1. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE OF COMMERCE (AUTONOMOUS)

END SEMESTER EXAMINATION – OCTOBER 2014

1. B.M. – V SEMESTER

 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS MANAGEMENT (ELECTIVE P -1 – HR)

Duration: 3 Hours                                                                                       Max. Marks: 100

SECTION – A

 

1. Answer ALL the questions. Each carries 2 marks.                                   (10×2 =20)

 

1. What is collective bargaining?
2. List out the difference between the Mission and Vision of an organization.
3. Explain the concept of “Self Directed Team”.
4. Give the meaning of the term, “Quality Circles.”
5. Explain the main provisions of MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948.
6. Give the meaning of Labour Welfare.
7. What are the economic causes of Industrial Disputes?
8. What is meant by Arbitration?
9. Explain the time rate system of Wage payment.
10. Explain the benefits availed by an employee under The Employee Provident Funds and Misc Provisions Act, 1952.

 

SECTION – B

1. Answer any FOUR Each carries 5 marks.                                 (4×5=20)

 

11. Discuss elaborately the principles for successful implementation of welfare programmes.
12. Give the meaning of Counselling. Explain the difference between Counselling and Supervision.
13. Explain the object and functions of Industrial Relations.
14. “Apart from resulting in better performance and increased motivation, Participative management suffers from various limitations.” Discuss.
15. Define a trade union. Why do employees join a trade union ?
16. Explain with the help of a diagram, “devising a Remuneration Plan/or a Remuneration Model”.

 

 

 

 

 

SECTION – C

 

III)      Answer any THREE questions.    Each carries 15 marks.                    (3×15=45)

 

17. “There are different signs and symptoms that can indicate when someone is having difficulty coping with the amount of stress”. Explain.
18. Explain the meaning and various types of Counselling. Discuss various skills needed for Counselling.
19. “Every occupation has its own hazards. One should take adequate and proper precautions for its prevention.” Elucidate (types of occupational hazards)
20. “A number of factors, both external and internal, influence the remuneration payable to the employees”. Explain.
21. Explain the causes and prevention of Industrial Accidents.

 

SECTION – D

 

1. IV) Case study- Compulsory questions. (15 marks)

 

22. Joshua worked for a construction company. He found it a stressful working environment as lots of changes and redundancies were being made. Joshua often lost his temper at work and became very angry and impatient towards his bosses and the people he managed. He felt that people took advantage of him and that the only way he could get them to listen to him was to be aggressive. As a result his relationship with colleagues was beginning to suffer and they would avoid working with him where possible.
    His line manager decided that if Joshua was unable to manage his anger, the company would have to let him go. After talking it through with him, he encouraged Joshua to refer himself to Working Health Services Borders for support in dealing with his anger.

Joshua telephoned Working Health Services Borders and an appointment was made for him to see the psychological therapist a week later. They met 6 times on a weekly basis and explored the issues behind his anger. They also focussed on more appropriate ways to manage and express Joshua’s frustrations, using relaxation techniques to help him calm down in stressful situations and assertiveness skills to help him communicate his feelings. Joshua  made good progress, generally felt more relaxed and was able to control his anger both at work and at home. His relationships with colleagues improved and he was able to talk to his bosses about difficulties he was having at work and how they could resolve them together. His line manager also noticed that he was managing his anger more appropriately which further increased Joshua’s confidence.

 

Questions:

 

1. What according to you leads to stress in job? What was the reason of Joshua’s stress?
2. What are the other approaches that the company could have taken to deal with Joshua? Do you agree with the approach taken by the company?
3. Could there be other workers under stress. ? (answer either (i) or (ii))

 

1. If yes, what would you do to identify such people?

 

OR

1. If no, why do you think Joshua was the only one under stress. ?

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BCOM/B.B.M. – V SEMESTER

 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS MANAGEMENT(HR Elective)

 

Answer Key

 

1. Collective bargaining is the framework under which the negotiation of the collective agreement takes place. It is a process in which a trade union and an employer negotiate, in good faith, the rights and obligations of a first collective agreement or the renewal of a previous collective agreement. In this process, the parties usually focus on such issues as wages, working conditions, grievance procedures and fringe benefits.
2. Mission and vision

– A vision statement looks into the future at least five years and defines a desired future state of the company.
A mission statement defines what a company currently does, and how it plans to achieve its vision.

