QUESTION PAPER 2019- BUSINESS STUDIES (CLASS 12)CBSE

QUESTION PAPER 2019 SET 1

SECTION D (5 MARKS EACH)

1. Explain any five points of significance of Principles of Management.

The principles of management derive their significance from their utility. They provide useful insights to managerial behaviour and influence managerial practices. Managers may apply these principles to fulfil their tasks and responsibilities. 

a) Providing managers with useful insights into reality: The principles of management provide the managers with useful insights into real world situations. Adherence to these principles will add to their knowledge, ability and understanding of managerial situations and circumstances.. As such management principles increase managerial efficiency. For example, a manager can leave routine decision-making to his subordinates and deal with exceptional situations which require her/his expertise by following the principles of delegation. 

b) Optimum utilisation of resources and effective administration: Resources both human and material available with the company are limited. They have to be put to optimum use. By optimum use we mean that the resources should be put to use in such a manner that they should give maximum benefit with minimum cost.. As such the wastages associated with a trial-and-error approach can be overcome. Principles of management limit the boundary of managerial discretion so that their decisions may be free from personal prejudices and biases. For example, in deciding the annual budgets for different departments, rather than personal preferences, managerial discretion is bounded by the principle of contribution to organisational objectives 

c) Scientific decisions: Decisions must be based on facts, thoughtful and justifiable in terms of the intended purposes. They must be timely, realistic and subject to measurement and evaluation. Management principles help in thoughtful decision-making. They emphasise logic rather than blind faith. Management decisions taken on the basis of principles are free from bias and prejudice. They are based on the objective assessment of the situation. 

d) Meeting changing Environmental requirements: Although the principles are in the nature of general guidelines but they are modified and as such help managers to meet changing requirements of the environment.. For example, management principles emphasise division of work and specialisation. In modern times this principle has been extended to the entire business whereby companies are specialising in their core competency and divesting non-core businesses. In this context, one may cite the decision of Hindustan Lever Limited in divesting non-core businesses of chemicals and seeds. Some companies are outsourcing their non-core activities like share-transfer management and advertising to outside agencies. So much so, that even core processes such as R&D, manufacturing and marketing are being outsourced today. ‘Business Process Outsourcing’ (BPO) and ‘Knowledge Process Outsourcing’ (KPO)

e) Fulfilling social responsibility: The increased awareness of the public, forces businesses especially limited companies to fulfil their social responsibilities. Management theory and management principles have also evolved in response to these demands.. So, if one were to talk of ‘equity’ today, it does not apply to wages alone. Value to the customer, care for the environment, dealings with business associates would all come under the purview of this principle. As an application of this principle, we find that Public Sector Undertakings have developed entire townships as, for example, BHEL has developed Ranipur in Hardwar (Uttaranchal). One may also cite the story of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad business for self-employment of women

2. Explain the following techniques of Scientific Management :

(a) Fatigue Study : A person is bound to feel tired physically and mentally if she/he does not rest while working. The rest intervals will help one to regain stamina and work again with the same capacity. This will result in increased productivity. Fatigue study seeks to determine the amount and frequency of rest intervals in completing a task. For example, normally in a plant, work takes place in three shifts of eight hours each. Even in a single shift a worker has to be given some rest interval to take her/his lunch etc. If the work involves heavy manual labour then small pauses have to be frequently given to the worker so that she/he can recharge her/his energy level for optimum contribution. 

There can be many causes for fatigue like long working hours, doing unsuitable work, having uncordial relations with the boss or bad working conditions etc. Such hindrances in good performance should be removed. 

(b) Differential Piece Wage System : Taylor was a strong advocate of piece wage system. He wanted to differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. The standard time and other parameters should be determined on the basis of the work- study discussed above. The workers can then be classified as efficient or inefficient on the basis of these standards. He wanted to reward efficient workers. So he introduced different rate of wage payment for those who performed above standard and for those who performed below standard. For example, it is determined that standard output per worker per day is 10 units and those who made standard or more than standard will get Rs. 50 per unit and those below will get Rs. 40 per unit. Now an efficient worker making 11 units will get 11X50= Rs. 550 per day whereas a worker who makes 9 units will get 9×40 = Rs. 360 per day. 

