FACULTY OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

Diploma in Information Management

(IS110)

Fundamentals Of Management
(MGT160/162)

ASSIGNMENT:
PAST YEAR EXAM QUESTIONS
(2009)
By
MUHAMMAD NOORAMIN BIN MOHD HASSAN
2010657136

&

ANUAR RANI
XXXXXXXX

(E-PJJ – Group EISD2A)

Prepared for:
SOBARIAH BT AWANG MUKHTAR

March 2011
Table Of Contents:

PART PAGE
PART A 3-5

PART B 6-9

PART C 10-11

PART D 12-13

2
PART A
1. An organization is a group of individuals who work together toward common goals.
True

2. Control is an important function in the managerial process because it provides a

method for ensuring that the organization is moving toward the achievement of its goals.
True

3. Organizing involves motivating and leading the members of an organization so that

they contribute to the achievement of the organization's goals.
True

4. Consistent with their linking function, top-level managers are most involved in three
basic activities: planning and allocating resources, coordinating interdependent groups,
and managing work group performance.
False

5. Trait research was successful in predicting leadership success consistently.

False

6. Operational plans define both the markets in which the organization competes and the
way in which it competes in those markets.
False
Operational plans is usually centered on departments or smaller units of the
organization.

7, Leadership is the process of determining the tasks to be done, who will do them, and
how those tasks will be managed and coordinated.
False
Leadership is 'An influence process; normally to influence people to achieve common
goal'. -Lewis, P.Goodman, S.,Fandt, P.,2001

3
8. Any increase in the numerator or decrease in the denominator of the productivity
equation will result in a productivity increase.
True

9. Survey data show that manufacturing location decisions are dominated by five factors:
favorable labor climate, proximity to markets, quality of life, proximity to suppliers and
resources, and proximity to the parent company‘s facilities.
True

10. The participation aspect of group decision-making usually leads to lower member
satisfaction.
False

11. To delegate effectively, managers must understand that delegation involves three
distinct but highly related activities: (1) assignment of responsibility, (2) granting of
authority, and (3) establishing accountability.
True

12. Communication is the process managers use to interact with subordinates, peers,
supervisors, customers, suppliers, owners and the general public.
True

13. lf done properly, there will be no noise in the communication process.

False
Communication will always have noise.

14. Food, water, air, and shelter are all security needs and form the lowest level in
Maslow’s hierarchy.
False
Security needs include:
Personal security
Financial security
Health and well-being
Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

15. Communication is a dynamic yet rather straightforward process.

True

4
16. Esteem needs include the desire for friendship, love, and a feeling of belonging.
True

17. The inventory management schedule is a detailed statement of projected production

quantities for each item in each time period.
True

18. Reliability of a control tool, or system, is the same thing as the reliability of a test
used to select the best candidate for a job - as discussed in an earlier chapter.
False

19. One of the principles of Islamic Management is the practice of favoritism and
discrimination.
False
Islamic Management principles of qualifications state that; the selection of new
personnel should not be based on self-interest or favoritism. It should be based on the
person’s ability, expertise, experience and other suitable criteria that fit the job.

20. In a decision-making matrix, each alternative strategy has a total expected monetary
value, which is the sum of the known value for that alternative.
False
A basic decision matrix consists of establishing a set of criteria upon which the potential
options can be decomposed, scored, and summed to gain a total score which can then be
ranked. Importantly, the criteria are not weighted to allow a quick selection process.

5
PART B
1. The "art of getting things done through other people was Mary Parket Follett's
classic definition of
A. organizing.
B. management.
C. planning.
D, controlling.

2. The CEO of PespiCo spends a considerable amount of time outlining the activities
necessary to achieve the goals of his organization. That process is called
A. auditing.
B. scripting.
C. planning.
D. organizing.

3. Airlines such as Continental, United, and Delta operate with very narrow profit
margins. As a result, these companies try hard to use the fewest inputs (iet fuel,
maintenance hours, ticket agents etc.) to generate a given output. This information
tells us that is a critical managerial issue at major airlines.
A. effectiveness
B. proficiency
C. potency
D. efficiency

4. An organization is a group of individuals who work together

A. to maximize shareholder wealth,
B. to generate the most proit.
C. to become more efficient.
D. toward common goals.

5. The four forms of position power are

A. legitimate, coercive, reward, and information.
B. information, expert, referent, and coercive,
C. legitimate, coercive, referent, and expert.
D. legitimate, reward, coercive, and referent.

