Short Answer Type Questions
Q. 1. State any three points of importance of directing function of management. [SQP 2018-19]
OR
Explain any three points that highlight the importance of directing function of management. [Delhi Set-II 2017]
Ans. Importance of directing:
(i) Directing helps to initiate action in the organization towards attainment of desired objectives.
(ii) Directing integrates employees’ efforts in the organization in such a way that every individual effort contributes to the organisational performance.
(iii) Directing guides employees to fully realize their potential and capabilities by motivating and effective leadership.
(iv) Directing facilitates introduction of needed changes in the organisation.
(v) Effective directing helps to bring stability in the organization.
Q. 2. M/s Beta Ltd. deals in consumer goods. It employs 100 workers and 10 operative managers who give guidance and support to the workers while operating the machinery. The company has a policy of granting leave as per the requirement of the workers. Workers are generally granted leave on festivals and special occasions. Recently on Puja festival, it received a big order. Workers are keen to take Puja holidays while management is pressing hard for overtime. This matter was placed before the Personnel Manager who called the meeting of operative managers and workers to inform them about the changes in the incentive plan which states payment of double wages for working overtime and triple wages for working on holidays. Workers without any pressure voluntarily took limited holidays and were able to increase their earning by working overtime and on holidays. During Board of Directors meeting, Personnel Manager was asked to update the management for achieving higher output, meeting timely supplies without any confrontation with workers. Personnel Manager replied, “I just used a carrot with no sticks approach”. By quoting the lines from above paragraph state any two elements of directing.
Ans. Supervision: ‘it employees 10 operating managers support to the workers.’ Supervision means guiding the efforts of employees and other resources to achieve desired results.
Motivation: ‘to pay double wages for working overtime and triple wages for working on holidays’. Motivation means stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals.
Q. 3. At present, apart from the basic pay and allowances as a part of compensation, the employees and employers contribute 12% of basic wages each towards Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme and Employees’ Pension Fund scheme. A proposal to reduce the contribution by employers and employees to 10% of basic pay and dearness allowance was listed on the agenda for a recent meeting of Employees Provident Fund Organisation held. The stakeholders expressed their reservations about it and they feel that it should be continued at 12%. Explain any two needs as suggested by Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, which will not be satisfied by the incentives discussed above. [SQP 2018]
Ans. The following needs given as per Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory will not be satisfied by the two incentives- Basic pay and allowances (satisfies basic needs) & Retirement Benefits (satisfy safety and security needs) discussed above:
(i) Affiliation /Belonging Needs: These needs refer to affection, sense of belongingness, acceptance and friendship.
(ii) Esteem Needs: These include factors such as self-respect, autonomy status, recognition and attention.
(iii) Self Actualisation Needs: It is the highest level of need in the hierarchy. It refers to the drive to become what one is capable of becoming.
Q. 4. Sandhya is a successful manager at Manisons Enterprises. She has a team of twelve people working under her. She encourages them to set their own objectives and take decisions. She respects their opinions and supports them, so that they can perform their duties and accomplish organisational objectives. To manage and exercise effective control, she uses forces within the group. As an intelligent manager, at times, she also makes use of positive aspects of informal communication. This way, she is able to unify diverse interests and ensure that targets are met.
(i) There are many theories and styles of influencing people’s behaviour. Identify the style used by Sandhya which is based on the use of authority.
(ii) State two positive aspects of the communication discussed above, which Sandhya is using as an intelligent manager. [Delhi, OD 2018]
Ans. (i) Democratic style.
(ii) Two positive aspects of communication which Sandhya is using as an intelligent manager are:
(a) It carries information rapidly and therefore may be useful to the manager at times.
(b) It is used by the manager to transmit information so as to know the reaction of his/ her subordinates.
Q. 5. Huma is working in a company on a permanent basis. As per the job agreement, she had to work for 8 hours a day and was free to work overtime. Huma worked overtime, due to which she fell ill and had to take leave from her work. No one showed concern and enquired about her health. She realised that she was fulfilling only some of her needs while some other needs still remained to be fulfilled.
(i) By quoting the lines from the above para, identify the needs of Huma which she is able to fulfil.
(ii) Also explain two other needs of Huma followed by the above needs.
Ans. (i) (a) ‘‘Huma is working in a company on a permanent basis’’ Safety/security needs.
(b) ‘‘As per the job agreement she had to work 8 hours a day and was free to work overtime’’ Basic physiological needs.
