POKHARA UNIVERSITY
Level: Master Trimester – Fall Year : 2019
Programme: MBA Full Marks: 100
Course: Organizational Behaviour and Leadership Pass Marks: 60
Time : 3 hrs
Candidates are required to give their answers in their own words as far
as practicable. The figures in the margin indicate full marks.
Section A
Short Question Answer
Attempt any six questions (6x10=60)
1. Assume that a friend states, “Organizational behavior is selfish and
manipulative, because it serves only the interest of management.”
How would you respond?
2. There are various fields that have contributed to the field of
organizational behavior. Explain their contributions.
3. As a manager, why do you need to be focused towards the job-related
attitudes of your employee? Analyze critically.
4. If one of your friends stated that he/she was facing a lot of
communication barriers in his/her organization, how would you
suggest him/her to overcome these barriers of communication?
5. Elaborate the rational model of decision making. How is it different
from bounded rationality and intuition?
6. If you were appointed as a change agent for an organization, critically
analyze the intervening techniques while implementing change in
organization.
7. Organizational change is often not welcomed by organizational
people. How would you tackle such situation so that there would be
no or minimal resistance?
Section B
Case analysis 20
MR. ALOK BANARJEE
Mr. Alok Banarjee is the Chief Executive of a medium- sized pharmaceutical
firm in Calcutta.He holds a Ph D in Pharmacy. However, he has not been
involved in research and development of new products for two decades.
Though turnover is not a problem for the company, Mr. Banarjee and his
senior colleagues noticed that the workers on hourly basis are not working up
to their full potential. It is well known fact that they filled their days with
unnecessary and unproductive activities and worked only for the sake of a
pay cheque. In the recent past the situation has become quite alarming as the
organization began to crumble under the weight of uneconomical effort. The
situation demanded immediate managerial attention and prompt remedial
measures. Mr. Banarjee knew very well that the only way to progress and
prosper is to motivate workers to peak performance through various incentive
plans.
One fine morning, Mr. Banarjee contacted the Personnel Manager and
enquired: “What is the problem with the workers on hourly basis? The wage
bill shows that we pay them the highest in the industry. Our working
conditions are fine. Our fringe benefits are excellent.Still these workers are
not motivated. What do they require really?” The Personnel Manager gave
the following reply: “I have already informed you a number of times, that
money, working conditions and benefits are not enough. Other things are
equally important.
One of workers in that group recently gave me a clue as to why more and
more workers are joining the bandwagon of ‘non-performers’. He felt bad
that hard work and efficiency go un-noticed and un-rewarded in our
organization. Our promotion and benefit plans are tied to length of service.
Even the lazy workers, accordingly, enjoy all the benefitsin the organization,
which, in fact according to workers, should go only to those who work hard.”
Mr. Banarjee then wanted the Personnel Manager to look into the problem
more closely and find out a solution to the problem of workers on hourly
basis.
Answer the following questions
1. Explain the motivational problem in this case by relating to
Herzberg’s theory.
2. What would be your response to Banarjee’s statement, if you were
the Personnel Manager of the Company?
3. If you were the manager, how would you motivate the employees so
that they work better.
Source: Kondalkar, V.G, Organizational Behaviour, New Age
International (P) Limited, Publishers, 2007.p-115
Section C
Case analysis
When Companies Fail to Change
The Triniton TV, transistor radio, Walkman, and VC Rare the stuff of time
capsules nowadays, but not long ago they were cutting-edge technology.
Japan was at the pinnacle of the home consumer electronics industry from the
1970s to the 1990s, introducing new innovations to the world each year. Now
those same Japanese firms are at the back of the pack and struggling to stay
in the game.Japanese electronics production has fallen by more than 41
percent, and Japan’s global market share of electronics goods and services
has decreased by more than half since 2000. Sony, for example, hasn’t earned
a profit since 2008.What happened?
The simple answer is failure to innovate. While firms outside Japan
pioneered digital technology and conquered the Internet, Japanese firms stuck
to semiconductors and hardware. But the deeper issue is the refusal of
Japanese managers to adapt to the global environmentand change their
organizations accordingly. For instance, Sony mastered the technology
needed for a digital music player years before Apple introduced the iPod in
2001, but its engineers resisted the change. Sony’s divisions would not
cooperate with one another fastenough to compete in this market or in the
new market for flat-screen TVs. Even now, Sony has not managed to change
its organization to reflect current global thinkingin the industry. For instance,
it and other Japanese firms make a larger number of products than most
oftheir global competitors. Former Sony executive Yoshiaki Sakito said,
“Sony makes too many models, and for none of them can they say, ‘This
contains our best, most cutting-edge technology.’ Apple, on the other hand,
makes one amazing phone in just two colors and says, ‘This is the one.’
For Japanese electronics companies to survive, they must change. They were
once able to structure their organizations around abundant, inexpensive labor
to keep costs down and prices competitive, but that’s no longer the case. One
complicating factor is that Japan is an ancient
Country of many traditions, with a low birth rate and an aging population, so
there will be increasing shortage of workers. The country’s culture will make
it even more difficult to realign to globalization. It now must change to foster
20 innovation, which may involve a cultural, as much as an organizational
transformation.
Questions:
1. What made the Japanese electronics industry initially successful?
2. How does a corporation such as Sony fundamentally differ from one
like Apple?
3. Where might Japanese organizations outsource production to remain
competitive in today’s markets?
Sources:H.Hiyama,“SonyBreak-Up Call Shines Lighton Electronics Industry
Problems,”Japan Today, June7,
2013,www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/sony-break-up-call-
shines-lighton-electronic-industry-problems; R. Katz, “How Japan Blew Its
Lead in Electronics,” The Wall StreetJournal, March 23, 2012, A15; and H.
Tabuchi, “How the Parade Passed Sony By,” The New YorkTimes, April 15,
2012, B1, B7.