Business management and behavioural studies question bank ICAP

A It is the art, skill or process of influencing people to work towards the achievement of group or larger organisational goals B It is a dynamic process in a group or team where one ind

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Section C Multiple choice answers 25 Section D Objective test and long-form answers 29

Index to Objective test and long-form

questions and answers

Question page

Answer page

Question page

Answer page

23 Power, culture, job satisfaction 14 40

34 Cross-culture bases for attitudes 16 45

35 Behbood Hospital Services 16 46

Question page

Answer page

55 Participation and motivation 20 54

56 Blake and Mouton vs McGregor 20 54

69 Conflict – positive outcomes 22 60

72 Distributive and integrative bargaining 22 62

73 Functional and constructive conflict 22 62

Question page

Answer page

74 Mediation and arbitration 23 63

S E C T I O N A

Multiple choice questions

CHAPTER 1

1 Which of the following statements best describes management as a practice?

A Identify the needs of people and try to satisfy them

B The art of getting work done through others

C The system of correcting organisational deficiencies

D An orderly way of carrying out jobs and duties

2 Which component of a manager's job includes directing the work of others and

resolving conflicts among members?

CHAPTER 2

4 In a ‘SWOT’ analysis, which of the following are considered as an aspect external to the organisation?

A Strengths and Threats

B Threats and Weaknesses

C Strengths and Weaknesses

D Opportunities and Threats

5 Within Porter’s Five Forces framework, the term ‘threat of entrants’ means:

A The possibility of an existing competitor capturing the entire market

B The possibility of an existing competitor withdrawing from the market

C The possibility of a new competitor entering the market

D The possibility of a potential competitor entering a different market

6 Which of the following will cause the exchange rate value of the Pakistani Rupee to fall?

A A rise in demand for Pakistani exports by non-residents

B A rise in Pakistani interest rates

C A desire by multinational companies to expand their manufacturing base in Pakistan

D An expansion of the Pakistani community’s desire to travel to other countries

CHAPTER 3

7 The building blocks in an organisation described by Mintzberg include the ‘operating core’ This represents:

A the basic work of the organisation e.g., the shop floor

B the higher management of the organisation

C the accountants, computer specialists and engineers

D those who provide ancillary services e.g., secretarial, clerical and catering

8 Which of the following types of organisation structure might lead to potentially slower decision-making due to referring to two authorities?

A Divisional

B Functional

C Matrix

D Entrepreneurial

9 Which one from the following is likely to increase the amount of decentralisation that is achievable in a business?

A An authoritarian style of senior management

B A larger size for the organisation

C Slow technological change

D Effectiveness of communication

10 A wide span of control has:

A no functional relationship

B few managerial levels

C many managerial levels

D a tall hierarchical structure

CHAPTER 4

11 Lewin’s force field analysis that is used to describe the forces that come into conflict over planned change incorporates which types of forces?

A Valence and expectancy

B Co-ordinating and controlling

C Concern for people vs concern for the task

D Restraining and driving

12 Which of the following are elements of Gemini’s 4R’s model that was developed to assist transformational change?

A Re-structure, reform, renew

B Re-structure, revitalise, renew

C Revitalise, re-frame, revisit

D Re-frame, revisit, retain

13 Which of the following is not a ‘hard factor’ in McKinsey’s 7S approach to implementing strategic change?

A Skills

B Systems

C Strategy

D Structure

CHAPTER 5

14 A music publishing company operates from a single office building Everyone in the company calls each other by their first name or familiar name All meetings between employees or with clients and customers are held in a cafeteria on the second floor of the building, and there are no meeting rooms or other meeting spaces

Which of the three levels of culture, as identified by Schein, do these features of the company represent?

