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Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester 1 BB0001– Marketing – 2 Credits (Book ID: B0078) Assignment Set- 1 (30 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. Q. 1Give an example of any organization that practices the Societal Marketing Concept. Briefly describe its marketing strategy and explain why it is successful. [10 Marks] Answer: DAEWOO one of the world’s largest luxury car manufacturing company practices Societal Marketing Concept (S. M. C) .
The organization’s marketing strategy is to determine the needs, wants & interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than other competitors. Marketing Strategy is the overall process for marketing a product that includes selecting and analyzing a target market and creating and maintaining a marketing mix. Once the target market is identified, the next step is to create the Marketing Mix, which is a set of four elements: product, price, distribution and promotion.
We have a lot of control over the elements in our Marketing Mix, but we have a very little control over the environment in which we are operating. Products are integral to the exchange process; and without them there is no marketing. Astute marketers realize that a product is actually a ‘bundle of value’ that meets customer’s expectations and liabilities. The Societal Marketing Concept calls upon marketers to build social and ethical considerations into their marketing practices which must balance the often conflicting criteria of company profits, consumer wants, satisfaction and public interests.
Thus, S. M. C is successful in preserving and enhancing the consumer’s as well as the society’s well-being. Q. 2Imagine that you purchased a car recently. Describe the different stages that you went through in the process of buying the car. [10 Marks] Answer: The purchaser/consumer takes his buying decision, for some commodities immediately without much consideration such as items of daily use while for some other commodities mainly luxury or durable items. The purchaser goes with consults and undergoes rigorous thinking before taking a decision to buy/purchase a product.
The purchaser passes through five distinct stages in taking a decision for purchasing a particular product/commodity. These stages are: (1) need arousal, (2) information search, (3) evaluation behavior, (4) purchase decision and (5) post purchase feelings. i) Need Arousal: The buying process starts with need arousal. A need can be activated through internal or external stimuli. The basic needs of a common man arises to a level and become a drive and he knows from his previous experience how to satisfy those needs like hunger, thirst, sex, etc.
A need can also be aroused by an external stimulus such as sight of new thing in a shop while purchasing other things. ii) Information Search: After need arousal the consumer tries to gather the sources and information about the product and tries to solve it. There are four consumer information sources: (a) Personal sources (i. e. family, friends, neighbours etc. ). (b) Commercial sources (i. e. advertisements, salesman, and dealers). (c) Public sources (i. e. mass media, consumer rating organizations). (d) Experimental sources (i. e. andling, examining, using the product). iii) Evaluation Behaviour: After collecting the information the consumer clarifies and evaluates the alternatives. There is unfortunately no simple and single evaluation process used by all consumers or even by one consumer in all buying situations. The most current process of evaluation is to judge the product largely on a conscious and rational basis. Various considerations from the part of judgement such as product attributes, importance, weights, and brand image, utility function for each attribute, and attitude etc.
After evaluation of various alternatives, he takes the decision to buy. iv) Purchase Decision: Evaluation behaviour leads the consumer to form a ranked set of preferences. Normally a consumer buys the article; he/she likes it the most but there are three more important considerations for taking the buying decision: a) Attitude of others such as of wife, relatives, and friends, but it depends upon the intensity of their negative and the consumers’ motivation to comply with the other person’s wishes. ) Anticipated situation factors as expected family income, expected total cost of the product and the expected benefits of the product. c) Unanticipated situational factors such as looks or manner of the salesman, or the way business is carried on, or worry about his income situation. The marketer must consider these factors and should try to provoke the feeling of risk in the consumer and attempt to provide information and support that will help the purchasers. ) Post Purchase Feelings: After buying and trying the product, the consumer will feel some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and level of satisfaction depends very much on the expectation on the product’s perceived performance. If the product matches up to his expectation, the consumer is satisfied. If it exceeds it, is highly satisfied; and if it falls short of expectations, he is dissatisfied. Consumers from their expectations on the basis of message and claims sent out by the seller and other communication sources. If seller makes exaggerated claims, the consumer will naturally feel dissatisfaction.
So, the smart seller must make claims about the performance of the product that are congruent with its quality so that the consumer would feel satisfied. Q. 3Explain how channels of distribution for a product like automotive tyres are different from channels of distribution for a product like cigarettes. [10 Marks] Answer: Channel of distribution is a chain through which producer transfers the ownership of his goods and services to his consumers. Channels of distribution are also known as middlemen, agents of distribution, and distribution chains.
A channel of distribution is a bridge to cover the gap between a manufacturer and consumers. Types of Channels of Distribution There are different types of channels of distribution and a manufacture may select one of these channels. These channels are broadly divided into two parts i) Channels of distribution related to industrial product (e. g. automotive tyres) ii) Channels of distribution related to consumer product (e. g. cigarettes) C. O. D. Related To Industrial Product C. O. D.
