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Spring 2014 Exam July/Aug 2014

Masters of Business Administration
MBA Semester 1
MB0038 Management Process & Org. Behavior
Assignments

Q. No 1 Define the terms strategy. Explain the following:
a) Corporate strategy
b) Business strategy
c) Functional strategy
Ans.1
Strategy :
Strategy means the grand plan and the term is borrowed from the military which distinguished
between the grand plan and actual action by calling the former strategy and the latter tactics.
Strategy in organisations can be divided into three:
These are as follows:

corporate strategy

business strategy

functional strategy
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Corporate strategy
If you are a big company like Tata , you will have several businesses under you and a corporate
headquarters which controls these. Each of these businesses may be run by an independent
company much like Tata motors runs the vehicle business and Tata consultancy service runs the
it business (they both are different companies). The corporate headquarters will have grand
plans on how each business should operate. For example, it might say that that Tata motors
should design, develop, and manufacture an indigenous small car nano or that TCS should
expand business to china.
This grand plan created by the corporate headquarters is called corporate strategy. It lays
down the grand plan to be followed by each business under a corporate headquarters. If
you are small like raju, you will not have a corporate strategy; however, will still have a strategy
for your business. Though you can call it the corporate strategy of raju on the argument that
raju is a corporate, it is perhaps inappropriate. Since raju is not very big, usually we prefer to
call his strategy as business strategy.
Business strategy
Every business, small or big, will have a business strategy. This is the grand plan for doing
business. For example, rajucan make a grand plan of expanding his business to another district
or having branches. He can take a decision to be the provider of low cost furniture or highly
differentiated furniture, household furniture only, modular furniture only, a supplier of all
furniture needs, etc. This is what business strategy is. If you were a Tata company, each
business of tata would have their own business strategy in conformation with the corporate
strategy.
Functional strategy
Once you have a business strategy, each independent department will need its own strategy.
For example, the HR of Tata motors will need a strategy quite different from the hr of Tata
consultancy service . So, the operations, marketing, finance, hr, etc of each business will
make their own grand plan or strategyand this is called functional strategy. In the case of raju,
he might plan to hire more carpenters and pay daily wages or wages per piece. This is the hr
strategy (of course it is only one element of hr strategy but illustrates what functional strategy
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means). In other words, the grand plan made by each functional area is called functional
strategy. Usually organisations have operations strategy, finance strategy, marketing strategy,
and hr strategy. If you are large and well diversified, you may have an information strategy,
supply chain strategy, etc. Also and this depends to some extend on the nature of your
business. For example, if you are iretail chain business like big bazaar, you may have a
merchandise strategy as these are very important to business success.

Q. No 2 Define the term management. Explain the Behavioral science theory and Systems
theory.
Ans.2
Definition and importance of management
According to koontz, management is an art of getting things done through and with people
in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can
perform as individuals and can co-operate towards the attainment of group goal.
According to F.W. Taylor, management is an art of knowing what to do, when to do,
and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way. Let us modify the definition of harold
koontz and define management as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in
which the individuals working in groups efficiently employ resources and accomplish the
selected goals of self and the organisation. This definition brings to fore the following key
issues of management:

it is about people and other resources

there are goals but goals of the individual and the organisation has to be managed

it involves creating an environment where people and resources interact to produce the
goals.

Behavioral science theory :
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The thought was originated by pareto in 1896, and he researched on organisation and
management relationship. Later, hugo munsterberg applied psychology to increase industrial
production in 1912 and around the same time, walter dill scott applied psychology to
advertising, marketing, and personnel in 1910 and 1911. But it was elton mayo and F.J.
roethlisberger who made an impact on the behavioral science theory through their hawthorne
experiments in western electric company in 1933. These experiments proved that good working
relationship with the supervisor and colleagues and the idea of challenge in the job
accounted for higher productivity. Challenge is created through setting high goals which cannot
be normally achieved but which can be achieved with a little additional effort. These
experiments brought to fore the importance of behavioral science in management. Extend
in the idea sometime in 1946 and 1947, max weber propounded the theory of bureaucracy.
Systems theory :
Though the systems theory can be traced to biology, where we have cardiovascular system,
nervous system, etc which are fairly independent yet interdependent, it was chester barnard
who extended this into management area through his writing functions of the executive in
1938. In systems theory, we perceive that organisations have a number of fairly independent
systems such as purchase system, operations system, marketing system, financial system, etc.
The working of these are independent, but it has to be integrated by the manager. This
theory, perhaps, brings the idea of integration as a key component of management.

Q. No 3 Give the definition and importance of planning in an organization and explain the
steps in planning.
Ans3.
Definition of planning :
Planning can be defined as a basic management function which enables one to select the
purpose of the business, and how the resources should be mustered to achieve that
purpose to include using the available resources optimally to do that. Planning implies goal
setting for the organisation keeping in mind the constraints, opportunities, and threats as
much as what the person or business which is planning wants to do.
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Importance of planning:
Planning is important for the following reasons:

it helps the management to clarify, focus, and research their businesses or project's
development and prospects.

it provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop
and pursue business.

in the business context, it guides the development of products, management,
finances, and most importantly, markets and competition.

it helps in forecasting the future and makes the future visible to some extent.

it bridges between where we are and where we want to go.
Steps in planning :
Let us now discuss steps in detail.
1. Being aware of opportunities this means being aware of the customer needs, market,
competition, our strengths, and weaknesses. This is usually done through market research,
competitor analysis, and analysis of own strengths and weaknesses through a formal process
called swot analysis (strength, weaknesses, opportunity, and threat).

2. Establishing objectives this implies establishing what we want to be and what we want to
accomplish and when and in relation to which market segment. At the highest level, this is done
through vision and mission building.
3. Developing premises Deciding on the environment (both external and internal) in which
our plans are going to operate. Business has external environment created by political factors
to include legislation, legal framework, etc.
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4. Determining alternative courses identifying the most promising alternatives to accomplish
what we want to. This is done by combining the information about the opportunities, threats,
and own strength and weaknesses.
5. Evaluating alternative courses comparing the alternatives to find out which of them will
meet our goals and at optimal cost and profit keeping sustainability into mind.

6. Selecting a course selecting the course that we want to follow.

7. Formulating plans this implies making plans that support the course of action by buying
equipment, space, planning the type of hr, etc.

Q. No 4 What is meant by leading? Describe the characteristics of leading.
Q. No 5 What are attitudes? Explain the components and functions of attitudes.
Q. No 6 Define leadership. Differentiate between Laissez Faire and democratic leader
style.

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