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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Role of Environment Scanning in Strategic Management Process | Management Strategies in Educational Institutions | BEd Solved Assignment Course Code 8615


Q. 4: Justify the role of Environment Scanning in Strategic management process.


Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Year)
Semester: Spring, 2019
Assignment No.1


Answer:

Strategic decisions are the decisions that are concerned with whole environment in which the firm operates the entire resources and the people who form the company and the interface between the two.

Benefits of Strategic Decisions

Strategic decisions have major resource propositions for an organization. These decisions may be concerned with possessing new resources, organizing others or reallocating others.


Strategic decisions deal with harmonizing organizational resource capabilities with the threats and opportunities. Strategic decisions deal with the range of organizational activities. It is all about what they want the organization to be like and to be about.


Strategic decisions involve a change of major kind since an organization operates in ever-changing environment. Strategic decisions are complex in nature.


Strategic decisions are at the top most level, are uncertain as they deal with the future, and involve lot risk. Strategic decisions are different from administrative and operational decisions. Administrative decisions are routine decisions which help or rather facilitate strategic decisions or operational decisions. Operational decisions are technical decisions which help execution of strategic decisions. To reduce cost is a strategic decision which is achieved through operational decision of reducing the number of employees and how we carry out these reductions will be administrative decision.

Concept of SWOT Analysis in Strategic Management:

SWOT can be done by one person or a group of members that are directly responsible for the situation Assessment in the company. Basic Swot analysis is done fairly easily and comprises of only few steps:


Step 1: Listing the firm’s key strengths and weaknesses
Step 2: Identifying opportunities and threats

Strengths and Weaknesses


Strengths and weaknesses are the factors of the firm’s internal environment. When looking for strengths, ask what do you do better or have more valuable than your competitors have? In case of the weaknesses, ask what could you improve and at least catch up with your competitors? Where to look for them?


Some strengths or weaknesses can be recognized instantly without deeper studying of the organization.  But usually the process is harder and managers have to look into the firm’s:


·         Resources: land, equipment, knowledge, brand equity, intellectual property, etc.
·         Core competencies
·         Capabilities
·         Functional areas: management, operations, marketing, finances, human resources and R&D
·         Organizational culture
·         Value chain activities

Strength or a weakness?

Often, company’s internal factors are seen as both, strengths and weaknesses, at the same time. It is   also hard to tell if a characteristic is strength (weakness) or not. For example, firm’s organizational structure can be strength a weakness or neither! In such cases, you should rely on:

Clear Definition


Very often factors which are described too broadly may fit both strengths and weaknesses. For example, “brand image” might be a weakness if the company has poor brand image. However, it can also be strength if the company has the most valuable brand in the market, valued at $100 billion. Therefore, it is easier to identify if a factor is strength or a weakness when it’s defined precisely.


Benchmarking


The key emphasize in doing swot is to identify the factors that are the strengths or weaknesses in comparison to the competitors. For example, 17% profit margin would be an excellent margin for many firms in most industries and it would be considered as strength. But what if the average profit margin of your competitors is 20%? Then company’s 17% profit margin would be considered as a weakness.

VRIO Framework


A resource can be seen as a strength if it exhibits VRIO (valuable, rare and cannot be imitated) framework characteristics. Otherwise, it doesn’t provide any strategic advantage for the company.


Opportunities and threats

Opportunities and threats are the external uncontrollable factors that usually appear or arise due to   the changes in the macro environment, industry or competitors’ actions. Opportunities represent the external situations that bring a competitive advantage if seized upon. Threats may damage your company so you would better avoid or defend against them.


Related Questions to Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 



Sunday, February 23, 2020

Define PERT. Prepare PERT diagram for ‘Result Day’ celebration to explain its process step-wise including all activities in detail

Q. 3 Define PERT. Prepare PERT diagram for ‘Result Day’ celebration to explain its process step-wise including all activities in detail

Course:  Management Strategies in Educational Institutions 

Course Code 8615


Level:Bed Solved Assignment 

Answer:


Complex projects require a series of activities, some of which must be performed sequentially and others that can be performed in parallel with other activities. This collection of series and parallel tasks can be modeled as a network.

In 1957 the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed as a network model for project management. CPM is a deterministic method that uses a fixed time estimate for each activity. While CPM is easy to understand and use, it does not consider the time variations that can have a great impact on the completion time of a complex project.

The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a network model that allows for randomness in activity completion times. PERT was developed in the late 1950's for the U.S. Navy's Polaris project having thousands of contractors. It has the potential to reduce both the time and cost required to complete a project.