Related To Consumer Product |1) The goods may directly be distributed by a manufacturer |1) The producer of consumer goods may distribute his products | | |directly to his consumers | |2) A manufacturer may take help of the agents to distribute his |2) A producer may take the help of retailer or agent for the | |goods to the buyers |distribution of his products | |Producer — Agents – Industrial users |Producer – Retailer – Agents – Consumers | |3) A producer of industrial goods may take help of wholesalers for |3) A manufacturer may choose to distribute his goods with the help | |the distribution of his goods Producer – Wholesalers – Industrial |of two middlemen i. e. wholesalers and retailer. |Users |Producer – Wholesalers – Retailers – Consumers | |4) Industrial goods may be distributed to their users through three|4) A producer may distribute his goods to his consumers through | |middlemen also |four middlemen | |Producer – Wholesalers – Distributors – Agents – Industrial users |Producer – Distributors – Agents – Wholesalers – Retailers – | | |Consumers | Assignment Set- 2 (30 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. Q. 1What are the essential differences between Sales Promotion & Advertising? What are their relative advantages and disadvantages? [10 Marks] Answer: Sales Promotion includes all activities such as Demand Objective,
Communication Objective & Performance Objective (except advertising, publicity and personal selling) which attract both the distributors and consumers towards goods and services of the Enterprise, so that the sales of the Enterprise may increase to maximum extent. Where as, Advertising is any paid form of communication intended to inform and / or influence one or more people through presentation of ideas, goods or services for the purpose of inducing them to buy it. Differences Between Sales Promotion And Advertising Sales PromotionAdvertising |1. To introduce a new product into the market |1. Telling the market about a new product | |2. To influence & attract new consumers to buy the product |2.
Suggesting new uses for the product, how it works and about the | | |price | |3. To maintain present consumers, distributors and dealers & |3. Correcting false impressions & reducing consumer’s fear in order | |encourage them to buy in more quantity |to use the product | |4. To minimize the reduction in sales & to establish effective |4. Building the company image , encouraging switching to the brand | |co-ordination between advertisements and sales during the season |and changing customer’s perception for the product attributes | |5. To establish effective co-ordination between advertisement and |5.
Persuading customers to purchase the product now and to receive | |sales to go through the market and face the competition successfully |calls for future sales in order to occupy a reputation in the market | |6. To change the marketing strategies and policies of the enterprise |6. Maintaining its top of mind awareness & reminding consumers that | |keeping in view the change in the policies and strategies of the |he product may be needed in the near future | |competitors | | |7. To achieve pre-determined marketing objectives and to provide |7.
Building the company image to persuade, building brand reference, | |goods and services of high quality to the consumers at reasonable |maintaining top of mind awareness & informing market for a price | |prices |change | | | | Q. 2Select any organization of your choice in the service sector and briefly explain its marketing strategy in terms of the three additional “Ps” of the services marketing mix. [10 Marks] Answer: Since the concept of marketing has been subjected to refinements, Neil H. Borden suggested twelve marketing mix variables in the context of manufacturers.
The most popular 4Ps framework is suggested by McCarthy with the marketing mix variables – Product, Place, Promotion and Price. The marketing mix tools originated from the study of the manufacturers is more oriented to deal with goods marketing situations. The goods-services differences are not superficial and do not permit success just by minor modifications in the conventional marketing mix. The challenges encountered by the services manager – like consistency in quality, managing customer-provider interface, missing inventory, intangibility of offer, absence of patent protection- necessitate skills that are not generally possessed by a goods manager.
The activities in service marketing are different, and often do not fall in the conventional marketing mix classifications, though many marketing concepts and tools used by good marketers hold good in services with some change in focus and importance. Given the service characteristics and activities in service firms, a seven Ps framework for services has been proposed. The additional prescribed Ps in this framework refers to activities that are essential to meet the challenges posed by tangibility, service provider customer interaction and customer involvement in service consumption and production. Product– Service core, levels, additional services, branding. Price– Price discounts, terms of payment. Place– Locations, channels of distribution, coverage. Promotion– Advertising, promotions, publicity. People– Customer provider relationship, training, culture, skills, attitudes.
Physical– Ambience, appearance, equipments, machine, evidence buildings, physical Facilities Process – Activity sequence, quality management, customer participation, delivery Process People In Services The importance of people in the organizations cannot be undermined . In the good manufacturing organizations, the personnel perform their duties in the factories, away from customers. In services, the personnel work in service factories but with a difference i. e. here they come in contact with the customers in the course of production and consumption of services. Physical Evidence In Services Physical evidence is yet another marketing tool available to the service marketer.
The service firms must consciously make efforts to manage the physical evidence associated with their services; it is crucial for wining service customer because the customer judges the service quality through the process of deduction. Process In Services Service production and delivery involves the process of operations performed, utilizing materials, equipments, and personnel. The process by which the service is produced and delivered is critical to the success service operations. In fact, services are essentially processes which are marketed. Q. 3In which stage of the product life cycle is the product category of cell phones? Why? What are some of the strategies being used by Indian marketers? [10 Marks]
Answer: Cell phones lies in the ‘Services’ stage category of the product lifecycle because these are separately essentially intangible activities which provide want-satisfaction, and which are not necessarily tied to the sale of a product or another service. The strategies used by the Indian Markets in services are mainly heterogeneous, intangible, inseparable, perishable and lacking ownership. It is the combination of these five factors which creates the particular context in which the service company develops its marketing policies. Heterogeneity Services are usually designed around the specific requirements of the individual customer. For e. g. n Insurance company will quote for each person a policy based on their specific industry, goods, prospects, even location, albeit using a fixed formula. There is an element of this in some product marketing, notably in industrial markets, but here they is usually a fair degree of standardization, e. g. by machine capacity or specific industry types. Intangibility U cannot touch, taste, smell, or take apart to examine the working of a service. A lawyer’s services cannot be evaluated in this way; nor can a hotel, club, consultant, or barber. The opinions or attitudes of other can of course be obtained, but the ‘trial’ element is lacking. Even when free or low price trials are offered, e. g. y car hire firm the trial will not be exactly the same as the actual offering; for e. g. the car may be different or the staff may be change. Inseparability Production of the service and consumption occur at the same time. This concept is particularly important in the realm of personal services. It limits the scope to which dealers, distributors or agents can be effectively used, and places considerable emphasis on the skill and attitude of those involved in selling. For e. g. in Britain, very few bank managers would see themselves as salesman but to a considerable extent that is there job. They are selling credit, financial services or advice to customers.