A Artefacts

B Paradigm

15 Which of Handy’s culture types is described below?

This culture is reflected in a matrix organisation or in project teams established to achieve specific tasks People describe their positions in terms of the results they are achieving Authority is based on appropriate knowledge and competence If individuals

do not have the skills or knowledge to perform the task, they are either retrained or replaced Emphasis is placed on flexibility Collaboration is sought if this promotes goal achievement

C Individualism versus collectivism

D Long-term orientation versus short-term orientation

CHAPTER 6

17 What are the three stages of the perception process?

A Interpretation, selection, prioritization

B Hearing, experiencing, organization

C Stereotyping, projection, interpretation

D Selection, organization, interpretation

18 What are the three components of attitude?

A Behavioural, affective, cognitive

B Cognitive, knowledge, emotional

C Feelings, emotional, behavioural

D Interpretation, implicit, explicit

19 The definition of job satisfaction includes a blend of which two characteristics?

A Cognitive and extrinsic

B Cognitive and affective

C Affective and inherent

D Inherent and extrinsic

A Pay increases are a powerful long-term motivator

B Inadequate monetary rewards are a powerful dissatisfier

C Monetary rewards are more important than non-monetary rewards

D Pay can never be used as a motivator

22 Extrinsic rewards do not include:

A Performance related pay

C ensuring that activities conform to planned events

D setting timetables and work schedules

25 Which of the following does NOT describe leadership?

A It is the art, skill or process of influencing people to work towards the

achievement of group or larger organisational goals

B It is a dynamic process in a group or team where one individual influences the others to contribute voluntarily to the achievement of group tasks in a given situation

C It is the ordering and co-ordination of functions to achieve a given purpose

D It is the process of influencing others to work willingly towards goals, to the best

of their capabilities, perhaps in a manner different to that which they would otherwise have chosen

26 Which of the following management styles is NOT used in Blake and Mouton’s

B It has a clear set of work tasks, with specific objectives

C It is not organised by management and has no specific objective or tasks

D It has a formal existence - members have formal roles and job titles

28 Belbin identified nine team roles divided into three areas: doing/acting, problem

solving/thinking and concern for people and feelings The roles included in the

doing/acting area are:

A Implementer, completer/finisher, shaper

B Monitor/evaluator, plant, specialist

C Resource investigator, team worker, co-ordinator

D Completer/finisher, co-ordinator, specialist

29 Tuckman identified four stages of development In order, they are:

A Forming, storming, norming and performing

B Norming, caring, performing and maturing

C Storming, forming, performing and dorming

D Norming, storming, maturing and performing

B The duration of relationship between the parties is of a long-term nature

C In the distributive bargaining approach each party strives to obtain the maximum advantage for their own self-interest

D Both parties freely share information to satisfy the interests of each of the parties

31 Which of the following best describes the role of an arbitrator?

A A trusted third party who provides an informal communication link between the opposing parties

B A third party with the authority to dictate an agreement

C A skilled and impartial third party who attempts to facilitate problem-solving through communication and analysis as they have specialized knowledge of the intricacies of the conflict

D A neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution through reasoning and persuasion and by offering suggestions for pursuing different alternatives

32 Which of the following is not one of Thomas and Kilmann’s five key styles of dealing with conflict?

A Compromising

B Competitive

C Collaborative

D Confrontational

A A transaction processing system

B A management information system

C An expert system

D A relational database

S E C T I O N B

Objective test and long-form questions

(a) List the five main duties of management, as identified by Fayol (03)

(c) Suggest (with reasons) which view of the role of management you consider more

Interpersonal communication takes place in an environment which is influenced, to a considerable extent, by prevailing attitudes and behaviour of individuals The degree of feelings of friendliness or hostility determines the characteristics of the communication environment

List three characteristics each which would be readily apparent in:

 a friendly work environment, and

 a hostile work environment

The president of Japanese car making company Honda recently stated that his

company would not expand its production capacity any further at its factory in the UK This factory produces Honda cars for the European market He explained that the reason for this decision was the currency risk The company was concerned about its competitiveness in the European market It had a 5% share of the UK cars market, but only a 1% share of the market in the rest of Europe

Explain what the company president meant by the ‘currency risk’ (04)

4 Interest rate rise

Explain how a manufacturer of computer games might be affected by a 0.5% rise in

5 Monopoly

Explain why monopoly control over a market might be undesirable and suggest three