The Network Diagram


In a project, an activity is a task that must be performed and an event is a milestone marking the completion of one or more activities. Before an activity can begin, all of its predecessor activities must be completed. Project network models represent activities and milestones by arcs and nodes. PERT originally was an activity on arc network, in which the activities are represented on the lines and milestones on the nodes. Over time, some people began to use PERT as an activity on node network. For this discussion, we will use the original form of activity on arc.

The PERT chart may have multiple pages with many sub-tasks. The following is a very simple example of a PERT diagram:

PERT Chart


The milestones generally are numbered so that the ending node of an activity has a higher number than the beginning node. Incrementing the numbers by 10 allows for new ones to be inserted without modifying the numbering of the entire diagram. The activities in  the above diagram are labeled with letters along with the expected time required to complete the activity.




Steps in the PERT Planning Process


PERT planning involves the following steps:
1. Identify the specific activities and milestones.
2. Determine the proper sequence of the activities.
3. Construct a network diagram.
4. Estimate the time required for each activity.
5. Determine the critical path.
6. Update the PERT chart as the project progresses.

1. Identify Activities and Milestones


The activities are the tasks required to complete the project. The milestones are the events marking the beginning and end of one or more activities. It is helpful to list the tasks in a table that in later steps can be expanded to include information on sequence and duration.

2. Determine Activity Sequence


This step may be combined with the activity identification step since the activity sequence is evident for some tasks. Other tasks may require more analysis to determine the exact order in which they must be performed.

3. Construct the Network Diagram


Using the activity sequence information, a network diagram can be drawn showing the sequence of the serial and parallel activities. For the original activity-on-arc model, the activities are depicted by arrowed lines and milestones are depicted by circles or "bubbles".

If done manually, several drafts may be required to correctly portray the relationships among activities. Software packages simplify this step by automatically converting tabular activity information into a network diagram.

4. Estimate Activity Times


Weeks are commonly used units of time for activity completion, but any consistent unit of time can be used. A distinguishing feature of PERT is its ability to deal with uncertainty in activity completion times. For each activity, the model usually includes three time estimates:

  Optimistic time - generally the shortest time in which the activity can be completed. It is common practice to specify optimistic times to be three standard deviations from the mean so that there is approximately a 1% chance that the activity will be completed within the optimistic time.

  Most likely time - the completion time having the highest probability. Note that this time is different from the expected time.

  Pessimistic time - the longest time that an activity might require. Three standard deviations from the mean is commonly used for the pessimistic time.

PERT assumes a beta probability distribution for the time estimates. For a beta distribution, the expected time for each activity can be approximated using the following weighted average:
Expected time = (Optimistic + 4 x Most likely + Pessimistic) / 6

This expected time may be displayed on the network diagram.
To calculate the variance for each activity completion time, if three standard deviation times were selected for the optimistic and pessimistic times, then there are six standard deviations between them, so the variance is given by:
[(Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 6]2

5. Determine the Critical Path


The critical path is determined by adding the times for the activities in each sequence and determining the longest path in the project. The critical path determines the total calendar time required for the project. If activities outside the critical path speed sup or slows down (within limits), the total project time does not change.
The amount of time that a non-critical path activity can be delayed without delaying the project is referred to as slack time.
If the critical path is not immediately obvious, it may be helpful to determine the following four quantities for each activity:

  ES - Earliest Start time
  EF - Earliest Finish time
  LS - Latest Start time
  LF - Latest Finish time

These times are calculated using the expected time for the relevant activities. The earliest start and finish times of each activity are determined by working forward through the network and determining the earliest time at which an activity can start and finish considering its predecessor activities. The latest start and finish times are the latest times that an activity can start and finish without delaying the project. LS and LF are found by working backward through the network. The difference in the latest and earliest finish of each activity is that activity's slack. The critical path then is the path through the network in which none of the activities have slack.

The variance in the project completion time can be calculated by summing the variances in the completion times of the activities in the critical path. Given this variance, one can calculate the probability that the project will be completed by a certain date assuming a normal probability distribution for the critical path. The normal distribution assumption holds if the number of activities in the path is large enough for the central limit theorem to be applied.

Since the critical path determines the completion date of the project, the project can be accelerated by adding the resources required to decrease the time for the activities in the critical path. Such a shortening of the project sometimes is referred to as project crashing.

6. Update as Project Progresses


Make adjustments in the PERT chart as the project progresses. As the project unfolds, the estimated times can be replaced with actual times. In cases where there are delays, additional resources may be needed to stay on schedule and the PERT chart may be modified to reflect the new situation.


