MB0038 Management Process and Organization Behavior - 4 Credits

(Book ID: B1127)

Assignment Set- 1

1)
Q.2 Veer Prabhakar is the Vice President of web bazaar, online portal for [10]
shopping of various products. He has team of 100 people at different
levels and departments. He is facing certain challenges.
Challenge 1
To maintain motivation levels of sales associated who are doing good sales
Challenge 2
How to deal with the supply chain associates who are not following up
properly for order delivery. (Currently, they are getting Cell Phone
allowance for consistence follow-up after office hours)
Challenge 3
To deal with the people who keep taking leaves without prior information.
Suggest suitable methods to shape employee behavior.
Answer:

Veer Prabhakar the Vice President of web bazaar, online portal should use sales contests, a popular tool
used by business owners to encourage sales activities. Under these programs, sales personnel who meet
certain sales goals are rewarded with cash bonuses, paid vacations, etc. But business experts contend
that sales contests can have unintended consequences for organizations if they are poorly defined or
structured so that only a small segment of the sales force is rewarded. Indeed, some organizations
provide incentives only to a certain percentage of top-level performers. Such programswhether
commissions or sales contestsare usually implemented in hopes of creating a competitive
environment, but all too often they have the opposite effect. Sure, your top salespeople are thrilled
about the programfor them, it most likely means another trip to Hawaii or Europe, wrote Melanie
Berger in Sales and Marketing Management. But for the vast majority of your sales force, the
incentive is yet another opportunity to do one thing: lose. And nobody feels good about losing. All too
often, executives planning incentive programs for their sales forces assume they need to motivate and
reward their top performersthe ones who already generate the bulk of their business. Less successful
shall we say, averageplayers are ignored, left to remain, well, average.
In addition, increased emphasis on customer satisfaction and increasing market share with current
customers is likely to broaden the responsibilities of salespeople, who will in turn expect to be
compensated appropriately. Todays selling environment is frustrating and fascinating, said
Marchetti. Technology is propelling us into a new way of thinking about business strategy and the
way we define success. As always, though, salespeople will do what theyre rewarded for doing. Thats
why compensation plans have to keep up with the changing selling methods. Mr. Veer Prabhakar must
motivate their reps to build real relationships between customers and company, in order to increase the
share of each customers business and to increase the value of each customer to the company.
All the three challenge can be solved by analysis of individual level according to view of OB.
Organizational Behavior emphasizes on intellectual capital as represented by the sum total of
knowledge, expertise, and dedication of an organizations workforce. It recognizes that even in the age
of high technology, people are the indispensable human resources whose knowledge and performance
advance the organizations purpose, mission, and strategies. Only through human efforts can the great

advantages be realized from other material resources of organizations, such as, technology,
information, raw materials, and money.
Mr. Prabhakar needs to do Individual level of analysis. This level of analysis at individual level is
more related to the study of aspects like learning, perception, creativity, motivation, personality,
turnover, task performance, cooperative behavior, deviant behavior, ethics, and cognition.
Remuneration of personnel: this may be achieved by various methods but it should be fair, encourage
effort, and not lead to overpayment. Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modeled behavior if
positive incentives or rewards are provided. Finally, in order for observational learning to be
successful, you have to be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been modeled. Reinforcement and
punishment play an important role in motivation. While experiencing these motivators can be highly
effective, so can observing other experience some type of reinforcement or punishment? For example,
if you see another student rewarded with extra credit for being to class on time, you might start to show
up a few minutes early each day. Through Individual level of analysis Mr. Prabhakar can shape
employee behavior.

Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester 1

MB0038 Management Process and Organization Behavior - 4 Credits
(Book ID: B1127)
Assignment Set- 2

2)
Q.6 Unique fashions is a textile company . it is undergoing a process of change and expanding its
business. The company is facing several obstacles. There are lot of problems related to different
departments. It needs some Intervention that may help the company to diagnose its problems and
developing the action plan for problem solving. The company also expects that the intervention should
help in improving the relationships amongst group members of different departments.

