Professional Documents
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TECHNICIAN LEVEL
T6: MANAGEMENT
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
1. You have fifteen (15) minutes reading time. Use it to study the examination
paper carefully so that you understand what to do in each question. You will be
told when to start writing.
2. There are FIVE questions in this paper. You are required to attempt any FOUR.
ALL questions carry equal marks.
3. Enter your student number and your National Registration Card number on the
front of the answer booklet. Your name must NOT appear anywhere on your
answer booklet.
5. The marks shown against the requirement(s) for each question should be taken
as an indication of the expected length and depth of the answer.
8. Graph paper (if required) is provided at the end of the answer booklet.
QUESTION ONE
(a) Describe the main features of the following business organizations:
(i) A Sole Trader (3 marks)
(ii) A Partnership (3 marks)
(iii) A Multinational (3 marks)
(iv) A Public Limited Company (3 marks)
QUESTION TWO
The preparation of a strategic plan is a multi-step process. It starts with a critical review
of past performance by owners and management of an organisation. The process
involves preparation of a plan beyond the normal budgetary horizons. The plan requires
a certain mind set among all those involved for it to be achieved.
Required:
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QUESTION THREE
According to Max Weber, organisations can be categorised on the basis of leadership
types.
Required:
(a) Describe:
(i) Charismatic organizations (6 marks)
(ii) Bureaucratic organizations (6 marks)
(b) Briefly explain each of the following four principles of Scientific management
according to F. W. Taylor.
(i) Development of a true Science of work. (4 marks)
(ii) Scientific selection and training. (3 marks)
(iii) The constant and intimate cooperation of management and workers.
(3 marks)
(iv) Bringing together Science of work and the trained man. (3 marks)
Total: 25 marks
QUESTION FOUR
Recruitment and Selection is the major function of human resource department. The
recruitment process is the first step towards creating a competitive strength and
strategic advantage for an organisation.
Required:
(a) Describe the process that a firm takes to recruit new employees. (10 marks)
(b) Proficiency and psychometric tests are used as selection interview tools in the
selection process. Briefly explain the differences between the two tests.
(5 marks)
(c) According to motivation theory by Fredrick Hertzberg, what steps can the
organization take to motivate employees to remain with the company?
(10 marks)
Total: 25 marks
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QUESTION FIVE
Marketing Management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical
application of marketing techniques and management. It involves management of an
organisations resources through development and implementation of a marketing plan.
Required:
(a) Identify and describe any four components of a marketing plan. (8 marks)
END OF PAPER
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T6
MANAGEMENT
SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
JUNE 2013 EXAMINATIONS
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SOLUTION ONE
(a)
(i) A sole trader is an individual who owns and operates a business. They
generally have very limited amount of capital and are heavily reliant on
their own personal commitment for the success of the business. The
business has unlimited liability which means that the owners are
responsible for all of the firms debts.
(3 marks)
(ii) A partnership can have many (minimum two and maximum 20) partners
who share the responsibilities of the business and can contribute according
to their individual expertise. The partnership also has unlimited liability
which means that the partners are responsible for all of the firms debts.
In general, partnerships tend to be larger businesses than sole traders and
tend to continue much longer. (3
marks)
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protects them from harm. (2
marks)
(iii) Suppliers are also attempting to make a profit and so are trying to get as
many orders from a business as possible. In order to do this, they must
satisfy the business regarding the quality of the products and the reliability of
its deliveries and service. The suppliers also want the business to do well as
this will mean more orders in the future. To this end they often cooperate to
improve each others performance. (2
marks)
(v) Customers are individuals that buy goods and services produced by business
organizations. Customers are concerned about the price, quality and safety of
the goods. Customers expect goods and services to be fairly priced without
exploitation and the quality should be acceptable to satisfy their needs. They
also expect to be readily available for purchase. (2
marks)
Total: 25 marks
SOLUTION TWO
(a) The following are the stages involved in strategic planning Process:
(i) Vision
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A description of what the organisation does, with whom or for whom
it does it and how it does it. (2
marks)
(iii) Strategies
A description of how the work will be done and the persons to be
involved. (2
marks)
(iv) Values
What the organisation considers the right way to do things and/or
deal with people.