Related Questions to Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 



Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Diifferent Approaches of Management |


Q. 2 Explain evolution of different approaches of management.

Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 

Level: B.Ed (1.5 Year)
Semester: Spring, 2019
Assignment No.1

Answer:


The three approaches to the evolution of management. The approaches are:
1. The Classical Approach
2.  The Behavioral Approach
3. The Quantitative Approach.


1. The Classical Approach:



The classical school represented the first major systematic approach to management thought. It was distinguished by its emphasis on finding way to get the work of each employee done faster. It is primarily based upon the economic rationality of all employees.

This evolved that people are motivated by economic incentives and that they will rationally consider opportunities that provide for them the greatest economic gain. The classical school can be broken down into three historical philosophies of management.

B. Administrative Management Approach:


Scientific management focused primarily on the efficiency of production, but administrative management focused on formal organization structure and the delineation of the basic process of general management. This approach is also known as functional or process approach andis based primarily on the ideas of Henry Fayol (1841-1925).

Henry Fayol is recognized as the first person to systematize the administrative approach activities into six groups, all of which are closely dependent on one another.

2. The Behavioral Approach:


The behavioural approach on the human relations approach is based upon the premise of increase in production and managerial efficiency through an understanding of the people.

The human relations approach of management involves with the human behaviour and focused attention on the human beings in the organization. The growth and popularity of this approach is attributable to Elton  Mayo (1880- 1949) and his Hawthorne experiments.

The Hawthorne experiments were carried out at the Hawthorne plant of the western electric company. These experiments were carried out by Elton Mayo and the staff of the Harvard Business School, main researchers was Elton Mayo, White Head, Roethlisberger and Dickson. The first of Mayo’s four studies took place at a Philadelphia textile mill.

The problem he investigated was excessive labour turnover in a department where work was particularly monotonous and fatiguing. The workers tended to sink into a dejected, disconsolate mood soon after being assigned there eventually they would lose their tempers for no apparent reason and impulsively quit. At first Mayo thought the reason for the worker’s behaviour must be physical fatigue.

So, he instituted a series of rest periods, during the workday. In course of trying to schedule these  periods in the most efficient manner, management experimented withallowing the workers to do the scheduling themselves.

The effect was dramatic. Turnover fell sharly to about the same level as that for the rest of the plant, productivity shot upward and the melancholy moods disappeared.

Similar results were obtained at the Hawthorne plant of the western electric company. Mayo’s another studies made at the Bank hiring room and at an aircraft factory. Hence the Mayo’s study showed that the role played by social needs is more responsive to the social forces operating at work than the economic rewards.

3. The Quantitative Approach:


This approach involves the application of modern quantitative or mathematical techniques for solving managerial problems. This approach is also known as decision theory approach, mathematical approach, quantitative approach, operational approach etc. These quantitative tools and methodologies are designed to add in decision- making relating to operations and production.

According to Lindsay, these techniques assist the management for improving their decisions by:
(i) Increasing the number of alternatives that can be considered.
(ii) Assisting in faster decision-making based upon objective analysis of available information.
(iii) Helping management in evaluating the risks and results of different courses of action.
(iv) Helping to bring into optimum balance the many diverse elements of a modern enterprise.

The technique generally involves the following 4 steps:
(i) A mathematical model is constructed with variables reflecting the important factors in the situation to be analyzed.
(ii) The decision rules are established and some standards are set for the purpose of comparing the relative merits of possible courses of actions.
(iii) The empirical data is gathered which would relate parameters in the goal utility.
(iv) The mathematical calculations are executed so as to find a course of action that will maximize the objective function or the goal utility.



Related Questions to Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 




Monday, February 17, 2020

Need and Scope of Management | Features of Management |

Q. 1 Elaborate need and scope of management. Discuss different features of management. 


Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Year)
Semester: Spring, 2019
Assignment No.1

Answer:


The term ‘management’ has been used in different senses. Sometimes it refers to the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating and controlling; at other times it is used to describe it as a function of managing people. It is also referred to as a body of knowledge, a practice and discipline. There are some who describe management as a technique of leadership and decision-making while some others have analyzed management as an economic resource, a factor of production or a system of authority.

Objectives of Management:


The primary objective of management is to run the enterprise smoothly. The profit earning objective of a business is also to be kept in mind while undertaking various functions.

Following are the broad objectives of management:

1. Proper Utilization of Resources:


The main objective of management is to use various resources of the enterprise in a most economic way. The proper use of men, materials, machines and money will help a business to earn sufficient profits to satisfy various interests. The proprietors will want more returns on their investments while employees, customers and public will expect a fair deal from the management. All these interests will be satisfied only when physical resources of the business are properly utilized.