Answer:
The Unique fashions Development textile company should uses a variety of processes, approaches,
methods, techniques, applications, etc., (these are often termed interventions) to address
organizational issues and goals in order to increase performance. The following partial list of
interventions is organized generally in the order presented by Cummings and Worley in their
Organization Development and Change (West Publishing, 1993). The following types of
interventions are often highly integrated with each other during a project for change.
How People Choose Organizational Development Activities:
There are no standard activities that always successfully address certain types of issues in
organizations. Many times, the success of a project lies not with having selected the perfect choice of
activities, but rather with how honest and participative people were during the project, how much they
learned and how open they were to changing their plans for change.
However, there are some basic considerations that most people make when selecting from among the
many choices for organizational development, or capacity building, activities. Considerations include:-

1. First, does the change-management method (if one was used) suggest what organizational
development activities to use now, for example, the method of strategic management might suggest that
a SWOT analysis be done, strategic goals be established along with action plans for each goal, and then
implementation of the action plans be closely monitored.
2. Is the activity most likely to address the findings from the discovery, that is, to solve the problems or
achieve the goals? To find out, review any research about use of the activity, discuss the potential
outcomes with experts and also with members of the organization. Consider posing your questions in
online groups of experts about change.
3. Does the nature of the activity match the culture of the organization? The best way to find out is to
discuss the activity with members of the organization.
4. Does the change agent and key members of the organization have the ability to conduct the activity?
For example, technostructural and strategic interventions sometimes require technical skills that are not
common to many people.
5. Does the activity require more time to conduct than the time available in which to address the
problem or goal? For example, a cash crisis requires immediate attention, so while a comprehensive
strategic planning process might ultimately be useful, the four to five months to do that planning is
impractical.
6. Does the clients organization have the resources that are necessary to conduct the activity,
considering resources such as funding, attention and time from people and facilities.
Before you and your client select types of interventions for the project, be aware of your strong biases
about how you view organizations. Without recognizing those biases, you might favor certain types of
interventions primarily because those are the only ones you can readily see and understand, even if
other types of interventions might be much more effective in your project.
Human Process Interventions (Group and Individual Human Relations)
With todays strong emphasis on humanistic values, the following interventions are getting a great deal
of attention and emphasis during efforts for change. They focus on helping members of the
organization to enhance themselves, each other and the ways in which they work together in order to
enhance their overall organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on
a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other,
the following human process interventions might be particularly helpful during change projects in
organizations where there is some combination of the following: many new employees, different
cultures working together, many complaints among organizational members, many conflicts, low
morale, high turnover, ineffective teams, etc.
Technostructural Interventions (Structures, Technologies, Positions, etc.)
The following are examples of activities that focus on improving the performance of organizations
primarily by modifying structures, technologies, operations, procedures and roles/positions in the
organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of
considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other, the
following techno structural interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of

situations: rapid growth but few internal systems to sustain that growth, much confusion about roles, a
new major technology or process has been introduced, many complaints from customers, etc. These
interventions might also be useful in new organizations where internal operational systems must be
developed and implemented.

Master of Business Administration Semester I

MB0039 - Business Communication (4 credits)
Assignment - Set 1
3)
3.6. Select any article from a business publication and prepare a summary of it in one fourth its
size. Write this in the form of a one page memo, addressed to your professor. Attach the original
article with your assignment.(10 marks).

MB0040 STATISTICS FOR MANAGEMENT- 4 Credits

(Book ID: B1129)
Assignment Set- 1
4)
3. In a management class of 100 students three languages are offered as an additional subject viz.
Hindi, English and Kannada. There are 28 students taking Hindi, 26 taking Hindi and 16 taking
English. There are 12 students taking both Hindi and English, 4 taking Hindi and English and 6 that
are taking English and Kannada. In addition, we know that 2 students are taking all the three
languages.
i) If a student is chosen randomly, what is the probability that he/she is not taking any of these three
languages?
ii)
If a student is chosen randomly, what is the probability that he/ she is taking exactly one
language?