(ii) Explanation of two other needs of Huma which still remained to be satisfied are:
(a) Affiliation/Belongingness Needs: These needs refer to affection, sense of belongingness; acceptance and friendship, cordial relations with the colleagues.
(b) Esteem Needs: These include factors such as selfrespect, autonomy status, job title, recognition and attention.
Q. 6. Explain any three assumptions of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory.
Ans. Assumptions of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory:
(i) People are motivated by the unfulfilled needs and once a particular need is satisfied, it ceases to be a motivating factor.
(ii) People’s behaviour is based on their needs. Satisfaction of such needs influence their behaviour.
(iii) People’s needs are in a hierarchical order, starting from basic needs to the other higher level needs.
Q. 7. What is meant by ‘Non-financial incentives’? List any two Non-financial Incentives.
Ans. Non-financial Incentives are those incentives which cannot be measured in terms of money. The two non-financial incentives are:
(i) Job Security;
(ii) Status;
(iii) Job enrichment; and
(iv) Career advancement opportunities.
Q. 8. Neha was a regional sales manager in ‘Good Look Garments Ltd.’ for ten years. On the retirement of the marketing manager, Neha applied for the same post as she was extremelyambitious and had dedicated all her energies to obtain the post of marketing manager. However, the top management of the company decided to fill this post by selecting a better person from outside the company. Because of this, Neha was heartbroken and her performance declined. When the new marketing manager joined, one of her major problems was how to motivate and inspire Neha to her former level of performance? Suggest any three non-financial incentives that the new marketing manager may use to motivate Neha.
OR
Sultan was a Regional Manager in ‘Homely Products Ltd.’ for the last eight years. On the retirement of the Marketing Manager, Sultan applied for the same post because he was extremely ambitious and had dedicated all his energies to obtain the post of Marketing Manager. However, the top management decided to fill the position by selecting a better person from outside the company. Because of this Sultan was heartbroken and his performance declined. When the new Marketing Manager joined, one of his major problems was how to motivate and inspire Sultan to his former level of performance. Suggest any three non-financial benefits that the new marketing manager may use to motivate Sultan.
Ans. The Non-Financial Incentives that the new marketing manager may use to motivate Neha/ Sultan are:
(i) Job enrichment which is concerned with designing jobs that include a greater variety of work content, which require higher level of knowledge and skill, and which give more autonomy and opportunity for personal growth.
(ii) Employee recognition which means acknowledgement with a show of appreciation.
(iii) Employee participation which means involving employees in decision making of issues related to them.
(iv) Employee empowerment which means giving more autonomy and powers to subordinates.
(v) Job security refers to providing stability to the employees about future income and work so that they do not feel worried on these aspects and work with a greater zeal.
Q. 9. Sadaf is the Chief Executive Officer of a reputed company. She introduced appropriate skill development programmes and a sound promotion policy for the employees of her company. To motivate and retain the best talent in the company, she designed the jobs of the managers to include greater variety of work content. Identify and explain the two incentives introduced by Sadaf to motivate the employees of her company.
Ans. The two incentives used by Sadaf to motivate the employees of her company are:
(i) Career Advancement Opportunity: It means providing an opportunity to employees to improve their skills to be promoted to higher level of jobs. Appropriate skill development programmes and sound promotion policy provide career advancement opportunity to the employees.
(ii) Job Enrichment: It is concerned with designing jobs that include greater variety of work content and provide the opportunity for personal growth and a meaningful work experience.
Q. 10. Irma is the chief executive officer of a reputed company. She introduced appropriate skill development programmes and a sound promotion policy for the employees of her company. To motivate and retain the best talent in the company, she designed the jobs of the managers to include greater variety of work content. Explain any two other incentives that may be introduced by Irma other than those already introduced by her to further motivate the employees of her company.
Ans. Incentives that may be introduced by Irma other than those already introduced by her to further motivate the employees of her company are:
(i) Status.
(ii) Organisational climate.
(iii) Employees recognition programme.
(iv) Job security.
(v) Employee participation.
(vi) Employee empowerment.
(vii) Pay and Allowances.
(viii) Productivity linked wage incentives.
(ix) Bonus.
(x) Profit sharing.
(xi) Co-partnership.
(x) Retirement Benefits.
(xi) Perquisites.
