Managerial Effectiveness – II (MB122): January 2007:Suggested Answers

Suggested Answers Managerial Effectiveness – II (MB122): January 2007

1. Answer : (c)
Reason : Managerial effectiveness can be mastered with practice, which enable a manager to be effective each time, no matter what the situation is. With this respect, the characteristics, effective managers do not posses are (II) They focus on simply working with tools and techniques and (III) They concentrate on many activities at a time.
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2.
Answer : (c)
Reason : In US , $ 300 billion are spent annually on an average on stress-related problems. Thus stress has become an intrinsic part of the job in certain professions. Option (c) is incorrect regarding the stress phenomena. A stressor is not in itself, either positive or negative or good or bad, it is how one reacts to it that determines its posivity or negativity.
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3.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Managers have to take many decisions in a day and they have to focus on taking the right decisions rather than a quick one. “To give more importance to the decisions rather than on its implementation” should not be done while making decisions.
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4.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Managers need to organize the activities of the organization i.e. putting things in order. The proper sequence of steps involved in organizing are (IV) Identifying the objectives, (I) Dividing into units, (II) Delegating work and (III) Coordinating.
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5.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Following are the steps to be followed in managing the burnout.
I Taking regular meals, good level of physical exercise.
II. People should get aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.
III. To have control over their lives and working in a planned manner.
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6.
Answer : (d)
Reason : People with Type A personality are obsessive about winning and do not have the ability to spend leisure time productively. People with Type A personality are likely to be under stress even in minor situations.
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7.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Creativity does not come easily to everyone. There may be several barriers to creativity like - Fear of failure, Anxiety and Physical and social environment.
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8.
Answer : (c)
Reason : It is necessary to draw up plans to achieve goals. Scheduling is one of the strategies to achieve goal, which needs to consider all of the following issues except The deadlines need not to change with changing situations.
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9.
Answer : (c)
Reason : According to Stephen Covey, there are four phases of time planning, which can be described as
I. The first phase involves identifying the various demands placed on a manager.
II. Taking wide-angle view of future events and scheduling them is another phase.
III. Controlling the activities is included in the third phase of planning.
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10.
Answer : (a)
Reason : The process / technique of joining different and irrelevant elements to solve a situation or problem, in which highly trained people from diverse field collectively work is called as Synectics.
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11.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Executives can be classified into different groups based on their decision making type. The following are incorrect regarding the followers - Followers are difficult to persuade an Followers does not like proven ad reliable ideas.
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12.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Salovey and Mayer identified few abilities and skills required for emotional intelligence. The ability to create emotions is not one of them.
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13.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Goleman and Cary Chernis have developed guidelines for conducting training program or developing emotional intelligence in organizations, which have been grouped into distinct stages. Participation is not one of the stages.
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14.
Answer : (b)
Reason : There are various techniques adopted for increasing the creativity. The technique, which involves breaking the regular or conventional thinking pattern and also involves questioning one’s own assumption is called as Breaking stereotype responses technique.
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15.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Any serious business problem, which is not generally known within or without the company, which may generate negative news coverage is known as smoldering crisis.
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16.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Aspiring leaders are rated on the basis of different faces of leadership. The ability to honor position or authority and to act as a role model, doing what is morally correct comes under the quality of integrity.
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17.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Organizations can stimulate the creative thinking process in employees using the reverse brainstorming process also. Which of the following is/are true for this process - The accepted solution is explained in the group.
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18.
Answer : (c)
Reason : An important function of leader is to bring change in the organization by setting the direction or change. To make every little decisions themselves is not a guideline for them for setting up the direction for an organization.
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19.
Answer : (a)
Reason : When a message from a specific ego state of a person receives an expected response from the specific ego state of the other person, it is called as complementary transaction.
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20.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Executives are classified based on their decision-making types. Also, the approach to persuade them varies as per their types. Following are incorrect in the case of persuading the controllers - A persuader should challenge the controller directly and The persuader should ask the controller to take a quick decision.
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21.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Learning a foreign language may be much more difficult and a longer process than attaining a level of cultural fluency. Following is true regarding the cultural fluency - It is based on the ability to identify, understand and apply cultural variables and It helps a person to communicate just like a member of foreign culture.
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22.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Planning and organizing are considered as the most important skills required by a manager.