Taylor’s prescription of efficiency requires the search for one best method and the chosen method must lead to the determination of a fair day’s work. There must be a compensation system that differentiates those who are able to accomplish/exceed the fair day’s work. This differential system must be based on the premise that efficiency is the result of the joint efforts of the managers and the workers. Clearly the sum and substance of Taylor’s ideas lies not in the disjointed description of principles and techniques of scientific management, but in the change of the mindset, which he referred to as mental revolution. Mental revolution involves a change in the attitude of workers and management towards one another from competition to cooperation. Both should realise that they require one another. The latest development in scientific management is ‘LEAN MANUFACTURING’. Now a days robotics and computers are being used in production and other business activities. This is part of scientific management of these activities. It has increased productivity levels. It is a management philosophy focusing on reduction of seven wastes of overproduction, waiting time, transportation, processing, motion, inventory and scrap in any type of manufacturing process or any type of business. By eliminating waste, quality is improved, production time is reduced and cost is reduced.

3. Voltage fluctuations have been common and quite high in India. They harm our electrical appliances like televisions, refrigerators and air conditioners, often leaving them in a permanently damaged condition. N-Guard Company decided to manufacture stabilizers for North India where the voltage fluctuation ranges from 220 V to 230 V. Once the demand for North India was taken care of, they decided to launch stabilizers of varying voltages from 90 V – 260 V for meeting the requirements of voltage fluctuations in other regions of India also. Three engineers were appointed for South, West and East regions of India, as the voltage was different in all the three regions. Though all the engineers were appointed to manufacture stabilizers but the product differed from region to region. 

(a) Identify the organisational structure of N-Guard Company. 

N-Guard Company is implementing a divisional structure, the company groups workers into teams based on the products/projects that meet the needs of a certain type of customer.

(b) State any two advantages and two limitations of the structure identified in the above para. 

Advantages.

Decentralization 

There is equal distribution of power and authority in all divisions; they all benefit from specialized departments. It improves the performance of individuals and teams. As a result, there is greater control and supervision since leaders can give maximum attention to their lean team. Decision-making is easier since protocols and access levels are few.

Standardization 

The divisions have similar departments, which ensure the execution of operations uniformly. Policies and procedures are developed and executed similarly. There is equal access and utilization of company resources. Similar departments in the various divisions carry all processes and activities. The divisions have equal rights and privileges. They also have equal power and authority. These similarities between the departments ensure equal performance.

Disadvantages.

Expensive 

This structure is costly to develop and implement due to the high number of experts required. Each division replicates the required departments to perform operations. As a result, the Company hires the same cadre of qualified personnel in all their divisions instead of sharing duties. 

Competition 

This structure can create fierce and unhealthy competition as each division tries to outperform the other. The department in one division may want to prove that they have superior skills to their counterpart in the other division. The divisions might also want to show that they have better products or services when compared to the other divisions.

4. Nisha Sethi was working as a Human Resource Manager in a famous consultancy firm, KLI Global Services. Her job included preparing job descriptions, recruitment, developing compensation and incentive plans and facilitating employee learning. They had entered into alliances with institutes to ensure continuous learning of their employees. With the jobs becoming more and more complex, KLI Global Services invested large amount of money in making the employees learn the skills necessary to complete the jobs. 

State by giving any five points, how this investment is likely to benefit the organisation ? 

Benefits of Training and Development to an Organisation

(i) Training enhances employee productivity both in terms of quantity and quality and leading to higher profits.

(ii) Training equips the future manager, who can takeover in case of emergency.

(iii)Training increases employees morale and reduce absenteeism and employee turnover.

(iv)Training is a concept that involves systematic learning of work. It is a more efficient way of learning than hit and trail method. Hit and trail will lead to wastage of time and effort. Thereby training helps in optimum use of resources.

(v)Business cannot start in a stagnant environment. The environment keep changing always and it is dynamic. To deal with the environment it becomes important to have different skills. These skills are developed through training and development. Training is required to keep updated with latest technologies also.