SHANTI BUSINESS SCHOOL

PGDM TRIMESTER- III END TERM EXAMINATION

JULY - 2015
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
TIME: 3 HRS. Max. Marks: 100
Instructions:
1. The answers to Part A (MCQ) questions are to be written only in OMR sheet provided to you.
2. Only 30 minutes will be given to answer the MCQ. After that it will be collected . Use only
blue/black pen to darken the circle of OMR sheet.
3. Answers should be written neatly, briefly and to the point.
4. Main and sub question numbers should be clearly specified in the answer book.
5. Answer to sub questions of main question should be written in continuous sequence.

PART A
Total Marks: 25
1. This organization coined the term ‘Learning & Development’
a) Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
b) Chartered Institute of Learning & Development
c) Chartered Institute of Training & Development
d) Chartered Institute of Training
2. In the training model a triggering event is
a) An organizational performance deficit identified by a person of authority
b) A signal that training has been successful
c) A type of behavioral based evaluation
d) Input into the development phase of training
3. Authors use the acronym KSA to refer to what?
a) Keep Simple Attitude
b) Knowledge, Skills & Attitude
c) Knowledge, Strategy & Aptitude
d) Know the Strategy Always
4. ______________________ Strategy focuses on longer term, and its process is more formalized,
typically involving sophisticated analytical and decision making tools.
a) Reactive
b) Systematic
c) Proactive
d) All of the above

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5. Learning is defined as
a) A temporary change in cognition that results from experience and may influence behavior
b) A permanent change in understanding and thinking that results from experience and directly
influences behavior
c) The act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviours, skills,
values or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information resulting
into a relatively permanent change in behaviour
d) A permanent change in cognition that results from self-efficacy and indirectly influences
behavior
6. Training can be defined as
a) A planned effort by the company to facilitate employees’ learning of job related competencies.
b) Preparing individual for further growth and development by involving the individual in the
same.
c) A permanent change in cognition that results from self-efficacy and indirectly influences
behavior
d) The act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviours, skills,
values or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information resulting
into a relatively permanent change in behaviour
7. Our ____________ are the basis of our motivation and the reason for almost all of our activity.
a) Competencies
b) Needs
c) Differences
d) Skill sets
8. Clayton Alderfer’s proposed the theory of motivation called ERG. These initials stand for?
a) Elementary, Relationship & Growth needs
b) Existence, Relatedness & Growth needs
c) Existence, Relationship & Giving needs
d) Encouraging, Rewarding & Growing in the organization
9. If you have a headache and you take an aspirin, and the headache goes away, the “aspirin taking
response” is _________________ reinforced?
a) Positively
b) Alternatively
c) Negatively
d) None of the above
10. Attention, Retention & Behavioural Reproduction are cognitive processes involved in
__________________ learning theory
a) Behavioural
b) Social
c) Cognitive
d) Gagne- Briggs

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11. The Gagne-Briggs theory of instructional design
a) Has three events: Attention, Retention, and Behavioral reproduction
b) Has "gaining attention" as its first event
c) Is only useful for designing effective lectures
d) Both A & B
12. When a TNA is conducted it
a) Guarantees that the time and money spent on training is spent wisely
b) Determines the benchmark for evaluation of training
c) Provides essential information in the implementation of the strategic plan
d) Both B & C
13. The below given cannot be a probable source of data for gathering data related to potential OPG
a) Labour inventory
b) Labour management data, strikes etc.
c) Productivity
d) Work sampling

14. Your organization has recruited 50 ITI technicians. It has plans of providing training to all recruits
by October 2015. But, they will only be able to put these recruits on the shopfloor for actual work
by December 2015. What will you suggest as a remedy for this long lag between training and
using skill on the job?
a) Send them on a leave as they might need some break.
b) Distribute practice through the lag. Provide refresher material or models for the employees to
follow.
c) Modularization for all trainees
d) None of the above
15. If the organization has a high emphasis on safety and one of the needs is to train people for moving
out of the building in case of fire emergencies, which type of training would you suggest?
a) Simulation
b) Lecture method
c) CBT
d) In-basket technique
16. The _____________________ technique provides trainees with a packet of written information
and requests, such as memos, messages and reports, that typically would be handled in a given
position..
a) Lecture
b) Business game
c) In-basket
d) Case study

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17. Writing a good learning objective requires this component / these components:
a) Desired outcome: Behaviour
b) Conditions under which behaviour must occur
c) Standards / Criteria for success
d) All of the above
18. This type of learner does not like training that doesn’t connect closely to practical application,
he/she tends to like learning facts, prefers solving problems by well-established methods.
a) Sensing learner
b) Global learner
c) Sequential learner
d) Active learner
19. These learners tend to retain and understand information best by doing something with it –
discussing or applying it or explaining it to others.
a) Sensing learner
b) Global learner
c) Sequential learner
d) Active learner
20. A trainer stimulates the recall of the prerequisite learning by asking the trainees, “Try to remember
the names of the relevant employee characteristics and what things differentiate them from
irrelevant characteristics.” Which of the following stage is he working on?
a) Symbolic Coding
b) Activation of memory
c) Cognitive organization
d) Symbolic rehearsal
21. Without _____________________, it is very difficult to evaluate training
a) Personnel objectives
b) Performance appraisals
c) Organizational outcomes
d) Learning objectives
22. Developing a demonstration requires
a) A charismatic trainer
b) Using flashy gimmicks to get your point across
c) Breaking down the task into manageable parts or sequences
d) Putting together as much information as possible
23. In a Lecture method, when a Trainer summarizes and highlights important concepts covered in the
session, he/she is working on which of the following?
a) Attention
b) Retention
c) Cognitive organization
d) Both b & c