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23.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Burnout is the result of rigorous stress over a period. There are various stages in this period that ultimately lead to burnout. Following are true regarding burnout life cycle – (I) Honeymoon stage is the first stage, in which employees are new to the job / situation and (III) In brownout stage, the employees lose their interest and energy, which is the third stage. These are incorrect – (II) The third stage is burnout stage, in which employees may become suicidal and (IV) Recovery stage is the easiest stage and takes less time.
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24.
Answer : (d)
Reason : An effective manager makes the harmonious coexistence of ethics and business possible and always stressed upon the ethical behavior. The factors that influence an ethical behavior are (I) Ego strength and Locus of control possessed by an individual, (II) Well-structured organizational policies and clear guidelines and (IV) Organizational culture.
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25.
Answer : (e)
Reason : The sales manager of MetLife insurance wants to avoid performing those types of activities that have been unproductive in the past i.e., he wants to prioritize as well as posterioritized his activities. Option (e) is not true regarding this activity-“For this, effective manager need not to weigh the future against the past events.”
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26.
Answer : (d)
Reason : The invisible clock that is constantly away in our minds forces us to make better choices to manage our time better. Time management is very important in each and every facets of life due to all of the following reasons except It helps in increasing pressure on the employees and thus increase profitability.
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27.
Answer : (e)
Reason : In Tata Consultancy services, (TCS) an IT firm, employees are relocated frequently due to the global work environment, which disturbs their work-life balance heavily and ultimately their performance. Decreasing market share could not be termed as a reason for importance of work-life balance.
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28.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The time management matrix designed by Stephen Covey determines the style of planning of managers. The matrix has four quadrants out of which the quadrant II possesses the following characteristics- It is also called as the quadrant of value and Here, managers learn new skills and develops interpersonal relations.
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29.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Mind mapping is a popular technique used to stimulate creativity and generate new ideas in an individual. It should use all of the following except map.
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30.
Answer : (e)
Reason : According to Pradip Khandawalla, there are various techniques adopted for increasing the creativity. The technique, which involves working back on a solution that has been selected for implementation and helps to identify various pitfalls in the solution is called as demolition techniques.
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31.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Dr. Berne has described various types of psychological games, which has also got few peculiar names as ‘kick me’ etc. The outcomes for these games are highly unpredictable is incorrect regarding these games.
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32.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Executives can be classified into different groups based on their decision making type. The executives, with very strong personalities and are suspicious of data which is against their general belie are classified as Skeptics.
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33.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Chang agents are the people, who are progressive and pioneering and are continually motivated to create better organization. The following are not the characteristics of a change agent - They wait for others to start the change and They do not look for opinions about their ideas.
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34.
Answer : (e)
Reason : The ability to do what is good for the organization and workforce even in the face of difficulties is known as courage.
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35.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Executives can be classified into different groups based on their decision making type. The following are incorrect regarding the thinkers - They do not like arguments, which are quantitative and backed by data, They possess good social skills and Thinkers never take contradictory views in meetings.
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36.
Answer : (b)
Reason : A crisis is an acute unplanned event that constitutes a real or perceived threat to the public etc. the crisis, which is known as acts of God and cannot be prevented by human being is known as Natural disasters.
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37.
Answer : (e)
Reason : The interpersonal skills of managers are always important while managing conflicts in an organization. The approach to conflict management, in which both the parties involved in the conflict forgo something that they were trying to achieve in order to reach an agreement is called as compromising.
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38.
Answer : (b)
Reason : To build up an awareness of the importance of work-life balance in employees, the companies should take following measures – to identify the pitfalls in the work pattern and To provide options like flexi times etc.
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39.
Answer : (a)
Reason: Six thinking hat is a technique, becoming increasingly popular nowadays. White hat involves collection of the necessary information, which is neutral without any interpretations and analysis.
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40.
Answer : (e)
Reason : One of the most important strategies for better time management is delegation. All of the following factors, a manager should consider while delegating the work to its subordinate?
I. Nature of work.
II. Manager should be specific, while delegating work.
III. Time limit of delegation.
IV. Reason for delegating the work.
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41.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Time logs are used by employees to fill in a detailed account of the time spent at the workplace and can be designed for daily, weekly or fortnightly etc. “It should be used mainly to monitor the employees and for keeping a control on them” is not true regarding time log.
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42.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Lateral thinking is an effective technique to stimulate creativity. The following are incorrect regarding lateral thinking - Vertical thinking is not ideal in time of crisis and Lateral thinking looks for non-diverse solutions.
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43.
