What is noise in a communication system?

In communication systems, noise is an error or undesired random disturbance of a useful

information signal in a communication channel. The noise is a summation of unwanted or
disturbing energy from natural and sometimes man-made sources.

How would a Project Manager manage critical activities differently from

non-critical activities? Why
The Project Manager would manage the two by calculating the critical path of the
activity. The method would;

Identifies the Most Important Tasks:

Helps Reduce Timelines
Compares Planned with Actual

"The critical path method brings an important level of clarity to your project. It is a visual
depiction of the fragility of the balance of your constraints: If one of the activities on the path
gets delayed, your project gets delayed. It is also a great way to determine where to invest
resources if the project has fallen behind schedule."
Critical activities if not managed timely will cost the project in terms of cost or time
but the non-critical activities will not affect the project as much and can be
managed after.

What is the relation between careful planning and performance of an

organization?
Formal planning is associated with higher profits, higher return on assets and
other positive financial results.
The quality of the planning process and the appropriate implementation of
the plan probably contribute more to high performance than does the extent
of planning.
At times formal planning didnt lead to higher performance due to external
environment which affected managerial decision.
Planning/Performance relationship is influenced by the planning time frame.
Organization generally require four years of systematic planning before
performance is impacted.

What is meant by Leadership Style? Briefly describe the different

leadership styles.

 Autocratic Management Style

An autocratic manager dictates orders to their staff and makes
decisions without any consultation.
The leader likes to control the situation they are in.
Decision are quick .
This type of management style can decrease motivation and increase
staff turnover

Democratic Management Style

A democratic manager delegates authority to the staff, giving them
responsibility to complete the task.
Staff will complete the tasks using their own work methods on time.
Employees are involved in decision making giving them a sense
motivating individuals.
Increases job satisfaction by involving employees or team members .
Slow decision making process.

Laissez Faire Management style

A laissez faire manager sets the tasks and gives staff complete
freedom to complete the task as they see fit. leave it be.
It works for teams in which the individuals are very experienced and
skilled self-starters.
There is minimal involvement from the manager.
The manager coaches or supply information if required.
Staff feel lost and not reach the goals set within the time frame

The time spent in carrying management functions differs at various level

of organizations hierarchy. Justify the statement with a brief explanation
of the principle of management.

Planning: Process of identifying and selecting appropriate organizational goals and

courses of action including identifying resources needed.

Organizing:
Process of allocating resources and creating a structure of working relationships
that allow organizational members to interact and cooperate to achieve
organizational goals.
Leading: Articulating a clear organizational vision for its members to accomplish,
and energize and enable employees so that everyone understands the part they play
in achieving organizational goals.
Controlling: Process of evaluating how well an organization has achieved its goals
and to take any corrective actions needed to maintain or improve performance.

The ability of the manager determines the Span of Control he/she can
have. Explain Span of Control and what are the other factors to
determine the Span of Control a manager can have?
Span of control is the number of employees a manager can efficiently and
effectively manage. This question of span of control is important because to a
large degree, it determines the number of levels and managers an
organization has. All things being equal, the wider or larger the span, the
more efficient the organization.
The contemporary view of span of control recognizes that many factors
influence the appropriate number of employees that a manager can
efficiently and effectively manage. It includes skills and abilities of manager
and the employees, similarity of employees tasks, the complexity of those
tasks, the physical proximity of subordinates, the degree to which standard
procedures are in place, the sophistication of the organizations information
system, the strength of the organizations culture and the preferred style of
manager.
The trend in recent years has been towards larger spans of controls, which
are consistent with managers efforts to reduce costs, speed up decision

making, increase flexibility , get closer to customers and empower

employees.

The Work Breakdown Structure is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of

decomposed project components that organize and define the total scope
of the project Explain why it is necessary in a project planning with an
appropriate example of WBS.

WBS helps us in:

Activity definition what things are to be done?

Activity sequencing when to do what.

Activity scheduling actual time-line for activities.

Activity resource allocation (cost/time estimation) who will do what and

when.

Activity schedule control who will be responsible for what.

Explain the steps involved in controlling process. Also describe how

controlling is related with other functions of management.

1.

Establish standards of performance, goals, or targets against which

performance is to be evaluated.
Managers at each organizational level need to set their own standards.

2. Measure actual performance

Managers can measure outputs resulting from worker behavior or they
can measure the behavior themselves.

The more non-routine the task, the harder it is to measure

behavior or outputs

3. Compare actual performance against chosen standards of performance

Managers evaluate whether and to what extent performance
deviates from the standards of performance chosen in step 1.
4. Evaluate result and initiate corrective action if the standard is not being
achieved
If managers decide that the level of performance is unacceptable, they
must try to change the way work activities are performed to solve the
problem

List down the activities to be carried out in Project Planning Phase;

1. Develop statement of work describing the objectives to be achieved
and the work to be done.
2. Generate the work breakdown structure (WBS) to produce a complete
list of activities.
3. Develop the organization breakdown structure (OBS) and link it with
work breakdown structure to identify responsibilities.
4. List resources - money, personnel, equipment and materials - needed
to complete the project.
5. Estimate time required to perform each activity and resources
requirements to that time frame.