SECTION A – SUBJECTIVE PART

Note: Attempt all questions in sequence. Use proper illustrations along with examples
wherever necessary.

Q.1: Differentiate between the following: 10

marks
Organic structure and Mechanistic structure
 Mechanistic organization is the organization is hierarchical and bureaucratic. It is
characterized by way of its, relatively centralized authority, formalized tactics and
practices, and specialized functions. Organic agency is characterized by; Flatness,
communications and interactions are horizontal. Low specialization, information is
living wherever it is most useful, and Decentralization great deal of formal
and informal participation in selection making.
 In Mechanistic organization employees are found to work separately and on
their own assigned tasks. There is a precise chain of command
and selections are stored as high up the chain as possible. While in Organic Structure
Employees are often determined working in groups and percentage input on tasks. There
are normally teams that take care of one task.
 In Mechanistic Organization Communication is a method among managers and
supervisors as much as executives, there may be little daily interaction if any. On the other
hand in Organic Organization, communication is open among employees, managers and
executives though they're normally just recognized as ‘the owner’. There is a greater scale
of verbal exchange between parties. There is also greater face-to-face time in
the hierarchy of power.

Teams and Groups

 A group is a collection of individuals. Within an organization, groups might consist of

project-related groups such as a product group or division, or they can encompass an
entire store or branch of a company. The performance of a group consists of the inputs of
the group minus any process losses, such as the quality of a product, ramp-up time to
production, or the sales for a given month.
 A team is a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. Being
on a team does not equate to a total suppression of personal agendas, but it does require
a commitment to the vision and involves each individual working toward accomplishing
the team's objective.
 The key properties of a true team include collaborative action in which, along with a
common goal, teams have collaborative tasks. Conversely, in a group, individuals are
 responsible only for their own area. They also share the rewards of strong team
performance with their compensation based on shared outcomes.

Theory X and Theory Y in McGregor’s Theory.

 Theory X assumes that employees dislike work; they want to avoid it and do not want to
take responsibility. Theory Y assumes that employees are self-motivated, and flourish on
responsibility.
 Theory X is an authoritative management style. Theory Y is a participative management
style. Theory X employees are associated with negative traits whereas theory Y employees
are associated with positive traits. 
 In general, many managers influenced by theory X usually generate poor results. On the
other hand, managers use theory Y produces better performance and results and allows
people to grow and develop. However, some academics and practitioners criticize Theory
XY as a management approach since they argue that employees possess both negative
and positive traits depending on each situation. Thus situational management style should
be used in order to generate optimum results.

Transactional and Transformational leadership.

 Transformational Leadership addresses issues before they knock at your door, whereas
transactional leadership reacts to problems when they arise. Transformational leaders
encourage new ideas by transforming the organizational culture, where in transactional
leaders function within the existing organizational culture.
 Transformational leaders strive to achieve results from the employees, keeping them
invested in projects, which lead to an internal high order reward system; Transactional
leaders punish and reward according to the standards of the organization.
Transformational leaders appeal to notions and team interests for the success of the
organization: Transactional leaders appeal to the self-interest of the employees seeking
rewards for themselves.
 Transformational leadership adheres closely to what is colloquially referred to as
leadership, whereas transactional leadership corresponds more to the common notions of
management.
 Transformational leaders exhibit inspirational learning, ability to take higher risks, take
tough decisions, entertain newer ideas, and are adaptable, while transactional leaders
focus on performance and maintaining compliance with the norms of the organization .

Feed-forward and Feedback Control.

 In feedback control, the system's outputs are measured and if they do not match the
desired output (reference) the controlled parameter is recalculated. If the input does not
change, these differences usually come from disturbances. The controller has a feedback
from the system's output which quantifies "how far" it is from the desired state,
regardless of what causes this difference.
 In feed forward control, the disturbances are measured and the controlled parameter is
calculated based on some mathematical (or logical) model. There is no feedback to see if
the system is really in the desired state or "how far" it is from the desired state. If
disturbances that are not measured cause the system's outputs to differ from the desired
one, the controller will not react.
 Feedback control is reactive since it reacts to changes in the system's output while feed
forward is proactive since it acts before the system's output change. The important factor in
control theory is the controlled system output; that is probably why reactive is defined from
the point of view of the change in the system's output.
  Feed forward also reacts to something, but this something is not the system's output so
from the point of view of the system's output it is not reactive. In feed forward control,
the system's output can change without any reaction from the controller.

