204 Bma Eng
204 Bma Eng
204 Bma Eng
OF SRI LANKA
CURRICULUM 2020
PILOT PAPER
Level II
Time Allowed:
Reading : 15 Minutes
Writing : 03 Hours
Marks:
Answers:
All answers should be written in the booklet provided, answers written on the question paper will not be
considered for marking.
Begin your answer of each question on a new page.
All workings should be clearly shown.
Do not write on the Margins.
Answer Booklets:
Calculators:
Candidates may use any calculator except those with the facility for symbolic algebra and differentiation.
No programmable calculators are allowed.
Attached:
Action verb checklist – Each question will begin with an action verb (excluding OTQ's).
Students should answer the questions based on the definition of the verb given in the checklist.
Question 01
Select the most correct answer for questions No. 1.1 to No. 1.5. Write the number of the selected
answer in your answer booklet with the number assigned to the question.
1.1 Which one of the following is an example for a top level management position in an organization?
1.2 The ratio between the input and output of an organization during a specific period of time is:
1.3 Which one of the following is not a function of the management process?
1.4 Which one of the following statements does not describe a characteristic of an effective leader?
(4) Leaders are able to motivate the organization’s members to achieve the vision.
1.5 Which one of the following statements correctly explains ‘Referent Power’ of leaders?
(1) This power comes through the individual’s capacity to impact others through risks,
punishments or penalties.
(2) This power arises from the ability of the individual to impact the award of rewards in an
organization.
(3) This power arises from the position an individual holds in an organization’s hierarchy.
(4) This power arises from the social relationships that an individual cultivates with other
individuals in the organization. (02 marks each, 10 marks)
1.6 …………………………. (Japanese / Traditional) management style emphasizes the need for
information flow from the bottom to the top of the organization.
1.7 ………………………… (Organizing / Planning) is a process of setting the organization’s goals and
deciding how best to achieve them.
1.8 Higher profits from high sales is the final objective of the ……………………………… (consumer
concept / selling concept).
1.9 Designing a job with increased number of duties and scope is identified as ……………………… (Job
enlargement / Job enrichment).
1.10 ……………………. (Market segmentation / Market orientation) is dividing a market into distinct
groups of customers who have distinct needs, characteristics or behavior.
Write correct answers in your answer booklet for question Nos.1.11 to 1.15.
1.13 List the four (04) support activities of Porter’s Value Chain.
1.14 State two (02) external factors that determine the rewards received by an employee.
End of Section A
Question 02
A manager is a person who needs to familiarize himself with the type of work carried out by the groups
so that he can effectively manage them. Manager needs authority as it makes his position real and gives
him the power to order his subordinates. Sharing of work and authority between a manager and his
subordinate is known as delegation.
(a) Explain with examples the classification of managers based on the level of authority. (04 marks)
(b) Explain four (04) reasons why delegation of authority is important. (04 marks)
(c) State four (04) barriers to effective delegation of authority with reference to a manager. (02 marks)
(Total 10 marks)
Question 03
Behavioral theories of leadership focus on how leaders behave. It assumes that leadership capabilities
can be learned. Accordingly, leaders are not born, but are made. Behavioral theorists believe a leader
behavior is the best predictor of his leadership influences. Their leadership behaviors differentiate
between effective leaders and ineffective leaders.
(a) Explain the three (03) leadership behaviors or styles introduced by Lewin, Lippitt and White.
(05 marks)
(b) State three (03) differences between a manager and a leader. (03 marks)
Change management provides a competitive advantage to firms enabling them to quickly and effectively
implement change in order to meet market demand. Change is categorized into planned change and
emergent change. Communication plays an important role in change management.
(a) Explain two (02) differences between planned change and emergent change. (04 marks)
(b) Explain two (02) communication skills required by a manager. (04 marks)
(c) State four (04) benefits of effective communication in an organization. (02 marks)
(Total 10 marks)
Question 05
Human resource planning determines the human resources required by the organization to achieve its
strategic goals. It is a continuous process of systematic planning ahead to achieve optimum use of an
organization’s human resources. Managers need to consider factors such as growth, change and
technology when they plan for human resources. This ensures managers the best fit between employees
and their jobs while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses.
