PREVIOUS YEAR SOLVED PAPERS - November 2017
- A
That conflict occurs when the tendency of industrial society is to treat worker as an isolated individual and deprive him of all control over his environment.
- B
That an enterprise contains people with coalition of different interests.
- C
That industrial conflict is a part of the broader social conflict between classes.
- D
That no consensus is possible, in case of conflicts, because people are with different socio-cultural backgrounds.
- Option : B
- Explanation : Experts views on pluralist theory:
1. According to Alan Fox, the pluralistic ideology accepts that an enterprise contains people with different interests, aims and aspirations. It is, therefore, a coalition of different interests rather than the embodiment of one common goal.
2. Sir David Ross has viewed an organization as a plural. Society contains many related but separate interests and objectives which must be maintained in some kind of equilibrium.
3. N.L. Kerr is one of the important exponents of pluralism. He states that social environment is an important factor in industrial conflicts. The isolated groups of workers are more strike-prone as compared to integrated groups. When industrial jobs become more satisfying and when employees get integrated with the wider society, strikes become less frequent.
4. According to H.A. Clegg, pluralism does not imply the inevitability of a compromise in all situations. He accepts that the aim of pluralism is to combine social stability with adaptability and freedom. He states that on most of the occasions, conflicts are resolved by compromises. He further states that associations of governments would prefer to make a further concession rather than take the chance of destroying the social order.
5. The Donovan Commission (Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employer’s Association 1965-68) has expressed thus: The running of large business is in the hands of professional managers. While in the long term, shareholders, employees and customers all stand to benefit if a concern flourishes, the immediate interests of these groups often conflict. Directors and managers have to balance these conflicting interests and in practice, they generally seek to strike whatever balance will best promote the welfare of the enterprises as such. This is one of the good examples on pluralist approach on industrial relations.
37. The Job Description Index (JDI) Technique is used for measuring which one of the following?
- Option : A
- Explanation : To measure job attitudes, the Job Description Index (JDI) technique has been developed. The scale provides the worker with a set of adjectives as possible descriptions of five dimensions of the job, including working conditions, pay, promotion, supervision and co-workers. The worker is required to give ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’ responses, for each adjective. The scale provides a satisfaction score for the five job areas as well as an overall score. This assists the researcher in using the technique as a diagnostic tool. It is possible to ascertain areas in which workers are more satisfied and those in which they are less satisfied. It is, thus, easy to administer.
| List-I | List-II |
| (a) Paired comparison method | (i) Reviewing employee records and holding interview on definite test questions. |
| (b) Forced choice description method | (ii) Set of pair phrases or descriptive statements |
| (c) Critical Incidents method | (iii) Differentiating between effective and non-effective performance on basis of achievements |
| (d) Field review method | (iv) Relative ranking method |
CODES
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | |
| 1 | (iv) | (ii) | (iii) | (i) |
| 2 | (ii) | (iii) | (iv) | (i) |
| 3 | (iii) | (i) | (iv) | (ii) |
| 4 | (ii) | (iv) | (i) | (iii) |
- Option : A
- Explanation : Methods of Performance Appraisal: There are various methods of performance appraisal depending on the size and nature of the organization. Broadly speaking, the methods of performance appraisal may be divided into two–Traditional Methods and Modern Methods.
Traditional Methods
1. Ranking Method: Under this method an employee is ranked against others on the basis of certain traits and characteristics from best to worst. This method is very simple and inexpensive. But its reliability and validity may be open to doubt.
2. Paired Comparison Method: Under this method, each employee is compared with other employees taking only one at a time, usually on one trait. Where the number of employees are less, the number of comparisons required can be deducted by the formulae N(N –1)/2.
3. Grading Method: Under this method, different grades of performance are determined in advance such as excellent, very good, good, satisfactory and poor. Employees are placed in any of these grades according to their performance.
4. Forced Distribution Method: Under this method, the employees are appraised according to the pattern of a normal curve (bell shaped) in order to check tendency of appraisers to rate most of the employees around high points. This method forces the appraisers to spread their employee evaluations in a prescribed distribution. The distribution in general is as under:
20% of employees = excellent performers
60% of employees = average performers
20% of employees = poor performers
This method is based on questionable assumption that all groups of employees will have the same distribution of excellent, average and poor performance.
5. Forced Choice Method: Under this method, a series of group of statements are given and the appraiser checks how well the statement describes each individual employee being evaluated. Such statements may be both positive and negative. This method does not reveal as to which statement will be considered for final rating and therefore checks rater subjectivity. This method poses lot of problem in framing statements.
6. Checklist Method: Under this method, a list of statements or words are given and the appraiser is asked to check statements representing the characteristics and performance of each employee. The statements may carry yes/no alternative or + and – sign representing possession or non-possession of required characteristics and performance. This method poses a lot of difficulty in assembling, analyzing and weighing a number of statements about employee characteristics and contributions.
7. Critical Incidents Method: Under this method, the appraiser continuously records the critical incidents of the employee performance or behaviour relating to all characteristics both positive and negative in a specially designed notebook. A group of experts then assigns values to them depending on the degree of desirability for the job. This method requires rater to continuously record critical incidents which the rate may resent.
8. Graphic Scale Method: Under this method, employee characteristics and performance are evaluated through a graph. Following characteristics are included such as: quantity of work, quality of work, attentiveness, initiative, leadership, health and hygiene, safety habits, planning and organizing skills, analytical skills, innovation and creativity, etc. The rate estimates the degree to which each quality is possessed by the employee on a predefined scale, which normally varies from 3 to 7 points.
9. Essay Method: Under this method, rater assesses the employee performance on certain parameters in his own words by giving specific examples of employee behaviour. This time and effort involved in writing separate essays for all the employees can be a formidable and daunting task.
- Option : C
- Explanation : Capital Adequacy Norms: Bank’s capital is vital as it is the lifeblood that keeps the bank alive; it also gives the bank the ability to absorb shocks and thereby, avoid the likelihood of bankruptcy. Capital adequacy ratio is a measure of the amount of a bank’s capital expressed as a percentage of its risk-weighted credit exposures.
The concept of capital adequacy ratio relates to risk weight assigned to an asset raised by the banks in the process of conducting business and to the proportion of capital to be maintained on such aggregate risk-weighted assets. Capital adequacy ratio is calculated on the basis of risk weightages on assets in the books of banks. Each business transaction carries a specific risk and a portion of capital has to be earmarked for this risk. This portion acts as a ‘secret reserve’ to cushion any possible future loss. Higher capital adequacy will drive banks towards greater efficiency and this could force banks to bring down operating costs. Capital adequacy enables banks to expand their balance sheet and strengthen their fundamentals, which, in turn, help the banks to mobilise capital at reasonable cost. Hence, quality and risk weightage of assets are the new important parameters which are crucial for the growth of banks.
