MBAR-102(Organization Behaviour) JNU Jaipur

Internal
Assignment No. 1 MBA-102

Q. 1. Answer all the questions:

(i) Management is a continuous process”. Elucidate the statement.

Answer-Management is q continues process not one time action. Managers identify problems and try to
solve them by taking appropriate action on a regular basis. Thus, management is known as a continues
process. A basic management function involving formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve
optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources. > The planning process (1)identifies
the goals or objectives to be achieved, (2) formulates strategies to achieve them, (3) arranges or creates
the means required, and (4) implements, directs, and monitors all steps in their proper sequence.

(ii) Enumerate the steps of control process.

ANSWER-Control as a management function involves the following steps:

1.Establishing Standards:
Standards are criteria against which results are measured. They are norms to achieve the goals.
Standards are usually measured in terms of output. They can also be measured in non-monetary terms
like loyalty, customer attraction, goodwill etc.
2. Measuring Performance-- Measurement involves comparison between what is accomplished and what
was intended to be accomplished. The measurement of actual performance must be in the units similar to
those of predetermined criterion. The unit or the yardstick thus chosen be clear, well-defined and easily
identified, and should be uniform and homogenous throughout the measurement process.

3. Comparing the Actual Performance with Expected Performance

This is the active principle of the process. The previous two, setting the goals and the measurement
format are the preparatory parts of the process. It is the responsibility of the management to compare the
actual performance against the standards established.

4. Correcting Deviations:
The final element in the process is the taking corrective action. Measuring and comparing performance,
detect in shortcomings, failures or deviations, from plans will be of no avail if it does point to the needed
corrective action.

(iii) Distinguish between “Line” and Line and staff organization.

ANSWER-
Line organization is the most oldest and simplest method of administrative organization. According to
this type of organization, the authority flows from top to bottom in a concern. The line of command is
carried out from top to bottom. This is the reason for calling this organization as scalar organization which
means scalar chain of command is a part and parcel of this type of administrative organization. In this
type of organization, the line of command flows on an even basis without any gaps in communication and
co-ordination taking place.
Line and staff organization is a modification of line organization and it is more complex than line
organization. According to this administrative organization, specialized and supportive activities are
attached to the line of command by appointing staff supervisors and staff specialists who are attached to
the line authority. The power of command always remains with the line executives and staff supervisors
guide, advice and council the line executives. Personal Secretary to the Managing Director is a staff
official.

(iv) Write a short note on: a) Locus of Control and b) Machiavellianism

(A)Locus of Control- Locus of Control as a principle was originated by Julian Rotter in 1954. It considers
the tendency of people to believe that control resides internally within them, or externally, with others or
the situation. Note that, like other preferences, this is a spectrum. Some people have a wholly internal or
external locus of control, but many will have some balance both views, perhaps varying with situation. For
example some may be more internal at home but more external at work.

(B)Machiavellianism-In business, Machiavellian behavior describes someone who is willing to exploit

the weaknesses of others to get ahead. He is highly competitive and expect so thers to take advantage of
him. He is ambitious and willing to take risks, especially if those risks are likely to cost others instead of
himself. He pretends to be more giving than he is and usually only gives to charity if others see it or if it
helps him get ahead. Machiavellian behavior is named for Niccolo Machiavelli, the 16th century author of
the book entitled "The Prince."

(v) Compare and contrast Maslow’s need hierarchy theory of motivation with herzberg’s two factor theory
of motivation.
ANSWER- Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a description of the needs that motivate human behavior. In
1943, Abraham Maslow proposed five different kinds of human needs, beginning with the most basic:
survival. Physiological needs, such as food and shelter, are followed by needs related to safety. Next,
there are needs of love and belonging. Fourth, humans have needs of esteem, such as the need for
being respected. The final need in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (fulfilling one's
potential). The hierarchy suggests that basic needs must be met prior to less
basic needs; for example, a starving person will seek food before self-actualization.

Based on Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Model, an important development in the field of motivation was
the distinction between motivational factors and the mere maintenance (or hygienic) factors.
Herzberg’s research was conducted on about 200 engineers and accountants working in several firms in
the Pittsburgharea of USA. The maintenance factors are necessary only to maintain a reasonable level of
satisfaction among the employees. If these factors are absent, then most of the employees are
dissatisfied. But these factors themselves do not motivate the employees. For that purpose motivational
factors only work.

Note: Answer any two

questions. Each question carries 5 marks (Word limits 500)

Q.2. “Management is the art of getting things done through other people.” Explain the importance of
management in the light of this statement.

