MANAGEMENT IN ACTION

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Q. 1.What is your understanding of Management Consulting. What are the generic

purposes of Consultancy?

ANS: - It is the practice of helping organizations to improve their performance through analysis
of existing organisational problems and development of plans for improvement.
Examples areHR consultants -------Specialised in HR
ISO Consultants------Specializing in the process of ISO certification.
"Management consulting" is more precise, referring to the industry and practice of
providing guidance to management in order to improve the performance of
organizations.
Consultancies may also provide organizational change management assistance,
development of coaching skills, process analysis, technology implementation,
strategy development or operational improvement services. Management
consultants may often bring their own proprietary methodologies or frameworks
to guide the identification of problems and to serve as the basis for
recommendations for more effective or efficient ways of performing work tasks.
Generic Consulting Purpose:
Achieving organizational purpose and objective.
Solving management and business problems.
Identifying and seizing new opportunities.
Enhancing learning.
Implementing changes.

Q. 2. What has been the growth and performance of the business of Management
Consulting Industry? If it has been rapid, what are the reasons?

ns:Management consulting has grown quickly, with growth rates of industry exceeding
20% in 1980s and 1990s. As a business service, consulting remains highly cyclical and
linked to overall economic conditions. The consultant industry shrank during the 2001
2003 period, but grew steadily until the recent economic downturn in 2009. Since then the
market has stabilized.
One of the reason for the rapid growth in consulting industry is every organization feels
that they provide best practices as they have relationship with numerous organizations.
They also provide their own methodologies to guide the organizations for effective output.

Q3. What is the skill set required for management consultants?

Ans:Skill set required for Management consultants are
Consultants Listen
Consulting requires the ability to listen to your customer; it also requires the ability to
explain to your customer. Consulting is about communication. Good communicators do
well in consulting.
Network
It's important to have a good network of business contacts in consulting as you progress.
New business development becomes part of your job.
Teamwork
Being able to pull together persons with large egos to get a presentation together for a
client is a challenge and is likely to be rewarded highly.
Brainwork
At it's essence, consulting is using stretching and using your brain. A consultant sells ideas,
smarts, and brilliance (and, of course, talks a lot about transforming ideas into action).
A Different Perspective Can Work
Candidates with original perspective wanted. Consultants listen, analyze and solve. To put
it all together you have to be able to look at things differently than the average manager out
there.
Industry Knowledge Counts.
Firms want specialists with deep knowledge in specific industries who can understand the
present and envision the future.
Q4. What is the areas that consultants can be approached for expert advice /
improvement in improving a companys performance?
Ans:The areas that consultants can be approached for expert advice / improvement in
improving a companys performance are business services, information technology
consulting, human resource consulting, virtual management consulting, and
others.
Q. 5. Explain a simple model of a consulting process.
Ans:Basic 6-step model of consulting Process is
a. Define objectives.
b. Gathering Data & Analyze
c. Evaluate Data & Align Goals.
d. Develop Strategies & Solutions.
e. Implement Solutions.
f. Monitor Performance.

Q6. It is said that Independence is the most salient feature of consulting. Explain this
statement.
Ans:Independence is the most salient feature of consulting
It explains how much independence is given to the consultants in the organization. If the
access given to the consultants is less they cant explore the organization completely and
sometimes they cant be able to analyze the problems in the organizations to come up with
solutions.
If the consultants are given independence in the organization it will be helpful for them to
explore the problems in the organization and to come up with the solutions for better
output and to increase the organizations performance.
Q7.The growth and performance of the business of Management Consulting Industry
has also fueled a lot of criticism of consultants. What are the reasons? How can they
be avoided?
Ans:As every industry have back flaws, even management consulting industry also has
fueled a lot of criticism of consultants.
Management consultants are sometimes criticized for overuse of buzzwords,
reliance on and propagation of management fads, and a failure to develop plans
that are executable by the client.
More disreputable consulting firms are sometimes accused of delivering empty
promises, despite high fees, and charged with "stating the obvious" or lacking the
experience upon which to base their advice. These consultants bring few
innovations, instead offering generic and "prepackaged" strategies and plans that
are irrelevant to the clients particular issue. They may fail to prioritize their
responsibilities, placing their own firms interests before those of the clients.
Another concern is the promise of consulting firms to deliver on the sustainability
of results. At the end of an engagement between the client and consulting firms,
there is often an expectation that the consultants will audit the project results for a
period of time to ensure that their efforts are sustainable. Although sustainability
is promoted by some consulting firms, it is difficult to implement because of the
disconnect between the client and consulting firms after the project closes.
Further criticisms include: disassembly of the business (by firing employees) in a
drive to cut costs, only providing analysis reports, junior consultants charging
senior rates, reselling similar reports to multiple clients as "custom work", lack of
innovation, overbilling for days not worked, speed at the cost of quality,
unresponsive large firms and lack of (small) client focus, lack of clarity of
deliverables in contracts, not customizing specific research report criteria and
secrecy.

