SEMESTER END EXAMINATION(RPR)

BUSINESS ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT

SHIVAM SHARMA
19BBL053
9636148769
SECTION C

Anwer 1

Introduction:
The outbreak of coronavirus is the global health crisis of our time and is considered to be the
greatest global humanitarian challenge that the world has faced since World War II. The virus has spread
widely all over the world disrupting many lives and also the number of cases and deaths are rising daily.
The governments are constantly working to slow its spread. India has moved quickly, implementing a
nationwide 21-day lockdown, with a goal of flattening the curve of coronavirus cases and using the time to
plan and collect the resources adequately to fight the outbreak.
COVID-19 has triggered a deep economic crisis as lockdowns all around the world have made a
great impact on the economy. This has created a lot of problems and will potentially create problems in
the near future.
Opportunity:
For certain types of businesses this outbreak can also be considered as an opportunity. For eg:
The vendors who are in the business of selling the essential commodities have a great opportunity as
their demand will keep on increasing. Earlier it was difficult for the small vendors to stay into the business
because of the huge shopping malls as they were more convenient to the buyers because they provided
all the required commodities at one place and great deals which small vendors could not afford.
But due to Covid 19 outbreak all such shopping malls are shut down in order to maintain social
distancing and keep people away from a huge gathering. Due to this the only choice left with the buyers is
to get the day-to-day goods from the local vendors nearby. Due to this the demand will increase at a huge
scale as the buyers have to fulfill their day-to-day requirements. It is quite easy to grab such an
opportunity if proper management is done by the local vendors. As management is a dynamic process
one should always think of the opportunities that can be created from any external factor.
Plan for sustaining the organisation selling stationery products:
• Planning is a fundamental management function which involves deciding beforehand about what
is to be done at what time and in which manner. It is an intellectual process which lays down the
objectives of an organisation and develops the course of action through which the organisation can
achieve those predetermined objectives.
• In this situation for any business the future demand should be properly ascertained in this
situation. In a stationery business the future demand will be high as it is an essential good and will be
required in many fields. The schools and universities are shut down but they have started imparting
education to the students through online platforms. Considering this the students will require stationery
material on a regular basis.
• Not only for students but the hospitals and other businesses too will require basic stationery items
in the future. Through this we can ascertain that the future demand of basic stationery products will be
high.
• Considering this a stationery shop owner should increase the stock of basic stationery items. In
this situation the most important thing for the buyers will be their safety and social distancing. By taking
certain safety measures one can win the trust of the buyers due to which in future also they would
approach again.
• The safety measures should include maintaining proper hygiene, quick service, compulsion of
mask and gloves, sanitiser, maintenance of proper distance between two buyers, etc.
• Also an important measure to sustain the stationery business under these circumstances would
include availability of adequate stock because there may arise some events where there is very less
supply which cannot fulfill the demand of the buyers. Hence, maintenance of proper stock will provide an
edge at that time.

Plan for expansion:

• With proper management skills and accurate decision making there is a great possibility that the
expansion and growth in stationery business would be successful.
• Expansion and growth of the stationery business at this time will surely be a good idea if this
situation continues till the end of the year. The first feasible option is that one can start home delivery of
the stationery items in the nearby places.
• One can use word-of-mouth marketing where through friends, contacts and groups you can
circulate your contact and process of placing the order due to which slowly the people would be aware
about the home delivery of stationery items started by your shop. The potential buyers will call you to
place an order or give the details through whatsapp or any other app.
• In this way buyers would get quality products very conveniently and also safely at their door
steps. This method would increase the sales rapidly.
• One can also think of registration in e-commerce websites which will further lead you to provide a
huge exposure and bring more business opportunities. Hence, in this way the stationery business can be
expanded as per the requirement.

