Certificate in Accounting and Finance Stage Examinations

The Institute of 9 September 2016

Chartered Accountants 3 hours – 100 marks
of Pakistan Additional reading time – 15 minutes

Business Management and Behavioural Studies

Q.1 Mintzberg identified six different types of Organisational Configurations with each having a
different mix of building blocks depending on the nature and complexity of the activities
performed by the organisations. Mintzberg’s theory of Organisational Configurations includes
the following:
(i) Machine bureaucracy
(ii) Professional bureaucracy
(iii) Divisionalised form
(iv) Adhocracy

Discuss briefly the salient features of the above Organisational Configurations as described by
Mintzberg. (08)

Q.2 (a) Identify five external factors which would necessitate changes in the strategies and
policies of business organisations. Give two examples of changes relevant to each
external factor. (05)

(b) State the important characteristics of Japanese companies as illustrated by

William Ouchi in Theory Z. (06)

Q.3 Consider the following situations:

(i) Salman delegates some day-to-day decisions to subordinates. He also facilitates and
participates in discussions about some of the decisions with subordinates who are
competent in their work, but lack psychological confidence. He boosts their confidence
and motivation from time to time.
(ii) Ahmed defines the roles and tasks of subordinates and supervises them closely.
Decisions are announced by him. Most of the communication is downwards.
(iii) Hamid is involved in discussions about problem-solving and decision-making but
control mostly vests with the subordinates. The subordinates can perform their work
with little support. They refer to him only when they consider it necessary.
(iv) Bashir defines the roles and tasks of subordinates. At times he seeks ideas and
suggestions from subordinates. However, he makes most of the decisions but supports
and praises the subordinates to boost their self-esteem.

In the context of Hersey and Blanchard’s style of situational leadership, identify the
leadership style in each of the above situations and state when these styles would be most
effective. (06)

Q.4 According to Michael Porter the activities of a business entity include primary value chain
and secondary value chain.

Identify the activities performed by the secondary value chain and describe briefly how they
add value for the business entity. (06)
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Q.5 (a) Illustrate briefly the approaches/tactics adopted in the following types of negotiation
techniques:
(i) The Chicken
(ii) Inflated opening position
(iii) Oh poor me (06)

(b) Explain briefly what is job stress. List four behavioural symptoms of job stress. (04)

Q.6 (a) At times even highly experienced and knowledgeable individuals make perceptual
errors in their assessment of other people. List four reasons which in your opinion are
responsible for perceptual errors. (04)

(b) Explain briefly the difference between explicit attitude and implicit attitude. While
interviewing a candidate for the position of public relations officer for a financial
institution, state whether you would more closely assess the individual’s explicit attitude
or implicit attitude. Give reason for your answer. (06)

Q.7 Match the scenarios given below with their appropriate concepts of behavioural perceptions:

(i) Management of Evershine Enterprises considers well-dressed employees to be highly

intelligent and they are rated favourably for rapid promotions whereas those employees
who do not care much for their appearances are ignored for career advancements.
(ii) Amongst a large group of outstanding students, it is extremely difficult for an
individual of average intelligence to be rated in the top ten percentile but in a relatively
less intelligent group, a student of average intelligence is more likely to be considered as
being of outstanding calibre.
(iii) An individual who is upright and honest in personal dealings with others is more likely
to accept other persons as being upright and honest in their outlook and interactions.
(iv) Swiss watches are acknowledged to be of greater accuracy and durability as compared
to watches made in other countries.
(v) An individual watching a TV talk show readily accepts opinions/arguments of the
participants that fits in with his viewpoints and tends to distort/reject those which in his
opinion are trivial or incorrect. (05)

Q.8 (a) What do you understand by the term Organisational Culture? (02)

(b) Explain the salient features of the following:

(i) Power culture
(ii) Role culture
(iii) Task culture (06)

Q.9 (a) Blake and Mouton’s theory of Leadership/Managerial Grid classifies the different
leadership styles in the following combinations:

(i) 1,1 (ii) 1,9 (iii) 9,1 (iv) 5,5 (v) 9,9

Identify and describe briefly the different leadership styles depicted by each of the above
combinations. (05)

(b) What do you understand by the term positive reinforcement? Identify the situations in
which positive reinforcement would be most effective. (03)
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Q.10 The term bureaucracy may indicate negative connotations of excessive reliance on
cumbersome rules and regulations and their strict implementation resulting in delays and
frustrations. However, Rosemary Stewart states that bureaucracy is an essential feature of the
present day work environment.

Explain briefly the reasons why she considers bureaucracy to be an essential feature in all
organisations. (09)

Q.11 (a) Explain briefly what is meant by the term group dynamics. (03)

(b) List the factors which contribute towards effective group cohesiveness. (03)

Q.12 (a) Identify any six data input devices/methods other than the keyboard. State one
advantage/benefit and limitation/shortcoming of each of these input devices/methods. (06)

(b) What do you understand by an inventory control system? State five

characteristics/features of a typical inventory control system. (07)

(THE END)