project on management process & organization behavior. this project is for management student

1. 1 | P a g e
ASSIGNMENT
DRIVE fall 2014
PROGRAM MBA-1
SEMESTER 1st
SUBJECT CODE NAME Mb0038-management process & organization behaviour
CREDITS 4
BK ID B1621
MARKS 60
Name :
Registration No. :
Learning Center : IITMS
Learning Center Code : 02800
Date of submission:
___________________________ Directorate of Distance Education ______________________
Signature of Sikkim Manipal University Signature of
Center Signature of Evaluator II Floor, Syndicate House Coordinator
Manipal-576104
Q1. Define the terms ‘strategy’. Explain the following:
a) Corporate strategy
b) Business strategy

2. c) Functional strategy
Definition of Strategy__________________________________________________________
Strategy is important because the resources available to achieve these goals are usually limited.
Many companies use strategies to set goals Strategy generally involves setting goals,
determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A
strategy describes how the ends (goals) will be achieved by the means (resources).
Explanation of Corporate strategy_______________________________________________
Business Dictionary defines a corporate strategy as a strategy that recognizes the factors that are
currently affecting the firm and its competitors and the factors that may affect the firm and its
competitors in the future. The firm develops policies and practices to establish a new and
creative role that will address those factors, giving the firm the competitive advantage.
Approach
 Corporate strategy is concerned with reach, competitive contact, managing activities and
interrelationships and management practices. Reach means identifying issues that are
corporate issues such as deciding which types of businesses the corporation should
involve it with and deciding how the business will be combined and overseen.
Explanation of Business strategy________________________________________________
Strategy is management's game plan for strengthening the performance of the enterprise.
It states how business should be conduct to achieve the desired goals. Without a strategy
management has no roadmap to guide them.
Creating a business strategy is a core management function. It must be said that having a good
strategy and executing the strategy well, does not guarantee success. Organizations can face
unforeseen circumstances and adverse conditions through no fault of their own. This is where
business intelligence comes in where you need to constantly monitor how the strategy and the
objectives are being executed.
Some experts claim that a strategy should be designed to provide competitive advantage for the
organization.
Explanation of Functional strategy_____________________________________________
Functional strategy- selection of decision rules in each functional area. Thus, functional
strategies in any organization, some. It is desirable that they have been fixed in writing.
2 | P a g e

3. In particular, functional strategies are as follows:
Production strategy ("make or buy") - defines what the company produces itself, and those
purchases from suppliers or partners, that is, how far worked out the production chain.
Financial Strategy- to select the main source of funding: the development of their own funds or
through debt financing.
In addition, each of the functional strategies can be divided into components. For example,
organizational strategy can be divided into three components:
 Strategy of building organizations - to select the type of structure (divisional, functional,
project, etc.);
Q2. Define the term ‘management’. Explain the Behavioral science theory and Systems
theory.
Definition of management_____________________________________________________
Management in business and organizations is the function that coordinates the efforts of people
to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.
Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an
organization to accomplish the goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation
of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Management is also an academic discipline, a social science whose objective is to study social
organizations.
Explanation of Behavioral science theory_______________________________________
Behavioral science is the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour
through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. It
attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and
observation. Examples of behavioral sciences include psychology, psychobiology, criminology
and cognitive science.
Categories of behavioral sciences
Information processing sciences deal with information processing of stimuli from the social
environment by cognitive entities, to engage in decision making, social judgment and social
perception for individual functioning and survival of organism in a social environment.
Psychology, cognitive science, psychobiology, neural networks, social cognition, social
psychology, semantic networks, ethnology and social neuroscience are classified as information
processing sciences.
3 | P a g e

4. On the other hand, relational sciences deal with relationships, interaction, communication
networks, associations and relational strategies or dynamics among organisms or cognitive
entities in a social system. Sociological social psychology, social networks, dynamic network
analysis, agent-based model and micro simulation are classified as relational sciences.
Explanation of systems theory_________________________________________________
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating
principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of
research.[citation needed] The term does not yet have a well-established, precise meaning, but
systems theory can reasonably be considered a specialization of systems thinking; alternatively
as a goal output of systems science and systems engineering, with an emphasis on generality
useful across a broad range of systems.
In this respect, with the possibility of misinterpretations, von Bertalanffy believed a general
theory of systems "should be an important regulative device in science," to guard against
superficial analogies that "are useless in science and harmful in their practical consequences."
A central topic of systems theory is self-regulating systems, i.e. systems self-correcting through
feedback. Self-regulating systems are found in nature, including the physiological systems of our
body, in local and global ecosystems, and in climate—and in human learning processes.
Q3. Give the definition and importance of planning in an organization and explain the steps
in planning.
4 | P a g e

