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Management Functions Question Paper
Management Functions
Course:Master Of Business Administration
Institution: Kenyatta University question papers
Exam Year:2008
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2007/2008
SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
BBA 500: MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS
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DATE: Monday 9th June, 2008 TIME: 2.00 – 5.00 p.m.
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Attempt question one and any other three questions.
Q. 1 Read the attached case study carefully and attempt the questions of the bottom.
THE CULTURE OF B COMPANY
The B Company is in many resects a dinosaur, with a culture and structure from a time that has now passed. The company enjoyed much of its growth during the l950s and l960s under the leadership of its founder manager, Ben Tough. The company originally provided fittings for ships built in the local shipyards but, as the shipyards, declined, the company moved into manufacturing a range of fixtures and fittings for the new homes being built for an ever more prosperous population. As the company grew, it developed the characteristics typical for an organization that enjoys a relatively secure market. In the interest of economies of scale it developed mass-production techniques and these, combined with good control systems, enabled the company to keep costs low.
Though Ben Tough retired long ago, B has maintained the hierarchical, centralized command and control structure that had been his hallmark from the early days. Over time, B also developed rules and procedures for almost every aspect of the business. In times of stable markets and steady growth, these set routines and procedures served the company well, into the latter end of the twentieth century, the market for B’s products became saturated and senior management realized that, if they were to survive into the future, they would have to diversity into new products. Building on what they considered to be a core competence – B’s manufacturing capability – the company moved into the growing and fast-moving world of consumer electronics.
At first, things went well. The company was able to transfer the skills it developed in the assembly of household fixtures and fittings to the production of a range of electronic consumer goods. However, as time went on, the market became increasingly competitive and less stable. This was partly to do with the increasing number of imports from developing countries, and partly to do with the increasing pace of change brought on by developments in microelectronic technology and by consumer demand for state-of-the-art gadgetry.
Despite its best efforts, senior management have found it difficult to cope. It is not that the management lack an active approach to problems: the company has invested heavily in the latest production technology and recruited designers and electronic engineers to help it to respond rapidly to the developments in the market. Just why the company is not doing better is difficult to identify, but a chance remark by one of the designers leaving to work for a competitor provides a clue. Asked why he was leaving after such a short time, he replied, ‘It’s the way you do things around here. I just don’t seem to be able to fit in. People at higher levels seem remote, and even those lower down don’t appear to want to listen. Everybody seems cosy in continuing to do things in the same old way’.
As a consultant hired by the company, you have been asked to conduct an investigation into the degree of fit between the culture of the company and the demands it now faces in the marketplace, and to come up with a set of recommendations. You are asked to structure your report into three main sections as follows:
(a) Describe the existing organizational culture of the company in terms of any well-known classification. (10 marks)
(b) Explain the lack of fit between the existing culture and the demands of the marketplace. (8 marks)
(c) Make recommendations for the type of organizational culture that you consider will best fit B’s new situation, and justify your choice. (10 marks)
Q. 2 Critically evaluate the contribution of the classical/traditional school of management theorists to our understanding of organization. (24 marks)
Q. 3 The word leadership is sometimes used as if it were an attribute of personality, sometimes as if it were a characteristic of certain positions within an organization and sometimes as an aspect of behavior. Discuss. (24 marks)
Q. 4 Discuss the factors influencing delegation of work. What are the major barriers to delegation? (24 marks)
Q. 5 What are the basic steps in the control process? Identify and explain they key considerations in each step. (24 marks)
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