Explain the steps of the human resources planning process. (10 marks)
Question 06
Capacity is the maximum capability to produce. Capacity of an organization can be increased through
methods such as introducing new equipment, techniques and material or simply increasing the number
of workers. Decisions relating to capacity expansion should be made carefully as they might affect the
product lead time, customer responsiveness, operating costs and the firm’s ability to compete. The
technique used to identify and measure overall capacity of production is referred to as strategic capacity
planning. Capacity planning and controlling allow mangers to decide how the operations of the
organization should react to the fluctuations in demand.
(b) Explain situations in which an organization can use each of these strategies.
(03 marks)
(c) State four (04) planning and controlling activities of capacity management. . (04 marks)
(Total 10 marks)
End of Section B
AAT Sri Lanka Business Management 5|Page
A compulsory question
SECTION C
(25 marks)
Question 07
Mega Sri Ltd. is a large scale pharmaceutical company with a history of over 30 years of doing business
in Sri Lanka. Dr. Sagar Sri is the founder of Mega Sri Ltd., which he started this company while he was
practicing as a medical doctor. Over the years the ownership and the decision making power were solely
held by Dr. Sagar Sri while his three sons looked after the three main departments of the business,
namely, Marketing, Finance and Human Resources as managers. After the sudden death of Dr. Sagar Sri
in 2018, his three sons became Directors of Mega Sri.
Although their father followed a very traditional management style, the three educated sons wished to
develop their family business to an international level by introducing new management practices. They
hired Mr. Perera, an experienced management consultant to advise them on how to upgrade their
business. He found that the prevalent hierarchical organizational structure of Mega Sri delayed decision
making and recommended to three Directors to urgently re-structure the organizational hierarchy and
delegated authority.
Mr. Perera has also identified the weak marketing strategies used in the business. From its inception
sales officers were used as the main agents for promoting the company products among its customers.
Mr. Perera also noted the increasing international and local competition from other pharmaceutical
companies and the urgent need for a new target marketing strategy suitable for the organization.
(a) State three (03) disadvantages of badly designed organizational structure. (03 marks)
(b) State four (04) advantages gained by Mega Sri Ltd. through Reengineering Business Process.
(04 marks)
(c) Identify the most suitable target marketing strategy for this company and state its three (03)
advantages. (04 marks)
(d) Explain three (03) variables included in the marketing mix of Mega Sri Ltd. (06 marks)
(e) Explain how the new management of Mega Sri Ltd. could use a rational planning model to
evaluate and make strategic decisions. (8 marks)
(Total 25 marks)
End of Section C
CURRICULUM 2020
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
Level II
Answers to Question 01
- Less Supervision.
- Fewer accidents.
- Changes of promotions.
1.13 - Infrastructure.
- Technology Development.
- Economic conditions.
- Wage rate.
- Government controls.
- Cost of living.
- Working conditions
- Unsatisfactory pay
- Ineffective supervision
- Lack of communication
End of Section A
Answers to Question 02
(a)
(1) Top level managers – They have the highest level of authority and responsibility in a business
organization. They are responsible for the performance of all departments and therefore have a
cross departmental responsibility. Top management is ultimately responsible for the success or
failure of the organization.
(2) Middle level managers – They work with first line managers to identify new ways of reaching
organizational goals. They contribute mostly in the planning of the organization and supervise
the first line managers.
(3) Lower level managers – They are responsible for the daily supervision of non-managerial
employees. They directly deal with the employees and handle various tasks.
(b)
(1) Effective management:
By delegation, managers pass their routine works to their subordinates. So they get more time
to concentrate on more important matters. This will help them to excel in new areas and be
more efficient and effective.
- Fear of competition.
(a)
(1) Autocratic leaders: Make decisions without consulting their teams. Leaders are considered
appropriate when decisions need to be made quickly, when there is no need for input and
when team management is not necessary for a successful outcome.
(2) Democratic leaders: They allow the team to provide input before making a decision,
although the degree of input can vary from leader to leader. This is important for team
agreement matters. But it can be difficult to manage when there are lots of different
perspective and ideas.
(3) Laissez-faire leaders: They don’t interfere and they allow people within the team to make
many of the decisions. This approach works well when the team is highly capable, motivated
and doesn’t need close supervision. However this behavior can arise because the leader is
lazy or distracted and this is where this style of leadership can fail.
(05 marks)
(b)
Respect A manager is expecting the respect. A leader is naturally receiving the respect.
Stability It is more stable. Leadership is temporary.
Future focus Managers are short sighted. Leaders are far – sighted.
Attitude
Managers tend to in status – quo Leaders are innovative
towards change
Influencing Managers influence on subordinates by Leaders influence on their followers by
mode using punishment offering rewards
(3) Motivational Function – Leadership involves with motivating team members. Therefore should
be a good motivator.
