiently manage a number of subordinates. In other words, the manager has a group of subordinates who report directly to him is called a span of management.

Key Points

Span of management are determined by various factors like:

• Manager’s training determines the capacity and ability of factors such as leadership, communication, decision-making, control of subordinates.
• Manager’s personal qualities like his attitude and personality factors can also determine how effectively he could manage his subordinates.
• Subordinates training also determines the span of management needed as if the subordinate is trained and experienced enough then there is a lesser need for supervision as compared to the new subordinates.
• If the Nature of work is repetitive and routine then the span of management will be wider as compared to the complex work.
• The degree of planning like clearly providing rules, procedures, methods, stand-alone plans is high, the degree of the span of management will be high as well.
• Staff assistance also determines the span of management, for example, if the subordinates are receiving necessary guidance on methods, quality standards, and other aspects of work from specialists then the span of control will be increased.
• Centralization of authority narrows down the span of management as the subordinates would require considerable instruction, clarification, consultation, etc.
• Delegation of authority will widen the span of management because if the manager clearly delegates and defines responsibility to his subordinate, he requires less time to devote to managing their actions as those specified tasks will be done effectively by the subordinates.

Therefore, the Span of management is determined by i) manager’s training ii) manager’s personal qualities iii) subordinates training.

Important Points

V.A. Graicunas introduced the theory of span of management.

The correct answer is – a-ii, b-iv, c-iii, d-i

Key Points

Therefore, from the above explanation, it is clear that option 3) is the correct answer.

The correct answer is – A, C, B, F, D and E

According to Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, & to control”. Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P stands for Planning, O for Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for reporting & B for Budgeting. But the most widely accepted are functions of management given by KOONTZ and O’DONNELL i.e. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.

The given options seem to be incorrect and hence we select the most appropriate option i.e. Option2.

Additional Information

• Planning means setting an organization’s goal and deciding how best to achieve them. Planning is decision making, regarding the goals and setting the future course of action from a set of alternatives to reach them. The plan helps to maintain managerial effectiveness as it works as a guide for the personnel for future activities. Selecting goals as well as the paths to achieve them is what planning involves.
• Organizing involves determining how activities and resources are to be assembled and coordinated. The organization can also be defined as an intentionally formalized structure of positions or roles for people to fill in an organization.
• Staffing helps the executives to establish positions and lay down their functional relations to each other. However, it is through a staffing function that different positions in the organizational structure are manned. The staffing process, therefore, provides the organization with adequate, competent, and qualified personnel at all levels.
• Directing motivates members of the organization to work in the best interests of the organization. Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide, and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of the management process.
• Controlling is measuring, comparing, finding deviation, and correcting the organizational activities which are performed for achieving the goals or objectives. There are no guarantees that work will always proceed according to plan. It is this possibility of actions deviating from plans that call for constant monitoring of actual performance so that appropriate steps may be taken to make them conform to plans. Thus, the controlling task of management involves compelling the events to conform to plans.
• Coordinating deals with harmonizing work relations and efforts at all levels for achieving some common purpose. It may be described as unifying and achieving harmony among individual efforts for the purpose of accomplishing group goals. The whole idea of coordination is to adjust, reconcile, and synchronize individual efforts so that group efforts become more effective and help to achieve some common objectives.

The correct answer is – Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A

Keith Davis defined Workers’ participation in management as “as an individual’s mental and emotional involvement in a group situation that encourages him to contribute to group goals and to share responsibility for them.”

Key Points

Workers participation in management:

• It refers to the participation of non-managerial employees in the decision-making process of the organization.
• It refers to the involvement of workers only in such areas of activities of the enterprises where they can make some positive contribution.
• The areas of participation are of concern to the workers like wages, working conditions, safety, welfare, sharing of gain, production-related aspects, incentive, and allowances, etc. are legitimate areas of worker’s concern and therefore workers must be consulted when these are determined.
• Workers may not be competent enough to understand and appreciate the managerial aspects of the enterprise so only those workers should be selected who possess the ability, intelligence, and knowledge so as to participate effectively in the management.
• Participation implies mental and emotional involvement.
• It motivates contribution as an opportunity is given to the workers to utilize their initiative and creativity towards the objectives of the organization.
• It encourages workers to take responsibility for activity as they are self-involved in the activities of an organization.

