MS 26 Organisational Dynamics Test Paper
MBA - Master of Business Administration
Note: There are two sections A and B. Attempt any four questions from Section A. Each questions carries 15 marks. Section B is compulsory and carries 40 marks.
1. Explain the different stages of group development and the underlying group processes influencing interpersonal relationships and group effectiveness.
2. Why is role analysis important for an organisation? What are the advantages and limitations of this technique for the organisational climate and organisational functioning?
3. Explain the relevance of transformational leadership for managing organisational change.
4. Identify and discuss what facilitates and what retards organisational learning. Give suitable examples.
5. What is organisational culture? What are the dimensions of organisational culture? Discuss the importance of organisational culture in managing change.
6. Write short notes on any three of the following:
i) Strategic alliance
ii) Diversity management
iii) Business ethics
iv) Empowerment in organizations
v) Coping with stress and burnout
SECTION B
Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end of the case.
Dr. Anant, chairman of the department of management and Dr. Anant chairman of the accountancy department, had always experienced awkwardness whenever they interacted with each other during the executive committee and other meetings. The management department had an excellent group of faculty members who were not only reputed for their research but were also first rate teachers. No other department in the entire system had such a group of prolific writers in any one unit. In fact, the management department faculty and their chairman did entertain feelings of superiority even though they tried not to express it blatantly. Because of their research productivity and national reputation, the university allocated more resources to the management department – more funded trips to conferences, more Xeroxing money, more secretarial assistance and the like.
Dr. Basant was also proud of his accountancy department faculty because the members were extremely active and successful in acquiring consulting projects and generating a lot of money for themselves and for the department. They worked with the big accounting firms and private sector organizations. These firms donated generously to the department. Because of all the money generated the faculty had plush carpeted office, specialized stationery, and other status symbols. Actually the accountancy department looked like a private company’s showroom, with Kashmir carpets, fancy furniture, an impressive conference room, and expensive decorative pieces.
Privately, the management department referred to the accountancy department as ‘the greatest show on earth", and the latter referred to the management faculty as "pen pushers". On one occasion three of the management faculty had to go to the accountancy department to obtain the tax professor’s clarification on the recent budget statements made by the Finance Minister. They had to wait in the department’s waiting area for the faculty member who had just stepped out of his office. Dr. Basant who happened to come our at that time remarked jokingly to the waiting members, " You must find it pleasant to sit in soft sofas after sitting on hard chairs the whole day in your offices". When Dr. Anant heard about this, he issued a memo to all his faculty that they should try to use the intercom as much as possible in the feature and not better other department faculty with personal visits to their offices. Of course, everyone knew that the memo was the outcome of his resentment towards Dr. Basant’s remarks.
Shortly after these incidents, the management department received a capital fund donation from one of its alumni, which would fetch an annual interest of Rs 50,000. Mr. Ramesh Mehra, the donor was the president of a very prosperous, privately owned company. Mr. Ramesh Mehra, had received his M.S. degree in management 10 years ago, and had risen to the top within that time. He had always had high regard for the research-oriented faculty of the management department, and thought it would be an excellent idea to fund an "Endowed Chair" for the department. This would enable the management department chairman to bring in some international scholar of repute from time to time which would further enhance the prestige of the department. Mr. Mehra was not entirely guided by philanthropy alone company since he was also considering the advantages to the company by claiming the donation as a tax write-off. The management department chairman of course, gratefully accepted the offer.
As the company’s P.R. people tried to gain publicity for the donation, the management department chairman and several members of the faculty were interviewed by the press. The ceremonial award of the "Endowed Chair" by the president of the company to the department chairman was nationally televised. The company and the management department were very much in the news for several days.
When Dr. Basant met Dr. Anant in the corridor one day as all this was happening, he congratulated Anant and said with a hint of sarcasm that it must be a great deleing to receive such a donation, especially since this would be the first time that they have generated funds from outside the University system. Dr. Anant thanked Basant and said that if the accountancy department needed any assistance in getting its faculty to publish, his faculty "will be glad to share their knowledge with them on how to go about doing research and publishing". After this episode the two chairmen did not even exchange greetings in the hallway. Faculty members from both departments started to make innuendoes and snide remarks at each other in the classroom while lecturing to students. When all this reached the ears of the principal of the College through the grapevine, he called the two departments chairmen and gave them a severe dressing down. He reminded of their unprofessional behaviour and their deplorable conduct. In effect, he asked them to "mend or end". Though things seemed to quieted down considerably immediately after this, students still heard the management department and vice-versa. The Principal was not unaware of what was happening and was pondering about how to resolve the problem once and for all.
Questions:
a) What are the dynamics involved in this case?
b) What is the core issue in this case?
c) Identify the conflicts involved in this case?
d) If you were the Principal, How would you handle the situation?
