Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 1 - Nature and Significance of Management
Chapter 1 - Nature and Significance of Management
1. Mita has a successful ice cream business atv Bikaner, namely ‘Smartflavours.’ Her ice creams
are utterly delicious. She makes ice creams from fresh milk and the same are available in a
wide range of flavours and packs. She sets viable business objectives and works with the same
in mind in order to ensure that the customers will come back for purchasing.
Having the first mover advantage, her business was doing well. To earn higher profits, she
started cutting costs. This would sometimes lead to delay in delivery and the ice cream was
not reaching the market in time. Over a period of time, the demand for her ice cream declined
and because of in the competitors entered the market. She lost some of her market share to
competitors.
At the beginning of summer season, she got back to back orders for supply of 4,000 ice cream
packs of different flavours for special occasions.to insure that the task was completed and
orders delivered in time she hired additional workers. She was, thus able to produce and
deliver the ice cream packs but at a high production cost. While completing activities and
finishing the given task for achieving goals, Mita realized that she was ignoring one of the
important aspects of management.
Identify the aspects of management that has been ignored by Mita. Also explain the same
with the help of an example.
2. All the players of a team want to play whole- heartedly. To win the game is their only
objective. But their caption does not tell them timely what each one of them is to do. On
account of the deficiency of division of work, victory often slips out of the hands of the team.
The caption of another team divides the work properly at the right time. The work is handed
over to all the members of team in accordance with each individual’s interest and caliber. But
the majority of the team members want to see the captain losing the game. Defeat of such a
team is almost definite.
a) Identify both the situations described in the paragraph given above.
b) Write down the effect of the situations identified in the point ‘a’.
3. Kayco LTD. is manufacturing detergents. They decide to launch a new range of herbal
products. As they are in a hurry, they have tested products on animals only. The necessary
information is missing on the package. The management also plans to launch a new factory in
a tribal area where the required products are easily available and the labour - men, women
and children are available for work at low wages in the absence of development opportunities
and schools
a) Which values do you find disturbing in the above para?
b) Will the decision to install a new unit in a tribal area help society.
4. Das is the Managing Director of ‘Gamut Ltd.’ manufacturing different varieties of cheese. He
has an efficient team working under him consisting of Rajat the Production manager, Vinay
the marketing manager and Adit the finance manager. They understand and interpret the
policies made by Das, ensure that their departments have adequate manpower and assign
them the necessary duties.
State two more functions other than those mentioned above, that thuis team may perform at
the level they are working.
Also recognize the level.
5. The Marketing Manager of ‘Surya Bulb Limited’ fixed the target for all his Sales Executives
and gave them all the possible authorities to achieve it. They were asked to submit to him
their performance report at the end of the month. All of them did the same. On the receipt of
report, the expected and actual results of the Sales Executives were compared. On this basis
planning for future was done. The Sales Executives also wrote in their report what the
expectations of the customers from the company were. Majority of them had written that
they (customers) wanted the company to cooperate in the construction of the Dharamshala
going on in the city at that time. The Marketing Manager placed this demand o fthe customers
before the Board of Directors. This was happily accepted.
Identify the two functions of management described above by quoting the relevant lines.
6. Mr Sourabh, who is an M.B.A., has been appointed at the post of General Manager in Sa –re-
ga- ma- Ltd. Company. Just after his appointment, he took a decision to set up a chemical
plant near a residential colony. (The chosen location to set up the plant was favourable for
many reasons to the company). After some time, another important decision to the amount of
charity been given annually to educational institutions and religious institutions was
withdrawn giving the justification that it was an unnecessary burden on the company. More
emphasis was given to the share of company in the market and in search of modern
procedures. Apart from this, a long time labour dispute was resolved by taking a balanced
decision.
(i) Tell whether Mr Sourabh is at fault?
(ii) If Yes, the fault is in which context?
(iii) How can the mistake be amended?
7. Is there any difference in planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling of various
organizations such as a school, a club, a restaurant and a steel plant?
To which characteristic of management is this case related.