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24. _____________________ is an advanced form of computer simulation. This simulation is
accomplished by the trainee wearing special equipment, such as head gear, gloves and so on that
controls what the trainee is able to see, feel and otherwise sense. The trainee learns by interacting
with objects in the electronic environment to achieve some goal.
a) Intelligent tutoring systems
b) Programmed Instruction
c) Virtual reality
d) ICAI
25. A _____ is the "first test" of new material designed to be in a training program.
a) Pilot program
b) Dry run
c) Development
d) Primary run

PART B
Conceptual questions Total Marks: [5x10=50]

Answer any five questions. Each question carries equal marks.

1. Gagne & Associates’ Micro theory of Instructional design.

2. Write about any one organization that claims to be a ‘Learning Organization’. Explain in context
of David Garvin’s or Peter Senge’s Characteristics of learning organization

3. How would you ensure to enhance Trainee’s Attention in the training programme?

4. Implication of any one of the motivation theories to Training/ Learning. Explain with the help of
examples.
5. What is Transfer of Training or Learning? How would you ensure that Transfer of Training takes
place in your organization?
6. You are asked to deliver a two day workshop for managers on “Effective Feedback skills”. It is
focused primarily on performance reviews. Approximately 100 managers need to be trained.
Describe what the content of the training would entail, the methods you would use and the
instructional media and equipment and room set up you would want. Explain why.
7. Data sources for locating Gaps in Organizational performance. Describe using the below given
table:

SOURCES OF DATA IMPLICATIONS FOR EXAMPLES

TRAINING NEEDS

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 PART C
Max Marks: 25
Read the below given case study and answer the case questions that follow:
Intense competition among retailers today has made customer service a top priority at stores such as
the Shoppers’ Stop and Westside, employees welcome customers into the store with cheery greetings.
Sales staff now has to do much more than simply operate the cash register. They need to have good
communication and interpersonal skills in order to provide customers with excellent service. They
need to be courteous, polite, and helpful.

Providing good customer service requires training programs that teach employees how to interact with
customers. Many retail companies provide customer service training programs that teach employees
how to be friendly, courteous, and helpful. Consider a large retail clothing store that decided it too
needed to improve customer service. A training program was designed so that in addition to learning
how to use the company’s sales register system, which had always been the focus of the training
program, the employees would learn how to greet customers, offer assistance, help them find what
they are looking for, solve customer complaints and problems, and provide courteous, helpful, and
friendly service. The training program began with a lecture in which the trainer described the
importance of customer service and the objectives of the training program. Trainees were also
instructed on how to provide good service and how they should behave when they are interacting with
customers.

Following the lecture, a video tape was shown that consisted of different scenarios in which
employees were shown interacting with customers. In one scenario, a customer could not find what he
was looking for and asked the employees for assistance. The employee was not friendly was not
friendly and told the customer to try looking down another aisle. In another incident, a customer
complained to an employee about something she had purchased that was less expensive at another
store. She demanded a price reduction or her money back. The customer began raising her voice and
the employee yelled at the customer and told her to leave the store. Similar incidents of poor customer
service were also shown in the video.

After the video, the trainer asked trainees what was wrong with each scenario and how the employee
should have behaved to provide better customer service. At the end of the discussion, the trainer
provided a brief lecture outline the key points shown in the video. This was followed by another video
that showed scenarios of employees providing good customer service. A brief discussion and lecture
followed in which the trainees were asked to describe what the employee did to provide good service.
The trainer then concluded the session by highlighting the key customer service behaviors. Trainees
then had to take a test on their knowledge of customer service. The test consisted of multiple choice
questions that asked trainees to choose the most appropriate behavior in different situations with
customers. Most of the trainees did very well on the test and upon completing the training program;
they all received a customer service qualification certificate.

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Back on the job, however, some employees had difficulty dealing with customers. For example, in one
incident a customer demanded his money back for a pair of pants that had shrunk after cleaning. He
started blaming the employee for the store’s poor quality and called the employee an idiot. The
employee didn’t know what to do and just walked away. In another incident, a customer came into the
store to pick up a shirt that he had asked an employee to hold for him. The item had been sold and it
was the last one in the store. The employee apologized saying that it was sold to somebody else by
accident. However, the customer insisted that the employee call
the customer who bought the shirt and have them return it. The employee said she could not do that
and told the customer how sorry she was. The customer refused to leave the store unless the employee
called the customer who bought the shirt. The employee threatened to call security if the customer did
not leave the store. He finally left but not before causing a big scene in the store in front of many other
customers.

Questions:
1. According to you how effective was the Training programme? What are its strengths &
weaknesses? (5 Marks)
2. Describe the training methods that were used in the Customer service Training programme. Do
you think they were appropriate methods to use and were they used appropriately?
(10 marks)
3. Comment on how the program was designed and the use of learning principles & training
methods. Do you think the program could be redesigned to make it more effective? If yes, how
would you proceed? (10 Marks)

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