Q.2: What do you understand by Work Specialization? Highlight the advantages and
disadvantages associated with this concept. 7 marks

Work specialization is the act of parting up forms of work into personal duties that are each taken
care of by the foremost qualified person accessible. Specialization frequently happens inside
businesses and organizations, but people moreover advantage from concentrating on particular
abilities.
The Pros of Work Specialization
Defined Skillset
There’s something about having particular duties that permit you to perform tasks by
being truly focused on a characterized skillset. This can be perhaps the greatest good thing
about specialization. When you’re able to halt squandering your time on low-
returning errands and instead drill down to what you’re really made for and all of a
sudden you ended up a more profitable to the organization.
Increased Trust
Specialization comes with a more prominent sense of trust within the eyes of employers. If
you’re seeking out for a work and are able to that you are exclusively specialize in X, Y, or Z,
that’s superior than saying you have got a few essential involvement doing X, Y, and Z. The HR is
going to develop more trust that you are known to what you’re doing if you’ve shown a history
of centering your endeavors on a particular expertise or objective.
Risk Reduction
A worker who performs the same assignment more than once by specializing in it is less likely to
create a botch. They are known with the pitfalls and issues that a no specialist performing
that assignment would not know. For occasion, somebody who makes conveyances to the same
places each day will know the streets and potential activity issues way better than somebody who
doesn’t drive that course all the time.

Cons of Work Specialization

Complacency:
Repetitive pursuits runs the chance of monotony, and boredom often leads to complacency, so a
whole lot so that mistakes can happen. New duties and routines engage the Genius and body,
forcing a concentrated focus. The drawback of specialization potential taking the hazard that
complacency should lead to missteps, which can fee the company money and compromise safety.

Risk of Obsolescence
The world modifications and positive abilities and occupations come and go in phrases of utility
and value. When you’re a generalist, this doesn’t simply matter. You slowly evolve along with the
marketplace. But when you’re a specialist, you can get left behind. Obsolescence is a
very actual threat.
Consider, for example, someone who specializes in Google AdWords approach and optimization.
What would take place if all at once Google went beneath or decided to cast off AdWords
and focus on an absolutely specific structure of advertising? Suddenly that person would be out
of a job. That’s the chance of tying yourself to one precise skill.

Limited Skillset
You additionally have to think about the truth that now not each customer/client/employer
is searching for specialization. When fee is a factor, it’s typically makes more feel for them
to hire any person who can offer a range of services. So while you may view it as
a targeted skillset, others may want to see it as a limited skillset. Keep this in thinking as
you determine where you favor your profession to go

Q.3: Comment why do you believe that cross functional teams are primary components for
most of the organizations? Defend your answer with suitable examples. 7 marks

Cross-Functional Collaboration
A process of bringing humans from various spheres, bringing collectively their know-how,
expertise, and experience. The essential point is “paintings-interdependency”. Teams need
to paintings collectively to succeed.
It can be a piece daunting to build a group that involves human beings from multiple department.
But while you do so, it is totally really worth it.

Gain a better insight
To carry a gulp of creative thoughts, cross-useful collaboration is a excellent choice. Creativity is a
group process. When the project managers, put together people
who are experts in distinctive subjects, every with unique skills sets, it'll bring out a few new
perspectives. This technique of collaboration will carry new insights to
the crew to bring up creative solutions and enhance development. With each group member
bringing their skills and understanding to the table, the work will development and thrive
bringing answers quicker.