5)
2. Your company has launched a new product .Your company is a reputed company with 50% market
share of similar range of products. Your competitors also enter with their new products equivalent to
your new product. Based on your earlier experience, you initially estimated that, your market share of
the new product would be 50%. You carry out random sampling of 25 customers who have purchased
the new product ad realize that only eight of them have actually purchased your product. Plan a
hypothesis test to check whether you are likely to have a half of market share.

MB0041- Financial & Management Accounting 4 Credits

Book ID6)
4. The standard cost of a certain chemical mixture is:
35% Material A at Rs.25 per kg
65% Material B at Rs.36 per kg
A standard loss of 5% is expected in production Summer 2011- May drive

During a period there is used:

125kg of Material A at Rs.27 per kg and
275kg of Material B at Rs.34 per kg
The actual output was 365 kg
Calculate
a. Material cost variance
b. Material price variance
c. Material mix variance
d. Material yield variance
Hint: Use net standard output (deduct the loss) (20 Marks)
Answer:

Material

Standard Cost
Tons

A
B
Loss

Actual Cost

Rates
Total
Rates
Total
Tons
140
25
3500
125
27
3375
260
36
9360
275
34
9350
400
12860
400
12725
20
35
380
12860
365
12725

1) MCV = SC AC = Rs. 12860/380 x 365 Rs. 12725

= Rs. -372.63
2) MPV = AQ(SP AP)
A = 125(25-27) = 125 x 2 = Rs. 250 (A)
B = 275(36-34) = 275 x 2 = Rs. 550 (F)
Rs. 300
3) MQV = SP (SQ-AP)
A = Rs. 25 (140 x 365/380 125) = 236.84 (F)

Standard cost of Actual

mix

3125
9900
13025
13025

B = Rs. 36(260 x 365/380 275) = - 909.47 (A)

= Rs. 672.63

4) MMV = Standard cost of Standard mix - Standard Cost of actual Mix

= 12860 13025 = 165 (F)

Masters of Business Administration- Semester 1

MB0045 Managerial Economics - 4 Credits
(Book ID: B1131)
Assignment Set- 1
7)
5.
When factors of production are combined to produce a particular level of output,
what would be the effect on total product when all factors are kept fixed and only one
factor is varied. For example, when the amount of land used for producing a particular
crop is kept the same, and the other factors of production like lab.
Answer:

The factors affecting production can be explained using the Law of variable proportions:
This law is one of the most fundamental laws of production. It gives us one of the key insights to the
working out of the most ideal combination of factor inputs. All factor inputs are not available in plenty.
Hence, in order to expand the output, scarce factors must be kept constant and variable factors are too
increased in greater quantities. Additional units of a variable factor on the fixed factors will certainly
mean a variation in output. The law of variable proportions or the law of nonproportional output will
explain how variation in one factor input give place for variations in outputs.
The law can be stated as the following as the quantity of different units of only one factor input is
increased to a given quantity of fixed factors, beyond a particular point, the marginal, average and total
output eventually decline.
The law of variable proportions is the new name for the famous Law of Diminishing Returns of
classical economists.
According to Prof. Benham as the proportion of one factor in a combination of factors is increased,
after a point, first the marginal and then the average product of that factor will diminish.
According to Prof.Marshall -an increase in the quantity of a variable factor added to fixed factors, at
the end results in a less than proportionate increase in the amount of product, given technical conditions

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE LAW

Only one variable factor unit is to be varied while all other factors should be kept constant.
Different units of a variable factor are homogeneous.
Techniques of production remain constant.
The law will hold good only for a short and a given period.
There are possibilities for varying the proportion of factor inputs
8)
5. In the long run average cost curve is an envelope of the short run cost curves. Discuss
the concept behind the same.

Answer:
The long-run average cost (LRAC) curve is shown to be an envelope of the short-run average cost
(SRAC) curves, lying everywhere below or tangent to the short-run curves. The firm is constrained in
the shortrun in selecting the optimal mix of factors of production and so will never be able to find a
cheaper mix than can be found in the long-run when there are no constraints. If there are a discrete
number of plant sizes available, the LRAC will be the scalloped curve obtained by joining those parts
of the SRAC curves that represent the lowest cost of production for a given quantity.