Answer 2

Mintzberg’s roles are important in an organisation to get desired results effectively. There are roles which
have been divided into three categories. These roles perform many functions like motivating employees,
greeting people, conflict resolver, decision maker and many more. There are ten heads within three
categories:
Interpersonal Roles
1.The figurehead role - As a manager, this role is responsible to stand as an authority for performing
duties related to social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities.
2.The leader role - As a manager, this role is responsible for managing employees of the organisation
and directing them to work in a manner which is efficient.
3.The liaison role - As a manager, this role is responsible for making contacts and conversing with the
outside world which includes different organisation, authorities, etc
Informational Roles
4.The monitor role - As a manager, this role is responsible for scanning the information in the
environment which is related to the organisation to make relevant changes.
5.The disseminator role - As a manager, this role is responsible for conveying the potential and useful
information to the employees or colleagues in the organisation.
6.The spokesperson role - As a manager, this role is responsible for transferring information like goals
and objectives of the organisation to the people outside.
Decisional Roles
7.The negotiator role - As a manager, this role is responsible for negotiations with other organisations as
well as with own company’s members.
8.The entrepreneurship role - As a manager, this role is responsible for designing the strategies and
making changes which are in favour of the organisation.
9.The resource allocator role - As a manager, this role is responsible for allocations of different
resources like finance, sales, purchases etc.
10.The disturbance handler role - As a manager, this role is responsible for handling unexpected
events or breakdowns. Moreover, it is also responsible for resolving disputes happening in the
organisation.
These roles can be effectively used if the manager is clear with his roles and responsibilities within the
organisation as well as with the outside world. The manager has to be convincing for leading the
organisation. The roles specified three different directions in which a manager has to work. A manager
with the right understanding of these roles can help in improving the skills of the employees. Moreover, he
can maintain a reputation of the organisation with the people outside. These all roles are to be carried out
by analyzing the situational and individual factors both.

Answer 3 A

In this current situation, the most effective leadership style is the behavioural leadership style. There
are certain reasons behind this answer, which will be explained below.

The COVID-19 pandemic is different from anything we have faced in over a century, one that looks to be
a prolonged and possibly existential challenge for organizations. Effective leadership in a prolonged crisis
with such serious consequences is necessary for an organization and its people, and requires physical,
psychological and emotional courage. That is why the Ohio State leadership theory is the most important
in the current situation to cope up with the crisis and sustain the business.
There are different parts in the behavioural leadership theory which are as follow -
State Leadership Studies is Behavioural Leadership Theory. A series of studies on leadership was done
by Ohio State University to identify observable behaviours of leaders instead of focusing on their traits.
They found two critical characteristics of leadership of which could be either high or low or independent of
one another.
Initiating Structure Behaviour: The behaviour of leaders who define the leader-subordinate role so that
everyone knows what is expected, establish formal lines of communication, and determine how tasks will
be performed.
Consideration Behaviour: The behaviour of leaders who are concerned for subordinates and concerned
about what they have and provide them a warm and friendly environment.
Here in the current situation the leader needs to be of both the characteristics mentioned as above.
Leader needs to be initiating structured behaviour to sustain the business, the leader needs to be
extremely task oriented and decision-making should also be strong along with strong communication. In
addition, a leader needs to be considerate to provide empathy to the employees and provide them a
friendly environment to keep them self-motivated.
Michigan leadership studies is the second behavioural leadership theory. The studies identified two broad
leadership styles: an employee orientation and a production orientation. The research identified that
employee orientation with general supervision produced more favourable results compared to production
orientation and direct supervision.
In this theory there are four parts –
Low people oriented and low production oriented
Low production oriented and high people oriented
Low people oriented and high production oriented
High people oriented and high production oriented
Here in this situation it is necessary that the fourth part which is high people oriented and high production
oriented is necessary as in the current pandemic to maintain the harmony and the motivation of the
employees it is necessary that the leader needs to be highly people oriented. During the current
pandemic the business activities are also very low and to sustain the business it is necessary that the
leader should focus on the business activities along with the satisfaction of his employees.

Answer 3B

In the current situation it is necessary to keep employees motivated, morale and productivity. For that
business should use Herzberg’s two factor motivation method.
Herzberg’s two factor motivation –
According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job
factors that prevent dissatisfaction. Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-
Hygiene factors - Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for the existence of
motivation at the workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors
are absent / if these factors are non-existent at the workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. Hygiene
factors include – pay, company policies, fringe benefits, work conditions, status, work relations and job
security.
Motivational factors - The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to
work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These are factors involved in
performing the job. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an
additional benefit. This includes – recognition, sense of achievement, promotional opportunities,
responsibilities, and meaningfulness of the work.
In this situation already, employees are not in their mental condition and for example if the hygiene factors
are not present it will lead to dissatisfaction among the employees. For example, if we cut the salary of
the employees it will lead to a great dissatisfaction among the employees, which will lead to decrease in
their morale and productivity because they are already going through tough times.
However, in the same case if we give them additional benefits like bonus or increase in salary it will
increase their mental strength, which is directly linked to their morale and productivity.
Hence, the hygiene and motivator factors should be effectively used in order to maintain the strength of
the employees and sustain our business activities.