Like all salesman, they select there buyers (for credit worthiness) when selling; the bank manager’s service and consumption of the offering occur at the same time (although of course the credit may be over a much longer period). This is an area in which progress has been made by service companies trying to combine a degree of standardization with opening up new markets. Insurance brokers, travel agents and some franchise operations achieve this very effectively. Perishability Services cannot be stocked or held over: hotel rooms left vacant one night do not add to the following night’s capacity. This creates massive problems when demand fluctuates, as in the case of some utilities, e. g.
British Telecom. To cope with peak demand, massive capacity, much of it idle during the rest of the day or night, is needed. A variety of policies have to be developed to cope with this inability to store more than a very short time, e. g. differential prices, promotion of evening use. It has even been proposed that private telephones or home extensions could be distributed free (although it has been suggested that unless some form of time lock (stopping peak hour use) could be installed, these would merely serve to amplify the trends). Lack of Ownership In a service industry, access to or use of a facility does not mean the customer obtains ownership of it.
The hotel room, car, telephone or computer service is only hired for a period and ultimately possessions reverts to the firm offering the service. For e. g. ‘ this card remains the property of the issuing bank’. – Access; ‘this card is the property of American Express Company’. – American Express ‘this card remains the property of Barclays Bank Ltd. ‘. Barclay Card. Payment is for the use of, access to, or hire of items. This does create some overlap with product markets, notably when an item is purchased but a warranty is attached. Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester 1 BB0002– Organization Behaviour – 2 Credits (Book ID: B0077) Assignment Set- 1 (30 Marks) Answer all the questions. Q. 1Discuss the nature of organizations. [10 Marks] Answer: The Nature Of Organizations
Social Systems: From social system we learn that organizations are social systems; consequently, activities there in are governed by social laws as well as Psychological laws. Just as people have psychological needs, they also have social roles and status. Their behavior is influenced by their group as well as by there individual drives. In fact, two types of social systems exist side by side in organizations. One is the formal (official) social system and the other is the informal system. The existence of a social system implies that the organizational environment is the one of dynamic change rather than the static set of relations as picture on an organization chart.
Mutual Interest: Organizations need people and people need organization. Organizations have a human purpose. They are formed and maintained on the basis of some mutuality of interest among there participants. Ethics: In order to attract and retain valuable employees in an area in which good workers are constantly recruited away, ethical treatment is necessary. To succeed, organizations must treat employees in an ethical fashion. More and more firms are recognizing this need and are responding with a variety of programs to ensure a higher standard of ethical performance by managers and employees alike Q. 2Discuss the types of organizations? [10 Marks] Answer: Types Of Organizations: Departmentation
Departmentation is away dividing the large and complex organization into smaller, flexible, administrative units. It is the organization-wide division of work into various manageable units or departments. There are several bases for departmentation, each of which is suitable for particular corporate sizes, strategies and purposes. Departmentation By Function: Functional departmentation results when an enterprise organizes itself around the major activities of a firm. The work to be done is classified into major functional departments like marketing, manufacturing, finance, sales etc. Functional departmentation is the most widely employed bases for organizing activities, because it provides a logical framework for specialization.
More over, the firm can employ a great variety of skills and utilize the same efficiently. Departmentation By Product: Departmentation by product was pioneered in the 1920’s by General Motors and DuPont. The product or divisional structure creates a set of essentially autonomous and self content “little companies”. Each unit is headed by a product manager who is responsible for the company’s investment in capital, facilities as well as for the unit’s progress. Departmentation By Territory: Departmentation by territory, sometimes called regional, area, or geographic departmentation, means the grouping of activities according to places where operations are located.
A large scale organization like Hindustan Lever Ltd. may group its sales operation into areas of India like Northern region, Southern region, Northeast region and Southeast region. Banks and insurance companies are often established in this manner. Geographic departmentation helps in utilizing the local facilities and advantages to the full. Decisions concerning product design pricing marketing may, thus, be left to the discretion of the geographic managers who are close to customers. The geographic managers can serve customers with speed and efficiency. Departmentation By Customer: An enterprise may be divided into a number of departments on the basis of the customers it services.
An automobile service station may have separate wings for servicing cars, scooters, and heavy vehicles. Book publishers have separate departments that take care of college, university, professional, general books. One major benefit of this form is that it ensures full attention to major customer groups. In the long run it helps the company to build goodwill. Departmentation By Time: This is the grouping of activities on the basis of time. For e. g. the shift system is very common in manufacturing concerns. The work relating to each shift is taken care of by a separate department. This form can be applied with success by firms which cannot cope ith the volume of work within the normal working hours. However, co-ordination of work relating to different shifts is a major problem here. Departmentation By Process: Based on the distinct process or technologies involved in the manufacture of a product, departmentation may be undertaken. For e. g. Dyeing, printing and packaging and sales. It helps the use of heavy and costly equipment in an efficient way. The chances of equipment remaining underutilized or idle are very rare. Each department is engaged in doing a special type of work. This increases efficiency. Combined Base: Often, organizations follow different bases of departmentation at different organizational levels. For e. g. n organization manufacturing agricultural implements may follow three bases at various levels; product (tractor department, appliance department, generator department) at primary level; territory (eastern plant, southern plant, western plant, northern plant) at the intermediate level and function (production, sales finance in respect of southern, northern plants etc) at the ultimate level. There are other departmentalizing organizational works. Two of these have gained popularity in recent times: Project Organization and Matrix Organization Project Organization: A project is usually created to finish off a one-time task, definable in terms of a specific goal.