2. Improving Performance:


Management should aim at improving the performance of each and every factor of production. The environment should be so congenial that workers are able to give their maximum to the enterprise. The fixing of objectives of various factors of production will help them in improving their performance.

3. Mobilizing Best Talent:


The management should try to employ persons in various fields so that better results are possible. The Employment of specialists in various fields will be increasing the efficiency of various factors of production. There should be a proper environment which should encourage good persons to join the enterprise. The better pay scales, proper amenities, future growth potentialities will attract more people in joining a concern.

4. Planning for Future:


Another important objective of management is to prepare plans. No management should feel satisfied with today’s work if it has not thought of tomorrow. Future plans should take into consideration what is to be done next. Future performance will depend upon present planning. So, planning for future is essential to help the concern.


Scope or Branches of Management:


Management is an all pervasive function since it is required in all types of organized Endeavour. Thus, its cope is very large.

The following activities are covered under the scope of management:
(i) Planning
(ii) Organization
(iii) Staffing.
(iv) Directing
(v) Coordinating and
(vi) Controlling

The operational aspects of business management, called the branches of management, are as follows:
1. Production Management
2. Marketing Management
3. Financial Management.
4. Personnel Management and
5. Office Management.

Different Features of Management:


Now let's briefly discuss each feature of management.

1. Continuous and never ending process


Management is a Process. It includes four main functions, viz., Planning, Organizing, Directing and Controlling. The manager has to Plan and Organize all the activities. He had to give proper Directions to his subordinates. He also has to Control all the activities. The manager has to perform these functions continuously. Therefore, management is a continuous and never ending process.

2. Getting things done through people


The managers do not do the work themselves. They get the work done through the workers. The workers should not be treated like slaves. They should not be tricked, threatened or forced to do the work. A favorable work environment should be created and maintained.

3. Result oriented science and art


Management is result oriented because it gives a lot of importance to "Results". Examples of Results like, increase in market share increase in profits, etc. Management always wants to get the best results at all times.

4. Multidisciplinary in nature


Management has to get the work done through people. It has to manage people. This is a very difficult job because different people have different emotions, feelings, aspirations, etc. Similarly, the same person may have different emotions at different times. So, management is a very complex job. Therefore, management uses knowledge from many different subjects such as Economics, Information Technology, Psychology, Sociology, etc.

Therefore, it is multidisciplinary in nature.

5. A group and not an individual activity


Management is not an individual activity. It is a group activity. It uses group (employees) efforts to achieve group (owners) objectives. It tries to satisfy the needs and wants of a group (consumers). Nowadays, importance is given to the team (group) and not to individuals.

6. Follows established principles or rules


Management follows established principles, such as division of work, discipline, unity of command, etc. These principles help to prevent and solve the problems in the organization.

7. Aided but not replaced by computers


Now-a-days, all managers use computers. Computers help the managers to take accurate decisions. However, computers can only help management. Computers cannot replace management. This is because management takes the final responsibility. Thus Management is aided (helped) but not replaced by computers.

8. Situational in nature


Management makes plans, policies and decisions according to the situation. It changes its style according to the situation. It uses different plans, policies, decisions and styles for different situations.
The manager first studies the full present situation. Then he draws conclusions about the situation. Then he makes plans, decisions, etc., which are best for the present situation. This is called Situational Management.

9. Need not be an ownership


In small organizations, management and ownership are one and the same. However, in large organizations, management is separate from ownership. The managers are highly qualified professionals who are hired from outside. The owners are the shareholders of the company.

10. Both an art and science


Management is result-oriented. Therefore, it is an Art. Management conducts continuous research. Thus,it is also a Science.


Related Questions to Course: Management Strategies in Educational Institutions (8615) 






Saturday, February 15, 2020

What are levels of measurement? | description of level and differentiate each level from other levels | Introduction to Educational Statistics | BEd Solved Assignment Course Code 8614

What are the levels of measurement? Explain each level so that the reader can understand the description of the level and differentiate each level from other levels.

Write down 10 examples for each level and further explain one example from each level.


  • Course: Introduction to Educational Statistics (8614)
  • Level: B.Ed (1.5 Years)


Answer:


Data Levels of Measurement


A variable has one of four different levels of measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, or Ratio.   (Interval and Ratio levels of measurement are sometimes called Continuous or Scale).

