MS-025: Managing Change In Organization last 3 yrs paper
June, 2021
Section-A
- What is Organisational Culture? Briefly discuss the aspects which have to be taken into consideration setup. Explain with examples.
- What are the probable purpose of Mergers and Acquisitions? Are there any strategy can be used as alternative to Mergers and Acquisitions? Explain with relevant examples.
- What is the significance of organisational diagnosis? Briefly explain the utility of open system analysis model. Cite suitable examples.
- Why do individuals and organisations resist change? What are the sources of individual and organisational resistance? Expain with relevent examples.
- Write short note on any three of the following:
(a) Turnaround Management
(b) Types of team
(c) Functional Organisation structure
(d) Structural Intervention
(e) Transformational Leadership
- Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the end
Sunrise Industries wasn’t always a big industrial giant. In fact, it has a very humble beginning. Kamaldeep, an electrical enginner, set up a small scale industrial unit in 1975. To start with, he undertook assembly and sale of sewing machines under the name ‘Sunrise’ and gradually started manufacture of certain spare parts. Because of better quality, greater selling skills and lower profit margin, his sales turnover touched the figure of Rs. 1 crore during 1979-80. The products included sewing machines, irons, fans, gysers, etc
In 1981, Kamaldeep, entered into a partnership with Ankit, an M.B.A., who contributed a lot of capital into the business. The firm acquired a big industrial plot in the New Industurial Area of Ludhiana and converted their business into a company known as Sunrise Indsutries Ltd. in 1982. The brand name ‘Sunrise’ was also registered in the name of the company. The company started the commercial production of single tub washing machines and instant geysers in 1983. Kamaldeep looked after production and Ankit took care of marketing and finance. They never looked back as they had a motivated workforce of 40 workers and 5 foremen who worked like a big family
It was during 1990 that the company shifted its head, office to New Delhi and entered into a technical collaboration agreement with a foreign company. As a result, new generation twin tub semi-automatic washing and vacuum cleaners were launched in 1991 and the products were well received in the market because of latest technology and expanding market for electrical gadgets. The sales turnover increased tremendously every year
During the first few years, the management and employees of Sunrise Industries were nothing more than a group of friends and relatives. There were no job descriptions, no formalized procedures and not much division of labour. All the people worked together and shared the problem of each other. The decisionmaking was participative in the sense everyone was free to give his opinion whenever any problem arose. Thus, there were cordial relations between the management and the employees. But after the collaboration agreement in 1990, the organisational structureof the company started changing dramatically. Because of massive expansion, a large number of workers, foremen, executives and professionals were recruited and separate departments were created for the production of sewing machines, irons, fans, geysers, washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Formalization got momentum further with the creation of separate Finance. Marketing and Human Resource divisions. Now all the jobs in the company are standardized, there are job descriptions, manuals, many rules and procedures and also an elaborate management information system. All the important decisions are taken at the top and there are many layers between the top management and the workers because of vertical differentiation that has taken place during the past five years.
The quarterly reports of the last year reveal that percentage of customer complaints is on the rise, the morale of the workers is going down and commitment of the workers to the orgnaisation is on the decline
Questions:
(a) What changes in structural dimensions have taken place in Sunrise Industries?
(b) Is the present structure organic? Give reasons for your answer.
(c) Which approach to organisation do you feel can help the company tackle the current problems?
Section-B
February, 2021
Section-A
- Define and discuss Planned Change. Briefly describe ‘Work Redesign’ as a technique of Planned Organisational Change. Cite suitable examples.
- What are the key elements in designing the structure of an organisation? Enumerate different types of organisation structures, and discuss any two types with relevant examples.
- Define and describe Organisational Diagnosis. Briefly discuss the domains of Organizational Diagnosis. Explain with suitable examples.
- Briefly discuss the key roles in managing organisational change. How do internal resource persons help consultants in bringing about change? Explain with examples.
- Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Skills of a Change Agent
(b) Steps Involved in Turnaround Management
(c) Weisbord’s Six-Box Model
(d) Intergroup Interventions
(e) Process of Managing Transition
- Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the end:
Three Star Polyplastics Manufacturing Co. Ltd., was founded in 1978 by Mr. Bishan Singh after retirement from his military service. In 1995, it was still family owned, had no union and was conservatively and paternalistically managed. The company adapted to changes slowly, but it remained a profitable enterprise.
In 1982, the company sent five of its first line supervisors to a human relations training programme, but the liberal ideas with which the supervisors were indoctrinated made a negative impression on the company’s top management. As a result, all supervisory training was conducted in-house after that. In 1989, labour problems and conflicts between the supervisors and the human resource department led the management to enrol the company’s 15 supervisors in a 5-day executive development programme organised by a management consultancy firm. This change of policy was initiated by the new H.R.D. Manager, Mr. S.P. Jain. To avoid having too many supervisors away from the factory at once, three were sent to each monthly programme.
Mr. Deepak, a young supervisor who had a production engineering background, returned from the executive development programme excited about what he had learnt, especially about delegation of authority, giving employees the opportunity to assume the maximum possible responsibility and establishing channels of open communication with employees. After the Friday afternoon session, Mr. Deepak discussed some of these ideas with his immediate superior, Mr. Naresh Kumar. Both seemed genuinely pleased to learn that Mr. Deepak felt he had benefitted from the management development programme.