Figure:
The long-run average cost (LRAC) curve is an envelope curve of the short-run average cost (SRAC)
curves. Increasing, constant and decreasing returns to scale are exhibited at points a, b and c,
respectively.
In the case of constant returns to scale, the most common assumption for production functions, the
LRAC curve is horizontal. If it is the case that a larger scale of production is obtained through

increasing the number of identical plants, then the long-run cost curve approaches a horizontal line as
the number of plants increases (Joseph 1933); that is, the production function will exhibit asymptoticfirst-degree-homogeneity (Samuelson 1967, p. 131). Long-run average cost curves that are
everywhere decreasing will arise in industries with a large fixed cost and constant variable costs.
Traditionally, decreasing long-run cost curves have been associated with natural monopolies. More
generally, the LRAC curve can be drawn as a U-shape displaying increasing returns at lower levels of
output and decreasing returns at higher levels.
The long-run marginal cost curve is usually omitted in introductory treatments. If it is included, it is
drawn so that it lies above the short-run marginal cost curve to the left of their intersection point, and
below to the right. Understanding the relationship between the short-run and long-run marginal cost
curves can be challenging, and may require conjuring up additional diagrams. Sexton, Graves and Lee
(1993) couch their explanation using isocosts and isoquants; whereas Boyd and Boyd (1994) show how
the relationship can be explained using the total cost curves.
Keppler and Lallement (2006) trace the cost curve construction back to Enrico Barones 1908 Principi
di economia politica. Barone presents a diagram that contains a total cost curve with costs increasing at
a decreasing and then increasing rateequivalent to the textbook U-shaped average cost curve. He
represents the marginal cost of a particular quantity as the slope of a tangent to the cost curve at that
quantity, and the average cost of a particular quantity as the slope of a ray from the origin to the
relevant point of the cost curve. Total revenue is represented on the diagram as a line with the slope
equivalent to the price. The construction allows him to identify the profit maximizing quantity as that
for which the price equals marginal cost, and the zero profit long-run equilibrium quantity as that for
which price equals both marginal cost and average total cost.
The first U-shaped cost curve, in which cost is expressed in per unit terms, uncovered by Keppler and
Lallement (2006) appears an article by Edgeworth (1913) on railway rates. Since the discussion was of
a monopoly firm the relationship between price, marginal cost and average cost found in Barones 1908
work is not brought out. The first per unit cost curve construction of a firm in perfect competition
bearing a close resemblance to contemporary textbook treatments, was presented in paper by Piero
Sraffa published in 1925 in an Italian language journal (reproduced in Keppler and Lallement (2006)).
Upon reading the article in Italian, Edgeworth commissioned Sraffa to write a similar piece for the
Economic Journal--which appeared in 1926 but did not contain the diagram. A virtually identical
diagram, however, appears in a related article by Pigou (1928). It is reasonable to suspect that Pigou
derived it from Sraffas 1925 paper.

Master of Business Administration- Semester I

Subject Code MB0043
Subject Name Human Resource Management
4 Credits
(Book ID: B0909)
Assignment Set- 1
9)
Q.6 ABC is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. Before doing that it want to have
some details about the following:
What the emplyees think about the company?
What do they think ,in the company is going well?
What practices in the company they think are not doing well?

 Get the feedback on managerial effectiveness.

Suggest the suitable method to collect the employee opinion and explain the method. [10 Marks]
10)
Q.4 Given below is the HR policy glimpse of ZoomVideo, a multimedia company
1. It offers cash rewards for staff members
2. It promotes the culture of employee referral and encourages people to refer people they know,
maybe their friends, ex. colleagues, batch mates and relatives.
3. It recognizes good performances and gives good titles and trphies to the people who perform well
and also felicitates them in the Annual Day of the company.
Identify what all aspects does it take care of, based on different levels of Maslows Need Hierarchy ?
[10 Marks]