The researcher needs to understand the different levels of measurement, as these levels of measurement, together with how the research question is phrased, dictate what statistical analysis is appropriate.  In fact, the Free download below conveniently ties 

In descending order of precision, the four different levels of measurement variable’s levels to different statistical analyses.t are:

  Nominal–Latin for name only (Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian)

  Ordinal–Think ordered levels or ranks (small–8oz, medium–12oz, large–32oz)

  Interval–Equal intervals among levels (1 dollar to 2 dollars is the same interval as 88 dollars to 89 dollars)

  Ratio–Let the “o” in ratio remind you of a zero in the scale (Day 0, day 1, day 2, day 3, …)

The first level of measurement is the nominal level of measurement.   In this level of measurement, the numbers in the variable are used only to classify the data.   In this level of measurement, words, letters, and alpha-numeric symbols can be used.   Suppose there is data about people belonging to three different gender categories. In this case, the person belonging to the female gender could be classified as F, the person belonging to the male gender could be classified as M, and the transgendered classified as T.   This type of assigning classification is the nominal level of measurement.

The second level of measurement is the ordinal level of measurement.   This level of measurement depicts some ordered relationship among the variable’s observations.  Suppose a student scores the highest grade of 100 in the class.   In this case, he would be assigned the first rank.   Then, another classmate scored the second highest grade of 92; she would be assigned the second rank.   A third student scores 81 and he would be assigned the third rank, and so on.     The ordinal level of measurement indicates an ordering of the measurements.

The third level of measurement is the interval level of measurement.  The interval level of measurement not only classifies and orders the measurements, but also specifies that the distances between each interval on the scale are equivalent along the scale from low interval to high interval.   For example, an interval level of measurement could be the measurement of anxiety in a student between the score of 10 and 11, this interval is the same as that of a student who scores between 40 and 41. A popular example of this level of measurement is temperature in centigrade, where, for example, the distance between  94C and 96C is the same as the distance between 100C and 102C.

The fourth level of measurement is the ratio level of measurement.   In this level of measurement, the observations, in addition to having equal intervals, can have a value of zero as well.   The zero in the scale makes this type of measurement, unlike the other types of measurement, although the properties are similar to that of the interval level of measurement. In the ratio level of measurement, the divisions between the points on the scale have an equivalent distance between them.

The researcher should note that among these levels of measurement, the nominal level is simply used to classify data, whereas the levels of measurement described by the interval level and the ratio level are much more exact.

What level of measurement is used for psychological variables?


Rating scales are used frequently in psychological research. For example, experimental subjects may be asked to rate their level of pain, how much they like a consumer product, their attitudes about capital punishment, and their confidence in an answer to a test question.

Typically these ratings are made on a 5-point or a 7-point scale. These scales are ordinal since there is no assurance that a given difference represents the same thing across the range of the scale. For example, there is no way to be sure that a treatment that reduces pain from a rated pain level of 3 to a rated pain level of 2 represents the same level of relief as a treatment that reduces pain from a rated pain level of 7 to a rated pain level of 6.

In memory experiments, the dependent variable is often the number of items correctly recalled. What scale of measurement is this? You could reasonably argue that it is a ratio scale. First, there is a true zero point: some subjects may get no items correct at all. Moreover, a difference of one represents a difference of one item recalled across the entire scale. It is certainly valid to say that someone who recalled 12 items recalled twice as many items as someone who recalled only 6 items.

But the number of items recalled is a more complicated case than it appears at first. Consider the following example in which subjects are asked to remember as many items as possible from a list of 10. Assume that (a) there are 5 easy items and 5 difficult items, (b) half of the subjects can recall all the easy items and different numbers of difficult items, while (c) the other half of the subjects are unable to recall any of the difficult items but they do remember different numbers of easy items. Some sample data are shown below.

Subject
Easy Items
Difficult Items
Score
A
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
B
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
C
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
7
D
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
8

Let's compare (1) the difference between Subject A's score of 2 and Subject B's score of 3 with (2) the difference between Subject C's score of 7 and Subject D's score of 8. The former difference is a difference of one easy item; the latter difference is a difference of one difficult item. Do these two differences necessarily signify the same difference in memory? We are inclined to respond "No" to this question since only a little more memory may be needed to retain the additional easy item whereas a lot more memory may be needed to retain the additional hard item. The general point is that it is often inappropriate to consider psychological measurement scales as either interval or ratio.

Consequences of the level of measurement


Why are we so interested in the type of scale that measures a dependent variable? The crux of the matter is the relationship between the variable's level of measurement and the statistics that can be meaningfully computed with that variable. For example, consider a hypothetical study in which 5 children are asked to choose their favorite colors from blue, red, yellow, green, and purple. The researcher codes the results as follows:
Color
Code
Blue
1
Red
2
Green
3
Yellow
4
Purple
5



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