Commerce Accountancy

Management and Organizational Behavior

2,437 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

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.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements: According to F.W. Riggs, Comparative Public Administration involves a shift from

  1. normative to empirical.
  2. non-ecological to ecological.
  3. idiographic to nomothetic.
  4. inter-disciplinary to intra-disciplinary. Which of these is/are correct?

  1. Only 1

  2. 1 and 2

  3. 1, 2 and 3

  4. 2, 3 and 4
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

F.W. Riggs identified three major trends in the development of Comparative Public Administration: a shift from normative to empirical studies, from idiographic to nomothetic approaches, and from non-ecological to ecological perspectives. Statement 4 is incorrect as the field became more inter-disciplinary.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements: The New Public Management perspective

  1. theorises proactive participation of public-minded communities.
  2. emphasizes on inter-agency adhocracies.
  3. does not dismiss non-public administrative structures as extra legal.
  4. concentrates on existing institutions, organisations and bureaucracies. Which of these is/are correct?

  1. Only 1

  2. 2 and 3

  3. 3 and 4

  4. 1, 2 and 3
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The New Public Management (NPM) perspective encourages the proactive participation of communities and non-state actors in governance. It seeks to move away from rigid, existing bureaucracies (contradicting statement 4) and utilizes non-public structures for service delivery.

Multiple choice

The emergence of 'New Public Administration' is associated with:

  1. Comparative Administration Group

  2. Minnowobrook Conference

  3. American Society of Public Administration

  4. National Association of Schools of Public Administration

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

The Minnowbrook Conference of 1968, chaired by Dwight Waldo, is the landmark event most closely associated with the birth of New Public Administration. It brought together young scholars to discuss the relevance and values of the field. Other groups like the CAG focused more on comparative and developmental administration.

Multiple choice

Which of the following are the main features of a secondary group? 1. Members have intimate and co-operative relationships. 2. Its members maintain relatively limited, formal and impersonal relationships with one another. 3. It is generally a specific or specialized group with a well-defined division of labour. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only

  2. 2 and 3 only

  3. 1 and 3 only

  4. 1, 2 and 3
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Secondary groups are characterized by formal, impersonal, and goal-oriented relationships rather than the intimate ties found in primary groups. They typically feature a clear division of labor and are formed to achieve specific tasks.

Multiple choice

Directions: The question below contains four sentences; (A), (B), (C), (D). By arranging the four sentences in the right order, you have to frame a meaningful paragraph. Choose the correct option from the five alternatives that arranges the sentences in the right order and mark it as the answer.

(A) Organisations today are becoming increasingly populated by youthful highly skilled, highly educated workers.

(B) Two of the most prevalent and provocative organizational dynamics of our time are the themes of participation and change.

(C) These demands for participation are creating pressures for internal organizational change which are matched only by external environmental pressures for organizational change.

(D) These young, skilled and educated workers bring with them demands for a voice in the determination of their own organizational destiny - a change to participate in those decisions which affect their organizational lives.

  1. ABDC

  2. ABCD

  3. BADC

  4. BCDA

  5. DCAB
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

 The lead statement contains the introduction of the passage, which is participation and change(B). This is followed by the introduction of the other subject, highly skilled and educated workers(A). The sequence available is BADC.

Multiple choice

There are two statements: (1) Boundry between organisation and its environment cannot be exact and definite. (2) Organisation interacts continously with its environment; it is affected by environment and also affects the environment.

Which of the above statements are Correct?

  1. 1 only

  2. 2 only

  3. Both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Organizations are open systems that exist within a dynamic environment. Because environments are complex and constantly changing, the boundaries between an organization and its surroundings are permeable and fluid rather than fixed.

Multiple choice

Match the following Leadership Style Attributes (a) Autocratic (1) Structured Decisions (b) Benevolent (2) Friendly climate for decisions (c) Consultative (3) Team decisions (d) Participative (4) Traditional decisions

  1. (a) 4 (b) 1 (c) 3 (d) 2

  2. (a) 4 (b) 1 (c) 2 (d) 3

  3. (a) 1 (b) 4 (c) 2 (d) 3

  4. (a) 1 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Autocratic leadership relies on traditional decisions (a-4). Benevolent leadership uses structured decisions (b-1). Consultative leadership creates a friendly climate (c-2). Participative leadership involves team decisions (d-3).

Multiple choice

Kids these days have high achievement drive.

So what’s actually new to add to your list of “Big Concerns” for the future? With all due respect to professional prognosticators, which we are not, we’d add three items, based on a recent set of small-session meetings with executives in the United States, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India.

The first item – and biggest by far –  concerns family businesses, which make up a major portion of many economies. Such companies, of course, have distinct strengths. They can give employees a sense of humanity and belonging creating engagement. And in hard times, their cultures can be forgiving and resilient.

But we sense a growing fault line beneath the foundation of many family businesses. The first reason is linked to the traditional family company focus on the preservation of wealth, rather than the accumulation of it. That “protect the assets” approach may have worked in less complex times, but it could prove devastating in a global environment where risk taking and growth are essential to survival.

And then there is succession, which has never been easy within family firms. But today, increasingly longevity means that many patriarchs are staying in power for years longer, essentially forcing a whole new generation of family members into other pursuits. “Kids” these days do not wait until they are 50 to take charge and have an impact. It’s awkward and stultifying.

  1. Yes

  2. No
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage notes that 'Kids these days do not wait until they are 50 to take charge and have an impact', implying they have a strong drive to achieve.