Answer : (e)
Reason : In crisis management, communication plays a vital role, and so all organizations should have a proper crisis communication plan. The following are the steps in preparing a crisis communication plan
I. Team with cross section of employees should be formed.
II. A location should be arranged, where all people can come at the time of crisis.
III. The contact list should be regularly updated.
IV. The person taking decisions regarding the sensitive information should be identified.
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44.
Answer : (d)
Reason : People should be proactive rather than reactive and always try to avoid the stress first. One of the means to avoid the stress is holistic therapies. The following are not true regarding this therapy- These therapies have some side effect, nutrition therapy stresses upon taking right medicines and reflexology involves applying gentle force on the pressure points on forehead.
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45.
Answer : (d)
Reason : A time abuser is a person, who has a constant fear of being evaluated or being questioned about his / her work by a superiors and so resorts to procrastination. They are classified into different types, which show following characteristics - Preemptive person seldom takes care of the quality of the work, The people pleasers are over-committed person and Analyzers could not meet the deadline.
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46.
Answer : (c)
Reason : According to Pradip Khandawalla, there are various techniques adopted for increasing the creativity. The technique, which involves generating a large number of ideas and emphasis is laid on quantity rather than quality of ideas is called as ideating techniqu.
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47.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Kaizen’ is used to bring about an improvement in the operation process and is used to describe minor changes in operations.
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48.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The manager must set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed goals.
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49.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The managers must take note of the qualitative and quantitative standards that are to be maintained in case of the 4Ms.The four resources are manely :
(1) Man.
(2) Machine.
(3) Money.
(4) Materials.
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50.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The culture of any country and its work place is influenced by five dimensions namely :
(1) Power distance
(2) Masculinity Vs Femininity
(3) Uncertainty Avoidence
(4) Individualism Vs Collectivism
There is fifth dimension put forward by Hofstede. It is “ Long-term Orientation
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51.
Answer :(c)
Reason : Communication competency is the capability or proficiency to communicate effectively
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52.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Positive stress is called eustress It has temporary effects. In this case the student waiting for his results may be under eustress, and once he passes the exam his stress levels come back to normal.
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53.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Stress that occours due to lack of resources or scarce resources at the workplace is callesd job stress. Some common job stressors are:
(1) Difficult clients/ Subordinates/ Superiors/ Colleagues
(2) Personal Inadequacy
(3) Role conflicts
(4) Setting high goals
(5) Overwork and deadlines
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54.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The physical effects of stress are:
(1) Increased heart rate and blood pressure
(2) Sudden increase or decrease in weight
(3) Insomnia
(4) Nervous weakness
(5) Reduced immunity to common colds and flu
(6) Frequent headaches
(7) Ulcers and weak digestive system.
Increased usage of food, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs comes under psychological affects.
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55.
Answer : (c)
Reason : advantages of laughter are:
(1) It reduces tension and relaxes facial muscles
(2) It releases the endorphins or feel-good hormones in the brain which fight against pain and stress
(3) It improves blood circulation
(4) It minimizes blood pressure
(5) It reduces the respiratory problems of a person
(6) It strengthen the body’s immunity by raising levels of disease- fighting cells
(7) It helps develop an optimistic attitude.
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56.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Meditation is one of the most effective techniques in reducing and avoiding stress. Regular meditation helps in stress reduction. It
(1) It enables one to control the thought process
(2) It enables one to take effective decisions
(3) It helps in physical and mental relaxation
(4) It improves concentration
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57.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The focus of time management is more in ‘investing time’ in activities or tasks that are important
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58.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Time logs are used by employees to fill in a detailed account of the time spent at the work place. They can be designed for daily, weekly, or fortnightly use and can help I identifying how many hours an individual spends on actual work.
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59.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The good moderator conducting the meeting should ensure that:
(1) The agenda is fixed and only relevant items are included in it
(2) The agenda is circulated to members and members come prepared to the meeting with the required material
(3) The procedural aspects of the meeting are decided before the meeting and not during the meeting
(4) The meeting involves only those who are directly associated or affected by the issue
(5) The meeting starts on time in spite of late arrivals of members
(6) An appropriate style is adopted
(7) All members adhere to the agenda
(8) If any irrelevancies crop up, they are handled politely but firmly
(9) A person is in charge of taking down the minutes of the meeting and circulating them at the end of the meeting
(10) A time limit is specified for each item on the agenda and if the time limit is exceeded the moderator should insist that the issue is discussed later
(11) Discipline in attendance, participation, and conduct of the members is monitored
(12) The meeting arrives at a decision or a solution
(13) There is a follow up to ensure proper implementation of decision taken.