8. Ms Bharti passed her M.B.B.S. examination in the first division in 2010. Later onn the year
2013 she passed her M.S. examination as an eye surgeon. She was awarded a gold medal in
this examination. After completing her studies she joined a big hospital as an eye surgeon. She
is performing ten operations successfully every day.
Now tell, what aspect of Ms Bharti’s above experience is science and aspect is art.
9. Mr Amol Khan passed his B.Sc.(Non medical) examination in the year 2014. After this he
successfully ran the business of his father. Suddenly, he thought of seeking employement. He
got the job of a finance manager in a company on the basis of his knowledge, experience and
proficiency. He is doing his job successfully.
Now tell, is the appointment of Mr Khan as a manager valid?
Was not it necessary for him to do M.B.A or some other course for this job?
10. XYZ Power Ltd. set up a factory for manufacturing solar lanterns in a remote village as there
was no reliable supply of electricity in rural areas. The revenue earned by the company was
sufficient day by day, so the company decided to increase production to generate higher sales.
For this they decided to employ people from the nearby village as very few job opportunities
were available in that area. The company also decided to open schools and crèches for the
children of its employees.
Identify and explain the objectives of management discussed above.
11. Mega Ltd. was manufacturing water heaters. In the first year of its operations, the revenue
earned by the company was just sufficient to meet its cost. To increase the revenue, the
company analysed the reasons of less revenues. After analysis, the company decided:
(i) To reduce the labour cost by shifting the manufacturing unit to a backward area
where labour was available at a very low rate.
(ii) To start manufacturing solar water heaters and reduce the production of electricity
water heaters slowly. This will not help in covering the risks, but also help in meeting
other objectives too.
Identify and explain the objectives of management discussed above.
12. Ashutosh Goenka was working in ‘Axe Ltd.’, a company manufacturing air purifires. He found
that the profits had started declining from the last six months. Profit has an implication for the
survival of the firm, so he analysed the business environment to find out the reasons for this
decline.
13. Rishitosh Mukherjee has recently joined AMV Ltd., a company manufacturing refrigerators. He
found that his department was under staffed and other departments were not cooperating
with his department for smooth functioning of the organisation. Therefore, he ensured that
his department has the required number of employees and its cooperation withother
departments is improved.
(i) Identify the level at which Rishitosh Mukherjee was working.
(ii) Also, state thre more functions required to be performed by Rishitosh Mukherjee at
this level.
14. The General Manager – GM of ‘Radhaswami Kidswear Limited’, Mr. Sahil Radhaswami, has
divided all the employees of his company into three levels (Top Level, middle Level and the
Lower Level). At the Top Level the General Manager and the board of Directors themselves
work. The Middle Level work is looked after by the four Departmental Managers like the
Production Manager, Purchase Manager, Sales Manager and Finance Manager.
The lower level is constituted of one supervisor of each of the four departments. The
supervisors look after the daily activities of their subordinates.
Often, it is observed that the managers of all the levels remain busy sometimes with the
planning of their respective departments and sometimes with the comparison of the desired
and actual results. Similarly, sometimes they are busy with the Recruitment, Selection and
Training of the employees and sometimes with their motivation.
Mr. Sahil knows it very well that the job of management cannot be done by a single person
alone, but when all join hands to work together the meaning of management is realized. This
is why he makes all his efforts to effect coordination in the activities of all employees. All the
employees are working with the team spirit.
In the above paragraph two special features of management have been described. Identify
them by quoting the relevant lines and explain them.
15. Three groups of employees of ‘Gama Limited’ are working at different posts. The first group of
employees is responsible for the welfare and survival of the organisation. In order to
discharge its responsibility properly, this group continuously keeps a watch over the business
environment. With a view to coping with the changes going on in the business environment,
this group immediately discusses the change to be brought about in the company’s plans.
The second group of employees is responsible for maintaining quality and safety standards,
and minimizing wastages.
The responsibility of third group of employees is to explain the policies decided by the top
management and developing the feeling of cooperation among all the departments of the
company.
a) Identify the concept of management described in the paragraphs given above.
b) Identify the three types of the concept identified in ‘a’ by quoting the relevant lines.