The best brains in the organization are pooled together to take up the project work, within time, cost and quality parameters. These specialists from each department are headed by a project manager. The project manager can have the services of different departments in the organization, whenever required. Matrix Organization: A matrix organization combines a project structure with the functional one. When the organization has several projects, a matrix is usually created. Unlike in a project organization where the project head has the independent charge over resources, the project head in the matrix has to share resources with others. Q. 3Explain Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. 10 Marks] Answer: Victor Vroom presented the Expectancy Theory in 1964 as an alternative to the content theories proposed by Maslow and others. It views people as having their own needs and expectations of what they desire from their work. The theory assumes that people are decision makers who choose among alternatives by selecting the one that appears the most desirable at that particular point of time. Thus the Expectancy Theory has been classified around three concepts: Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality (a) Valence: Valence refers to the personal value workers place on the rewards they believe they will receive for performing.
It is the importance that the individual places on the potential outcome or reward that can be achieved on the job. People have preferences (valences) for various outcomes or incentives that are potentially available to them. It reflects the strength of a person’s desire for or attraction to the outcome of a particular course of action. It can also be defined as strength of a person’s preference for one outcome in relation to others. (b) Expectancy: Expectancy refers to the perceived relationship between a given level of effort and a given level of performance. People have expectancies about the likelihood that an action or effort on their part will lead to the intended performance.
Workers will be motivated by the belief that there performance will ultimately lead to payoffs for them. It refers to the extent to which the person believes that his efforts will lead to the first level outcome, that is, performance. (c) Instrumentality: Instrumentality refers to the degree to which a first level outcome will lead to a desired second level outcome. It refers to the relationship between performance and rewards. Perceived instrumentality is also a subjective feeling. If people perceive that there performance is adequately rewarded the perceived instrumentality will be positive (+ve). But if they perceive that performance does not make any difference to their rewards, the instrumentality will be low.
Theory: On the basis of the concepts of expectancy, valence and instrumentality, it is possible to build the general model of behaviour. Vroom’s concept of force is essentially equivalent to motivation. Expectancy and valence combine multiplicatively to determine motivation. If expectancy, valence both equal zero, motivation will be zero. The model shows motivation as the force on individuals to expend effort. But, effort will be extended only if the individual believes or feels confident that effort will lead to individuals to expend effort. However effort will be expended only if the individual believes or feels confident that effort will lead to some performance level.
The level of performance is highly important in obtaining desired outcomes, which have +ve valences. Evaluation: Expectancy Theory emphasizes expected behaviors, concerned with expectations. It is relevant as to what is realistic or rational. It makes a strong argument in favour of having rewards contingent upon successful performance. Vroom’s expectancy theory appears to be the most popular motivation theory in terms of amount of researches being done till now. Assignment Set- 2 (30 Marks) ____________________________________________________________ _____________________ Answer all the questions. Q. 1Explain the difference between leaders and managers? [10 Marks]
Answer: The terms ‘manager’ and ‘leader’ are often used interchangeably. However, leadership is not the same as managership. A manager is more than a leader. By virtue of its position a manger has to plan, organize and control the activities of people toward the accomplishment of goals. Managership, thus, is a wide term. The following table brings out the differences between the terms. Differences Between Leadership And Managership | LEADERSHIP | MANAGERSHIP | |1. Narrow term |1. Wider term. A manager is more than a leader | |2.
Exists in unorganized groups also. No organization |2. Requires an organization structure | |structure is required | | |3. Leadership is the activity of influencing people to |3. Managership implies exercising functions like planning, | |strive willingly for group goals |organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. Leadership| | |is an aspect of one of these functions. | |4. Leaders get authority by virtue of their skills, |4.
Managers get formal authority delegated from above | |abilities and the situations. Followers must also consent | | |to being influenced | | |5. Leaders are expected to be more sensitive to the needs |5. Managers are expected to be more concerned with | |of followers |attaining organizational objectives | | | | Q. 2Explain the determinants of personality? [10 Marks]
Answer: The major determinants of personality may be studied under the following headings:- (i) Biological Factors: Among the biological factors, heredity plays an important role in one’s personality. Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical statue, facial attractiveness, temperament, energy level etc. are features that come from one’s parents and their mental-makeup Likewise the human brain and the physical features impact the personality of an individual. (ii) Cultural Factors: Each culture experts and university members to behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group violations of accepted norms will not be tolerated and the group will pressurize the individual to confirm.
The culture in an organization thus determines what a person is and what a person will learn. The culture in which a person is brought up also determines the behaviour of an individual at later stages. (iii) Family & Social Factors: The family members and social groups play an important role in shaping the learning process (what is good, what is bad, how to behave, how to react to situation etc. ) of an individual. The environment we are exposed to plays a substantive role in shaping our personality. (iv) Situational Factors: The effect of enrichment on personality is quite strong. Knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important modifications of behaviour.