ANSWER-
Management is the process by which human efforts are coordinated and combined with other resources
to accomplished organizational goals and objectives. Mary Parker Folett defines management as “the art
of getting things done through people.” yes, of course it is the art of getting things done through people. A
good management requires a good manager in directing or leading his subordinates, as well as good
subordinate in doing things in a right way in order to meet the goal and objectives of the organization. It is
also said that management requires an understanding of the economic principle of the division of labor,
which breaks down into subtasks, and the coordination of effort, which recognize the subtasks into an
efficient and effective whole. The managers do not do the work themselves. They get the work done
through the workers. The workers should not be treated like slaves. They should not be trickled,
threatened or forced to do the work. A favorable work environment should be created and maintained.
Furthermore, it’s not really about time management because this focuses on the fact that were spending
our time productively. It’s not about being productive; it’s about accomplishing the goals by our staff
(people) that we set out. So, it’s not about time management, it’s about goal management; putting the
goals in order, figuring out what are the requirements to accomplish those goals, and then moving
forward with those goals. Take the focus off managing your time and turn that focus towards
accomplishing those goals we set out for our organization.

Q.3. What do you mean by learning? Discuss the elements which form the part of learning process.

ANSWER-
Learning is a key process in human behaviour. All living is learning. If we compare the simple, crude ways
in which a child feels and behaves, with the complex modes of adult behaviour, his skills, habits, thought,
sentiments and the like- we will know what difference learning has made to the individual.

1.Attention:Attentionis like a filter (not quite as this article shows, but this is a good enough
metaphor) that limits the amount of information that enters or remains in our memory (storage). It is the
amount of time we can concentrate on a task without becoming distracted. It has its own limitations,
mainly its span.

2.Connections / associations / consolidation

This part of the memory formation in learning is widely discussed by many people –specialists and
layman ‘practitioners’ alike, and various people may call it various ways: Deep Processing, chunking,
Creating a constructing a nutshell, in order to learn more effectively, you need to organise information into
meaningful groups: chunks, concepts, whatever it is called. These pieces of organised and connected
information can vary in size and complexity. The more connections between the information we are trying
to learn and what we already know, the better.

3.Emotions
Emotions affect our cognitive processes, and learning in particular, in a variety of ways. The effects vary
depending on the type of emotions (positive vs negatives stress) and the step in the learning process
(encoding/storage/retrieval).But overall, an emotional stimulus affects our ability to pay attention, because
it immediately becomes the focus of our attention, narrowing our ability to see/hear/feel/process anything
else.

4.Spaced repetition

In order to really move the newly acquired knowledge from short-term memory into
the long-term storage, we need to beat the forgetting curve pictured above.

Internal Assignment No. 2

Paper Title: Organization Behaviour

Q. 1. Answer all the questions:

(i) Define coordination

ANSWER- Co-ordinations the unification, integration, synchronization of the efforts of group members so
as to provide unity of action in the pursuit of common goals. It is a hidden force which binds all the other
functions of management. According to Mooney and Reelay,“Co-ordination is orderly arrangement of
group efforts to provide unity of action in the pursuit of common goals”. According to Charles Worth, “Co-
ordinations the integration of several parts into an orderly hole to achieve the purpose of understanding”.
Management seeks to achieve co-ordination through its basic functions of planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling. That is why, co-ordination is not a separate function of management because
achieving of harmony between individuals efforts towards achievement of group goals is a key to success
of management. Co-ordination is the essence of management and is implicit and inherent in all functions
of management.

(ii) “Controlling is looking back.” Comment.

ANSWER- Controlling is looking back as it is like a post-mortem of past activities to find out deviations
from the standards established. In fact, the objective of controlling is to check the factors responsible for
poor performance in the past, so that such mistakes are not repeated in future and the organisation can
achieve its predetermined objectives.

(iii) “Human Behavior is generally caused and predictable.” Explain

ANSWER- This concept refers to the fact that human behaviour is not a spontaneous and unpredictable
process, rather it can be scientifically analyzed and pre-empted because humans follow psychological
patterns, and most actions we take are the result of a cause-and-effect reaction. It could be argued that
everything we do, every action we take, has a biological or social stimulus - a cause for each action. In
this way, understanding the causes of actions we are likely to commit makes human behaviour somewhat
predictable.

(iv) Write a short note on application of perception in organization.

ANSWER- A perception is a belief held by a person, or many people, based upon how they see the world
around them. the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information in order to make sense of
the world around us the dynamic and complex way in which individuals select information from the
environment, interpret and translate it so that a meaning is assigned which will result in a pattern of
behaviour or thought Often the main aspects of perception in an organisation is how an individual views
others, as this can be a major point in how that person will behave within the business. It is also a aspect
of how an individual is motivated within an organisation. This is why in organizations there needs to
be a way of making sure employees fit before being hired and then when they are hired their first
perceptions of others need to be good.

(v) What do you mean by group cohesiveness?

