Examination Paper of Human Resource Management

IIBM Institute of Business Management 1

IIBM Institute of Business Management

Subject Code-B-102 Examination Paper MM.100

Human Resource Management

Section A: Objective Type (30 marks)

This section consists of multiple choice & Short Notes type questions.

Answer all the questions.

Part one carries 1 mark each & Part two carries 5 marks each.

Part One:

Multiple choices:

1. It is a cultural attitude marked by the tendency to regard one’s own culture as superior to others.

a. Geocentrism

b. Polycentrism

c. Ethnocentrism

d. Egocentrism

2. It is the systemic study of job requirements & those factors that influence the performance of

those job requirements.

a. Job analysis

b. Job rotation

c. Job circulation

d. Job description

3. This Act provides an assistance for minimum statutory wages for scheduled employment

a. Payment of Wages Act, 1936

b. Minimum Wages Act, 1948

c. Factories Act, 1948

d. Payment of Gratuity act, 1972

4. __________ is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job.

a. Induction

b. Placement

c. Attrition

d. None of the above

5. Broadening an individual’s knowledge, skills & abilities for future responsibilities is known as:

a. Training

b. Development

c. Education

d. Mentoring

Examination Paper of Human Resource Management

IIBM Institute of Business Management 2

6. Change that is designed and implemented in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation of

future events.

a. Planned change

b. Technology change

c. Structural change

d. None of the above

7. It is a process for setting goals and monitoring progress towards achieving those goals:

a. Performance appraisal

b. Performance gap

c. Performance factor

d. Performance management system

8. A method which requires the rates to provide a subjective performance evaluation along a scale

from low to high.

a. Assessment centre

b. Checklist

c. Rating scale

d. Monitoring

9. It is the sum of knowledge, skills, attitudes, commitment, values and the liking of the people in an

organization.

a. Human resources

b. Personal management

c. Human resource management

d. Productivity

10. A learning exercise representing a real-life situation where trainees compete with each other to

achieve specific objectives.

a. Executive development

b. Management game

c. Programmed learning

d. Understudy

Part Two:

1. Explain the importance of Career Planning in industry.

2. Write the features of HRM.

3. Briefly explain the concept of Performance Appraisal.

4. Explain On-Job and Off Job Training.

END OF SECTION A

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IIBM Institute of Business Management 3

Section B: Case lets (40 marks)

This section consists of Case lets.

Answer all the questions.

Each Case let carries 20 marks.

Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150-200 words).

Case let 1

Trust them with knee-jerk reactions," said Vikram Koshy, CEO, Delta Software India, as he looked at the

quarterly report of Top Line Securities, a well-known equity research firm. The firm had announced a

downgrade of Delta, a company listed both on Indian bourses and the NASDAQ. The reason? "One out

of every six development engineers in the company is likely to be benched during the remaining part of

the year." Three analysts from Top Line had spent some time at Delta three weeks ago. Koshy and his

team had explained how benching was no different from the problems of excess inventory, idle time, and

surplus capacity that firms in the manufacturing sector face on a regular basis, "Delta has witnessed a

scorching pace of 30 per cent growth during the last five years in a row," Koshy had said, "What is

happening is a corrective phase." But, evidently, the analysts were unconvinced.

Why Bench?

Clients suddenly decide to cut back on IT spends Project mix gets skewed, affecting work allocation

Employee productivity is set to fall, creating slack working conditions. High degree of job specialization

leads to redundancy

What are the options?

Quickly cut costs in areas which are non-core look for learning’s from the manufacturing sector Focus on

alternative markets like Europe and Japan Move into products, where margins are better. Of course, the

Top Line report went on to cite several other "signals," as it said: the rate of annual hike in salaries at

Delta would come down to 5 per cent (from between 20 and 30 per cent last year); the entry-level intake

of engineers from campuses in June 2001, would decline to 5 per cent (unlike the traditional 30 per cent

addition to manpower every year); and earnings for the next two years could dip by between 10 and 12

per cent. And the loftiest of them all: "The meltdown at Nasdaq is unlikely to reverse in the near future."

"Some of the signals are no doubt valid. And ominous," said Koshy, addressing his A-Team, which had

assembled for the routine morning meeting. "But, clearly, everyone is reading too much into this business

of benching. In fact, benching is one of the many options that our principals in the US have been pursuing

as part of cutting costs right since September, 2000. They are also expanding the share of off-shore jobs.