Pakistan currently has an ageing population Describe the possible consequences of

an ageing population for a Pakistani company that currently employs about 5,000

(a) Identify six characteristics which are generally observed in the day-to-day

working of business entities which do not have appropriately designed

(b) Give brief explanations of each of these characteristics (06)

10 Evolution

During the past 2-3 decades, organisational structures of leading companies

throughout the world have undergone far-reaching changes These changes are

attributable to unprecedented growth in communication and information technology, introduction of entirely new range of products and services, changes in competitive environment and increasing globalisation

State four important changes which distinguish the organisational structures of

present–day companies from the companies operating 2-3 decades ago (06)

11 Decentralisation

Discuss the distinctive characteristics of a highly decentralised organisational structure

(04)

12 Fashion Planet

Fashion Planet was established as a one-person ladies dress boutique in 1995 Its founder, Ms Humaira Haq, had a masters degree in fashion designing which meshed well with a deep passion to be a ‘leader of fashion and trend-setter’ whose unique designs would be emulated by the followers Over the years, the business has grown considerably and it now has 50 employees on its payroll

Ms Haq involved herself increasingly with her staff and a conducive work environment promoted both commitment and efficiency in the organisation She was well aware of her employees’ personal and professional needs and was always available with

support and advice

However, during the preceding year some innovative fashion designs, introduced after mutual consensus of the key employees, failed to gain acceptance in the niche market and has left the company in a real fix Fashion Planet has depleted a large proportion

of its cash resources as it had purchased materials, most of which had to be sold at a substantial loss

Last Friday, Ms Haq called a meeting of her staff and told them, either they would have to accept a cut in salaries by 30 per cent from the next month or Fashion Planet may have to wind-up its operations Although ample employment opportunities were available in the area for the trained staff, the news left them in a state of complete shock They never thought of Ms Haq as a boss but as their mentor and family

member Almost 90 per cent of the employees expressed their willingness to accept the salary cuts until such time that the affairs of the company are stabilised once again

In order to bring the affairs of the business back on track, Ms Haq has approached two ex-college friends who have adequate experience in fashion designing They have agreed to make equity investment and participate actively in the affairs of the business This would involve introduction of a more formal organizational structure in Fashion Planet and adoption of a workable business plan for future growth

Required:

Identify and explain the changes in the organisation structure that Ms Haq and her incoming partners would have to introduce to achieve the business objectives and also retain the characteristics of the existing culture of the organisation (09)

Decisions can be taken at the strategic, tactical and operational level At which level of management will the following decisions be taken and why?

(a) Dealing with a breakdown in the computer system for inventory control

(b) Deciding to expand business operations by moving into the North American market

(c) Replacing an existing computer system for production planning with a new purpose-written computer system for the planning and control of production processes

14 Centralisation and decentralisation

Within the same business organisation, some decision-making might be centralized, with decisions made by senior management Other decisions might be decentralised, and taken by managers or employees involved in operations

A company owns and operates five private hospitals It has a head office, a

management team and staff in each hospital Staff includes the medical staff – doctors and nurses

Would you expect the following decision-making to be made:

(1) by head office management?

(2) by the management of each hospital?

(3) by staff in each hospital?

(a) Decisions about the medical treatment or surgical treatment for individual patients

(b) Establishing policy on hygiene standards in the hospitals

(c) Scheduling operations in the operating theatres of each hospital

(d) Discharging patients from hospital

(e) Deciding the visiting times for patients in each hospital

(f) Prescribing drugs for the treatment of patients

(g) Hiring new staff, such as hospital porters and nurses

(h) Dealing with payments from insurance companies for the treatment of insured

15 Stakeholders

(b) Explain at least one way in which each of the following stakeholders might affect important decisions taken by the board of directors of a large stock market company

(i) Employees of the company

(ii) Suppliers

(iii) Customers

16 Dynamic organisations

In the rapidly changing business environment, dynamic organizations have to

continuously anticipate the impact of these changes on their business and introduce modifications in their organizational structures to enable them to improve and further consolidate their competitive advantages