5. Definition of planning_______________________________________________________
Planning (also called forethought) is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities
required to achieve a desired goal.
Planning involves the creation and maintenance of a plan. As such, planning is a fundamental
property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement
of a plan, or integration of it with other plans; that is, it combines forecasting of developments
with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them.
Explanation of the importance of planning_____________________________________
Planning Provides Direction:
Under the process of planning the objectives of the organisation are defined in simple and clear
words. The obvious outcome of this is that all the employees get a direction and all their efforts
are focused towards a particular end.
Planning Reduces Risks of Uncertainty:
Planning is always done for future and future is uncertain. With the help of planning possible
changes in future are anticipated and various activities are planned in the best possible way.
Planning Reduces Overlapping and Wasteful Activities:
Under planning, future activities are planned in order to achieve objectives. Consequently, the
problems of when, where, what and why are almost decided.
List the steps in planning____________________________________________________
1. Goal setting:
2. Developing the planning premises:
3. Developing the planning premises:
4. Deciding the planning period:
5. Formulation of policies and strategies
6. Preparing operating plans
7. Integration of plans
Explanation of the steps in planning___________________________________________
Goal setting:
Plans are the means to achieve certain ends or objectives. Therefore, establishment of
organizational or overall objectives is the first step in planning.
5 | P a g e

6. Developing the planning premises:
Before plans are prepared, the assumptions and conditions underlying them must be clearly
defined these assumptions are called planning premises and they can be identified through
accurate forecasting of likely future events.
Reviewing Limitations:
In practice, several constraints or limitations affect the ability of an organization to achieve its
objectives.
Deciding the planning period:
Once the broad goals, planning premises and limitations are laid down, the next step is to decide
the period of planning.
Formulation of policies and strategies:
After the goals are defined and planning premises are identified, management can formulate poli-cies
and strategies for the accomplishment of desired results.
Preparing operating plans:
After the formulation of overall operating plans, the derivative or supporting plans are prepared.
Several medium range and short-range plans are required to implement policies and strategies.
Integration of plans:
Different plans must be properly balanced so that they support one another. Review and revision
may be necessary before the plan is put into operation.
Q4. Define the term Controlling? What are the prerequisites of effective control?
Definition of controlling_____________________________________________________
Control or Controlling is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing, staffing
and directing. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and to take the
corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals of the
organization are achieved in a desired manner.
6 | P a g e

7. According to modern concepts, control is a foreseeing action whereas earlier concept of control
was used only when errors were detected. Control in management means setting standards,
measuring actual performance and taking corrective action.
Pre-requisites of effective control______________________________________________
Objectives:
A system of control can work more effectively when it is based on the main objectives or goals
of the organisation. It should be related to the persons. It becomes essential that the standards,
which are set by the management, should not be too high or too low.
Suitability:
A business organization should adopt such a system of control which suits its requirement.-There
is no hard and fast rule and readymade system of control which give the correct and most
favorable, results in all type of organizations and in all circumstances.
Forward looking:
The system of control should be forward looking which enables the managers to keep a control
on operations in advance. Each and every deviation from the standards should be noted in time to
take corrective action before the task is completed.
Feedback:
The success of a business depends on a system of control and for a systematic control advance
planning is needed. This advance planning should be based on actual accurate post information
collected through investigation.
Quick action:
Management gets the information from various line managers or supervisors about the deviation
in standards and these should be suggested to the planner to take a correct and quick action to
avoid future wastage.
Directness:
In order to make the system of control more effective, it is necessary that the relation between
the workers and management should be direct.
Flexibility:
7 | P a g e