Q. 11. Describe any four features of motivation.
OR
‘A. S. Environs Ltd.’ is dealing in Environment- Consultancy. To get the business, the team leader and his team used to travel to different states to give presentation to their clients. As per the policy of the company, the team leader used to travel by air whereas his team travelled by road/train. It was not only time consuming but also at times forced the female team members to travel alone. As a result, the subordinates were not acting in a desired manner to achieve organisational goal. The CEO of the company came to know about it. He called the team leader, discussed the matter with him and decided to change the travel policy of the company. It was decided that in future all the members including the leader would travel together and usefully utilise the travelling time in discussion about the presentation to be given to the clients. This made a positive impact and every member of the team started acting in a manner as desired by the team leader. State the features of the element of the function of management used by the CEO.
OR
‘K.S. Energy Ltd.’ was an energy efficiency consultancy company. To get the business, the team leader and his team used to travel to different states to give presentation to their clients. As per the policy of the company, the team leader used to travel by air, whereas his team travelled by road/ train. It was not only time consuming but also at times forced female team members to travel alone. As a result, the subordinates were not acting in a desired manner to achieve organisational goals. The CEO came to know about it. He called the team leader, discussed the matter with him and changed the travel policy of the company. It was decided that all the members including the leader would travel together in future and would usefully utilise the travelling time in discussion with the subordinates about the presentation to be given to the clients. This made a positive impact and every member of the team started acting in a manner as desired by the team leader.
State the features of the element of the function of management used by the CEO.
OR
‘Alfa Ltd.’ was dealing in renewable energy. To get the business, the team leader and his team used to travel to different states to give presentation to their clients. As per the policy of the company, the leader used to travel by air, whereas his team travelled by road/train. It was not only time consuming but also at time forced female team members to travel alone. As a result, the subordinates were not acting in a desired manner to achieve organisational goals. The CEO came to know about it. He called the team leader, discussed the matter with him and decided to change the travel policy of the company. It was decided that all the members including the leader would travel together in future and would usefully utilise the travelling time in discussion with the subordinates about presentation to be given to the clients. This made a positive impact and every member of the team started acting in a manner as desired by the team leader. State the features of the element of the function of management used by the CEO.
Ans. Features of Motivation:
(i) Internal feeling.
(ii) Produces goal-directed behaviour.
(iii) Can be positive or negative.
(iv) Complex process.
Detailed Answer:
Features of Motivation:
(i) Motivation is an internal feeling: The urge, drives, desires, aspirations, striving or needs of human being, which are internal, influence human behaviour. For example, people may have the urge for possessing a motorbike, comfortable house, reputation in the society. These urges are internal to an individual.
(ii) Motivation produces goal-directed behaviour: For example, a promotion in the job may be given to the employee with the objective of improving his performance. If the employee is interested in promotion, it helps to produce behaviour to improve performance.
(iii) Motivation can be either positive or negative: Positive motivation provides positive rewards like increase in pay, promotion, recognition, etc. Negative motivation uses negative means like punishment, stopping increments, threatening, etc. which also may induce a person to act in the desired way.
(iv) Motivation is a complex process: As the individuals are heterogeneous in their expectations, perceptions and reactions. Any type of motivation may not have uniform effect on all the members.
Q. 12. Mrs. Rajlaxmi is working as the Human Resource Consultant in a firm manufacturing cosmetics, which is facing a problem of high employee turnover. The CEO of the company has invited suggestions from her for retaining the talented employees and reducing the employee turnover. Mrs. Rajlaxmi recommends that the good employees be rewarded in a way that it creates a feeling of ownership among the employees and at the same time, makes them contribute towards the growth of the organisation.
(i) Identify the incentive and explain its type, which has been suggested by Mrs. Rajlaxmi to the CEO of the company.
(ii) Also explain two other incentives of the same type.
Ans. (i) Financial Incentive:
(a) Co-Partnership/Stock Option: Under these incentive schemes, employees are offered company shares at a set price which is lower than the market price. Sometimes, management may allot shares in line of various incentives payable in cash. The allotment of shares creates a feeling of ownership to the employees and makes them to contribute for the growth of the organisation. In Infosys, the scheme of stock option has been implemented as a part of managerial compensation.
(ii) Other Financial Incentives:
(a) Pay and Allowances: For every employee, salary is the basic monetary incentive. It includes basic pay, dearness allowance and other allowances. Salary system consists of regular increments in the pay every year and enhancement of allowances from time-to-time. In some business organisations, pay hike and increments may be linked to the performance.
(b) Productivity-linked Wage incentives: Several wage incentive plans aim at linking payment of wages to increase in the productivity at individual or group level.
(c) Bonus: Bonus is an incentive offered over and above the wages/ salary to the employees.
(d) Profit Sharing: Profit sharing is meant to provide a share to employees in the profits of the organisation. This serves to motivate the employees to improve their performance and contribute to increase in profits.