(a) Identify and describe the factors which make it necessary for businesses to

(b) Briefly explain the strategies which are usually adopted to overcome the

17 The nature of change

Change happens continually within organisations and their markets Strategic

development inevitably results in some change, which needs careful management

(b) Differentiate between incremental and transformational change (03)

Explain any three of the following four elements from Gemini’s 4Rs model on

introducing transformational change

(b) In your opinion, what characteristics are readily apparent in an organization with

22 Fashion Planet

Fashion Planet was established as a one-person ladies dress boutique in 1995 Its founder, Ms Humaira Haq, had a masters degree in fashion designing which meshed well with a deep passion to be a ‘leader of fashion and trend-setter’ whose unique designs would be emulated by the followers Over the years, the business has grown considerably and it now has 50 employees on its payroll

Ms Haq involved herself increasingly with her staff and a conducive work environment promoted both commitment and efficiency in the organisation She was well aware of her employees’ personal and professional needs and was always available with

support and advice

However, during the preceding year some innovative fashion designs, introduced after mutual consensus of the key employees, failed to gain acceptance in the niche market and has left the company in a real fix Fashion Planet has depleted a large proportion

of its cash resources as it had purchased materials, most of which had to be sold at a substantial loss

Last Friday, Ms Haq called a meeting of her staff and told them, either they would have to accept a cut in salaries by 30 per cent from the next month or Fashion Planet may have to wind-up its operations Although ample employment opportunities were available in the area for the trained staff, the news left them in a state of complete shock They never thought of Ms Haq as a boss but as their mentor and family

member Almost 90 per cent of the employees expressed their willingness to accept the salary cuts until such time that the affairs of the company are stabilised once again

In order to bring the affairs of the business back on track, Ms Haq has approached two ex-college friends who have adequate experience in fashion designing They have agreed to make equity investment and participate actively in the affairs of the business This would involve introduction of a more formal organizational structure in Fashion Planet and adoption of a workable business plan for future growth

Required:

Identify six key elements of organizational culture presently prevailing in Fashion

23 Power, culture, job satisfaction

(a) Business leaders exercise a variety of powers which enable them to influence the performance and motivation levels of their subordinates Successful business leaders understand the effectiveness of the different sources of powers and exercise these powers discreetly in specific situations to achieve their objectives Explain briefly the following types of powers which business leaders possess and exercise over their subordinates to achieve optimal results:

(i) Legitimate power

(ii) Reward power

(iii) Coercive power

(b) Briefly explain the following concepts:

(i) Organisational culture

24 Schein and culture

(a) (i) What are the three levels of culture identified by Schein?

(ii) Which of these levels of culture is the most difficult to interpret and understand?

(iii) Which of these levels of culture is the most difficult to change? (04)

(b) A music publishing company operates from a single office building Everyone in the company calls each other by their first name or familiar name All meetings between employees or with clients and customers are held in a cafeteria on the second floor of the building, and there are no meeting rooms or other meeting spaces

Which of the three levels of culture, as identified by Schein, do these features of

25 Handy and culture

Charles Handy identified four types of culture that are found in organisations Which of these cultures is most likely to exist in each of the following organisations? Give your reasons

(a) A large department store with fifteen departments spread across six floors of a building, with an accounts and administration office

(b) A rail transport company providing passenger transport services

(c) A firm of architects specialising in the design of small office buildings: the founder

of the firm is the senior architect, and there are six other junior architects, none of them partners in the firm

(d) A software company with a team of eight software experts, providing bespoke software to corporate and government clients

(e) A school providing education to children between the ages of 7 and 18 (07)

What did Handy mean by ‘cultures’ of an organisation? Briefly describe the four

Hofstede identified ways or ‘dimensions’ in which the culture in organisations differs between countries In each of the following four cases, which of the dimensions

identified by Hofstede would explain the differences in culture between the two

countries?