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60.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Tips for a manager to handle interruptions:
(1) The office environment should be austere and should convey a message of a serious work place
(2) A manager should retain a sense of time when talking to unexpected visitors
(3) The desk of the manager should face away from the door
(4) A manager should have a half-closed door rather than an open door
A manager should set aside specific time for meetings and visitors
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61.
Answer : (e)
Reason : When a person takes more responsibilities than he can handle, he is called a YES man. Such people rarely say ‘no’ so as to avoid confrontations.
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62.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The second phase of planning involves taking a wide-angle view of future events and scheduling them. It involves planning and preparing for unforeseen situations
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63.
Answer : (a)
Reason : The quadrant I is called the quadrant of crises. It involves a lot of crises handling and results in stress for the managers. Manager in this quadrant should spend more time on planning for important issues without procrastinating.
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64.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Delegation is the process of giving authority to a person to undertake activities or tasks on behalf of another person.
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65.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The ability to produce unusual, novel answers to questions and interpretations of situations. This is called Originality.
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66.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Inventing stage involves searching for variety of tools, techniques, and methods that might help on out-of-box thinking. Different people use different techniques to stimulate creative ideas.
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67.
Answer : (d)
Reason : A stimulating , diverse, rewarding, and challenging work environment helps develop the creative thinking ability. An environment in which risk taking and experimentation are encouraged is highly creative.
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68.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Extremization technique involve encouraging employees to suggest creative solutions that are different from the conventional ones for certain unforeseen problems.
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69.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The four important rules for conducting rainstorming sessions are:
(a) Initially when the participants generate a number of ideas, a manager must ensure that there is no criticism against the ideas or participants
(b) The participants must be encouraged to produce ideas in their original form as they occur to them without modifying them in any way
(c) The emphasis must be on unusual ideas as they remove mental blocks and help in generating a novel idea
The participants must be encouraged to build on each other’s ideas
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70.
Answer : (d)
Reason : The negative emotions are:
(1) intention
(2) incompetence
(3) infidelity
(4) insensitivity
(5) intrusiveness
(6) institutional
(7) inevitability
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71.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Consequences of the existence of negative emotions at the workplace are :
1. Low productivity
2. Absenteeism
3. High employee turnover
4. Lack of motivation
5. Increase in customer complaints
6. Increased wastages in production process
7. Reduction in product quality
8. Increase conflicts
9. Loss of team spirit and creativity
10. Loss of faith in the organization.
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72.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Cognition is the mental process of learning, which includes aspects like awareness, perception, interpretation, and judgment.
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73.
Answer : (c)
Reason : If a manager asks his subordinate, ‘Do you need anyone to assist in your work?’ And in his mind, he may be thinking, ‘Lazy fellow, he cannot finish that work on time.’ It is an example of Ulterior transaction.
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74.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The leadership plan consists of :
(1) Leadership audit
(2) Leadership plan
(3) Dedication
(4) Evaluation.
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75.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Perform : When people walk, think, and act like leaders, they will slowly begin to feel that they have actually become leaders.
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76.
Answer : (a)
Reason : The objectives that a vision should meet are :
1. The vision should help the subordinates attain a sense of shared responsibility and significant purpose in the functioning of the organization
2. The leader’s vision represents his/her values. The employees should be able to understand the vision and the values of the leader
3. The vision should be clear and communicated properly
4. The vision should instill enthusiasm among the followers.
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77.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Persuasion is a form of communication which is aimed at making a person or a group accept as their own product, person, idea, thing, or opinion that they would otherwise not support
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78.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Middle level managers yearn for opportunities to demonstrate and develop their talents. Hence they are most likely to take up challenges. Providing the right challenge can motivate talented and capable individuals.
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79.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Tips which would help leaders to communicate assertively at the time of a conflict are :
1. Before making any verbal outburst, they should think about their motives
2. They should state what has happened in clear terms
3. They should explain the effect of the other person’s behavior on themselves and outline what they think needs to be changed
They should explain the possible benefits that can be derived from their suggestions
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80.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The following types of subordinates have a certain amount of power in relation to the leader.
1. Subordinates who have skills which are difficult to replace
2. Subordinates who have unique or exclusive information or knowledge
3. Subordinates who maintain good relationships with the leaders
4. Subordinates whose jobs are crucial and have a high impact on the performance of the boss
Subordinates whose jobs are related to other important jobs in the organization, thus making other important people in the organization indirectly dependent on them.
