BPAC 132
BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment July 2021 & Jan 2022
Assignment A
1 Discuss Kautilya’s views on personnel administration.
Ans:Kautilya’s views on personnel administration:
“A good administration is characterised by the quality of persons who run’ it, this is the old saying.
The ancient administration as depicted by Arthashastra was no exception to this in so far as the details about the public servants in Arthashastra are concerned.
Kautilya underlines the fact that the State achieves its socio-economic and political aims through the people engaged in the task of administration of decisions, policies, and projects.
The personnel administration was also important because the scope of the activities of the state was wide and varied, which in turn implied the wide and varied scope of public administration.
State was the major source of public employment, besides the fact that the State was basically a Welfare State, wherein the smaller fish had as much right to live as the bigger fish and wherein the subjects were to be treated by the King as his children.
It was the responsibility of the State machinery to maintain the orphans, the destitute, the helpless and the aged. Following ere the Kautilya’s views on personnel administration:
- Recruitment, Promotion and Transfer:
Recruitment is a process to find and select the best or to weed out the incompetent, sometimes referred derogatively as ‘rascals’, for the performance of the defined administrative tasks/functions.
There was of course no open recruitment system nor an independent recruitment agency as one finds today, yet the King was responsible for the selection of the higher level officials himself. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
The source of recruitment is not very clearly mentioned or identified.
The inference could be that it was some sort of a closed model of recruitment.
Secondly, the requisite qualifications for different functional responsibilities were generally defined on the basis of which a person could find the entry or could be either rejected or given a low-level task.
Even the King was supposed to fulfill a number of eligibility conditions to become the King. So was the case in relation to the Prince or the priest or other heads of the departments mentioned earlier.
- Pay and Salaries:
When it comes to the issue of salaries and pay, one finds that the officers were getting fixed amount as salary/pay, which could be raised or reduced at the discretion of the King depending on the achievement or failure of the official to achieve the desired goals of the state.
Moreover, there was no pay-scale or assured increments as is the case today. The discussion in the Arthashastra shows that the grade of pay differed from 48000 panas to the lowest of 60 panas. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
The Mahamatya (Prime Minister), the Purohit, the Senapati, the Yuvaraj, Acharaya, the Ritwik (Sacrificial priest), the Queen and the Rajmata were entirled to the salary of 48000 panas, whereas the Dauvarika, Antarvamsika, Prasastra, Samaharta and Samnidhata were in the category of 24000 panas.
- Training of Civil Servants:
Training of the highest level officers of the government attracted Kautilya’s mind the most, as this was the only issue that was given explicit and exclusive in depth treatment by the author of Arthashastra.
He deals with several aspects relating to training of the officials like the selection of the right persons with right aptitudes and the contents to be transferred or remitted to them.
2 Explain the styles of management, as propounded by Rensis Likert.
Ans:Likert Management System:
The Likert’s Management System was developed by Rensis Likert in the 1960s. Rensis Likert with his associates observed the different patterns and styles of management in various fields.
He observed the styles for around three decades and came up with the Likert’s Management System.
After years of observation and research, he outlined four styles of management which described the relationships, involvement and roles of managers and subordinates in an industrial setting.
The observation of Likert was carried out at Michigan University, USA.
The Four styles that were given by Likert were called Likert’s Leadership Styles. Likert developed these leadership styles with thorough research of various organizations.
He also took the help of questionnaires which were distributed to managers from over 200 different types of organizations.BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
After the successful development of the four leadership styles, Likert tried to modify the styles to suit the educational institutions.
Likert’s Four Styles of Leadership:
The Likert’s Management system consisted of four styles and they are Exploitative Authoritative, Benevolent Authoritative, Consultative and Participative.
The four styles were developed with a lot of research and observation. These systems indicate the stages of evolution of patterns of management in different organizations.
The system consists of different variables such as motivation, Influence, Leadership, communication, Interaction and decision making. Here we will discuss in detail the Likert’s Leadership Styles.
- Exploitative Authoritative System:
It is the first system in Likert’s Leadership Styles. Under this style Likert states that the ultimate power lies in the hands of the top subordinates.
The Top management makes the policies and rules and the employees in the lower level are bound to follow the instructions given to them by their superiors.
Here, it is observed that the workers at the lower level do not feel free to discuss their work with their superiors.The communication and teamwork in this system are very little.
- Benevolent Authoritative System:
Under this system of Likert’s, it is observed that the authority lies in the hands of the managers and not in the hands of the lower-level workers.
The superiors have a small amount of confidence and trust in the employees. The superiors have less control over the employees.