Engaged personnel
Shifting employees to team-oriented systems can boost team bonding, improving place of
business dynamics.
With a sturdy leader managing a cross-functional team will help in preventing silo mentality and
bridge the distance between team members.

Spurring innovative ideas
It is a fantastic manner to enhance innovative minds to pool thoughts collectively that
separates agencies from their competitors. When distinct minds playing special roles
are delivered collectively, they think outside of the box to substantially convey higher results.
When people suppose in new ways, it allows them make clever mistakes, take higher dangers and
spur innovation and creativity.
Collaborative Culture
Cross-functional teamwork clearly creates a collaborative culture due to the fact it gets greater of
your crew members operating collectively, irrespective of what department they're in. Shared
decision-making, everyday crew building and operating in the direction
of a commonplace goal improves verbal exchange abilities throughout each layer of the
organization.

Q.4: Self-actualization, at the top of his pyramid of needs, is the state that has most fascinated
followers of Maslow. What is it? According to Maslow’s research who has achieved it defend
your answer with the help of suitable example. 7 marks

Self-actualization represents a concept derived from humanistic psychological principle and,

specifically,
from the concept created by Abraham Maslow. Self-actualization, according to Maslow,
represents increase of an individual toward achievement of the best needs—the
ones for meaning in life, in particular.
Maslow’s hierarchy reflects a linear sample of boom depicted in a direct pyramidal order of
ascension. Moreover, he states that self-actualizing people are capable
of remedy dichotomies such as that reflected within the remaining opposite of free-will and
determinism. He also contends that self-actualizers are incredibly creative,
psychologically robust individuals. It is argued herein that a dialectical transcendence of
ascension in the direction of self-actualization higher describes this type of self-
actualization, or even the mentally ill, whose psychopathology correlates with creativity, have
the capability to self-actualize

Self-Acceptance and a Democratic World View

Not only do self-actualized people fully accept themselves, they also embrace other people
for who they are. Other individuals are treated the same regardless of background, current
status, or other socio-economic and cultural factors.

Realistic

Another major characteristic of self-actualized people is a sense of realism. Rather than being
fearful of things that are different or unknown, the self-actualized individual is able to view
life as it unfolds both logically and rationally.

Autonomous

Self-actualized people also tend to be very independent. They don't conform to other

people's ideas of happiness or contentment. This original perspective allows the individual to
live in the moment and appreciate the beauty of each experience.

Spontaneous
Another characteristic of self-actualized people is a tendency to be open, unconventional, and
spontaneous. While these people are able to follow generally accepted social expectations,
they don't feel confined by these norms in their thoughts or behaviors.

Q.5: What could be the possible perils of autocracy in an organization? Do you believe that
whether autocracy-led growth in an organization is sustainable why or why not?

7 marks

An autocratic manager is one that embraces a strong, top-down leadership approach.

Essentially, autocratic control involves one individual handling all major choices at
a enterprise or inside a group even as taking very little enter from group members.
All final selections are made by means of the chief and no recommendation or hints are
given via others operating alongside the manager. These leaders do now
not consult their team when you decide or allow everybody underneath them to make
an important decision. Once a desire has been made, the rest of the group is expected to
obey the very last decision.

Benefits of Autocratic Leadership

There are a number of vital benefits to autocratic leadership. For example, the team will have
a clear vision of expectations and where their project and company is going. Essentially, no
one will be confused about the direction of a company or even the specific assignment they
are working on. The mission of the company will be clear for all employees. Essentially, the
autocratic leadership style does not take any second, contrary opinions into consideration,
which makes the vision of the organization more straightforward. Those who contradict the
manager often do not stay with the company for long.

Disadvantages of Autocratic Leadership

Too much scrutiny can make your employees feel inadequate and become more anxious than
necessary. Additionally, too much of an authoritarian style can lead all group input to essentially
disappear. In addition, within this type of leadership approach, no reward or recognition is ever
really given to the employees working for the manager.
Since this type of leadership style imitates that of a dictator, many argue that this will be
damaging for employees in the long run. Essentially, this type of management style leads to low
employee morale and can bring about reduced efficiency on the job among workers.