16. A student of MBA had to give presentation on management in his class. The main parts of his
presentation were the following:
“Several Representative Associations have been set up in India, for example for Law ‘Bar
Council of India’, for Medical, ‘Medical Council of India’ and for Accountancy ‘Institute of
Chartered accountants’. Similar organizations for Management have been set up in India and
other countries. In India ‘All India Management Association - AIMA’ organization is set up. But
in order to become a manager, to become a member of ‘AIMA’ is not obligatory.”
a) On the basis of description given in the paragraph above, explain whether management ia
a profession.
b) Write about the characteristic of a profession, on the basis of which management can be
regarded as a profession.
17. Tushar Aggarwal is working as the Managing Director in ‘Aggarwal Infotech Liimited.’ He has
got a long experience of management. He understands every complexity of management. This
reservoir of knowledge he has obtained through continuous practice. Whenever he was faced
with managerial problems, he faced them with firmness and tried to learn something from
them.
There are four departments in all in Mr. Aggarwal’s company. They are : Marketing,
Production, Finance and Personnel. The Marketing Department of the company has fixed high
objectives of sales. All the Sales Executives are working hard day in and day out to achieve the
objectives. On the other hand, the Manager of the Production department has started the
repair work in the factory at a large scale. Consequently, it has not been possible to supply the
sales orders.
It was beyond everybody’s understanding how the two departments working under the so
highly experienced Managing Director made such a big mistake.
a) To which concept of management is related to the mistake made at the departmental
level (as given in the paragraphs above) related to?
b) Identify the characteristic of art available in management by quoting the relevant lines.
18. Mr. Siddarth Aggarwal has completed his education of MBA. During the course of his MBA he
got the full theoretical knowledge of management. Now he has a full knowledge of
management and is ready to work as a manager. He got selected in ‘Volta Limited’ for the post
of Finance Manager.
Within a few days of his joining the company he speeded up the working of his department,
although his predecessor, the Finance Manager working prior to Mr. Aggarwal has been more
qualified and experienced.
Mr. Aggarwal faced several problems in the course of his working, but he never felt
discouraged but overcome them with firmness. During this period he got the opportunity of
visiting several other companies. Besides, he participated in several seminars related to the
problems of management and learnt the modern methods of management. He had a special
interest in reading and writing articles on the problems of management. Because of this
reason, there has been continuous growth in his knowledge and experience of management.
Now, he is working as a successful manager. He has obtained a distinct recognition in the field
of finance.
a) In the above paragraph, three points of a concept of the nature of management have been
described. Identify this concept.
b) Describe briefly the three points of the concept identified in (a) by quoting the relevant
lines.
19. Miss Suruchi Sarohi is a senior manager in ‘Nirmal Soap Factory Pvt. Ltd.’ She has got the
administrative qualities of a good manager and all the qualities of a leader in her. She is
running the whole business successfully.
She divides the work among her workers on the basis of their respective capability and
interest. Not only does she handed over the work to them, but also gives them the authority
to take decisions.
She pays full attention to making them capable enough to participate in the realisation of the
objectives of business. In her company people of several religions and castes are working.
Even then she has succeeded in uniting them in a group.
She knows that the success of her company depends upon the level of production. This is the
reason that Miss Sarohi is keeping a special watch over this department of hers. Actually, this
is the department on the performance of which depends the survival of company in the
market for a long time.
Identify and explain the characteristics of management described in the paragraphs above by
quoting the relevant lines.
20. The Top Management of ‘Vrinda Limited’ has done proper arrangements for all the resources
of men, machines, material and money for its business. A special attention has been paid to
the running of all the activities properly. Several competitor companies were using imported
modern machines. Influenced by them, this company also had to install similar machines. The
technology of these machines was most sophisticated. Before the employees could protest
against this technology they were given the training in it. Hence, they accepted the
installation of these machines happily. Some of the employees understood this technology
very soon. The company felt happy with their work and rewarded them. Its impact on the
other employees was also positive. The top management had directed all the employees to
have free and informal communication and give suggestions, lodge complaints and even talk
about their personal matters.
Identify and explain the three points of importance of management described in the
paragraph above by quoting the relevant lines.