Managing People
PART 1
MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2005
QUESTION PAPER
Time allowed
3 hours
This paper is divided into two sections
Section A
This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be
answered
Section B
FOUR questions ONLY to be answered
Do not open this paper until instructed by the supervisor
This question paper must not be removed from the examination
hall
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
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Section A – This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted
1 At Williams, Watkins and McDonald investment fund managers, there is a strong emphasis on democratic
management. The employees are grouped into teams with a team leader. The team is given sales targets to meet but is allowed to decide how it will go about meeting those targets. The team decides how it will organise work in its own area (i.e. the physical layout of the area). Alongside each team area there are meeting areas with chairs grouped in a circle. In this area are charts showing the performance of each team. The teams meet to discuss what is going well and what is going badly and to suggest ideas for improvement. The team then has the responsibility for putting their ideas into practice.
Dean Thomas is responsible for the blue team. He is the most recently recruited team leader in the organisation. The blue team has an average age of 26 years. Dean Thomas enjoys bringing his team together every morning for a daily briefing. He gives out the tasks for the day and allows his team to pick and choose their tasks and to discuss any problems with each other before they actually settle down to begin work. Dean tends to be more concerned with maintaining good relations with his team than sometimes with achieving targets. The blue team like Dean’s approach, where they can make their own decisions, work on their own and are one of the most cohesive teams in the organisation if not as successful as they should be.
Lee Allen is the green team leader. He is the most experienced team leader. His team of eight members have all been at Williams, Watkins and McDonald for many years. Lee Allen knows that the company policy strongly prefers a more relaxed style of leadership. However, Lee comes from a disciplined background and quite often needs to give orders and demand results when deadlines need to be met or the team appears likely to fail to meet its target. The green team has the best success rate but also the highest absentee rate of all six teams working for Williams, Watkins and McDonald.
Emma Jenkins, a green team member, has complained about Lee Allen’s style of leadership and has asked to be moved to the blue team. She feels that she has less input into decision making than she would like.
Required:
(a) (i) Identify the four broad styles of leadership described in Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum of management style. (12 marks)
(ii) Briefly describe the four factors upon which the appropriate management style depends. (4 marks)
(b) Using the Tannenbaum and Schmidt model and appropriate evidence from the scenario, identify which of the broad styles of leadership Dean Thomas and Lee Allen demonstrate at Williams, Watkins and McDonald.
(8 marks)
(c) Explain action centred leadership and justify why Lee Allen’s approach can be described as action centred.
(8 marks)
(d) Using Feidler’s contingency theory of leadership, explain the possible reasons for Emma Jenkins’ dissatisfaction as a green team member and her desire to become a blue team member. (8 marks)
(40 marks)
Section B – FOUR questions ONLY to be attempted
2 Research has shown that management involves more than simply giving orders or commands.
Required:
(a) Briefly describe Mintzberg’s view of the process of management. (3 marks)
(b) From Mintzberg’s research, identify and describe the three key roles which management appears to fulfil.
(12 marks)
(15 marks)
3 Recruitment and selection of potential employees involves a number of different steps, one of which may be the
completion of an application form.
Required:
(a) Describe the purpose of the application form. (5 marks)
(b) Describe the kind of information that the application form should obtain. (10 marks)
(15 marks)
4 You have been asked to prepare a personal development plan for new employees.
Required:
Explain the three steps involved in the preparation of a personal development plan.
(15 marks)
5 Reward systems should involve more than assuming that financial rewards are appropriate in all circumstances.
Required:
(a) Explain what is meant by ‘intrinsic’ rewards. (3 marks)
(b) Explain what is meant by ‘extrinsic’ rewards. (3 marks)
(c) Describe any six types of extrinsic reward. (9 marks)
(15 marks)
6 Conflict in the workplace is a common feature of organisational and business life.
Required:
(a) Under what circumstances can a conflict be constructive? (5 marks)
(b) Under what circumstances can a conflict be destructive? (5 marks)
(c) Briefly describe five causes of conflict. (5 marks)
(15 marks)
End of Question Paper
