INSTITUTE OF PEOPLE MANAGEMENT OF ZIMBABWE

ASSIGNMENT BOOKLET

HIGHER DIPLOMA SUBJECTS

APRIL 2013 *N.B.

CONTENTS
HIGHER DIPLOMA SUBJECTS
ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMINATIONS INSTRUCTIONS............................
Module 12 Module 13 Module 14 Module 15 Module 16 Module 17 Module 18 Module 19 Module 27 Module 28 Module 29

PAGE
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIVITY............... MANAGEMENT ............................................................................... COMMUNICATION AND MOTIVATION ...................................... ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT................................................. RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................... FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ......................................................... MARKETING MANAGEMENT ....................................................... BUSINESS ECONOMICS ................................................................ STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ......................................................... LEADERSHIP, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ETHICS ........... BUSINESS STATISTICS ..................................................................

ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMINATIONS INSTRUCTIONS

Answer any TWO (2) Assignments questions per subject. The assignment should be about 1 500 words in length. Some answers should be brief where required. Preferable Margins : : Typed assignments, font size 12 2 cm

PLAGIARISM OF ASSIGNMENTS
Students Please Note that Plagiarism of Assignments is not Allowed nor Tolerated. While students are allowed to study and discuss the study materials/assignment questions with others and/or with the tutors; but ultimately the assignment to be submitted should contain ones own thoughts and research findings and understanding of the subject matter. Submitting an assignment copied word by word with another person is considered plagiarism and is not acceptable. IPMZ is a professional body, and as such we cannot be seen to be condoning behaviour which is completely at variance with our code of ethics. We expect our members to behave in an ethical and professional manner as representatives of the HR profession. Please be advised that if an Assignment is deemed to have been Plagiarised, the following will happen:A) Suspension from writing the examination/s in the Assignment/s proven beyond reasonable doubt to be plagiarized. Forfeiting of the examination fees paid for the subject/s. ALL assignments submitted will not be marked. Writing of examinations on the other subjects will be allowed but will be marked out of 70%.

B)

C)

Resubmission of the assignments in the subject/s if and when one decides to register for future examinations.

PLEASENOTETHATNOCORRESPONDENCESHALLBEENTEREDINTOANDNOFURTHER REDRESSSHALLBEPERMITTED

2 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY Module 12

1.

(a) (b)

What are the challenges associated with measuring service productivity? Tabulate the input-transformation-output relationship found in the following systems:(i) (ii) (iii) Butchery. Labour Consultancy. Supermarket.

[10]

[5] [5] [5]

2.

Discuss how your company or any company that you are aware of improve productivity.

[25]

3.

Discuss the key features of the JIT production concept.

[25]

4.

(a) (b)

What are the characteristics of TQM? Identify and fully explain any five general attributes that are associated with service quality?

[15]

[10]

MANAGEMENT

Module 13

1.

(a)

For organisations to survive, knowledge of the external environment is critical. Discuss this statement with practical examples from organisation(s) of your choice. What has been the effect of Globalisation to modern day business operations in Zimbabwe? Illustrate with examples.

[15]

(b)

[10]

2.

(a)

Production drives sales and marketing function, and sales and marketing function does not drive production. Discuss. Explain fully what you understand by the term strategic market analysis.

[13] [12]

(b)

3.

Leaders are born and discovered, they are not made. Discuss this with reference to leadership theories you know.

[25]

4.

Employee wellness is a critical function to organisational success. Outline and explain some of the policies and programmes you will put in place to ensure employee wellness, as the HR Manager, at your workplace and why? N.B You should illustrate your answer with examples.

[25]

COMMUNICATION AND MOTIVATION

Module14

1.

What do you understand by these terms of job design?:(i) Work Organisation. (ii) Job Structuring. (iii) Location/Scheduling. (iv) Feedback. (v) Task Significance.

[25]

2.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using financial incentives as motivators? Discuss.

[25]

3.

Make a review of Likerts Principles of Supportive Relationships (Systems 4) and identify how the communication flows at each stage and how it affects employee motivation.

[25]

4.

Explain how you can make the nature and the work itself a source of employee motivation.

[25]

ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT

Module 15

1.

Discuss those conditions necessary for a successful OD process.

[25]

2.

(a)

Discuss these dimensions of culture found in organisations:(i) (ii) The Collaborate Clan Culture The Compete Market Culture [10]

(iii) The Control Hierarchy Culture (b) The growth stage is a critical stage in the life cycle of a company. What does the HR manager need to do to maintain the growth momentum?

[15]

3.

(a)

Discuss the distinctions made by Schein (1985) over Organisation Climate and Organisation Culture. Describe the invisible and the visible Organisation Culture of an organisation giving examples.

[10]

(b)

[15]

4.

An OD Consultant entering an organisation decides which role to play according to the situation. Discuss the five consultant roles identified by Black and Monton (1976). [25]

RESEARCH METHODS

Module 16

1.