Learned modifications in behaviour are not passed on to children, they must be acquired by them through their own personal experience, through interaction with the environment. Q. 3Write a detailed note on Transaction Analysis[10 Marks] Answer: Whether people interact in assertive or non assertive ways, there is a social transaction in which one person responds to another. The study of these social transactions between people is called Transaction Analysis (T. A). It was developed in the 1950’s by Eric Berne for use in Psychotherapy. The objective of T. A is to provide better understanding of how people relate to one another so that they can develop improved communications and healthy human relationships. Application of Transaction Analysis
Stroking: People seek stroking in their interactions with others. It applies to all types of recognition, such as physical, verbal, and nonverbal contact between people. Strokes may be positive, negative or mixed. Positive strokes feel good when they are received and they contribute to the recipients’ sense of being OK. Negative strokes hurt physically or emotionally and make the recipient feel less OK about him/her. There also is a difference between conditional and unconditional strokes. Conditional strokes are offered to employees if they perform correctly or avoid problems. Unconditional strokes are presented without any connection to behaviour.
Although they may make a person feel good, they may be confusing to employees because they do not indicate how more strokes in a behaviour modification framework, where the reward is contingent upon the desired activity. Benefits of Transaction Analysis Organizations that have used T. A report it has been moderately successful. Training in T. A can give employees fresh insights into their own personalities; it also can help them understand why others sometimes respond as they do. A major benefit is improved interpersonal communication Employees can sense when crossed communication occurs, and they can take steps to restore complementary communication, preferably in the Adult-to-Adult pattern. The result is a general improvement in interpersonal transactions. T. A is especially useful in sales and other areas where success depends on customer relations.
Assertiveness training and transactional analysis in combination can be powerful jobs for increasing one’s interpersonal effectiveness. They both share the goal of helping employees feel OK about themselves and others. Both also endorse the use of more Adult-base problem solving the result is that they help improve communication and interpersonal co-operation. Although they can be practiced by individuals, these tools will be most effective when they are widely used throughout the organization and supported by top management. Together, they form an important foundation for the more complex challenges that confront people who work in small groups and committees. Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester 1
Subject Code – BB 0003 Subject Name -Organization, Competition and environment- 2 Credits (Book ID: B0088) Assignment Set- 1 (30 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. Q. 1) “Nature of economic system and environment effects a business organization”- elaborate the statement. [10 Marks] Answer: The term environment denotes the macro context within the business firm, the micro unit, has to operate. Thus environment refers to the totality of all factors which are external to and beyond the control of individual business enterprise and their managements. Environment may broadly be classified into ‘Economic’ and ‘Non-Economic’.
Economic environment comprises fiscal policy, monetary policy, industrial policy, price-income policy, economic system structure and quality of economic development, international economic relations and business and economic plans. Non-Economic environment comprises social, political, legal, cultural and educational factors affecting business operations. Both these environments act and interact upon one another. Thus, non-economic environment has economic implications and economic environment has non-economic implications. Economic Environment: The broad national economic environment is set by the nature of economic system embodying the nature of property rights, co-ownership of means of production, relations, role of planning, functioning of price mechanism etc.
Thus, economic system of a country may be characterized as capitalist i. e. free enterprise, socialist, communist, or mixed. Non-Economic Environment: As preserved earlier, non-economic environment consists of political and legal, sociological, educational, historical and physical factors which condition the framework within which economic factors operate. It must be identified in view of the fact that it influences and gets influenced by the economic environment. Interactions Between Economic Environment And Business Management There are critical elements of the management process which interact with the critical elements of business environment.
The critical elements of management process are: planning & innovation, control, organization, staffing, direction and motivation marketing, production and procurement, finance, public and external relations, research and development. Each of these management’s elements may be either strongly or weakly interlocked with the elements of business environment, economic and non-economic. Economic environment may present for business managers a set of either negative constraints or positive stimulants. The environmental factors, when they act as positive stimulants, help management performance due to which managerial effectiveness increase and the productive efficiency of business improves.
On the other hand, environmental factors when they act as negative constraints hinder management performance as a result of which managerial effectiveness decreases and business efficiency suffers. Same economic environment may present positive stimulants to one business but negative constraints to another business. The economic environment influences and gets significantly influenced by the conditions of general business and management philosophy and techniques associated with general business conditions, the challenge before management is to overcome the critical relationship between environmental constraints and the business, that is, to transform the constraints into stimulants. There may be general business recession.
Depending upon how management can cope with that situation, the economic environment may improve or deteriorate; in fact it is a circular constellation of forces. The modern manager has to balance the interest of all the constituents of business himself, employees, customers, shareholders and government. There own economic aspirations may come in conflict with (a) The economic needs of the employees (b) The economic decisions of customers (c) The economic demands of shareholders (d) The economic policies of government If the manager resolves these conflicts, he gets the better of the environment. If he perpetuates these conflicts, the environment gets the better of him. Management may dictate or may get itself dictated by the environment. Q. ) Write short note on the following: [10 Marks] a) European Monetary Institute (EMI): EMU provides for two consultative bodies, a Monetary Committee and an Economic and Finance Committee, as well as two institutions: European Monetary Institute (EMI) and European Central Bank (ECB). EMI was established on 1st January 1994. It meant that the committee of governors of national central banks would be dissolved and that the EMI, with its own legal identity, would take over the credit mechanism and the tasks of the European Monetary Co-operation Fund. There are, for any monetary institutions three constituent parts of real power – internal structure, independence and tasks.