(a) In country A, it is usual for the senior management of stock market companies to defer major expenditures in order to improve the reported current year profits In country B, it is common for the annual report of major stock market companies to explain at length the company’s strategies and commitment to plans for capital expenditure

(b) In country C, it is usual for investment banks to pay large annual cash bonuses to individual bankers on the basis of their performance in the year In country D, it is usual for similar banks to determine annual cash bonuses on the basis of

performance by groups or teams within the bank

(c) In country E, a much-praised quality of office workers such as accountants is an ability to turn up for work on time every day, regardless of difficulties with

transport or weather In country F, late arrival at work due to transport problems

is accepted as a normal fact of life, and poor time-keeping does not matter as long as the work gets done

(d) In country G, it is normal practice for decisions to be taken collectively and by consensus of management and employees In country H, it is the usual business culture for decisions to be taken by the boss without consultation with anyone

According to empirical studies conducted in widely diversified business organizations,

20 per cent of the employees perceived their jobs as most stressful, while 60 per cent

of the employees considered their jobs as moderately stressful

State what do you understand by job stress? Identify and explain briefly how

environmental, organizational and personal factors can cause high levels of stress

30 Attitude

(a) Define what is meant by the term “Attitude.”

(b) Identify and explain briefly the different components of attitude (08)

31 Stress – symptoms and cause

(a) What is job stress? State the apparent behavioural symptoms of existence of job

32 Perception 1

(b) List any four internal factors which would influence the perception of an

(b) Explain any three external factors that might influence perception (03)

34 Cross-cultural bases for attitudes

Variation in cultural heritage, morals, beliefs and values can significantly impact

people’s attitudes, particularly their implicit attitude Care should be taken in the work environment to ensure employees are aware of and sensitive to other people’s culture

List eight factors that may provide variation in cross-cultural bases for attitude (04)

35 Behbood Hospital Services

Behbood Hospital Services (BHS), located in a populated city area, is a large-size hospital with facilities of general, semi-private and private wards, besides a busy out-patient department BHS is a fully-equipped hospital with several operating theatres, a modern laboratory and other ancillary equipment BHS has on its payroll renowned

specialists/consultants, besides supporting staff consisting of junior doctors, qualified nurses, trainee nurses, lab technicians, receptionists and other staff The Hospital enjoys a good reputation because of the competence, caring attitude and dedication of its human resources who function as a coordinated and motivated team Both the specialists and the supporting staff are well aware of the fact that their close team effort and co-operation are critical for rendering efficient health-care services to the patients However, in the past 12 months, BHS has experienced an unusual phenomenon as some of the most competent specialists/consultants have submitted their resignations because they have received lucrative offers from the middle-eastern countries In order

to retain and recruit more qualified specialists, BHS management has decided to increase, across the board, basic salaries of the specialists/consultants by 25 per cent The support staff which can be recruited with comparative ease would receive an increase of 10 per cent in line with the current rate of inflation

Identify and explain the anticipated impact of the differences in the pay raises on the motivation and performance of the support staff Also state how could this affect the working of the Hospital and the quality of professional care of the patients (09)

Fancy Apparel Company Limited is presently in the business of manufacture of

garments for the middle-class segment of the market The company has ambitious plans to enter in the high-fashion ladies garment business To achieve effective

coordination, the management is of the opinion that various departments should be assigned specific goals of performance for the next two years in order to meet stringent delivery schedules This is particularly important because a large number of new employees will be recruited who would work in a team environment with the existing work force State what advantages would be achieved by implementing a formal goal

37 MBO

(b) State the steps involved in the process of establishing goals and plans by MBO

(04)

38 Non-monetary motivation

Employee motivation involves complex issues requiring insight in theories of rewards and compensation, human psychology and understanding of sensitivities of individual employees

List ten non-monetary factors which would help to create greater employee motivation

Note: List only Explanations are not required

40 Expectancy theory

Various studies in organisational behaviour have shown that the expectancy theory of motivation has considerable validity and is widely applied by managers to achieve high levels of performance from employees Explain the salient features of the expectancy

41 Pay as a motivator

Discuss briefly whether pay is a motivator factor that will encourage individuals to work