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81.
Answer : (c)
Reason : A leader has to keep in mind the following assumptions in effecting change : (1) Organizations are unique, and so are the working system in them
(2) Leadership is the engine that drives the vehicle called change in the organization
1 Leading change is a process, not a change
2. Managers in an organization know the direction of change better than outsiders such as consultants
3. Change has to be driven, both bottom-up, and top-down
4. People participation is the key that unlocks change. People support what they create
5. Organizations are systems
6. Change can involve both rational and irrational situations
A sense of timing is as important as leadership is, in ensuring change.
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82.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Corporate strategy is the prime instrument for ushering in change in an organization.
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83.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Points which a leader can adopt to counter resistance to change are :
1. Leader should not build up improbable expectations in the mind of employees
2. They should be honest with employees while communicating a change
3. It is the leader who should erase all bad past memories of mistrust among departments and teams in the organization and get the people ready to work together in the future amicably
4. Leaders should see that people do not react to a change by overlooking it, hopping that it won’t affect then. As this may amount to authencating this unhealthy practice
The leaders should continuously measure the progress of change in quantitative terms.
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84.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Characteristics of change agents are :
1. They are able to create an atmosphere which is conductive for change
2. They are able to consider change as an ally and not as something that is to be avoided
3. They are adept at all the rational and emotional aspects of change
4. They do not wait for others to start a change. They themselves start the process
5. They asist in the smmoth progress of change rather than enforcing it forcibly
6. They are able to discard old ideas easily and adopt new ones when the situation demands it
7. They are open to criticism and often look for opinions about their ideas
They have the talent to persuade others to accept their ideas.
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85.
Answer : (c)
Reason : A smoldering crisis is “any serious business problem which is not generally known within or without the company, which may generate negative news coverage if or when it goes “public” and could result in more than a predetermined amount in fines, penalties, legal damage awards, unbudgeted expenses, and other costs.”
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86.
Answer : (e)
Reason : steps to prevent a crisis are :
1. Plan for a crisis
2. Formulating strategies for dealing with a crisis
3. Having written plans
4. Establishing clear chains of command.
Implementing is incorrect as it is done at the time of crisis.
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87.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Risk management is the sum of all proactive management-directed activities within a program that are intended to acceptably accommodate the possibility of failures in elements of the program.
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88.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Cultural fluency is based on the ability to identify, understand, and apply cultural variables that influence the communicative behavior of members of different cultures.
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89
Answer : (e)
Reason : Factor for enhancing multi-cultural communication skills are :
1. Objective
2. Style of communication
3. Integrity
4. Message
Language barriers
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90
Answer : (b)
Reason : Stereotypes are certain basic characteristic that distinguish one culture from another.
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91
Answer : (c)
Reason : Judgment is the ability to evaluate all possible courses of action and use that ability to make decisions based on previous experiences and logic.
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92
Answer : (d)
Reason : Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand another person’s condition, feelings and motives.
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93
Answer : (d)
Reason : The techniques to deal with procrastination are slicing technique, balancing aspects technique, incentive technique and group technique.
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94
Answer : (d)
Reason : Controllers are more interested in pure facts and the logic of arguments and hate uncertainty and ambiguity.They make snap judgments and curt remarks that can alienate them from others.
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95
Answer : (e)
Reason : Intrapreneurship is developing innovative can creative ideas within an organization.this means that the organizations must pursue all creative ideas. The management encourages creative ideas from the employees of the organization and outsiders. Management should create an environment where the cost of developing creative ideas is minimized. All the statements are true.
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96
Answer : (b)
Reason : Subordinates who have skills, which are easy to replace and subordinates whose jobs are crucial and have a low impact on the boss performance are not the types of subordinates having a certain amount of power in relation to the leader.
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97
Answer : (c)
Reason : Reflexology involves applying gentle force on pressure points in the hands and feet and it works on the circulatory, nervous and lymphatic systems.
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98
Answer : (d)
Reason : When the child is hateful or affectionate, spontaneous or playful it is called the natural child.
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99
Answer : (d)
Reason : The adult ego state constantly verifies the recordings of parent data and the recordings cannot be erased but can only be turned off. It determines the appropriateness of expression and emotions in each situation. Therefore, statement (II) is not true.
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100
Answer : (c)
Reason : Stress is defined as anything that disrupts the normal person’s physical or mental well-being and occurs when the body performs activities outside its capabilities.
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