Therefore, both statements A and R are correct but R is the correct explanation of A.

The correct answer is – Only A

Key Points

• From the passage, we can guess the message of the passage. How employees play an important role during a crisis If employees are provided with a friendly environment and the passage explains how Taj palace hotel managed to develop such an environment with various measurements. Hence statement A is correct.
• Statement B, C, and D are out of context. The author is not talking, about the equipment and system needed to deliver service, or about the management system with internal controls in-depth, or about the service-oriented improvements.
• Hence, statements B, C and D are not correct.

The correct answer is – Promoting them out of turn

Key Points

• From the passage,
• ‘The employee at Taj is viewed as an asset and is the real profit centre’ indicates that Taj includes employees as part of the vision.
• ‘In it is “Special Thanks and Recognition System” (STARS) it aims at rewarding employees across all levels’ shows that rewarding employees did help to retain the best people.
• ‘Taj made remarkable effort of recovering not just to restore its damaged installations but also to ensure customer satisfaction as well as to uplift the spirit of all employees and staff’ indicates Taj’s effort to maintain the customer service up to the mark and also to increase the spirit of the employees, which shows how Taj treated employees as customers.
• Hence, Option 1, 3 and 4 are correct.
• The passage doesn’t talk about ‘promoting employees out of turn’ anywhere in the passage. Hence, Option 2 is not correct.

The correct answer is – Collective bargaining

Key Points

• From the passage,
• ‘Taj made remarkable effort of recovering not just to restore its damaged installations but also to ensure customer satisfaction as well as to uplift the spirit of all employees and staff’ indicates Taj’s effort to maintain the customer service up to the mark and also to increase the spirit of the employees, which shows how Taj treated employees as customers.
• Hence, options 2 and 3 denote some approaches to restore its glory.
• ‘In it is “Special Thanks and Recognition System” (STARS) it aims at rewarding employees across all levels’ shows that rewarding employees did help to retain the best people. which again helped Taj to restore its glory.
• The passage doesn’t talk about ‘Collective bargaining’ anywhere in the passage. Hence, Option 1 doesn’t make any sense towards Taj to restore its glory.

Hence, the correct answer is ‘Collective bargaining.’

The correct answer is – B and C

Key Points

• From the passage, ‘Taj People Philosophy (TPP) covered all the aspects of and employee career planning from his Joining till the death. Taj also implemented the popular performance management system called Balance Score Card in which employee could reviews his performance and make improvements.’ it indicates that organizations like Taj hire for competency and continuous improvement is preferred.
• Things like ‘Special Thanks and Recognition System” (STARS), Taj People Philosophy (TPP) and Balance Score Card, perceptions like ‘employee at Taj is viewed as an asset and is the real profit centre‘ and treating employees as equal as customers, denotes that organizations should be the most preferred employer.
• Hence, statement B and C are only correct.
• Statement A and D are out of context as the passage doesn’t mention about the competition among the employer and choosing a talented person by any procedure.

The correct answer is – C and D

Key Points

• According to the passage developing employees to provide service quality requires, setting standards for employees and recognizing and rewarding the employees across all levels.
• Statements A and B are out of the context (passage), the author is not talking about the training employees or about the continuous instructions, not mentioned anywhere in the passage. Hence both the statements are wrong.
• Statement C: From the passage, ‘Taj also implemented the popular performance management system called Balance Score Card in which employee could review his performance and make improvements.’ indicates there are a certain set of standards that have been set, where employees can review their performance and improve their performance. Hence, the given statement is correct.
• Statement D: Taj has a system called “Special Thanks and Recognition System” (STARS) it aims at rewarding employees across all levels. Hence statement D is also is correct.