Q.1. Define Culture.

Ans:Culture can be defined as an evolving set of collective beliefs, values and
attitudes. Culture is a key component in business and has an impact on the
strategic direction of business. Culture influences management, decisions and
all business functions from accounting to production.
Culture is dynamic and cultural communities have an ability to change, adopt, and
adapt new production systems while preserving crucial elements of sustainability.

Q. 2. Give examples of culture of three well known companies.

Ans:- Culture of 3 well- known companies:
Microland LTD.
In-depth IT Experience with technical and organizational skills that balance work,
team support and ad-hoc responsibilities in a timely and professional manner.
Possessing excellent management skills and having the ability to work with the
minimum of supervision whilst leading a team of twelve or more. Having a proven
ability to lead by example, consistently shown top performance, improve best
practices and organise time efficiently.
Google:
Its really the people that make Google the kind of company it is. We hire people
who are smart and determined, and we favour ability over experience. Although
Googlers share common goals and visions for the company, company from all
walks of life and speak dozens of languages, reflecting the global audience that we
serve. And when not at work, Googlers pursue interests ranging from cycling to
beekeeping, from Frisbee to foxtrot. We strive to maintain the open culture often
associated with startups, in which everyone is a hands-on contributor and feels
comfortable sharing ideas and opinion.
Apple
Apple is a pretty divided mix of typical corporate red tape and politics mixed in
with startup level urgency when the direction comes from Steve. If you have a
project that Steve is not involved in, it will take months of meetings to move things
forward. If Steve wants it done, it's done faster than anyone thinks is humanly
possible. The best way to get any cross departmental work done was to say its for
Steve and you'd probably have it the same day.

Q. 3. It is said for Business to grow and develop business managers

need to be aware of Power of Culture. Briefly discuss this statement.
Ans:Managers must understand the advantages and disadvantages brought on by
different cultures. Cultural and ethnic differences are a fact of life in the workplace.
People tend to stereotype individuals from other cultures or races. This must be
overcome, however, will be challenging. To be effective, managers and employees
need to recognize, respect, and capitalize on their differences. This will and can
reduce stress and make a better workplace. Women in the workplace are still at a
disadvantage. Women are regarded as inferior to men at the workplace in relation
to job level and salary. Much work still needs to be done.

Q. 4. An Indian Company manufacturing kitchen ware wishes to set up

a plant in Dubai. How can their Business Development Manager
identify the business culture of doing in UAE?
Ans:-

Q. 5. What are the various levels of culture?

Ans:Behaviour: Behaviours form the most observable level of culture, and consist of
behavior patterns and outwar
d manifestations of culture, such as perks
provided to executives, dress codes, the level of technology utilized (and where it is
utilized), and the physical layout of work spaces. Some notable characteristic
behaviors may have considerable longevity such as rites, ceremonies,
organizational myths, and shop talk.

Values: to a large extent, determine behavior, but they are not directly observable
(as behaviors are). There may be a difference between stated and operating values
(the values the organization espouses, and those that are actually in
use). Organizational values are frequently expressed through norms
characteristic attitudes and accepted behaviors that might be called the unwritten
rules of the roadand every employee quickly picks them up.

Assumption: To really understand culture, we have to get to the deepest level:

the level of Fundamental Assumptions. An organizations underlying assumptions
grow out of values, until they become taken for granted and drop out of awareness

Q. 6. What are the well known cultural models available for assessing
culture? Explain Geert Hofstede Model?
Ans:Dr. Geert Hofstede conducted perhaps the most comprehensive study of how
values in the workplace are influenced by culture. From 1967 to 1973, while
working at IBM as a psychologist, he collected and analyzed data from over
100,000 individuals from forty countries. From those results, and later additions,
Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to
differentiate cultures. He later added a fifth dimension, Long-term Outlook.
As with any generalized study, the results may or may not be applicable to specific
individuals or events. In addition, although the Hofstede's results are categorized
by country, often there is more than one cultural group within that country. In
these cases there may be significant deviation from the study's result. An example
is Canada, where the majority of English speaking population and the minority
French speaking population in Quebec has moderate cultural differences.
Power Distance Index
Individualism
Masculinity
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Long-Term Orientation