They do not use methods of threats. However, the employees are rewarded and punished as per their performance in the organization.BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
- Consultative System:
This is the third style of leadership given by Likert. In this system, Likert has stated that responsibility and authority are spread widely throughout the organization.
The subordinates in the different levels of the organizations are given different responsibilities. The employees and subordinates work as a team on certain decisions.
There is fair communication between the employees and the superiors. However, the power to form policies and rules lies in the hands of the top management.
- Participative System:
This is the last style of leadership given by Likert. Under this style, Likert states that the power and responsibility to achieve the goals of the organization is distributed among all the employees and subordinates in the organization.
According to this system, each employee has a certain role to play in the success of the organization. The superiors have the utmost confidence and trust in their employees.
Assignment B3 Examine Gandhi’s idea of Swaraj.
Answer:Gandhi’s idea of Swaraj:
Mahatma Gandhi introduced the concept of ‘Swaraj’ during the British regime. His ideology of ‘Swaraj’ was to empower people and give them the real meaning of self-rule.
‘Swaraj’ is a bigger term. In political terms it talks about the implementation of democracy in its true form right from the grass-root level where at every level there is a public representative, moreover, it is also about the overall development of the nation where every section of the society irrespective of religion, caste, race and economic condition are treated equally.
Gandhi’s idea of ‘Swaraj’, in the colonial period was prominently to empower and liberate people and teach them to rule themselves and establish self-control, self-respect and capacities for self-realisation.BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
By teaching people about liberation, Gandhi intended to reject and wholly uproot the British rule in India.
But, through the course of time, post-independence, the meaning of ‘Swaraj’ modified to implement better governance in a democratic political structure and promote equality and overall development.
To implement this ideology for making India a true democracy at the grass-root level, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed.
As a result, from gram panchayat to the union government there is always a public representative at every level of governance.
The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments passed by the Parliament in 1992 laid the foundation of local government system in India.
The Indian political structure saw a major change after the amendments came into existence. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
The amendments not only described the local governing bodies as basic units of democracy but also put forth a provision that all seats must be filled by direct voting and one-third of total number of seats be reserved for women and one-third for SCs and STs, hence, providing equal opportunities to every section of society and promoting equality factor of Gandhian ideology as well.
4 Describe the changing perspectives of Weber’s bureaucracy.
Ans:Changing perspectives of Weber’s bureaucracy:
Following Weber, both the proponents and opponents have generally assumed that only an advanced society, culturally arranged on rational principles, would be compatible enough to sustain such legal-rational administration.
This means it was presumed that a legal-rational organisation can seldom achieve maximum efficiency in less advanced societies.
However, during the mid-twentieth century, increase in complexities of societal existence of individuals on democratic and equity principles has brought about greater dependence on government agencies both in advanced as well as in less advanced countries.
While this phenomenon had helped bureaucracy to achieve an all-pervasive status, concurrently, it grappled with administrative dysfunctions, such as inert, inefficient, corrupt, unmanageable, unresponsive, unaccountable, invasive procedures etc.
These dysfunctions are collectively called ‘bureaucratisation’. Drawing evidence from research findings, Caiden attempts to reflect the systemic and organisational deficiencies in terms of bureaucratic inertia and complacency.
In the early 1970s, a unique experiment was conducted at the Institute of Administration, University of Ife, Nigeria, where 72 Nigerian civil servants took part in evolving case studies of maladministration. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
The study revealed six dysfunctions of bureaucracy that prevented officials from taking initiatives vis-a-vis corruption and lack of integrity, community conflict and aggression, sectarian conflict, inefficiency, misconduct and indiscipline and poor authority relationships.
Further, few chronic problems were identified by scholars and activists, such as inordinate delays, non-availability of officials at all levels, lack of concern towards the grievances of citizens or groups..
Post-Weberian view has been people-oriented as against structure-oriented and there has been a tectonic shift from the mechanical impersonalized Weberian structure to human development paradigm.
This means the inclusion of more flexible structures and giving up the obsession for productivity and secrecy, as it was believed that organisational productivity sans human development was meaningless.
5 Briefly discuss Maslow’s theory of motivation.
Ans:Maslow’s theory of motivation: BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
Abraham Harold Maslow advocated the theory of motivation based on various needs. Maslow identified five distinct categories of needs.
He arranged these needs into a hierarchy, and stated that individuals wish to satisfy particular need to a moderate extent, and then tries to satisfy the next need in the hierarchy. Maslow identified human needs into five distinct categories.
Based on the concept Maslow identified five categories of needs and their role in motivating individuals.They are described below:
1) Physiological Needs: Basic and primary needs required for human existence are physiological needs.They relate to biological and are required for preservation of basic human life.