6. Strategic planning occurs at the following three primary levels within an organization:
A. corporate, business, and financial.
B. corporate, business, and marketing.
C. marketing, business, and financial.
D. corporate, business, and functional.

6
7. The forces acting upon Diane Richards that cause her to behave in a specific,
goal-directed manner are called
A personality.
B. abilities.
C. attitudes.
D. motivation.

8. The first step in the process of control is

A. responding to deviations.
B. setting performance standards.
C. developing organizational structure.
D. comparing performance to standards.

9. The process of control involves four steps: setting standards of performance,

measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance with standards, and
A. anticipating problems.
B. responding to deviations.
C. communication.
D. employee empowerment.

10. Which of the following statements about communication is inaccurate?

A. Communication is a process in which sender, messages, channels, and
receivers do not remain constant or static.
B. Communication is simple.
C. Communication can be symbolic.
D. The object of communicating is to create some degree of accurate
understanding among the participants.

11. Which of the following choices correctly identifies the basic components of the
communication process?
A. Sender, channel, message, receiver, feedback, noise.
B. Delineator, facilitator, processor, decoder, end-user.
C. Originator, facilitator, encoder, decoder, end-user.
D. Sender, facilitator, medium, processor, receiver.

12. Qualification from the Islamic Management perspective should be based on one of
the following elements, which is:
A. Amanah (trustworthy).
B. Syura (mutual consultation).
C. As-Sunnah.
D. Self-interest (favouritism).

7
13. The owner of Adams Services Inc. believes that an individual employee should be
accountable to only one supervisor. The principle that Adams follows is known as
A. chain of command.
B. span of control.
C. unity of command.
D. unity of delegation.

14. The process of transforming the responsibility for a specific activity or task to another
member of the organization and empowering that individual to accomplish the task
effectively is referred to as
A. commission.
B. span of control.
C. delegation.
D. facilitation.

15. Which of the following statements about communication is inaccurate?

A. Communication is a process in which sender, messages, channels, and
receivers do not remain constant or static.
B. Communication is simple.
C. Communication can be symbolic.
D. The object of communicating is to create some degree of accurate understanding
among the participants.

16. From a consumer perspective, the degree to which the product or service meets the
expectations of the customer is called
A. quatity.
B. technology.
C. characteristics.
D. goodness.

18. According to ,__________ a person has five fundamental needs: physiological,

security, aftiliation, esteem, and self-actualizaiion.
A. He|zberg's Two-Factor Model
B. Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs
C. Acquired-Needs Model
D. Equity Model

19. A process in which a person or group evokes a shared or common meaning to

another person or group is called
A. transference.
B. communication.
C. planning.
D. organizing.

8
20. Jane Collins is responsible for overseeing the entire system of policies, procedures,
and guidelines that her organization has established to achieve and maintain quality.
Jane is responsible for
A. total quality management.
B. statistical process control.
C. quality control.
D. quality assurance.

9
PART C
QUESTION 1
Describe the three (3) levels of management.
(6 marks)

First Line Managers/Lower Level Managers

They are responsible for putting into operation the plans of higher and middle
management. The lovest level in the organization is that at which individuals are
responsible for the works of others. First line or first level managers direct operating
employees only; they do not supervise other managers. Examples of first-line managers
are the "foreman" or produstion supervisor in a manufacturing plant.

Middle Managers
Middle managers can include more than one level in an organization. Middle managers
direct the activities of lower-level managers and sometimes also to those of operating
employees. Middle managers principal responsiblities are to direct the activities that
implement their organizations' policies and to balance the demands of their superiors with
the capacity of their subordinates. Examples of middle managers are the Marketing
Managers, The Production Manager and the Human Resource Managers.

Top managers
A comparative small group of executives, the top managemant is responsible for the
overall managemant of the organization. They establish operating policies and guide the
organizations' interactions with its environment. Typical titles of top managers are "Chief
Executive Officer", "President", and "Senior Vice-President". Actual titles vary from one
organization to another.

QUESTION 2
List and explain the types of single-use plans.
(6 marks)

The types of single use plans include:

Programs
-Govern a relatively comprehensice set of activities that are designed to accomplish a
particular set of goals.
-Most comprehensive plans.