Answer 4

If I was starting a new business with an investment of 50 lacs, the following functions of management will
help me making my business successful,-

Planning - Planning is concerned with the determination of the objectives to be achieved and the course
of action to be followed to achieve them. Firstly, I’ll see how to spend the whole investment in an effective
manner so as to use up all of the resources in the most efficient manner. Before starting any action, one
has to decide how the work will be performed and where and how it has to be performed. For starting a
business of this amount of investment, one has to evaluate various possible and best alternatives such as
setting up a small restaurant, launching a new innovative product, opening a consultancy firm etc. Among
these alternatives, I will choose the one best suitable for me. Then, I will have to choose the best
possible manner to implement the above objective. A thorough review and follow up would also be
required later so as to check if it is going in accordance to the plan or not.
Organizing - Organizing involves bringing together the manpower and material resources for the
achievement of objectives laid down by the enterprise. In the present business plan, In order to set up a
restaurant, one needs a good amount of kitchen accessories, vegetables, a structure with decent
ambiance and to bring that to the organization, the investors have to bring in and also a certain people to
do the job. Getting maximum efficient resources from minimum use of money would be highly effective for
the business.

Staffing - Staffing is a function performed by every manager of the enterprise as he is actively associated
with the recruitment, selection, training and appraisal of his subordinates. For example, the Restaurant
business involves hiring appropriate ground staff, chefs, waiters, and a good manager wants people with
requisite skills and if they have to provide any training (teaching recipes to chefs ) the hired employee
must be perfect at it. People are an organization’s most important resource, because people either create
or undermine an organization’s reputation for quality in both products and services. After the whole
procedure of recruitment, selection and training, it is the duty of the manager to follow up and ensure
proper functioning of its staff. According to that, the compensation given to them should also be decided.

Directing - Directing is concerned with actuating the members of the organisation to work efficiently and
effectively for the attainment of organisation goals. Directing involves the manager telling the
subordinates how they have to perform jobs assigned to them. It is concerned with guiding, supervising
and motivating the subordinates for achieving the enterprise objectives. If a chef in my restaurant isn’t
cooking as per the instructions, it is his duty to guide him and understand his problem so that he knows
how to make certain dishes perfectly. I will have to check if they are working according to their full
potential or not. A proper check system should be enabled so as to keep a direct track on their activities.
Being an entrepreneur, I should follow one of the most important sub functions of directing, i.e.
Motivation. A good motivated staff performs at high capacity. The whole organization should be kept
motivated in order to achieve the desired goals effectively. This can be done either by giving the
employees a good compensation as a form of reward, or by giving them some extra perks other than the
base salary, appreciating their work, laying down a performance based appraisal, by giving out
promotions to the deserved, and by giving them a space to have their own personal growth in your
organization. Keeping a motivated staff with a high energy and dedication towards the organisations helps
in achieving the desired goals in the most efficient manner.

Controlling - This function is primarily directed towards monitoring of employees’ activities, ensuring the
correct working of the organization and implementing corrective measures as and when needed. The
managers in an organization effectively manage situations without losing a track of overall framework of
the organizational objectives and goals. When a restaurant business is set, certain standards of work is
also set for the employees. This type of business not only requires good chefs but also people to build a
network who in turn attract consumers to visit the place. With the established control mechanism, one
needs to check for any deviation from the actual plan. This can be done by setting certain standards or
criteria, which should be fulfilled on time. Then this data for all the concerned employees should be
collected and if an employee was unable to perform up to those standards, we need to check the degree
of his/her deviation form the actual plan. Lastly, corrective measures are to be taken in accordance to the
degree of a deviation. The options can be to enhance the training system of the employee, or giving them
a separate task they are better at or to fire them if the deviations are really high. For example, if the
marketing employee in question is unable to meet the standard number of consumers or a chef is not
cooking as per the standards of the recipe, corrective measures must be taken by the manager to achieve
the business objectives. The control function helps in identifying under-performers and arranging remedial
guidance for them. It is the control function, which facilitates synchronisation of actual performance with
predetermined standards.
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