Five of our principals have confirmed that they would outsource more from Delta in India-which is likely

to hike their billings by about 30 per cent. At one level, this is an opportunity for us. At another, of

course, I am not sure if we should be jubilant, because they have asked for a 25-30 per cent cut in billing

rates. Our margins will take a hit, unless we cut costs and improve productivity." "Productivity is clearly a

matter of priority now," said Vivek Varadan, Vice-President (Operations). "If you consider benching as a

non-earning mode, we do have large patches of it at Delta. As you are aware, it has not been easy to

secure 70 per cent utilization of our manpower, even in normal times. I think we need to look at why we

have 30 per cent bench before examining how to turn it into an asset." "There are several reasons,"

remarked Achyut Patwardhan, Vice-President (HR). "And a lot of it has to do with the nature of our

business, which is more project-driven than product-driven. When you are managing a number of

overseas and domestic projects simultaneously, as we do at Delta, people tend to go on the bench. They

wait, as they complete one project, and are assigned the next. There are problems of coordination between

projects, related to the logistics of moving people and resources from one customer to another. In fact, I

am fine-tuning our monthly manpower utilization report to provide a breakup of bench costs into

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IIBM Institute of Business Management 4

specifics-leave period, training programmes, travel time, buffers, acclimatization period et al." "It would

be worthwhile following the business model used by US principal Techno Inc," said Aveek Mohanty,

Director (Finance). "The company has a pipeline of projects, but it does not manage project by project.

What it does is to slice each project into what it calls 'activities'. For example, communication

networking; user interface development; scheduling of processes are activities common to all projects.

People move from one project to another. It is somewhat like the Activity Based Costing. It throws up the

bench time straightaway, which helps us control costs and revenue better." "I also think we should reduce

our dependence on projects and move into products," said Praveen Kumar, Director (Marketing). "That is

where the opportunity for brand building lies. In fact, now is the time to get our technology guys involved

in marketing. Multiskilling helps reduce the bench time." "Benching has an analogy in the manufacturing

sector," said Girish Shahane, Vice-President (Services). "We could look for learning's there. Many firms

have adopted Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory as part of eliminating idle time. It would be worthwhile

exploring the possibility of JIT. But the real learning lies in standardization of work. It is linked to what

Mohanty said about managing by activities." "At a broader level, I see several other opportunities," said

Koshy, "We can fill in the space vacated by US firms and move up the value chain. But before we do so,

Delta should consolidate its position as the premier outsourcing centre. Since there are only two ways in

which we can generate revenue-sell expertise or sell products-we should move towards a mix of both.

Tie-ups with global majors will help. Now is the time to look beyond the US and strike alliances with

firms in Europe- and also Japan-as part of developing new products for global markets."

Questions:

1. Should benching be a matter of concern at Delta?

2. What are the risks involved in moving from a project-centric mode to a mix of projects and

products?

Case let 2

The contexts in which human resources are managed in today's organizations are constantly, changing.

No longer do firms utilize one set of manufacturing processes, employ a homogeneous group of loyal

employees for long periods of time or develop one set way of structuring how work is done and

supervisory responsibility is assigned. Continuous changes in who organizations employ and what these

employees do require HR practices and systems that are well conceived and effectively implemented to

ensure high performance and continued success.

1. Automated technologies nowadays require more technically trained employees possessing multifarious

skills to repair, adjust or improve existing processes. The firms can't expect these employees (Gen X

employees, possessing superior technical knowledge and skills, whose attitudes and perceptions toward

work are significantly different from those of their predecessor organizations: like greater self control,

less interest in job security; no expectations of long term employment; greater participation urge in work

activities, demanding opportunities for personal growth and creativity) to stay on without attractive

compensation packages and novel reward schemes.

2. Technology driven companies are led by project teams, possessing diverse skills, experience and

expertise. Flexible and dynamic organizational structures are needed to take care of the expectations of

managers, technicians and analysts who combine their skills, expertise and experience to meet changing

customer needs and competitive pressures.

3. Cost cutting efforts have led to the decimation of unwanted layers in organizational hierarchy in recent

times. This, in turn, has brought in the problem of managing plateau employees whose careers seem to

have been hit by the delivering process. Organizations are, therefore, made to find alternative career paths

for such employees.

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IIBM Institute of Business Management 5

4. Both young and old workers, these days, have values and attitudes that stress less loyalty to the

company and more loyalty to oneself and one's career than those shown by employees in the past,

Organizations, therefore, have to devise appropriate HR policies and strategies so as to prevent the flight

of talented employees

Question:

1. Discuss that technological breakthrough has brought a radical changes in HRM.

Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks)

This section consists of Applied Theory Questions.

Answer all the questions.

Each question carries 15 marks.

Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200-250 words).

1. Several types of interviews are commonly used depending on the nature & importance of the

position to be filled within an organization. Explain the different types of Interviews.

2. Explain the legal provisions regarding safety of workers.

S-2-301012

END OF SECTION B

END OF SECTION C