ANSWER- Group cohesiveness is one of the characteristic features of the groups, which is very important
from behavioristic point of view. Cohesiveness is the degree to which the group members are attracted to
each other and are motivated to stay in the groups. Cohesiveness defines the degree of closeness that
the members feel with the groups. It is understood as the extent of liking each member has towards
others in the group and how far everyone wants to remain as a member of the group.

“Cohesiveness refers to the extent of unity ‘in the group and is reflected in members’ conformity to the
norms of the group, feeling of attraction for each other and wanting to be co-members of the group.”
Attraction, cohesiveness and conformity are all intertwined. The more the members feel attracted to the
group, the greater will be the group cohesiveness. The greater the cohesiveness, the greater the
influence of the group members to persuade one another to conform to the group norms. The greater the
conformity, the greater the identity of the members to the group and the greater the group cohesiveness.

Note: Answer any two questions. Each question carries 5 marks

(Word limits 500)

Q.2. Discuss the 14 principles of management as given by Henry Fayol.

ANSWER- Fayol's principles are listed below:

Division of Work – When employees are specialized, output can increase because they become
increasingly skilled and efficient.

Authority– Managers must have the authority to give orders, but they must also keep in mind that with
authority comes responsibility.

Discipline– Discipline must be upheld in organizations, but methods for doing so canvary.

Unity of Command – Employees should have only one direct supervisor.

Unity of Direction – Teams with the same objective should be working under the direction of one
manager, using one plan. This will ensure that action is properly coordinated.

Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest – The interests of one employee should not
be allowed to become more important than those of the group. This includes managers.

Remuneration– Employee satisfaction depends on fair remuneration for everyone. This includes financial
and non-financial compensation.

Centralization– This principle refers to how close employees are to the decision-making process. It is
important to aim for an appropriate balance.

Scalar Chain – Employees should be aware of where they stand in the organization' s hierarchy, or chain
of command.

Order– The workplace facilities must be clean, tidy and safe for employees. Everything should have its
place.

Equity– Managers should be fair to staff at all times, both maintaining discipline as necessary and acting
with kindness where appropriate.

Stability of Tenure of Personnel – Managers should strive to minimize employee turnover. Personnel
planning should be a priority.

Initiative– Employees should be given the necessary level of freedom to create and carryout plans.

Esprit de Corps – Organizations should strive to promote team spirit and unity.

Q. 3. Describe the ways in which people may overcome the negative consequences of stress.

ANSWER- For many people, possibly even you, esteemed reader, stress is a fact of life. Whether from
problems on the job, concerns about money, health or relationships, stress is
all too common.
What you may not know is that chronic stress is at the root of numerous other health problems.
It is amazing to think about the physical impact stress has on you. When you feel stressed your body
reacts as if it were being physically threatened—your digestion shuts down, your heart
rate increases, your muscles tense. In addition, your cholesterol levels rise and your blood thickens
preparing to clot (in case you might be injured). Your cortisol levels skyrocket.

These responses are there to help you survive in the natural world. Ironically, stress in the modern world
contributes to most of our chronic degenerative diseases. These include some ofthe leading causes of
death in the modern world.
On the U.S. Centers for Disease Control 2002 list of the 10 most frequent causes of death, 8 of them
have a very clear relationship with stress, either directly or indirectly. Everything on this list except
Alzheimer’s and kidney disease relate to stress one way or another. Looking at this list, if someone says,
“It’s just stress,” you can tell that they don’t realize stress, especially long-term stress, is deadly. They
might as well say, “It was only a truck that hit me.”
In addition, if stress goes on too long, brain chemistry imbalances take place. People experience lower
levels of both stimulating and calming neurotransmitters, as well as those related to pain relief.

What You Can Do

Fortunately, we now understand how to managing stress. The basics are simple.

1. Breathe: What could be

simpler? Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to breathe well, or if they do, they don’t remember to
practice. Correct breathing triggers a relaxation response in the entire body, freeing you from many of the
negative effects of stress. Stress-relieving examples – yoga, qigong, meditation.

2. Eat: If you think that

food has no effect on stress, think again. The quantity, quality and ratios of proteins, carbohydrates and
fats in your diet have a huge impact on your body, either helping relieve or helping aggravate stress.
Stress-relieving examples –eating whole, fresh, natural foods, avoiding processed and concentrated
foods.

3. Move: Exercise is an incredibly effective stress-reducer. The exact best type of exercise will vary
from person to person. Stress-relieving examples – walking, sports, weight-lifting.

4. Think: How you think

about the events in your life does truly have a profound effect on how your body reacts to them. In this
short description we don’t have room to discuss all the various ways you might change this, so just
become aware that if you think about things in a different way, your body will react differently.
Stress-relieving examples – listening to positive self-programming audio tapes, turning off the news
before sleeping, meditation.

By including these simple

activities in your daily life you’ll overcome much of the worst effects of stress and live a longer, happier
life.