Spring 2015

MBA Semester 1

MB0038: Management Process and Organizational Behavior

Q1. Explain the concept of Management. Discuss the importance of Management.

According to Harold Koontz, Management is an art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform as individuals and can cooperate towards the attainment of group goals. 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.

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.

Importance of Management

It helps in achieving group goals GreenPath Hotels was on expansion and to create the capacity for service, they had hired more people and were training them in one place so that when the new hotels are opened, these trained men can go there and be productive from day one. This is about achieving the goals set, i.e., smooth expansion.

Optimum utilization of resources GreenPath could have avoided hiring these people in advance and thus saved money but then if they had hired them late, these resources would not have been ready to render the service and would probably have earned a bad name in those initially. So there is a trade-off between maintaining the brand name and the service quality and hiring in advance and bearing the cost. The overstaffing was therefore deliberate and planned and not the result of a haphazard planning. This is optimisation of resources.

Reduces costs It gets maximum results by using minimum input through proper planning. You saw how Green Path uses physical, human, and financial resources in such a manner that it creates great results at low costs. Management is about cost reduction. You can see how the physical resources, the flute playing blind man, the foot massage, and the people are judiciously combined to create happiness to the hotel guests (in hotel parlance we call the customers as guests). These reduced the

cost of building expensive rooms to create the ambience, hiring expensive hotel school graduates to serve the guests, etc.

Q2. Discuss the steps involved in the Planning process.

The steps involved in the Planning process:

Being aware of opportunities This means being aware of the customer needs, market, competition, our strengths, and weaknesses. For example, Sambhavi being aware of the customer need to have the outlets in other districts. 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).

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. This process takes place at business level, project level, etc also. For example, establishing the vision and mission of Rajus carpenter shop which we did in Unit 1 or establishing the objectives of each store that Sambhavi intends to open (each of which is a project).

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. For example, foreign companies cannot invest directly in multi-brand retail in India. There can be economic reasons such as general slowdown in which case the shoppers to the bakery may decrease, there can be factors such as nuclear family and eating out habit which helps Sambhavi to have a greater market, etc. The external analysis is done through a process called PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological). Some add culture as an additional separate factor while others include it in Social. PEST is a framework and helps you to think systematically through the factors that could affect. In relation to the business mission, each of the factors may become a threat or opportunity (or of course may be neither).

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. This is done through another framework called TOWS matrix.

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.

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

Formulating plans This implies making plans that support the course of action by buying equipment, space, planning the type of HR, etc.

Qualifying plans by budgeting Identifying the cost involved, how the financial resources will be mobilised, what is capital expenditure, what is operational expenditure, the working capital, etc.

Q3. What do you mean by Control? Explain the pre-requisites of an effective Control system.

Q4. Discuss the concept of a Group. Explain the purpose of a Group. Discuss the types of Formal Groups.

Q5. Discuss any ten characteristics of an Effective team.

Q6. Write short notes on the following:

Remaining answers are available in the full assignments.

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