Kuvempu University 2009 M.B.A First Semester (Distance) , - university paper

First Semester M.B.A (Distance) Degree Examination,

June / July 2009

(New Scheme)
M.B.A. DP : 101 : Principles of Management

Time : three Hours Max. Marks : 80

part - A

ans the subsequent sub-questions. every sub-question carries two marks.

1. a. Distinguish ranging from management and administration.

b. What do you mean by bureaucracy?

c. What is Delphi technique?

d. What do you mean by span of control?

e. Distinguish ranging from line and staff authority.

part - B

ans any 5 of the subsequent. every ques. carries 7 marks.

2. describe management. List and briefly explain the functions of management.

3. Write an explanatory note on the contributions of Peter. F. Drucker to management thought.

4. What is planning? State the nature and benefits of planning.

5. Breifly point out the group decision - making techniques.

6. describe Delegation. elaborate the steps in delegation.

7. describe departmenatiaon. Compare and contrast departmentation by functions and product.

part - C

ans the subsequent ques. Q.No. eight and nine carry 10 marks every and Q. No. 10 carries
15 marks. (10+10+15=35 marks)

8. a) explain in detail the various roles performed by manager with suitable examples.

OR

b) elaborate the major contributions of the hawthrone experiment to the current day organisations.

9. a) describe authority. Draw distinctions ranging from authority and power identify the sources of power.

OR

b) Write a short notes on any 2 of the subsequent.

i) F.W. Taylor
ii) M.B.O.
iii) Matrix organisation
iv) Contigency approach to management.

10. Analyse the subsequent case and ans the ques. appended.
Super Department Store's MBO Programme
Prakash Gupta was irritated and confused, after the meeting with Dinesh Sharma. Prakash
was the chief manager of Delhi city Super Department Stores (SDS), and Dinesh was the
regional stores manager, in charge of stores of Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. 3
weeks earlier, Prakash had received a letter from Dinesh explaining that top management
had decided on an MBO programme to help SDS improve its operational efficiency and
profitability. The letter mentioned about linking stores manager's salary hikes, promotions
etc, to performance. The accompanying instructions needed managers to list the objectives
they achived which were improper for their store and then to await the regional manager's
review visit.

Prakash has done just what he was asked to do. In a meeting with his departmental
managers, Prakash has chosen objectives that they all agreed were improper. All of the
objectives represented performance levels that were improvements over the past year
and were reasonably attainable, such as :
. Increasing sales by 10 percent.
. Reducing inventory losses by two percent
. Improving customer service (o.e. 20 percent fewer complaints made to head office)
. Reducing cash register shortages to .05 percent of sales.

Dinesh came later for the MBO review visit and stressed that there was little time. He quickly
scanned the written statement of objectives which prakash gave him, then discussed that
profit improvement was really what the home office was interested in. Senior management in
Chennai, running the SDS in over 18 major cities in India, decided that a 10 percent increase
in profit would be a reasonable objective for Prakash's store. This single objective, Dinesh
explained, would facilitate the monitoring of performance by the head office and would also
decrease the amount of info the sore would have to submit. The visit was cut short because
Dinesh had to attend a meeting on the advertising budget back at the head office.

Questions

1) Does the MBO system at SDS meet the criteria for an effective programme? Why? Why not?

2) Evaluate Prakash's appraoch to objective setting.

* * * * * * *

Earning:   Approval pending.