(e) Retirement Benefits: Several retirement benefits such as provident fund, pension, and gratuity provide financial security to employees after their retirement. This acts as an incentive when they are in service in the organisation.
(f) Perquisites: In many companies, perquisites and fringe benefits are offered such as car allowance, housing, medical aid, education to the children etc., over and above the salary. These measures help to provide motivation to the employees/ managers.
Q. 13. Pramod was a supervisor at ‘Annapurna Aata Factory’. The factory was producing 200 quintal of aata every day. His job was to make sure that the work goes on smoothly and there was no interruption in production. He was a good leader who would give orders only after consulting his subordinates and work out the policies with the acceptance of the group. Identify and describe the leadership style being adopted by Pramod.
Ans. Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership : Under this style of leadership, the leader consults subordinates in the decision-making process and encourages them to give suggestions in the setting of goals and in the implementation of decisions.
(i) This style of leadership wins greater confidence, cooperation, loyalty and initiatives of the group.
(ii) It is suitable when juniors are competent enough to participate in discussion and handle assigned task on their own.
(iii) Though subordinates participates in decision making process the final decision lies with the leader
Q. 14. Rahim was working in an enterprise on daily wages basis. It was difficult for him to fulfil the basic needs of his family. His daughter fell ill. He had no money for his daughter’s treatment. To meet the expenses of her treatment, he participated in a cycle race and won the prize money. The cycle company offered him a permanent pensionable job which he happily accepted.
(i) By quoting the lines from the above paragraph, identify the needs of Rahim that are satisfied by the offer of the cycle company.
(ii) Also explain two other needs of Rahim followed by above that are still to be satisfied.
Ans. (i) ‘‘The cycle company offered him a permanent pensionable job which he happily accepted’’ - Safety / Security Needs.
(ii) Two other needs of Rahim followed by above that are still to be satisfied are:
(a) Affiliation or Belongingness Needs: These needs refer to affection, sense of belongingness, acceptance and friendship.
(b) Esteem Needs: These include factors such as self-respect, autonomy status, recognition and attention.
(c) Self Actualisation Needs: It refers to the drive to become what one is capable of becoming. These needs include growth, self-fulfillment and achievement of goals.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q. 1. Explain any five points of importance of ‘Directing Function’ of the management.
OR
State the importance of directing function of management.
Ans. Importance of Directing:
(i) Initiates action.
(ii) Integrates employees’ efforts.
(iii) Guides employees to realise their potential.
(iv) Facilitates changes.
(v) Brings stability and balance in the organisation
Detailed Answer:
(i) Initiates action: Directing helps people to initiate action in the organisation towards attainment of desired objectives. For example, if a supervisor guides his subordinates and clarifies their doubts in performing a task, it will help the worker to achieve work targets given to him.
(ii) Integrates employees’ efforts: Directing integrates employees’ efforts in the organisation in such a way that every individual effort contributes to the organisational performance. Thus, it ensures that the individuals work for organisational goals. For example, a manager with good leadership abilities will be in a position to convince the employees working under him that individual efforts and team effort will lead to the achievement of organisational goals.
(iii) Guides employees to realise their potential: Directing guides employees to fully realise their potential and capabilities by motivating and providing effective leadership. A good leader can always identify the potential of his employees and motivate them to extract work up to their full potential.
(iv) Facilitates changes: Directing facilitates introduction of needed changes in the organisation. Generally, people have a tendency to resist changes in the organisation. Effective directing through motivation, communication and leadership helps to reduce such resistance and develop required cooperation in introducing changes in the organisation. For example, if a manager wants to introduce new system of accounting, there may be initial resistance from accounting staff. But, if manager explains the purpose, provides training and motivates with additional rewards, the employees may accept change and co-operate with the manager.
(v) Brings stability and balance in the organisation: Effective directing helps to bring stability and balance in the organisation since it fosters co-operation and commitment among the employees and helps in achieving balance among various groups, activities and the departments.
Q. 2. Explain how directing helps in effective and efficient functioning of the organisation.
OR
Identify the function of management which refers to the process of guiding, instructing, counselling, motivating and leading people in the organisation to achieve objectives. Explain the importance of this function of management.
OR
Every action in the organisation is initiated through directing only. In the light of this statement, explain any four points of importance of directing.
OR
What is meant by ‘Directing’ as a function of management? Describe any four points of its importance.