As to the internal structure of the EMI, its members are the national central banks and its governing administrative body is the council. Two factors limit this seemingly real power of EMI. First, the opinions or recommendations of EMI have no binding force (i. e. EMI protocol). Second, the Emi is entitled to hold and manage foreign exchange reserve as an agent for at the request of national central banks, but cannot use these reserves in ways that impair the monetary and exchange rate policies of any national monetary authority. Taking over the EMCF and administering the VSTF mechanism, STM support mechanism and MTF assistance does not entitle EMI to own reserves.
The EMI shall strengthen the cooperation between national central banks and the coordination of the monetary policies, thus ensuring price stability; it shall monitoring the function of the EMS, facilitate of the ECU clearing system; it shall hold consultations with national central banks on issues effecting financial stability and the use of monetary policy instruments. The EWMI shall be consulted by national central banks on monetary policy. Another task of EMI would be to prepare the third stage by designing the instruments and procedures for carrying out a single monetary policy, by harmonizing the compilation and distribution of statistics, by promoting the efficiency of EC cross-border payments and by supervising the technical preparation of ECU bank-notes. ) ECB Instruments: As soon as the ECB was established the EMI went into liquidation; EMI claims and liabilities will be settled with the national central banks in accordance with the key for the ECB capital subscription. The EMI’s functions would be taken over by the ECB. The second instrument of control available to the ECB is to require credit institutions established in members states to hold minimum reserves in accounts with it and with national central banks. The calculation of the required minimum reserves shall be established by the governing council. In cases of non-compliance, the ECB shall levy penalty interest or impose other sanctions. The third instrument of the ECB is open market operations.
The general principles are established by the ECB and national central banks may operate in the financial markets by buying and selling outright (spot and forward) or under repurchase agreement by lending or borrowing claims and marketable instruments, in community or non-community currencies and in precious metal. They may also conduct credit operation with credit institutions and other market participants. Q. 3) Explain Monetary Policy and how it effects a Business organization? [10 Marks] Answer: Monetary policy is based on three commitments: pursuit of price stability, independence of the ECB and establishment of a single currency, the ECU. The credibility of these three commitments will depend on the efficiency of institutional structures required to face global markets and will determine the quality of monetary policy. The primary objective of ESCB is stated in the TEU.
As to the purpose of EMU, it does not differ from the objective of the USA’s Federal Reserve System which was assumed to foster monetary and credit conditions favorable to the maintenance of a high level of employment, stable values and a rising standard of living. The four basic tasks for the ESCB are stated below: a) Define and implement the monetary policy of the Community. b) Conduct foreign exchange operations consistent with the exchange rate policy provisions. c) Hold and manage the foreign reserves of the member states. d) Promote the smooth operations of payment systems. The second important aspect is the economic logic of EMU. It is about what determines real income. It could be summarized in one sentence: real income is wholly determined by whatever determines the stock of money. This is only possible if two laws of one price exist.
The first law concerns the prices of freely tradable commodities and the second concerns with the interest rate. Theoretically the same logic is applied to budget deficits. Because deficits are financed by increases in the stock of money, deficits cause inflation. If binding rules on upper limit are set, it will minimize increases in the money stock. But deficits could be financed by external borrowing. Hence a rule on external borrowing has to be found in order to monitor the increase or decrease of the money stock. It is this economic logic that has led the TEU to decide on binding rules. National economic policies are geared to a single rule: avoid excessive public deficits.
The transition from the second to the third stage is about satisfying four nominal criteria which themselves depend on one: convergence of expected inflation rates. And a single rule governs the conduct of monetary policy: Price Stability. Assignment Set- 2 (30 Marks) ____________________________________________________________ ___________________ Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. Q. 1How an organization response to market forces? [10 Marks] Answer: Marketing management of a business enterprise must operate within the framework of the uncontrollable elements of the market place which constitute the environment of marketing. An enterprise does not live in a vacuum.
Marketing strategy in the form of marketing mix is formulated within a frame work involving many uncontrollable variables called marketing parameters. These environmental factors must be duly considered in planning any marketing program. There are eight interrelated environmental forces which considerably influence the marketing management system of a business organization. They are dynamic as well as uncontrollable forces included in the environment of marketing system of a business enterprise. They are : a) Demography b) Customer needs & desires c) Competition d) Economic conditions e) Social & cultural climate f) Science & Technology g) Legal & political conditions and h) Ecology
Marketing system constitutes a set of institutions and flows (of good/information) which influence the process of exchange. It comprises: a) The organization b) The market c) Marketing d) Marketing Intermediaries e) Suppliers f) Competitors These six ingredients form the core of the marketing system. Then around this core we have the interested institutions and groups of people, e. g. mass-media, general public, financial institutions, government and legislatures. The non-controllable environmental forces include demographic, economic, competitive, cultural, political, legal & technological forces.
Marketing management is responsible for opportunity assessment, marketing planning, and programming, marketing organization and leadership and evaluating and adjusting marketing effort under dynamic marketing environment. Marketing management, before formulating marketing mix, must take a look at the environment in which the enterprise will be operating in future. It is well known that environment affects business planning. The more a business understands its environment the better chance it has for profitable growth the business environment represents the complex of shafts in the structure of society and the economy, in the state of technology, in the customer demand in the market place, in the policies and requirements of the governments and in the state and character of international tensions.
