CONFIDENTIAL

BM/OCT 2006/MGT532/531

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA FINAL EXAMINATION

COURSE COURSE CODE EXAMINATION TIME

: : : :

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MGT532/531 OCTOBER 2006 3 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES 1. This question paper consists of two (2) parts : PART A (3 Questions) PART B (5 Questions)

2.

Answer ALL questions from PART A and three (3) questions from PART B in the Answer Booklet. Start each answer on a new page. Do not bring any material into the examination room unless permission is given by the invigilator. Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of: i) ii) the Question Paper an Answer Booklet - provided by the Faculty

3.

4.

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

This examination paper consists of 4 printed pages
Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

BM/OCT 2006/MGT532/531

PART A (40 MARKS)

Buddy Jr., owner of the Buddy's Snack Company, is currently grooming his son Mark to take over the business to regain lost market share to two close competitors. Mark just graduated with MBA. Starting as a salesperson, he was quickly promoted to sales manager after only four months. One of his initial strategies was to introduce a new sales performance management system, where any salesperson who receives a below average performance rating during quarterly assessment would be required to attend a mandatory coaching session with his/her supervisor to improve their motivation. There seems to be mixed reactions from the few salespeople who have been required to attend the coaching session: Lynda Lewis: She is hard working, spending a lot of time learning selling techniques and viewing training videos on her own time. She takes the trouble to accompanying top salespeople on their calls and has no problem asking for advice or doing whatever needs to be done to learn the business. Everyone agrees that Lynda has a cheery attitude and is a real team player. It has been a tough quarter for Lynda due to the downturn in the economy, but she continues giving her best effort. Lynda is upset with Mark for having her attend the coaching session because this is the first time in five years that her sales quota is unmet. Although she is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful, she is concerned that the coaching sessions will be held on a Saturday. Doesn't Mark realize that Lynda is a single mother and her weekends are off limits to company? Lynda somehow manages to rearrange her family's schedule to fit in her coaching sessions. However she is now very concerned about how her efforts are being perceived by Mark. After all, she exceeded the sales quota from the previous quarter yet had not received a 'thank you' or 'good job' for those efforts. The entire experience has left Lynda unmotivated and questioning her future with the company. Michael Benjamin: He lacks interest in sales work. He merely took up his job at Buddy's Snack Company as he felt that he wouldn't have to work hard and would have a lot of free time. He was sent to coaching mainly because his customer satisfaction reports were the lowest. Michael tends to give 'canned' presentations and does not listen close to customer needs. He makes numerous errors in new sales orders which delays shipments and loses business and goodwill for the company. The company's commission structure recently changed. Instead of selling to the warehouse stores and possibly earning a high commission, Michael is now forced to sell to lower volume convenience stores. He will have to sell twice as much product to earn the same amount of money. Michael does not think this change in commission is fair and he feels that the coaching session will be a waste of his time. He feels that the other members of the sales team are successful purely due to getting better leads or better territory, unlike him. (Adapted from: 'Buddy's Snack Company', McShane & Von Glinow, 2005)

Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

BM/OCT 2006/MGT532/531

QUESTION 1 Explain how Lynda's and Michael's situations relate to the equity theory of motivation. (20 marks) QUESTION 2 Differentiate Lynda's personality from Michael's personality from the aspect of their locus of control and self monitoring. (12 marks) QUESTION 3 Mark clearly adopted the negative reinforcement method when introducing the new sales performance management system for his salespeople. Explain his action. (8 marks)

Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

BM/OCT 2006/MGT532/531

PART B (60 MARKS) QUESTION 1 Describe the three (3) key components of the perceptual process and how each can influence perception. (20 marks) QUESTION 2 a) Recognition of good performance can be awarded orally, written or in material form to subordinates. Give an example of each. (3 marks) Describe a possible situation where recognition can be used as a good motivator at the workplace. (5 marks) "Intrinsic forms of reward are better motivators than extrinsic forms of reward". Discuss this statement. (12 marks)

b)

c)

QUESTION 3 a) Discuss the three (3) main sources of conflict in an organization. (15 marks) b) With the aid of a diagram, discuss when conflict is good and when it is bad. (5 marks) QUESTION 4 a) Why is a job-related condition such as underload work is stressful for certain people? (4 marks) Research suggests that most of the time individuals engage in both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies when dealing with stress. Explain three (3) examples for both problem-focused and emotion-focused stress coping strategies.

b)

(16 marks) QUESTION 5 Using Vroom and Yetton's leadership model, discuss how the different decision-making styles are suitable for different situations. (20 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL