All India Management Association (AIMA) 2006 M.B.A Marketing Management Organizational Behavior – II - Question Paper

Sensitivity training: Training groups that seek to change behavior through
unstructured group interaction.
Survey feedback: Uses questionnaires to collect data which are used in Action
Research process for diagnosing issues.
Force field analysis is based on the assumption that there are 2 forces, namely
driving forces and restraining forces that play a role in attaining a desired state of
equilibrium.
Role analysis technique assumes that cooperation and coordination among the
team members can be enhanced by defining and clarifying their roles.
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52. E When 1 of the groups is dependent on the other for a few input, but the reverse
is not true, it is known as sequential interdependence.
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53. D Statements (I) and (II) are incorrect.
In organizations having tall structures, the span of control is very small.
In organizations having flat structures, the span of control is large.
Tall structure provides an opportunity for high level of interaction ranging from the
manager and the subordinate.
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54. D Teams are formed when people from across different parts of the organization
come together to accomplish a common objective. If an organization has diverse
workforce, its team will include people from various groups. Diversity in teams
will lead to development of new perspectives or can reason different issues. The
subsequent are the advantages for a diverse team:
? Multiple perspective
Increased interpretation
Greater openness to new ideas
Increased flexibility.
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55. C Project champions work at the business unit level and oversee black belts. < TOP
56. A Although both power and influence are an essential part of leadership, influence is
more closely associated with the function of leading than power.
Power provide a person a right to change certain relationships within an
organization.
Power has the ability to alter reality whereas influence, can only alter a person’s
perceptions about reality and the relationships in the organization.
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57. E Perceptual differences: People perceive various things, problems and their
environment differently. When they act as though their perception is the only
reality, without attempting to understand or accept a different person’s view, conflict
arises.
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58. C Statement (III) is not actual.
In small organizations, it is possible for a single individual to run the business,
oversee all the functions and take all the decisions pertaining to the business. But
in large organizations, where a lot of info has to be processed and many
functions require to be managed, a single individual cannot handle all the work
and take all the decisions.
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59. D Psychological hardiness refers to a person’s ability to cope with stress. This comes
under the individual stressors.
Societal patterns, community conditions and family issues comes under extra
organizational stressors.
Job role comes under the organizational stressors.
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60. D The Delphi technique would be better because it can be implemented via email
and save the cost of bringing the managers together physically.
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61. C Cross-functional teams consist of employees from the identical hierarchical level, but
from various functional areas of the organization. These employees come
together to achieve a specific objective.
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62. E Statement (I) is not actual since mediator uses logical reasoning and persuasion
techniques to convince the parties to arrive at an agreement.
Arbitrator has the authority to enforce his decision on the conflicting parties.
Arbitration process always outcomes in settlement.
The arbitration process may be chosen voluntarily by the parties.
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63. B The economic rationality model: This technique of decision making undermines
the importance of human behavior and seeks a detached and analytical justification
for all decisions. Decisions purely based on the economic rationality model can
therefore be misleading and harmful to the process of decision making in
organizations.
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64. D The focal role incumbent prepares a written description of his role, including the
outcomes of the Role Analysis Technique. It is known as the role profile.
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65. B Social loafing occurs when individuals believe that their contributions are not
important, that others will do the work for them, that their lack of efforts will go
undetected, or that they will be the lone sucker who works hard while others don't.
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66. D When the duration of OD process is shortened, it is definitely an advantage to OD.
So it does not lead to uncertainty.
It is also possible that OD techniques are misused to serve the objectives of the
OD consultant rather than that of the organization.
The support of top management is crucial for the growth of OD. They need to
emphasize people oriented values apart from the performance and profitability of
the organization. So it affects the future of OD.
The ability of the top management to apply OD effectively in organizations
depends on the extent to which the managers at these levels understand the process
involved in OD. So the management should have sound knowledge about OD.
Otherwise it leads to uncertainty.
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67. B Total quality management is a management philosophy that focuses on customer
relationships and tries to build an environment of trust and openness.
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68. C Storming stage is characterized by conflict and confrontation within the group. In
this stage of group development, although the members acknowledge the existence
of a group, they may resist the constraints imposed by the group.
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69. B Rituals are the activities that are repeated on particular occasions to help reinforce
the core values and key objectives of the organization and also help to
communicate the culture of the organization to its members by indicating clearly
the most important goals for the company and the most important people in the
company.
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70. B Groupthink: When decisions are made by a cohesive group of individuals, their
motivation to appraise and appreciate option courses of action are
overpowered by their desire for unanimity of decision.
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71. B In Lewin’s model, employees are educated about the external and internal factors
that make change imperative in the Unfreeze stage.
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72. A In single strand chain communication network, info passes along in the
form of a long chain, i.e., it passes from 1 person to a different. Thus, the
info undergoes filtration and distortion at every stage as it passes down the
chain and ultimately becomes a highly inaccurate and distorted version of the
original message.
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73. A The attitude and behavior of an individual provide rise to role identity. When a
certain situation requires the individual to make major modifications in his behavior and
attitude, the individual does so in order to fit the role.
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74. A In market culture, the behavior of employees is governed by contractual
agreements and their performance is evaluated on the basis of output generated by
them.
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75. E Escalation of commitment is the inherent propensity of decision makers to commit
resources to a course of action that is certain to fail.
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76. D Contract setting: In this step, the consultant lays down a few ground rules for
negotiations ranging from members of the teams in conflict.
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77. B Formal groups include command groups and task groups. A command group is
represented in the organization chart and is relatively permanent in nature. They
have a functional reporting relationship. Example of this group is quality control
department and marketing department.
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78. E The process-maintenance component focuses on managing the conflicts which
tend to arise during the implementation of the OD process.
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79. B Intergroup team-building interventions decrease friction ranging from groups, help them
resolve conflicts amicably and enhance mutual co-operation and coordination.
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80. D Dominant values are commonly accepted and adopted values that the employees in
an organization are expected to share and abide by. Low absenteeism, high
productivity etc. are examples of dominant values existing in an organization.
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81. A In forming stage, the individuals that comprise the group are uncertain about the
group’s purpose, structure, tasks and leadership.
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82. C When a decision maker makes a decision by anchoring the process to an initial
value and then goes on adjusting this value to finally come to a conclusion, he is
stated to resort to anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
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83. D In a formal organization, the job held by an individual or the position in which he
is working determines his relationship with other positions in the organization.
Informal organizations are quite dynamic in nature.
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84. D Liaison role method of managing and coordinating intergroup relations is being
applied in the above provided case. A capable person is appointed as a liaison officer
who has to ensure effective communication and coordination ranging from two
independent workgroups.
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85. D Role perception involves understanding how 1 is supposed to behave in a
particular role by observing the behavior of a different individual in the identical role.
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86. C Statement (III) is actual.
The dominant culture represents the core values shared by a majority of members
in the organization.
The dominant culture of an organization guides the day-to-day behavior of the
organization’s members.
Subcultures prevent employees from blindly subsequent the prevailing norms and
values and help them to discover anomalies in the dominant culture.
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87. D The structural variables of an organization, the organizational culture and the
management’s support to the human resources of an organization are the three
main sources of innovation in organizations.
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88. D Informal organizations give an outlet for employees to express their frustration
and anxieties. People can explain their fears and issues with other members and
thus decrease the emotional pressure they face in their work or personal lives. So,
this is a benefit.
All other choices come under the issues created by informal organizations.
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89. B People form groups for several various reasons. According to the theory of
propinquity, people associate with a different due to geographical proximity.
choices (a) & (e): inapplicable to the mentioned theory.
choice (c):True in the case for ‘Exchange theory’
choice (d): actual in the case for ‘Balance theory’.
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90. D Statements (II) and (III) are actual.
In encounter stage, the employee becomes aware of the reality of the workplace as
compared to his/her expectations of the job and the organization.
In the pre-arrival stage, every employee is treated as an individual with a distinct
set of values and principles.
In pre-arrival stage, a gradual attempt is made to introduce the values, norms and
expectations of the organization to the new employee.
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91. A Champions are individuals who lead 6 Sigma within specific businesses in the
organization and ensure that all the key functions of the organization are linked to
six sigma.
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92. C A new issue or decision making situation which involves the development and
valuation of options without the aid of a decision rule is generally called a
non-programmed decision.
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93. C In the future, organizations will use OD to resolve different issues related to
networks, e-business, temporary employment and workforce diversity. These
issues can be dissipated if OD adopts approaches and perspectives from
disciplines such as labor economics, entrepreneurship, international relations,
sociology and info systems. This indicates that the interdisciplinary nature of
OD will increase.
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94. E Home stretchers: These arise from the ambiguity that is generated among
employees when an organization delays in making a formal announcement on an
important matter.
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95. B Task groups are formed to carry out specific tasks. Such groups are temporary in
nature.
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96. A Statement (I) is not actual. Spontaneous rumors originate without any planning and
they do not involve forethought.
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97. C Informal groups primarily satisfy the social needs of their members. < TOP
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98. D Philosophy: This refers to the general policy and guidelines which determine the
organization’s behavior towards its employees and customers.
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99. B The subsequent statements are actual in case of balance theory
? Individuals may interact and develop a relationship with 1 a different because
of likeness in attitudes and common values.
Individuals try to restore the balance by having more interactions with every other.
Statement (III) is applicable for propinquity theory.
Statement (IV) is applicable for exchange theory.
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100. E Keith Davis and John W. Newstrom describe rumor as “grapevine info that
is communicated without secure standards of evidence being present”.

Earning:   Approval pending.