Projects
-Direct the efforts of individuals or work group towards the achievement of specific, well
designed objectives.
Less comprehensive and narrower scope.

Budgets

10
-Specify how financial resources should be allocated
-Developed to support project and program.

QUESTION 3
Give three (3) advantages and disadvantages of Group Decision Making.
(6 marks)

Advantages of Group Decisions Making:

-Group decisions help to combine individual strengths of the group members and hence
has a set of varied skill sets applied in the decision making process.
-Individual opinions can be biased or affected with pre-conceives notions are restricted
perspectives, group decision help to get a broader perspective owing to differences of
perception between individual in the group.
-A group decision always means enhanced collective understanding of the course of
action to be taken after the decision is taken.
-A group decision gains greater group commitment since everyone has his/her share in
the decision making.
-Group decisions imbibe a strong sense of team spirit amongst the group members and
helps the group to think together in terms of success as well as failure

Disadvantages of Group Decisions Making:

-One of the major disadvantages of group decision making is that it is more time
consuming than the process of individual decision making.
-Group decisions take longer to be finalized since there are many opinions to be
considered and valued.
-In case of authoritarian or minority group decision making, the people whose opinions
are not considered tend to be left out from the decision making process and hence the
team spirit ceases to grow.
-The responsibility and accountability of the decisions are not equally shared in some
cases which leads to a split in the group and hence hamper the overall efficiency of the
group.

QUESTION 4
Write short notes on the following:
a) Functional structure
-Functional structure consists of units or departmental groups identified by specialty,
such as engineering, development, marketing, finance, sales or human resources that are
controlled from the top level of management.
b) Product divisional structure
-The organization is grouped in such a way that that the employees who are involved in
making a specific product are grouped together into one division
c) Geographic divisional structure
Geographic structure groups employees together based upon specific geographic location.

(6 marks)

11
PART D
QUESTION 1
Discuss any five (5) Deming's 14 Points.
(10 marks)
1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim
to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. We must awaken to the
challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection
on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimise total
cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of
loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve
quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

QUESTION 2
a) Define controlling.
(2 marks)
The process to assure that actual activities conform to planned activities.

b) Explain any four (4) characteristics of effective control system.

(8 marks)

Effective control systems have certain characteristics. For a control system to be

effective, it must be:
1. Accurate. Information on performance must be accurate. Evaluating the accuracy of
the information they receive is one of the most important control tasks that managers
face.
2. Timely. Information must be collected, routed, and evaluated quickly if action is to be
taken in time to produce improvements.
3. Objective and Comprehensible. The information in a control system should be
understandable and be seen as objective by the individuals who use it. A difficult-to
understand control system will cause unnecessary mistakes and confusion or frustration
among employees.
4. Economically Realistic. The cost of implementing a control system should be less than,
or at most equal to, the benefits derived from the control system.

12
QUESTION 3
What are four (4) primary categories of interpersonal communication? Explain each of
the categories and give an example.
(10 marks)

Written
Letters, memo, reports, notices

Oral
Telephone, face-to-face, meetings

Visual
Charts, tables, posters, advertisements

Electronic
Facsimile, computer, e-mail, pager

QUESTION 4
Discuss any five (5) problems in implementing Total Quality Management (TQM).
(10 marks)

-Lack of management support (commitment)

-Following what other people are doing. No goals of their own. Other companies'
problems may not be simillar to ours.
-No viable communication system is set up between top management and lower
management informing individuals on goals of quality, the process etc.
-Lack of training both on part of employees and top management with regard to quality.
-Top management sometimes are too preoccupied perfecting the tools of TQM but forgot
to entertain customers changing needs and wants.

QUESTION 5
Define islamic Management and explain any four (4) principles of islamic Management.
(10 marks)

- The ultimate goal of life should be harmoniously linked with the worldly aims. Humans
as "Khalifah" must be able to balance their short term and longterm goals such as serving
Allah, worshipping HIM and seeking his worthy pleasure and rewards.
- The morals/rteligious value of work should be integrated in the work or activities we do.
Working is not merely a means for material gain, but also a moral obligation and a
measure of pleasing Allah and getting nearer to him.
- Time is to be well invested, not to be wasted. Time should be treated as a commodity.
This statement requires us to use out time efficiently by being punctual, doing diligent
work, necer play around, not to procrastinate and engage ourself in meaningless
conversation.

13