Identify and describe four common weaknesses/shortcomings which, in your opinion,

would be readily apparent in the working of CHFC as it pursues a highly bureaucratic

List and briefly explain the four different decision-making styles of leadership (06)

Leaders through their vision, foresight, business acumen and commitment provide impetus, direction and lay the foundation of some of the largest and most successful business organizations Leaders are also known for their ability to create deep feelings

of confidence, trust and respect which inspire and motivate their followers to achieve positive results

(a) What are the distinctive styles of transactional and transformational leaders? (b) Describe the characteristics and approaches of transactional and

46 Charismatic leaders

Charismatic leaders by the force of their personality appeals and confidence are

capable of having profound and extraordinary influence on their followers Often, they are the role models and most admired visionaries and command deep respect and

adulation amongst their followers However, responsible and organization-oriented charismatic leaders are mindful of the pitfalls of their charismatic styles of leadership

In your opinion, what steps should a charismatic leader of a highly successful business organization take to minimize the adverse effects of charismatic style of leadership?

(06)

47 Delegation

In all progressive organizations, managers have to delegate authorities to their

subordinates for achieving the business objectives of the organization Although the process of delegation of authority is a widely accepted phenomenon, yet managers are often not able to benefit from effective delegation of authorities

Identify eight barriers which generally create impediments in the process of effective

(b) Give four advantages and disadvantages each of autocratic style of leadership

(06)

While discussing styles of leadership of managers, Douglas McGregor refers to Theory

X and Theory Y State the salient features of styles of leadership based on each of

50 Transformational leaders

(a) Discuss what transformational style of leadership is

(b) Identify and explain briefly six characteristics and traits which are most commonly observed in leaders who pursue the transformational style of leadership (09)

51 Participative vs authoritarian

Explain briefly the participative and authoritarian styles of leadership

State the different situations in which each of these leadership styles would be most

52 Continuum

Describe Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum of leadership styles, and suggest how

Describe the main elements of Adair’s concept of action-centred leadership (04)

54 Hersey and Blanchard

(a) What are the four leadership styles described by Hersey and Blanchard?

(03)

(b) Explain the potential relevance of their views to the practice of management

(03)

(c) Explain how the views of Hersey and Blanchard differ from those of Fiedler

(03)

(a) In what circumstances is a participative style of leadership more likely to motivate

(b) In what circumstances is a participative style of leadership unlikely to motivate

56 Blake and Mouton vs McGregor

Compare the views about leadership of Blake and Mouton with those of McGregor (05)

57 Groups

What do you understand by a group?

How are formal and informal groups formed?

Identify and discuss briefly what the distinct qualitative indicators of group behaviour in situations are where there is an:

 Effective workgroup

58 Apollo Industries

Apollo Industries Limited (AIL) is currently experiencing intense conflict and work

friction between the research & development department and the marketing

department The marketing department often puts forth the argument that the

customers are not willing to pay premium price for the co-called innovations and

improvements in the products The increase in costs on account of perceived

improvements in product designs results in higher prices which undermine the

marketing efforts in the face of intense competition The R&D department is of the firm opinion that in the absence of sustained efforts to upgrade and improve the quality of the products, AIL would lose its competitive advantage and its image as an industry leader would be adversely affected The marketing department has not been able to achieve its targets and apportions the blame on the inability of the R&D department to understand the current competitive environment The CEO is most concerned about the situation as it is adversely affecting the overall performance of the company

You are required to explain to the management of AIL the following:

(a) Identification of the various factors which give rise to inter-group conflicts

(b) Both the positive and negative outcomes of internal conflict

(c) The steps that should be taken by AIL to reduce the negative impact of internal

59 Cohesive groups

Briefly describe the term group and list six important attributes of a cohesive group

(06)

(a) What are the distinctive characteristics of a “High Performance Team”? (02)

(b) List five steps which, in your opinion, should the business leader of a progressive

organisation take in order to create and develop a high performance team (05)

61 Groups and leaders

(c) List any four factors which create more effective group cohesiveness (03)

Group conflicts are accepted as inevitable part of organisational interactions and bring

to mind connotations of antagonism and undesirable state of affairs Identify and

explain any six factors which are responsible for creating group-conflicts in business

63 Group decisions

Important business decisions which have far-reaching consequences are invariably made in a group environment with the participation of the senior management team Explain briefly the advantages of taking important business decisions in group settings

(04)

64 Composition of a team

(a) According to Belbin, what was the ideal size of team?