In short, it is the sum of all the factors outside the control of a company’s management which can change and while changing carry with them sizable monetary impact on the markets of particular products services. The business enterprise is an open adaptive system with its own environment. It does not exist independent of the environment. It has interaction and interdependence with economic, social, political, legal, technological and cultural forces. These environmental variables define the resources and opportunity and threats available to and facing the enterprise. Obviously all of the input factors for processing must come from the external environment.
The market place, the place where buying and selling takes place with the help of money and intermediaries, also exists in the external environment. In the market place we have various factors beyond the control of the enterprise. These uncontrollable factors are shaking and influencing the nature and character of customer demand. As these forces continue to develop and change, they determine the new requirements for efficient and effective marketing plans and policies. The main forces operating to create the need or new responses from the firm are: 1) Changing customer demands 2) Changing competition 3) Changing technology 4) Changing economic and legal policies of governments 5) Changing social and cultural trends.
These are universal constraints on any marketing organization. The marketing manager has definite control over product, place, price and promotion mixes but he must work within the limitations imposed by marketing environmental forces, i. e. uncontrollable variables mentioned above. Adaptive forms are affected more by changing environmental considerations. Innovative firms are likely to be less constrained by environmental forces. But it should be clearly understood that no firm irrespective of its size, influence of its external environment. Even a multinational corporation cannot have absolute control over the changing environmental factors. Q. write short note on the following: [10 Marks] Answer: a) The council of ministers: The council of ministers is the body where the interest of member states is represented. It is clearly the ultimate controlling authority within the EU since draft legislations from the commission can become EU law only if the council agrees. The council is composed of one representative from the government of each member state. The membership however varies depending upon the topic being discussed. When agricultural issues are being discussed it will be the agriculture ministers from each state that attend council meetings, when transportation is being discussed it is transportation ministers, and so on.
Previously before 1993 all council issues had to be decided by unanimous agreement which often led to marathon council sessions and a failure to make progress or reach any agreement on proposals submitted by the commission. In an attempt to clear the logjams, the single European Act formalized the use of majority voting rules on issues which have as their object, the establishment and functioning of a single market. Most of the other issues, however, such as tax regulations, immigration policy still require unanimity among council members if they are to become law. b) The Multiple Exchange Rates: This kind of systems usually exists in command economies. The major goal is to isolate domestic, arbitrary relative price structure from the one prevailing in the rest of the world.
In the early 90’s when economic transition just started, the multiple exchange rates were still in existence despite the fact that all transitional economies had sharply devaluated their national currencies and some of them have introduced the floating ER regimes for some export-import transactions. The existence of the multiple exchange rates placed exporters in a very unfavorable position, which in turn, resulted in illegal exports of significant share of foreign exchange proceeds. This undermines foreign exchange reserve accumulation and promotes proliferation of ‘black’ or ‘parallel’ foreign exchange markets. Many countries are maintaining a strict control over the foreign currency flows, the foreign trade is restricted and mandatory surrender requirements of foreign exchange proceeds at above market exchange rates are still practiced. Q. 3 “Each organization has an objective” -elaborate the statement[10 Marks]
Answer: A business constitutes an economic institution functioning in a framework provided by social, cultural and political factors called environment. The objective of business will have to be examined in relation to its survival and growth in its environment. There is a close interrelationship between business system and the environment listed above, each one influencing the other. Keeping in view this background, the objective of business may be classified as depicted. Motives and Objectives It is important here to begin with the difference between motives and objectives of business. Motives represent the desire which induces men to act while objectives imply the goals of human activities. Motives refer to the mental state of human beings in the form of thought and desires.
Objectives, on the other hand, are concerned with the purpose of outward activities that human beings undertake for the fulfillment of their motives. Thus motives and objectives do not necessarily mean one and the same thing. Motives explain why people enter into business and stay into business. The initial motive for business activities is profit earning. But profit making is not the sole or the exclusive motive of human being for business activities. Other motives which induct persons to enter into new business or ton continue old business include social power and prestige and the joy of achievement that business activities bring. Therefore, business leadership gives social, political leadership which in turn brings power, prestige and recognition for the business.
Thus it is clear that profit alone does not provide the full answer to the issue of why people enter into business. Though profit motive constitutes the primary motive for business activities, it should not lead us to think that profit is the primary objective of business. Objectives provide goals or aims towards which all efforts in business are to be directed. These objectives may be briefly enumerated hereunder. 1. Economic Objectives Since business is essentially an economic activity, the primary focus of economic objectives is on three important constituents of the business system, namely A. Owners (the shareholders in the case of companies) B. The employees and C. The customers
The owner(s) must get adequate return on the capital invested and the risk undertaken by him/them in the form of profit/dividend. The employees must be adequately compensated through fair wages/salaries, allowances, bonus and other welfare facilities in the form of housing, medical and health care, education of children, recreational facilities, retirement benefits, etc. so that they devote their heart and to the organization’s work and work in the spirit of doing it not as hired employees but as if they are doing there own work. Customers are the patrons of the business enterprise and their satisfaction must be uppermost in the minds of the businessman. 2. Human Objectives
Focus on human objectives is mainly on two constituents, namely (a) Employees; and (b) Customers, both of whom must be satisfied that they have been treated well and as human beings by the business enterprise of which they are an important segment. An employee, in order to have a feeling of having been treated as a human being, looks forward to a business enterprise for the following objectives. a. He is treated as a partner in the joint venture and not as somebody inferior. b. He is able to acquire and develop new abilities and skills in the process of employment. c. He should derive job satisfaction. Customers also look at the business enterprise as an institution which takes care of their needs as human beings.
