ACCA paper 1 3 managing people 2003 question2

Managing PeoplePART 1 MONDAY 9 JUNE 2003 QUESTION PAPER Time allowed 3 hours This paper is divided into two sections Section A This question is compulsory and MUST be answered... Section

Managing People

PART 1

MONDAY 9 JUNE 2003

QUESTION PAPER

Time allowed 3 hours

This paper is divided into two sections

Section A This question is compulsory and MUST be

answered

Section A – This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted

free children’s products, Sunshine Sweets has expanded its production capacity to almost double what it was two years ago and trebled the number of employees Until recently the board of directors, made up of the two founders Emma Watkind and Jenna Pain, took charge of day to day business Both have now allowed management more freedom than before

Despite success in the market, as the company has grown some problems have begun to arise Phil Short, the factory manager has been with the company since the beginning and since the expansion in the number of employees, finds controlling and communicating with such a large workforce difficult He has resorted to pinning notices and memos

of all kinds to notice boards, circulating his own reports to colleagues who should not be receiving them and refusing

to organize meetings

The newly appointed production manager Mark Mason is an engineer and deputy to Phil He has found that he has little idea of what’s going on in the factory and is finding communication channels are non existent between the management team, supervisors and directors The financial controller, Debbie Purple is equally frustrated and finds communicating with anyone in the production area of the factory to be almost impossible

In addition, the workforce, despite being well paid and trained, is fragmented and not working together The rapid expansion of the company has led to poor internal communication As a consequence workers are suffering from absenteeism, low morale and confusion brought about by endless rumours about the future of the company This is because the line supervisors are also unaware of what is going on and consequently are unable to communicate management’s plans and objectives to the workforce, or to make management aware of the concerns of the workforce

Required:

You are a consultant brought in by the directors to advise on the current problems They believe the current problems stem from poor and mis-directed communication and think that establishing committees will improve communication You have been asked to:

(a) Explain the need for good communication within any organisation. (5 marks)

(b) Identify five barriers to communication that might exist in Sunshine Sweets. (5 marks)

(c) Explain how the barriers identified in (b) can be overcome and identify the alternative methods of communication available to the management. (10 marks)

(d) Explain to the management of Sunshine Sweets the importance of communication, the form it takes and the directions in which it might flow in an organisation. (10 marks)

(e) Advise on the suitability of committees as methods of communication, outlining their usefulness and shortcomings. (10 marks)

(40 marks)

Section B – FOUR questions ONLY to be attempted

organisational performance

Required:

Describe the five stages typically involved in the process of performance management.

(15 marks)

Required:

(a) Explain the purpose of the selection interview. (4 marks)

(b) Explain the advantages and the disadvantages of:

(i) the interview by one person defined as the face to face interview; (6 marks)

(ii) the interview with many people defined as the panel interview. (5 marks)

(15 marks)

Required:

(a) Briefly describe three hazards to health and safety that might be found in the workplace and demonstrate why they are hazards. (5 marks)

(b) Briefly describe general policies that an organisation might take to avoid risks in the workplace (10 marks)

(15 marks)

Required:

Describe Tuckman’s stages of team development

(15 marks)

6 Your manager has been called upon to provide advice, guidance and counselling to employees

Required:

(a) Explain what is meant by ‘counselling’ in the work place. (2 marks)

(b) Describe the skills a manager would require to fulfil the role of the counsellor (7 marks)

(c) Briefly describe three advantages of counselling for the organisation. (6 marks)

(15 marks)

End of Question Paper