Sustainability of Growth under Autocratic Leadership

At places where there is need of clear and precise direction such as industrial work, autocratic
leadership would only be able to lead that company towards the success. Apart from that in
other organizations where employees are the first hand builders of the workplace, they need to
have their voice and opinion in the decision making this will help create trust and loyalty of
employee toward the organization. And if in those circumstances autocratic leadership is applied
that will tear apart the organization as it would lower the morale of employees if their opinion is
not voiced through management’s decisions.

SECTION B – CASE STUDY

Q.6: Read the case and answer questions at the end adequately: 12 marks

Imagine having a management system so successful people that refer to it with capital letters—
the Lincoln Management System—and other businesses benchmark their own systems by it. That
is the situation of Ohio-based Lincoln Electric. For a number of years, other companies have tried
to figure out Lincoln Electric’s secret: how management coaxes maximum productivity and
quality from its workers even during difficult financial times. Lincoln Electric is a leading
manufacturer of welding products, welding equipment, and electric motors, with more than $1
billion in sales and 6,000 workers worldwide. The company’s products are used for cutting,
manufacturing, and repairing other metal products.

Lincoln uses a diverse control approach. Tasks are precisely defined, and individual employees
must exceed strict performance goals in order to achieve top pay. The incentive and control
system is powerful. Production workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, plus merit pay based on
performance. Employees are eligible for annual bonuses, which fluctuate according to the
company’s profits, and they participate in stock purchase plans. A worker’s bonus is based on
four factors: work productivity, work quality, dependability, and cooperation with others. Some
factory workers at Lincoln have earned more than $100,000 a year.

However, the Lincoln system succeeds largely because of an organizational culture based on
openness and trust, shared control, and an egalitarian spirit. Though the line between managers
and workers at Lincoln is firmly drawn, managers respect the expertise of production workers and
value their contributions to many aspects of the business. The company has an open-door policy
for all top executives, middle managers, and production workers, and regular face-to- face
communication is encouraged. Workers are expected to challenge management if they believe
practices or compensation rates are unfair. Most workers are hired right out of high school, and
then trained and cross-trained to perform different jobs. Some are promoted to executive
positions because Lincoln believes in promoting from within.

One of Lincoln’s founders felt that organizations should be based on certain values, including
honesty, trustworthiness, openness, self-management, loyalty, accountability, and
cooperativeness. These values continue to form the core of Lincoln’s culture, and management
regularly rewards employees who manifest them. Because Lincoln so effectively socializes
employees, they exercise a great degree of self-control on the job. There are 100 workers for
each foreman. There are less tangible rewards to complement the piece-rate incentive system.
Pride of workmanship and feelings of involvement, contribution, and esprit de corps are intrinsic
rewards that flourish at Lincoln Electric. Cross-functional teams, empowered to make decisions,
take responsibility for product planning, development, and marketing. Information about the
company’s operations and financial performance is openly shared with workers.

Lincoln places emphasis on anticipating and solving customer problems. Sales representatives are
given the technical training they need to understand customer needs, help customers understand
and use Lincoln’s products, and solve problems. This customer focus is backed up by attention to
the production process through the use of strict accountability standards and formal
measurements for productivity quality, and innovation for all employees. In addition, a software
program called Rhythm is used to streamline the flow of goods and materials in the production
process.

Lincoln’s system worked so well in the United States that senior executives decided to extend it
overseas. Lincoln built or purchased eleven plants in Japan, South America, and Europe, with
plans to run the plants from the United States using Lincoln’s expertise with management control
systems. Managers saw the opportunity to beat local competition by applying manufacturing
control incentive systems to reduce costs and raise production in plants around the world. The
results were abysmal and nearly sunk the company. Managers at international plants failed to
meet their production and financial goals every year; they exaggerated the goals sent to Lincoln’s
managers to receive more resources, especially during the recession in Europe and South
America. Many overseas managers had no innate desire to increase sales, and workers were
found sleeping on benches because of not enough work. The European labor culture was hostile
to the piecework and bonus control system. The huge losses in the international plants, which
could not seem to adopt Lincoln’s vaunted control systems, meant the company would have to
borrow money to pay U.S. workers’ bonuses, or forgo bonuses for the first time in Lincoln’s
history. Top managers began to question whether the Lincoln Management System could be
transferred to other countries and wondered whether they simply misunderstood how to apply it
in other cultures.
Questions
1. What types of control —feedforward, concurrent, or feedback—are illustrated in this
case? 4
marks