Ans. Directing: Directing is the process of instructing, guiding, controlling, motivating and leading people in the organisation to achieve its objectives. It is concerned with influencing the behaviour of human resources. Importance of Directing:
(i) Integrated group activity: The organisational goals can be achieved only when individual efforts are integrated. Directing integrates employees’ efforts in such a way that every individual effort contributes to the organisational performance.
(ii) Helps to implement changes: An organisation operates in a changing environment. A proper system of direction helps in motivating employees to take up challenges in new situations. Directing helps the organisation to become dynamic and responsive to the new developments.
(iii) Initiates action: Direction sets an organisation into motion. Through directing, other managerial functions are initiated and activated. Directing helps the management to supervise, communicate, lead and motivate people at work to function in the desired way for achieving organisational goals.
(iv) Directing attempts to get maximum out of the individuals: Every employee has the potential and capacity, which needs to be harnessed by the superiors. By using elements of direction, i.e., Supervision, Motivation, Leadership and Communication, the efficiency of employees can be raised through wilful co-operation.
(v) Brings stability and balance in the organisation: Directing fosters co-operation and commitment among the employees and helps to achieve stability and balance among various groups, activities and the departments.
Q. 3. Explain the concept of leadership and its various styles.
Ans. Leadership is the process of influencing behaviour of the people so that they strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the achievement of group goals. The various leadership styles are:
(i) Autocratic or Authoritarian leadership
(ii) Democratic or Participative leadership
(iii) Laissez Faire or Free –rein leadership
Detailed Answer:
(i) Autocratic Leadership or Authoritarian Leadership: The autocratic leadership style allows managers to make decisions alone without the input of others. Managers possess total authority and impose their will on the employees. No one challenges the decisions of autocratic leaders. An autocratic leader centralizes power and decisionmaking in himself. He gives orders, assigns tasks and duties without consulting the employees. In this style of leadership, a leader has complete command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their views even if they are best for the teams or organisational interests.
(ii) Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership: Participative or Democratic Leaders decentralise authority. It is characterised by consultation with the subordinates and their participation in the formulation of plans and policies. He encourages people participation in decision-making process.
(iii) Laissez faire or free-rein leadership: The laissez faire or non-interfering type of leader passes on the responsibility for decision-making to his subordinates and takes a minimum of initiative in the administration. He gives no direction and allows the group to establish its own goals and work out its own problems. The leader plays only a minor role. His idea is that each member of the group when left to himself will put forth his best effort and the maximum results can be achieved in this way.
Q. 4. State any five semantic barriers to communication in an organisation.
OR
Explain any five semantic barriers to communication.
Ans. Semantic barrier to communication:
(i) Badly expressed message may not convey intended meaning.
(ii) Symbols with different meanings may be perceived differently by the receiver.
(iii) Message originally drafted in one language may be misunderstood due to faulty translation.
(iv) Messages involving certain assumptions may be interpreted differently due to unclarified assumptions.
(v) Use of technical jargon by specialists may not be understood by others.
(vi) Body language and gesture decoding may be misunderstood if what is said and what is expressed do not match.
Detailed Answer:
Semantic Barriers to Communication:
(i) Badly expressed message in which the intended meaning may not be conveyed on account of inadequate vocabulary, usage of wrong words, omission of needed words, etc.
(ii) Symbols with different meanings where a word may have several meanings and receiver has to perceive one such meaning for the word used by communicator.
(iii) Faulty translations where the communication drafted in one language is not properly translated in a language understandable by the workers.
(iv) Unclarified assumptions where communication may have certain assumptions which are subject to different interpretations.
(v) Technical jargons where the specialists use them to explain something to persons who are not specialists in the concerned field, as a result of which, it is not understood clearly by the receiver.
(vi) Body language and gesture decoding becomes a barrier when there is no match between what is said and what is expressed in body movements.
Q. 5. Describe personal barriers to effective communication.
OR
Explain any four personal barriers to effective communication.
Ans. The personal barriers are as follows:
(i) Lack of proper incentives: When there is no motivation or incentive for communication, subordinates may not take initiative to communicate.
(ii) Unwillingness to communicate: Sometimes, the subordinates are not willing to communicate with their superiors because they believe that if information is not correct, it will adversely affect them.
(iii) Lack of confidence of superior on his subordinates: Communication process is hampered when superiors do not have faith or confidence on the competencies of their subordinates. In such cases, superior may not seek advice or opinion of the subordinates.
(iv) Fear of challenge to authority: A superior always aims to maintain a higher position and prestige in the organisation. If he fears that a particular communication may adversely affect his authority, then he may withhold such communication.