These needs are identified to the human organ in the body.
2) Safety Needs: Individuals seek protection from natural environment, biological danger, economic deprivation and emotional threat from other beings and animals.
For this purpose, he wishes security for himself. The protection may be in the form of seeking a shelter and forming into primary groups to combat threat from the natural beings.
3) Social Needs: Basically individual is a social being. He cannot live in isolation and silence. Thus, he intends to establish relationship with other human beings and some times wish to rear animals. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
Social needs emerge from the basic urge of individuals to associate, belong with others, make friendship, make companionship, desire to be accepted by others and seek affection.
4) Esteem Needs: Maslow believes that people seek growth. They have natural desire to be identified and respected by others. This instinct is called as esteem.
Esteem needs are associated with self-esteem and esteem from others.
5) Self-actualization Needs: Self-actualization is the transformation of perception and dream into reality. Individuals have inner potential to do something different from others.
Assignment C6 Explain the concept of mental revolution as given by Woodrow Wilson.
Ans:Concept of mental revolution given by Woodrow Wilson:
Mental Revolution is a change in thinking both on the part of management and workers.
Success of implementation of scientific management depends on the mental revolution of management and workers both as to their duty to cooperate in producing the largest possible surplus and to the necessity for substituting exact scientific knowledge for opinions or the old rule of thumb of individual knowledge.
If not, all the measures suggested in scientific management system would be useless.
Mental revolution is a change in thinking on both the sides. Mental revolution aims at improving the thinking of both the parties to create a better working environment.
Workers and their managers should change their attitude and each one of them should realize the importance of the other. Both should work towards the accomplishment of the common goals of the organisation. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
7 Write a short note on the views of Follett on Leadership.
Ans:Views of Follett on Leadership:
According to Follett, ‘leadership is a necessary management skill. Her styles of leaders are functional ones and not an authoritarian ones.
According to her, a leader is not the head of the department, but one “who can see all around a situation, who sees it as related to certain purposes and policies, who sees it evolving into the next situation, who understands how to pass from one situation to another”.
Moreover, she says that, leader is “the man who energises his group, who knows how to encourage initiative, how to draw from all what each has to give”.
He is “the man who can show that the order is integral to the situation”. The three critical functions of a leader are coordination, definition of purpose and anticipation.
She observes that leaders are not born; they are created through proper education and training in organisation and management. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
A leaders not only influences his group, but is also influenced by it. This reciprocal relationship is called as ‘circular response’.
8 What do you mean by contribution-Satisfaction Equilibrium?
Ans:Contribution Satisfaction Equilibrium:
Chester Barnard has come out with a concept called as Contribution Satisfaction Equilibrium to explain individual motivation.
By contribution, he refers to individual’s efforts and activities undertaken in pursuance of the organizational goal. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
By satisfaction, he refers to the incentives or the benefits provided by the organization towards the individual in exchange for the contribution.
Chester barnard says that the individual’s motivation depends on individual satisfaction being more than individual’s contribution.
Individual becomes fully motivated when he derives a feeling that individual’s satisfaction is more than the individual’s contribution.
Equilibrium refers to the balance in the system i.e. system to be functional requires that the individual contributes towards the organizational goal.
Satisfaction of the individual has been explained through the concept of Inducement.
9 Discuss the principles of Job Enrichment.
Ans:Principles of Job Enrichment: Vertical job loading is the terminology used by Herzberg to describe his principles for enriching positions and giving employees more challenging work. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
It’s intended to contrast with job enlargement, horizontal job loading, which often involves giving employees more work without changing the challenge level.
Once you have a list of options, Herzberg recommends using the following seven principles to review the options, and shortlist only those that invokes one or more of the following:
1 Removing some controls while retaining accountability.
2 Increasing the accountability of individuals for own work.
3 Giving a person a complete, natural unit of work. 4. Granting additional authority to employees in their activity.
4 Making periodic reports directly available to the workers themselves rather than to supervisors.
5 Introducing new and more difficult tasks not previously handled.
10 What do you understand by Management by Objectives?
Ans:Management by Objectives:
Management by objectives is a strategic management model that aims to improve the performance of an organization by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees.
According to the theory, having a say in goal setting and action plans encourages participation and commitment among employees, as well as aligning objectives across the organization.
Management by objectives also known as management by planning) is the establishment of a management information system to compare actual performance and achievements to the defined objectives. BPAC 132 Free Solved Assignment
Practitioners claim that the major benefits of management by objectives are that it improves employee motivation and commitment and allows for better communication between management and employees.
BPAC 131 FREE ASSIGNMENT