April 2009
(1) Section I: All the questions are compulsory
(2) Section II: Attempt any three out of five questions.
(3) Figures to the right indicate marks.
Section I
(1) Explain the concepts in brief (any five) : (10)
(a) Potential Divinity
(b) Atman
(c) Purushartha Model
(d) Quality of work life
(e) Concept of Meditation
(f) Concept of Karma
(g) SRT Gunas
(h) Gandhiji’s philosophy of Trusteeship
(2) Case Study:
Frank Gracia was just starting out as a salesman with Acme Corporation. Acme’s corporate culture was top-down, or hierarchical. Because of the competitive nature of the medical-suppliers industry, few mistakes were tolerated. Otis Hillman was a buyer for Thermocare, a national hospital chain. Frank’s first meeting with Otis was a success, resulting in a 2 crore contract. This sale represented a significant increase for Acme and an additional Rs. 25,000 bonus for Frank.
Some months later Frank called in Thermocare seeking to increase the contract by Rs. 2 crore. “Otis, I think you’ll need the additional inventory. It looks as if you didn’t have at the end of Last quarter,” said Frank. “You might be right. Business has picked up. May be it’s because of your product, but then again, may be not. It’s still not clear to me whether Acme is the best for us. Speaking of which, I heard that you have season tickets to the Cubs!” replies Otis. “I’ve always wanted to see Sammy Sosa hit a home!”
Frank thought for a moment and said, “Otis, I know that part of your increases are due to our quality products. How about we discuss this over a ball game?” “Well, OK”, Otis agreed. By the seventhinning stretch, Frank had convinced Otis that the additional inventory was needed and offered to give Thermocare a pair of season tickets. When Frank’s boss, Amber, heard of the sale, she was very pleased. “Frank, this is great. We’ve been trying to get Thermocare’s business for a long time. You seem to have connected with their buyer.” As a result of the Thermocare account, Frank received another large bonus check and a letter of achievement from the Vice President of Marketing.
Two quarters later Frank had become one of the top producers in the division. At the beginning of the quarter Frank had run the numbers on Thermocare’s account and found that business was booming. The numbers showed that Otis’s business without hurting return on assets. As Frank went over the figure enjoyed the season tickets, but this is a big increase.” As the conversation meandered, Frank soon found that Otis and his wife had never been to Cancun, Mexico.
Frank had never been in a situation like this before, so he excused himself to another room and called Amber about what he was thinking of doing. “Are you kidding!” responded Amber. “Why are you even calling me on this? I’ll find the money somewhere to pay for it.” “Is this OK with Acme?” asked Frank. “You let me worry about that”, Amber told him. When Frank suggested that Otis and his wife be his guests in Cancun, the conversation seemed to go smoothly. In Cancun, Otis decided to purchase the additional goods, ‘for which Frank received another bonus increase and another positive letter from headquarters.
Some time later Amber announced to her division that they would be taking all of their best clients to Las Vegas for thank-you party. One of those invited was Thermocare. When they arrived, Amber gave each person Rs. 10,000 and said, “I want you to know that Acme is very grateful for the business that you have provided us. As a result of your understanding the qualitative differences of our products, we have doubled our production facilities. This trip and everything that goes with it for next few days is our small way of saying thankyou. Everyone of you has your salesperson here. If there is anything that you need, please let them know and we’ll try to accommodate you. Have a good time!
That night Otis had seen Frank at dinner and suggested to him that he was interested in attending an “adult entertainment” club. When Frank came to Amber about this, she said, “Is he asking you to go with him?” “No, Amber, not me!” “well,then’ if he’s not asking you to go, I don’t understand why you’re talking to me. Didn’t I say we’d take care of their needs?” “But what will Acme say if this gets outs?” asked Frank. “Don’t worry’ it won’t,” said Amber.
(This case is strictly hypothetical: any resemblance to real persons, companies or situation is coincidentaly).
Questions: (Each Question carries 5 marks)
(a) What are the potential ethical issues faced by the Acme Corporation?
(b) What should Acme do if there is a desire to make ethics a part of its core organizational values?
(c) Identify the ethical issue of which Frank needs to be aware.
(d) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each division Frank could make.
Section II
(3) Analyse the concepts of Inspiration and Motivation in the Indian context and compare them with the western concepts. (10)
(4) Discuss the correlation between nature, human mind and society? How does it help in building human capital? (10)
(5) Explain the concept of Transformational Leadership Style with reference to the Indian management Thoughts with one corporate example. (10)
(6) Explain how an organization can achieve corporate excellence through Business Ethics? (10)
(7) Write short notes on any two: (10)
(a) Karta in Family Managed Business
(b) Krishna as a Management Guru
(c) Methods of Learning
(d) Corporate Governance
0 Comments