(b) What might happen if the team is missing some of the critical characters or characteristics identified by Belbin?

(05)

65 Increasing a group size

What would be the likely effects, according to Belbin and Tuckman, of increasing the size of a project team after 18 months from three to nine people? (05)

66 Negotiation

(a) What do you understand by the term negotiations?

(b) In what situation would third party involvement in negotiations be considered to

67 Conflict

List three reasons which give rise to conflicts Enumerate the situations in which

68 Deadlock

Serious efforts are required to avoid deadlocks in negotiations Quite often the

deadlock appears when the negotiation process is in an advanced stage List any four measures which a skilled negotiator may adopt to avoid a deadlock in the final stages

69 Conflict - positive outcomes

70 Peak mountain resorts

White Peak Mountain Resorts Limited (WMRL) owns and operates a chain of facilities

at three different holiday locations in the northern areas The facilities include five star hotel accommodations, mountain camping sites, a fleet of vehicles, horses for riding enthusiasts and a host of other entertainments for affluent holiday-makers to make their visits enjoyable A large number of staff with diverse skills is involved in the

management and operation of these facilities

A substantial portion of the facilities have been expanded and upgraded at a

considerable cost in the last 2 years However, the actual performance has not been satisfactory and the revenues and profitability have fallen far short of expectations It appears that rivalries and conflicts among the staff at the three different facilities have adversely affected the quality of service resulting in customer complaints which has brought a bad name to WMRL

You are required to identify and explain briefly the factors which could be responsible for conflicts in WMRL and affecting the quality of services rendered to the customers

(10)

71 Stages of negotiation

Explain what do you understand by negotiations? Briefly explain the various stages of

72 Distributive and integrative bargaining

Distributive bargaining and integrative bargaining are the two types of approaches which are usually adopted in the process of negotiations These approaches are

different in their bargaining characteristics which include goals, motivation, focus, interests, information sharing and duration of relationship

Identify the basic differences between distributive bargaining approach and integrative bargaining approach in the context of their respective bargaining characteristics

73 Functional and constructive conflict

(a) What do you understand by the term functional/constructive conflict? (03)

(b) Explain briefly how functional/constructive conflict can contribute to improve the

74 Mediation and arbitration

(b) What roles are performed by a mediator and an arbitrator in the negotiation

75 Storage

The CPU is the brain of the computer taking inputs from various devices such as keyboards, mice and scanners then outputting to devices such as speakers, printers and monitors However, computers need somewhere to store all the data such as music, videos, pictures, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, emails and so on Define and explain the key features of the following types of storage device:

79 Decision support systems

IT-based systems are widespread and varied in the modern workplace incorporating systems such as transaction processing, management information, executive

information, expert and financial reporting systems

Define a ‘decision support system’ and describe its typical characteristics (06)

S E C T I O N C

Multiple choice answers

One of the factors that determine the level of competition in an industry is the strength

of barriers to entry into the industry for new competitors When there is a low threat of new entrants, competitive forces are lower than when the threat from new entrants is high

The differences between business culture in country A and country B can be explained

by short-term orientation (in country A) versus long-term orientation (in country B)

Certificate in Accounting and Finance

Business management and behavioural studies

Objective test and long-form answers

Fayol identified the five main duties of a manager to be:

 Planning (looking ahead)

 Acting as a leader for employees within the organisation

 Providing a liaison role in dealing with other workgroups or sections in the organisation

 Information roles

 Monitoring performance and obtaining information

 Disseminating information to others

 Acting as a spokesperson

 Decision-making roles

 Entrepreneurial role (taking initiatives)

 Handling disturbances and resolving conflicts

 Allocating resources

 Negotiating