Q.7. A managers personality and value system is moulded by the

culture he has grown up, worked and socialized. How should he
manage the challenges of culture while working with an MNC abroad?
Ans:Multinational corporations (MNCs) seem to be paying little attention to
international training and management development for new expatriate
assignments.
Effective training of expatriate employees is needed for the success of any MNC.
The literature review provides the view that more sensitivity needs to be paid to

the intense training needs for the benefit of MNCs, expatriates, and family
members.
It also provide a better understanding to the merits of the unique experiences of
expatriate managers in international assignments adjusting to the cross-cultural
conditions on global tours and confronting the challenges affecting their career
goals.
In order to succeed in a globally competitive environment, MNCs need to
effectively train expatriates in international capabilities, including fluency in
foreign languages and in the ability to adapt to different cultures.
Those international assignments can lower the probability of expatriate failure
through training programs.
This paper has been developed from the same tradition that the expatriate
assignment is often poorly performed in international business operation as a
result of deficiencies in training and learning.
It focuses on ways to improve and foster knowledge acquisition for expatriates in
MNCs' training and learning programs.
Q. 8. Businesses is rapidly losing geographical borders. How can
business managers avoid cross culture issues?
Ans:Understanding and appreciating cultural differences is not just ensuring you avoid
causing offence however. Attitudes towards business, the way they are run and
views on management styles can vary greatly in different cultures.
By keeping some minute things in day to day behaviour and attitude among
diverse people we can avoid the misunderstanding and cross culture issues.
Some of them areBody Language and Gestures.
Food.
Clothing and Colour.
Personal Space.
Additional tools and models.
Gender bias.
Socio economic background.

Building bridges.

Q. 9. What are the differences in approach of Geert Hofstede Model

and Trompenars model in assessing culture?
Ans:-

Q.10.What are the dimensions of organizational culture?

Ans:The Organizational Cultural Model (also called Hofstedes Multifocus Model)
consists of six autonomous dimensions or variables and two semi-autonomous
dimensions. The dimensions in an interactive and intuitive way.

Means-oriented vs. Goal-oriented

The means-oriented versus goal-oriented dimension is, among the six dimensions,
most closely connected with the effectiveness of the organisation. In a means
oriented culture the key feature is the way in which work has to be carried out;
people identify with the how. In a goal-oriented culture employees are primarily
out to achieve specific internal goals or results, even if these involve substantial
risks; people identify with the what.
In a very means-oriented culture people perceive themselves as avoiding risks and
making only a limited effort in their jobs, while each workday is pretty much the
same. In a very goal-oriented culture, the employees are primarily out to achieve
specific internal goals or results, even if these involve substantial risks.
Internally driven vs. Externally driven
In a very internally driven culture employees perceive their task towards the
outside world as totally given, based on the idea that business ethics and honesty
matters most and that they know best what is good for the customer and the world
at large. In a veryexternally driven culture the only emphasis is on meeting the
customers requirements; results are most important and a pragmatic rather than
an ethical attitude prevails.
This dimension is distinguishable from means- versus goal-orientation because, in
this case, it is not impersonal results that are at stake, but the satisfaction of the
customer, client or commissioning party.
Easygoing work discipline vs. Strict work discipline

This dimension refers to the amount of internal structuring, control and discipline.
A very easygoing culture reveals loose internal structure, a lack of predictability,
and little control and discipline; there is a lot of improvisation and surprises.
A very strict work discipline reveals the reverse. People are very cost-conscious,
punctual and serious.
Local vs. Professional
In a local company, employees identify with the boss and/or the unit in which one
works. In a professional organization the identity of an employee is determined by
his profession and/or the content of the job. In a very local culture, employees are
very short-term directed, they are internally focused and there is strong social
control to be like everybody else. In a very professional culture it is the reverse.

Open system vs. Closed system

This dimension relates to the accessibility of an organization. In a very open
culture newcomers are made immediately welcome, one is open both to insiders
and outsiders, and it is believed that almost anyone would fit in the organisation.
In a very closed organization it is the reverse.
Employee-oriented vs. Work-oriented
This aspect of the culture is most related to the management philosophy per
se. In very employee-oriented organisations, members of staff feel that personal
problems are taken into account and that the organisation takes responsibility for
the welfare of its employees, even if this is at the expense of the work.
In very work-oriented organisations, there is heavy pressure to perform the task
even if this is at the expense of employees.
Degree of acceptance of leadership style
This dimension tells us to which degree the leadership style of respondents direct
boss is being in line with respondents preferences. The fact that people, depending
on the project they are working for, may have different bosses doesnt play a role at
the level of culture. Culture measures central tendencies.
Degree of identification with your organisation
This dimension shows to which degree respondents identify with the organisation
in its totality. People are able to simultaneously identify with different aspects of a
company. Thus, it is possible that employees identify at the same time strongly
with the internal goals of the company, with the client, with ones own group
and/or with ones direct boss and with the whole organisation. It is also possible
that employees dont feel strongly connected with any of these aspects.
Q.11. Discuss the relationship between strategy and culture?

Ans:Strategy is comprised of everything that will give guidance to management in order

to realise what it wants, such as mission, vision, core values, purpose and
objectives.

Q. 12. What are the components of corporate culture?

Ans:-