(a) (b)

(c)

What is Scientific Research? Describe the following types of Research:(i) Applied Research. (ii) Basic Research. Outline the importance of hypotheses in Research.

[6] [6] [6] [7]

2.

(a) (b) (c)

Give an outline of the Qualitative Research Approach. Distinguish the features that are applied in Quantitative vs Qualitative approaches in research. Explain Experimental Designs in the field of Research.

[8] [8] [9]

3.

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

Define statistics. Discuss any four ways of presenting qualitative data in research. What advantages and disadvantages are associated with the mode? Discuss the four scales of measurement in statistics. What are the general points to remember when setting a data table?

[2] [8] [6] [4] [5]

4.

A group of Middle Managers intend to form a managerial workers committee to represent their interest with management. There is a discord in that others within the same ranks are against the idea and feel that they do not need any form of representation as they can do this on their own as individuals. Due to these differences, there is a need to conduct a research to find out the views of all middle managers on this issue. The organisation has branches nationwide and there is an overnight mail facility from Head Office to other branches. You are a Human Resources Officer based at Head Office and your seniors have requested that you conduct the research on the current impasse within middle managers. Explain how you would practically carryout this research making all common sense assumptions applicable to this type of research.

[25]

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Module 17

1.

Explain and discuss the merits and demerits of any two investment appraisal techniques you are familiar with.

[25]

2.

Explain the objectives of inter-firm comparisons and discuss the challenges associated with such comparisons.

[25]

3.

Explain and discuss three ways of raising funds that a company can use.

[25]

(a)

Assume you invest $20 000 in an account paying 8% interest compounded annually. How much money will you have in the account after six years if you do not make any withdrawals? Calculate the future value of $39 000 invested today for eighteen years if the interest rate is 11%. An emergent businessman has the choice of buying plant and machinery for $80 000 cash or paying $25 500 a year for four years. If the opportunity cost is 10% which alternative should the businessman choose? [25]

(b)

(c)

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Module 18

1.

Marketing managers have various models used to move the buyers mind from awareness to action. Discuss the Innovation-Adoption Model giving how the mind can be moved through the model.

[25]

2.

Positioning is in the mind of the consumer. Critically evaluate this statement.

[25]

3.

Price is the only element of the marketing mix to produce revenue all the others add costs. What are the major pricing strategies? When should each be used? Illustrate your answers with relevant examples.

[25]

4.

Manufacturers value their relations with the intermediaries. Describe the major functions performed by intermediaries. (Illustrate giving relevant examples.)

[25]

BUSINESS ECONOMICS

Module 19

1.

Workers who are not unionised run the risk of low pay. Non-unionised females earn an average 2/3 of the pay of their male counterparts while unionised females earn 90%. Discuss.

[25]

2.

Discuss the features of monopoly, monopolistic competition and perfect competition.

[25]

3.

Explain and discuss what you understand by independence of the Central Bank.

[25]

4.

Explain and discuss the theory of absolute advantage and comparative advantage in trade.

[25]

10 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Module 27

1.

Using the theory you are learning, assess the current strategic planning practice in the organisation you are working in. Recommend any change to improve the present strategy.

[25]

2.

Discuss fully the concept of value chain analysis; show how an organisation of your choice can utilize the concept of value chain analysis to better serve their chosen markets.

[25]

3.

Illustrate with specific examples, how an organisation can use Porters five forces model to evaluate the competitiveness of a business in Zimbabwe. [25]

4.

Identify the approaches that are used to make strategies in organisations. Why do you think these organisations use such approaches? [25]

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LEADERSHIP, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & ETHICS

Module 28

1.

What are the most common corporate governance problems in most organisations and how can they can be overcome? [25]

2.

What criteria are used to appoint and disqualify an individual to the position of Director?

[25]

3.

(a)

Discuss the various components that make up the Executive Directors Remuneration. In your opinion, is it proper for Directors to get the same remuneration, even when their organisation is not performing well?

[15]

(b)

[10]

4.

(a)

Assess the powers exercised by the Board of Directors through decisions made at the companys general meeting. In your opinion, what caused the chaos at the Hwange Colliery Company Annual General Meeting late in 2011 and what lessons can be learnt from this incident?

[10]

(b)

[15]

12 BUSINESS STATISTICS

Module 29

1.

Discuss the three approaches of collecting data namely:(a) (b) (c) Direct Observation Interview Methods Experimentation [25]

2.

(a)

Explain what you understand by index numbers, Laspeyres and Paasche indices. What are the problems of constructing index numbers? What are the limitations of index numbers?

[10] [10] [15]

(b) (c)

3.

Explain the five steps of hypothesis testing.

[25]

4.

Give some explanation of various measures of dispersion i.e. range, interquartile range, variance and standard deviation.

[25]

13