Hence the importance of courtesy, accommodation, understanding and fairness in dealing with customers is quite obvious. This also points to need for realization on the part of business enterprise not to fall prey to the temptation of profiteering through adulteration, hoarding, cornering of stocks, etc. 3. Organic Objectives Business enterprise from the point of view of its growth and stability can be compared with the human anatomy. Just as human body grows through a number of stages, that is, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood and from adulthood to maturity; similarly a business enterprise also passes through such phases during its existence.
In order that a business may grow through these stages in time and with strength, it is necessary that the business strives for (a) ploughing back a part of its profits so that it may acquire, initially, strength to grow and survive in the face of competition; and (b) attaining an optimum size of operations so that it could avail of the economies of scale. 4. Social Objectives These objectives of business can be put into two categories:- A. Micro Level (i. e. immediate environment objectives) B. Macro Level (i. e. national objectives) Micro Level Social Objectives Under this category the business is expected to help in the spread of literacy, education, training, medical care and public health, control of air and water pollution, development of backward classes and regions and helping cultural, religious and charitable institutions engaged in the work of improving the lot of human beings. Macro Level Social Objectives
Under this category the objective of business include helping the national efforts in import substitution, promoting exports to achieve self –sufficiency, facilitating development of small entrepreneurs by patronizing small scale ancillary units and by entering into areas of production/distribution which have been given national priorities. Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester 1 BB0004– Communication Skills in English – 2 Credits (Book ID: B0010) Assignment Set- 1 (30 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Name 4 different ways in which you think reading skills would be useful in a managerial environment, explaining how. [10 marks]. 2.
Select an article of around 500 words in length from a business publication and write a precise, condensing the article to one fourth its size. Keep in mind the principles of precis writing. Attach the original article with your precis. [10 marks]. 3. Write a cover letter to a prospective employer of your choice, applying for a specific advertised position, along with your one page resume. [10 marks]. Assignment Set- 2 (30 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Imagine that you have to make a presentation to graduating management students on “Career Prospects for MBA Students”. Explain how you will use Engle berg’s 7P approach to prepare an outline of your presentation. [10 marks]. 2.
As a Sales Manager, write a one page memo to the Vice President Sales of your company, requesting that the size of the sales force be increased for a particular product. [10 marks]. 3. You have learnt about the relative advantages and disadvantages of oral and written communication. For each of oral and written communication, describe two different situations in the workplace when it would be more appropriate, explaining why. [10 marks]. ASSIGNMENTS Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester 1 BBA- BB0005- Computer Fundamentals – (4 credits) Set I – Marks 60 Each question carries 10 marks Q1. What is Information Technology? What is Data?
Answer: Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is “the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware’. IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect process, transmit, and securely retrieve information. The term Data means groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge are derived. Q2.
Describe different types of Information Computing Models. Discuss about the followings: – (i) E-mail – Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages. E-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model in which e-mail computer server systems accept, forward, deliver and store messages on behalf of users, who only need to connect to the e-mail infrastructure, typically an e-mail server, with a network-enabled device (e. g. , a personal computer) for the duration of message submission or retrieval. Originally, e-mail was always transmitted directly from one user’s device to another’s; nowadays this is rarely the case.
An electronic mail message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the e-mail’s content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator’s email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field. (ii) World Wide Web – The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW and W3 and commonly known as The Web, is a system of interlinked hypertext documents contained on the Internet. With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them using hyperlinks. The World-Wide Web (W3) was developed to be a pool of human knowledge, which would allow collaborators in remote sites to share their ideas and all aspects of a common project. ” If two projects are independently created, rather than have a central figure make the changes, the two bodies of information could form into one cohesive piece of work. (iii) Web Browser – A Web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources.
Although browsers are primarily intended to access the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by Web servers in private networks or files in file systems. The major web browsers are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Opera for Windows and Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera for Macintosh. (iv) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) – File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to exchange and manipulate files over a TCP/IP based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications.
Applications were originally interactive command-line tools with standardized command syntax, but graphical user interfaces have been developed for all desktop operating systems in use today. FTP is also used as an application component to automatically transfer files for program internal functions. FTP can be used with user-based password authentication or with anonymous user access. The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a similar, but simplified, not interoperable, and unauthenticated version of FTP. (v) Chat – It is a Real-time communication between multiple users over the Internet, like a party line or conference call using text instead of conversation.
The text appears as it is typed on all PCs participating in the chat. Internet chat occurs in ‘chat rooms,’ which are usually set up by specific sites for users with a common interest.. Q3. What is Number system? Convert (234)10 to octal system. Answer: The numeral system or base-2 number system represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Owing to its straightforward implementation in digital electronic circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used internally by all modern computers. (234)10 ( (? )8 |Div. |Quotient |Remainder | 8 |234 | | |8 |29 |2 | |8 |3 |5 | |8 |0 |3 | | | | | Thus: (234)10 ( (352)8 Q4. What are the characteristics of a computer? How many types of computers? Answer: The major characteristics of a computer that makes it a powerful machine can be enumerated as speed, storage, accuracy, ability to operate automatically, diligence, scientific approach and versat