When Mr. Deepak returned to work on Monday morning, he discovered that several quality control problems had to be dealt with, a report was due, and several employees needed to talk with him about work schedule problems. It was Friday afternoon before he realised that he had not yet been able to take any of the ideas about which he had become so enthusiastic. By this time, the frustrations of the week had taken the edge off his enthusiasm, and he become preoccupied with the pleasant thought of a relaxed weekend with his family. He felt that Monday morning would a good time to begin the new ideas.
Questions:
(a) What is the probability that the ‘‘outstanding’’ training programme will change the behaviour of the concerned supervisors?
(b) What factors in this organisation function as a deterrent to change?
(c) What, if any, OD interventions do you recommend in this situation?
(d) What steps do you recommend to stimulate lasting changes in supervisory behaviour?
Section-B
June, 2020
Section-A
- “History has time and again proven that the process of change is inevitable in the progress of mankind. The ability of the human race to innovate has brought about radical transformation of society. Management of change is and will continue to be a natural cancern for most of the organisations world over.” Elaborate this statement and discuss the underlying concepts with suitable examples
- What is `Turnaround Management’? Discuss the steps involved in bringing about turnaround management in an organisational setup. Explain with suitable examples.
- What is Intervention’? Briefly discuss personal, inter-personal, and group-based intervention. Explain with suitable examples.
- What is the role of HRD in managing change? Briefly describe the skills required for the role of a change agent in an organisational setup, with suitable examples.
- Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Organisational culture and organisational change
(b) Functional organisational structure
(c) Alternatives to mergers and acquisitions
(d) Resistance to change
(e) ) Leadership in managing change
- Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the end:
Helen supervises the word processing/data entry (WP/DE) unit for the Department of Administration of State Government. She has held this job for about a year and is well liked by the employees in her unit. Helen took this job with the state as a step up from her former position as a data entry lead worker in an insurance company in the same city. Though Helen has a “task-oriented”, professional approach to her work and high standards of quality, she also has good interpersonal skills and handles her employees well. Her supervisory style could be characterized as traditional—low in participativeness, but sensitive to employee need and rights.
Rani is Helen’s assistant. She has been a word processing employee since the new computerized equipment was installed four years ago. She was a secretary for many years before that. Her excellent woik and leadership qualities were noticed, and she Was promoted at the same time that Helen was hired. The two have gotten along well with each other. The WP/DE unit was created by Helen’s predecessor in a difficult and stressful transition from individual units having their own secretary to the processing “pool” of employees with all computerized equipment. Data entry was added with the increased use of new information and decision support systems by various state agencies. At present, the work area consists of four circles of word processing equipment stations (16 employees) and a row of 10 data entry employees and their equipment (See Exhibit 1):
Interestingly, the employees who handle word processing tasks are different in several ways from the data entry employees. Almost all of the WP employees had been secretaries prior to learning to use the computer equipment; this is not true of data entry employees. The WP employees typically wear formal business attire to work, while their counterparts in DE dress much more casually, including jeans and Tshirts. The immediate work spaces of the employees also differs, depending on their WP or DE work assignments. WP machines are covered with personal objects, like family pictures, radios, flowers, etc. The DE area has a noticeable lack of such decorations, with only an occasional cartoon taped to a machine. The DE employees are not as ownership oriented about their computers. Other, less visible differences in attitudes and behavioum also serve to create two distinct subgroups in Helen’s unit.
Since the WP/DE unit was created, it continued to evolve and develop. Much of the work for the unit came in large batches due to project startups, committee report work with tight deadlines and so on. When the legislature was in session, the DE employees sometimes received large batches of work on very short notice. Alll too often, these employees are swamped with work while their WP counterparts barely have enough to keep them busy. The opposite situation also arises on occasion. And if a WP or DE employee calls in sick, that computer sits idle for the day. There is no provision to replace the absent employee, regardless of workload demands.
Recently, top administration decided that some new machines should be added to the WP/DE unit. In conjunction with those additions, Helen was to be responsible for having the DE employees learn how to use the WP equipment and vice-versa. As Helen thought about the implementation of the cross-training requirement, she knew there might be resistance from some employees. She was careful to devise what she felt was a method to accomplish the cross-training over a period of three months—enough time to give her employees sufficient training support. She felt her plan was realistic and fair, and that the whole unit would be able to work more efficiently once that plan was accomplished. Her boss heartily endorsed the plan when she presented it to him. Shortly after announcing the plan to her unit, Helen was confronted with major and unexpectedly hostile reactions from her employees. Many of them were upset about having to learn to operate the other machines. Others thought it was a good idea and a good opportunity, but were uncertain about the three,month time-table. Rani tended to agree that the plan was unfair and unreasonable. She expressed her concerns to Helen, but not to the other employees.
In an informal lunch meeting, 10 of the WP employees voted to resist the cross-training and later in the day, obtained support for their position from seven DE employees. They confronted Helen with their decision the next morning. Knowing that her boss was committed to the cross-training, Helen attempted to reason with her employees. But it seemed useless; they were adamant in their demands. Moreover, having heard about the resistance, the WP/DE employees who welcomed the crosstraining opportunities united and indicated their support for the change. For the first time since Helen had been the supervisor of the unit, WP employee ranks were split on an issue, siding with DE employees who were of the same opinion. The situation in the unit was certainly a divisive and volatile one. Helen was under pressure to solve the problem as soon as possible.
Questions:
(a) What would be your reactions to the way Helen handled the proposed change? Explain the reasons for resistance.
(b)What do you think will happen if Helen goes ahead with the cross-training, inspite of the resistance? Discuss the possible consequences.
(c) What are some of the supporting forces for change in this situation?
Section-B
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