8. The system of control should be such that it accommodates all changes or failures in plans. If
plans are to be revised due to change in its objectives, the system of control should also be
adjusted to suit the changed circumstances.
Economy:
The system of control must be economical. In simple words, cost of the control system should
not exceed its benefits. A system of control to be adopted by the organisation should be cheaper
in terms of expenses.
Q5. What are ‘attitudes’? Explain the components and functions of attitude.
Meaning of attitude__________________________________________________________
In psychology, an attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or
event (the attitude object). Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once described attitudes "the
most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology." Attitude can be
formed from a person's past and present. Key topics in the study of attitudes include attitude
measurement, attitude change, and attitude-behavior relationships.
Attitude is an evaluation of an attitude object to vary from extremely negative to extremely
positive, but also admits that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object
meaning that they might at different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the
same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes
toward the same object.
Explanation of the components of attitude_______________________________________
Cognitive Component
The Cognitive component of attitudes refer to the beliefs, thoughts, and attributes that we would
associate with an object. Many times a person's attitude might be based on the negative and
positive attributes they associate with an object.
Affective Component
The Affective component of attributes refer to your feelings or emotions linked to an attitude
object. Affective responses influence attitudes in a number of ways. For example, many people
are afraid/scared of spiders. So this negative affective response is likely to cause you to have a
negative attitude towards spiders.
8 | P a g e

9. Behavioral Component
The behavioral component of attitudes refers to past behaviors or experiences regarding an
attitude object. The idea that people might infer their attitudes from their previous actions.
Explanation of the functions of attitude___________________________________________
Daniel Katz classified attitudes into four different groups based on their functions
1. Utilitarian: provides us with general approach or avoidance tendencies
2. Knowledge: help people organize and interpret new information
3. Ego-defensive: attitudes can help people protect their self-esteem
4. Value-expressive: used to express central values or beliefs
Another classic view of attitudes is that attitudes serve particular functions for individuals. That
is, researchers have tried to understand why individuals hold particular attitudes or why they
hold attitudes in general by considering how attitudes affect the individuals who hold them.
Daniel Katz, for example, writes that attitudes can serve "instrumental, adjustive or utilitarian,"
"ego-defensive," "value-expressive," or "knowledge" functions. The functional view of attitudes
suggests that in order for attitudes to change (e.g., via persuasion), appeals must be made to the
function(s) that a particular attitude serves for the individual.
Q6. Define leadership. Write a brief note on ‘Contingency Theories of Leadership’.
Definition of leadership_______________________________________________________
Leadership has been described as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the
aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".For example, some
understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or
directs others, while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a
common goal"
9 | P a g e

10. Contingency Theories of Leadership____________________________________________
The Fiedler contingency model bases the leader's effectiveness on what Fred Fiedler called
situational contingency. This results from the interaction of leadership style and situational
favorability (later called situational control). The theory defined two types of leader: those who
tend to accomplish the task by developing good relationships with the group (relationship-oriented),
and those who have as their prime concern carrying out the task itself (task-oriented).
According to Fiedler, there is no ideal leader. Both task-oriented and relationship-oriented
leaders can be effective if their leadership orientation fits the situation. When there is a good
leader-member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power, the situation is
considered a "favorable situation". Fiedler found that task-oriented leaders are more effective in
extremely favorable or unfavorable situations, whereas relationship-oriented leaders perform best
in situations with intermediate favorability.
Victor Vroom, in collaboration with Phillip Yetton and later with Arthur Jago developed a
taxonomy for describing leadership situations, which was used in a normative decision model
where leadership styles were connected to situational variables, defining which approach was
more suitable to which situation. This approach was novel because it supported the idea that the
same manager could rely on different group decision making approaches depending on the
attributes of each situation. This model was later referred to as situational contingency theory.
The path-goal theory of leadership was developed by Robert House and was based on the
expectancy theory of Victor Vroom. According to House, the essence of the theory is "the meta
proposition that leaders, to be effective, engage in behaviors that complement subordinates'
environments and abilities in a manner that compensates for deficiencies and is instrumental to
subordinate satisfaction and individual and work unit performance". The theory identifies four
leader behaviors, achievement-oriented, directive, participative, and supportive, that is
contingent to the environment factors and follower characteristics. In contrast to the Fiedler
contingency model, the path-goal model states that the four leadership behaviors are fluid, and
that leaders can adopt any of the four depending on what the situation demands.
10 | P a g e

11. 11 | P a g e