(4) Culture Building Function – As a function of leadership, leader should initiate to build
appropriate culture within organizations. Therefore leader should be a role model to followers.
(5) Changing Function – Changing is a function of leadership. Therefore should be a change agent in
the process of organizational change. (Explaining 2 functions, 02 marks)
(Total 10 marks)
Answers to Question 04
(b)
(1) Interpersonal Skills:
Interpersonal skills are the skills we use when engaged in face - to - face communication with
one or more other people. Good interpersonal communication skills enable us to work more
effectively in groups and teams, which may be either formal or informal. It is often desirable to
build strong relationships with others, which can in turn lead to better communication and
understanding. Developing empathy for others is also highly important.
(c)
(1) To maintain effective stakeholder relationships.
Answers to Question 05
Formulation of strategies.
HR planning process is initiated with the forecasting of HR demand. Forecasting human resource demand
is the process of estimating the future human resource requirement in the right quality and the right
number. Potential human resource requirement is to be estimated keeping in view the organization’s
plans over a given period. Analysis of employment trends; replacement needs of employees due to death,
resignations, retirement, termination; productivity of employees; growth and expansion of organization;
absenteeism and labour turnover are the relevant factors for human resources forecasting. Demand
forecasting is affected by a number of external and internal factors.
Simply put, workforce planning is about forecasting current and future staffing needs in relation to
strategic business objectives, then addressing matters relating to the supply of labour, for example are
there candidates with the skills required? The final step is to get the right balance between labor demand
and supply, so that organization has the right number of employees, with the right skills at the right time.
Formulation strategies:
Human resource management is a function responsible for managing employee resources for an
organization ensuring that organizations have the appropriate employee resources to meet business
needs. Effective planning requires a look at the current and future needs of the organization, a review of
existing resources and their skills, and an evaluation of available talent inside and outside the
organization. Strategies can be suggested for labor surplus as well as labor shortage.
Finally, HR managers should evaluate the overall planning effort by using appropriate criteria. In this
process, HR managers should check whether the HR planning matches the HR objectives and policies.
This action plan should be updated according to change in time and conditions.
(10 marks)
Answers to Question 6
(b)
Capacity lag strategy: Capacity is increased after an increase in demand has been
documented. This is used in industries with standard products and cost based on weak
competition. According to this lost customers will return from competitors after capacity has
expanded.
Average capacity strategy: capacity is expanded to coincide with average expected demand.
This is a moderate strategy in which managers are certain they will be able to sell at least
some portion of expanded output and endure some periods of unmet demand.
(03 marks)
(c)
(1) Loading
(2) Sequencing
End of Section B
A compulsory question
SECTION C
Answers to Question 7
(a)
(b)
(1) Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) revolves around customers’ needs and helps to give
an appropriate focus to the business.
(2) BPR provides cost advantages that assist the organization’s competitive position.
(3) BPR encourages a long term strategic view of operational processes by asking radical
questions about how things are done and how processes could be improved.
(4) BPR helps overcome the short sighted approaches that sometimes emerge from excessive
concentration on functional boundaries.
(5) BPR can help to reduce organizational complexity by eliminating unnecessary activities.
(Any 4 points, 04 marks)
(c)
Most suitable target marketing strategy: Differentiated marketing strategy (01 mark)
A necessary approach for large companies wishing to protect their market share.
A good approach for firms who have assets/capabilities that can be leveraged into other
target markets.
(d) Product - Product is the goods offered by Mega Sri Ltd. to its customers. Brand name of
products, quality, and services affect the product.
- Discount
- Credit terms
- Transportations
Promotions - Advertising
- Public relations
- Direct marketing
(Any 3 variables, 06 marks)
Position audit:
A position audit is a systematic assessment of the current position of the organization as a
prerequisite for formulating strategic options. It is generally carried out before the corporate
appraisal in a rational planning model.
Environmental analysis:
Environmental analysis is the study of the organizational environment to pinpoint environmental
factors that can significantly influence organizational operations and strategies. Environmental
Strategy evaluation:
The collections of the strategic options are evaluated by the senior level management before
selecting the best course of actions. First, they have to select corporate level strategies and then
consider the strategic options for each strategic business unit.
Strategic implementation:
Strategic implementation put simply is the process that puts plans and strategies into action to
reach goals. The implementation makes that the company’s plans happen.
End of Section C