Previous Year Long Questions With Answers - Directing | Business Studies (BST) Class 12 - Commerce PDF Download

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.