Commerce Accountancy

Management and Organizational Behavior

2,434 Questions

Management and organizational behavior explore how individuals and groups interact within an organization. This hub covers motivation theories, leadership styles, and delegation. These topics are essential for commerce students and competitive exam aspirants.

Work motivation theoriesLeadership stylesDelegation of authorityOrganizational structure typesPerformance appraisal aimsGroup dynamics and social loafing

Management and Organizational Behavior Questions

Multiple choice

According to Herzberg, motivators are

  1. dissatisfiers

  2. satisfiers

  3. hygiene factors

  4. both (2) and (3)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Herzberg called motivators 'satisfiers' because they create job satisfaction when present. They're different from hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) which prevent dissatisfaction but don't motivate when present.

Multiple choice

______ developed the scientific management school.

  1. F.W. Taylor

  2. F.M. Taylor

  3. M.F. Taylor

  4. Henry Fayol
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Frederick Winslow Taylor (F.W. Taylor) developed scientific management, focusing on efficiency, time-motion studies, and optimizing worker productivity. Henry Fayol developed administrative theory with 14 principles of management.

Multiple choice

A management style that exists when the to management grants subordinate managers a significant degree of autonomy and independence in operating and making decisions for their organisational units, is called

  1. centralisation

  2. delegation

  3. decentralisation

  4. span of control
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Decentralization involves top management granting significant autonomy and decision-making authority to subordinate managers for their units. Delegation is assigning specific tasks, centralization concentrates authority, and span of control refers to how many subordinates report to a manager.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage and complete the sentence.

Externals perceive themselves

Directions: In this Section you have six short passages. After each passage you will find several questions based on the passage. First, read Passage- I, and answer the questions based on it then go on the other passages.
PASSAGE-III

Some people believe that they are masters of their own fate. Other people see themselves as pawans of a fate, believing that what happens to them in their lives is due to luck or chance. The first type, those who believe that they control their destinies, have been labeled internals, whereas the latter, who see their lives as being controlled by outside forces, have been called externals. Internals search more actively for information before making a decision, are more motivated to achieve, and make a greater attempt to control their environment. Externals, however, are more compliant and willing to follow directions. Therefore, internals do will on sophisticated tasks-which include most managerial and professional jobs-that require complex information processing and learning. In addition, internals are more suited to jobs that require initiative and independence of action, almost all successful salespeople, for instance are internals. In contrast, externals should do well on jobs that are well structured and routine and in which success depends heavily on complying with the directions of others.

  1. as having little control over organizational outcome

  2. as critical to the success of the organizational

  3. as those who can influence sales volumes

  4. as those who search frantically for more information

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage states that externals 'see their lives as being controlled by outside forces' and 'are more compliant and willing to follow directions.' Option A correctly reflects this perception - they see themselves as having little control over organizational outcomes because they believe external forces control results. Options B, C, and D describe internals or other traits not attributed to externals.

Multiple choice

Direction for question: The following question has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.

Most firms consider expert individuals to be too elitist, temperamental, egocentric, and difficult to work with. Force such people to collaborate on a high - stakes project and they just might come to fisticuffs. Even the very notion of managing such a group seems unimaginable. So most organizations fall into default mode, setting up project teams of people who get along nicely _________________.

  1. The result, however, is disastrous.

  2. The result is mediocrity.

  3. The result is creation of experts who then become elitists.

  4. Naturally, they drive innovations.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The right answer is (2). 

When the organizations compromised by setting up project teams not of the best brains but of people who get along nicely, the result has to be mediocrity.  No other answer logically fits in.

Multiple choice

Mooney and Reiley have called the principle of hierarchy as:

  1. channel system

  2. superior-subordinate relationship

  3. equivalence of responsibility

  4. scalar process
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Mooney and Reiley described the principle of hierarchy as the scalar process, which refers to a graded series of steps in a chain of command. This process ensures a continuous flow of authority from the top to the bottom of the organization. It is a fundamental concept in classical management theory.

Multiple choice

Authority is most closely related to:

  1. size of organization

  2. human personality

  3. incentives and rewards

  4. control and supervision
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Authority is the formal right to give orders and the power to exact obedience, which is fundamentally linked to control and supervision. Without authority, a supervisor cannot effectively oversee the work of subordinates or ensure organizational standards are met. While incentives and personality matter, the structural essence of authority is control.

Multiple choice

The principle of 'span of attention' was formulated by:

  1. Graicunas

  2. Gullick

  3. Mooney

  4. Seckler-Hudson
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

V.A. Graicunas is credited with formulating the principle of 'span of attention' in the context of the span of control. He developed a mathematical formula to show how the number of relationships increases exponentially as the number of subordinates increases. This highlights the psychological limits on how many people a manager can effectively supervise.

Multiple choice

To Chester Barnard, the following statement can be attributed:

  1. formal organization is less important than informal organization

  2. both formal and informal organizations are important

  3. formal organization remains more important than informal organization

  4. formal organizations play a key role in administrative effectiveness
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Chester Barnard emphasized that both formal and informal organizations are essential and coexist within any enterprise. He argued that informal organizations (social groups) facilitate communication and cohesion, which supports the formal structure's goals. Therefore, neither can be viewed in isolation for effective administration.

Multiple choice

Luther Gullick's POSDCORB represents the functions of:

  1. line agency

  2. staff agency

  3. operational agency

  4. controlling agency
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Luther Gullick's POSDCORB acronym describes the functional duties of a chief executive, who is the head of the line organization. These functions (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting) are the core activities required to manage the primary operations of an agency. While some are support-like, they define the work of the executive line.

Multiple choice

'Bureaucratic staff increases in inverse proportion to the amount of work done.' This view can be attributed to:

  1. Parkinson

  2. Laurence Peter

  3. Warren Bennis

  4. Rogers
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

C. Northcote Parkinson formulated Parkinson's Law, which suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. He specifically observed that in bureaucracies, the number of staff tends to increase regardless of the actual workload. This inverse relationship highlights the self-perpetuating nature of administrative growth in large organizations.

Multiple choice

GANGPLANK is a device to:

  1. reduce the defects of hierarchy

  2. resolve the problem of centralisation

  3. lengthen the span of control

  4. improve the process of delegation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Henry Fayol introduced the 'gangplank' concept to allow direct communication between employees at the same level in different departments. This bypasses the rigid scalar chain (hierarchy) to speed up communication and prevent delays in urgent situations. It effectively mitigates the slowness and rigidity often found in strict hierarchical structures.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not a correct statement about the principle of Hierarchy?

  1. It hinders superior-subardinates relationship

  2. It facilitates exercise of authority

  3. It helps in coordinating the activities

  4. It helps in channellising communication
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Hierarchy is designed to clarify and facilitate the relationship between superiors and subordinates by defining clear lines of authority. It does not inherently hinder these relationships; rather, it provides the structure within which they operate. Options B, C, and D are all recognized benefits or functions of a hierarchical organizational structure.