What the organisation believes about the way that, ideally, the world
ought to be organized. (2
marks)
(v) Objectives
Lower level statements that describe the tangible and specific products
and deliverables to be achieved during specified periods. They can be
short term, medium term or long term. (2
marks)
(b) The macro-environment could be assessed using PESTEL analysis. The following
are the variables or factors that are found in the macro-business environment to
be considered for strategic planning
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The community in which the business operates in has an influence, in
terms of social values, culture and demography. It is from the community
that the business will source for its employees and customers. Elements
in the social environment include skill levels, attitude to work, spending
patterns by consumers, population distribution, religion influence, the
issue of gender in employment etc. (3
marks)
Strategic planning is influenced by the laws and regulations that limit the
operations of the business to protect the society at large. These laws
include labour law, company law, health and safety laws, consumer
protection act, taxation law etc. change in these laws should be taken
into consideration during strategic planning process. (3
marks)
The word charismatic was coined by Max Weber from the Greek
charisma being the supernatural quality found in some people which
not only sets them apart from others, but makes people in general,
without knowing why, treat such leaders as possessing superhuman
powers, knowledge, etc. The prophet, messiah, and Hitler are examples
of such people. The basis of authority of the leader is his/her special
powers, and if these powers fail he/she may lose his/her leadership
powers too.
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The charismatic organization structure is small; decision-making is
concentrated in the leader; delegation is limited to a small select band of
intensely loyal staff (disciples) and personal obedience and devotion are
the best ways of getting on. Few rules and regulations exist; decisions
are arbitrary and irrational. Everyone who considers the decision they
themselves can make in such a system will always measure the
alternatives against what the leader would wish, approve of or need.
While the charisma lasts, the organization preserves its original identity
but once it has gone or the leader dies, unless a new leader with
charisma succeeds, the organization may change. (6
marks)
The whole system revolves around the fact that the entire structure
including management techniques is largely determined without reference
to named leaders or power holders: it is the office not the holder of the
office which is important.
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We do not know what a fair days work is. The boss does not, so how
can we expect the worker to? This is to be remedied by establishing each
persons daily task, i.e., the output expected. Workers are to be well paid
if they meet the target, find if they do not. (4
marks)
SOLUTION FOUR
(a) A firm needs to follow a logical sequence to ensure that a suitable number of
employees with the appropriate skills are employed in order to meet the
manpower requirements of the business.
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(iv) The procedure for advertising the vacancy both internally and externally.
(2
marks)
(v) The selection procedure the initial screening of applications,
interviewing and testing. (2
marks)
This sequence of events should ensure that the applicants fit the job on offer
and that the successful candidate has the requisite skills to do the task.
(b) Proficiency tests measure the candidates ability to perform a task relevant to the
job. It is designed to check if an individual has the skill he or she claims to
posses e.g. Fork-lift operator is required to drive and manoeuvre the vehicle.
Psychometric tests measure the individuals psychological factors such as
intelligence, aptitude and personality. Intelligence tests measure the reasoning
capacity in terms of memory and speed of thought. Aptitude tests are designed
to predict the ability a candidate has to carry out a task within the job e.g.
dexterity. Personality tests asses the individuals behavior which is desirable to
the job. (5
marks)
(c) Frederick Herzberg identified a series of factors that affected the performance of
workers. One set, called the Hygiene Factors, included: company policies,
supervision, salary, working conditions and relationships with same level
workers. If any of these were lacking they would demotivate the workforce but
on their own they do not act as motivators.
SOLUTION FIVE
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(a) The factors that have influenced the Present Structure include:
(i) The management style, autocratic vs. democratic.
(ii) The type of products and services offered and the nature of the inputs
required, e.g., capital or labour intensive
(iii) The degree of centralization and/or the location of premises
(iv) The type of skills required and the various characteristics of the
employees
(v) The nature of past Price growth, e.g., by acquisition
(vi) The past approach to the organizational matters, such as manpower
planning or career development
(vii) The impact of developments in the field of data processing
(viii) The structure of financial ownership (8
marks)
(b) The 4Ps of marketing mix are price, product, place and promotion. Price is the
amount of money the customer buys the product at. It will include discounts
given to customers such as cash and trade discounts. It will also include credit
terms and allowances given to customers. Product is a good or service that is
offered for sell to the target customers. It includes features like quality, design,
packaging, variety and safety of the product. Place refers to the channels
through which the product is made available to the target market. This covers
channels of distribution, transport, coverage and locations. Promotion these are
activities that communicate to the public about the product or service such as
advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. (8
marks)
These are decisions made concerning where the business will invest its
money into. A business could decide to invest in capital projects, working
capital and financial assets. The objective of any investment is to yield
positive returns or profits. However, there is a risk associated with
investment that the business may make a loss. (3
marks)
These are decisions concerning on how much finance is needed and how to
finance the investment. Different sources of finance such as Loans, issuing
of shares, retained earnings etc would be considered.
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(iii) Dividend decisions
These are decisions that concern on how much dividend should be paid to
shareholders based on the profits made by the company.
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