Lincoln emphasizes anticipating and solving customer problems. Sales representatives

are given the technical training they need to understand customer needs, help customers
understand and use Lincoln’s products, and solve problems. This customer focus is
backed by attention to the production process using strict accountability standards and
formal measurements for productivity, quality, and innovation for all employees. In
addition, a software program called Rhythm helps streamline the flow of goods and
materials in the production process.

Based on the case study, an example of an activity related to concurrent control is when
the Lincoln Electric has implemented an open-door policy for all top executives, middle
managers, and production workers. Employees can approach the managers to talk about
 their problems and requests without making any appointments. In this way, there is
more face-to-face communications between employees and managers, and
communications between employees and managers are also enhanced. The employees
were said to be expected to challenge the management if there was any unfair treatment
to the employees. Managers will listen to their problems or complaints and take
corrective actions to ensure that there is a safe and satisfying environment for their
employees. This explains why many employees are committed to Lincoln Electric and
often stay with the company for life.
Another example of concurrent control that can be found in the case study is, in Lincoln
Electric, customer focus is backed by attention to the production process through strict
accountability standards and formal measurements for productivity, quality, and
innovation for all employees. Every employee has strict accountability standards and
each of them must follow the required standards and be responsible for their work. In
concurrent control, it is more focused on quality and quantity of products.

2. Based on what you have read, what do you think makes the Lincoln System so successful
in the United States? 4 marks

The Lincoln System is very successful in the United States because Lincoln uses a
diverse control approach. Tasks are precisely defined, and individual employees must
exceed strict performance goals to achieve top pay. The incentive and control system
are also powerful because production workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, plus merit
pay based on performance. Employees also are eligible for annual bonuses, which
fluctuate according to the company’s profits, and they participate in stock purchase
plans.
One reason Lincoln Electric is so successful is because they fully invest in their
intellectual capital, especially their human capital. They nurture, empower and use their
human capital to its fullest extent. Lincoln Electric also has cross-functional teams that
are empowered to make decisions, take responsibility for product planning,
development, and marketing. Information about the company’s operations and financial
performance is also openly shared with all the workers throughout the company, which
shows there is trust between top-level managers and the employees.

A worker’s bonus is based on four factors which are work productivity, work quality,
dependability, and cooperation with others. The company has earned employee trust
with its no layoff policy and managers respect the expertise of production workers and
value their contributions to many aspects of the business. Most workers are hired right
out of high school, then trained and cross-trained to perform different jobs. Some
eventually are promoted to executive positions, because Lincoln believes in promoting
from within. Many Lincoln workers stay with the company for life.

Lincoln Electric’s approach to management contributes to its employee’s high

motivational rate. Lincoln Electric motivates its staff with “strict performance goals to
achieve pay, precisely defined task and a powerful incentive control program which is
based on a piece-rate bases and merit-pay which is based on performance”. Other
motivating factors are annual bonuses and stock purchase plans which all employees are
offered. Another contribution to its success is their organizational culture which is “based
on openness, trust, shared control and an egalitarian spirit”.

3. What is the problem with transporting Lincoln’s control systems to other national
cultures? What suggestions would you make to Lincoln’s managers to make future
international manufacturing plants more successful? 4
marks

There is a problem of transporting Lincoln’s idea to other national culture, as the people are
not used to the piece rate system. Most of the companies pay their employees according to
the number of days that they have worked. Others find it difficult to give bonuses because
they view it as a way in which the company makes losses.