 

1. Definition – As teams have become a more popular method of organizing the workforce, different types of these groupings have emerged. One of these is a self-directed team, or a team in which the members are responsible for an entire business operation, generally with very little input from a manager or supervisor.

A self-directed team typically manages its own workload in addition to having primary responsibility for producing a good or delivering a service. The team members share both managerial and operational responsibilities, as well as accountability for the team’s output. Self-directed teams date back to post World War II Britain’s effort to increase economic productivity.

Self-directed teams are not right for every business situation, so it is important to understand when an enterprise will benefit from this organizational approach. Businesses with a decentralized decision-making culture and employees who are empowered to take full responsibility for their work are good candidates for self-directed teams. Managers outside the team still play a role, but more as coaches and facilitators rather than as supervisors. Self-directed teams are also known as self-managed teams. Federal Express and 3M are examples of companies that have used self-directed teams with positive results.

Advantages Of Self-Directed Teams

A successful self-directed team is likely to boost a company’s efficiency and productivity.

Self-directed teams have the freedom and flexibility to devise innovative solutions to business problems and rapid responses to organizational challenges.

Self-directed team members who are empowered with full responsibility and accountability for their work tend to have high levels of commitment and motivation.

They take more ownership of their work than employees who must follow orders from managers who sit above them in the chain of command.

Self-directed team members are also likely to have a high level of job satisfaction, which can mean low absenteeism and turnover for the team.

1. Definition of Quality Circles – A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers (or even students), who do the same or similar work, usually under the leadership of their own supervisor (or an elected team leader), who meet regularly in paid time who are trained to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management and where possible implement the solutions themselves in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees.
2. Main provisions of  MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948

Objectives

To determine the minimum wages in industry and trade where labour organisations are non-existent or ineffective.

Scope and coverage

Applicable to all employees engaged to do any work, skilled, unskilled manual or clerical, in a scheduled employment, including out-workers.

Fixation of minimum wages.

Main provisions

Fixation of minimum wage of employees.

Procedure for fixing and revising minimum wages.

Obligation of employees.

Rights of workers.

 

1. Acc. To the Encyclopedia of Social Science – “lab welfare is the voluntary efforts of the employers to establish within the existing industrial system, working and sometimes living and cultural conditions of employees beyond what is required by the law, the custom of the industry and the conditions of the market”.
2. Economic causes of Industrial Disputes

• Economic  causes–
  • Demand for higher wages
  • Working conditions
  • Methods of production
  • Terms of employment

1. Arbitration – Arbitration

The submission of a dispute to an unbiased third person designated by the parties to the controversy,who agree in advance to comply with the award—a decision to be issued after a hearing at which bothparties have an opportunity to be heard.

It is well-established and widely used means to end industrial disputes.

1. The time rate system is that system of wage payment in which the workers are paid on the basis of time spent by them in the factory. Under this system, the workers and employees are paid wages on the basis of the time they have worked rather than the volume of output they have produced. Hence, according to this system, wages are paid on hourly, weekly or monthly basis. Under time rate system, the wages earned by a worker is determined by using the following formula.

   Wages Earned = Time spent(Attended) x Wage rate per hour/day/week/month

 

 

10. Benefits of EPF and Misc. Prov .ACT –

Apart from terminal disbursal of non-refundable withdrawals for Life Insurance Policies

• House building
• Medical treatment
• Marriage
• Higher education
• Family pension
• Retirement-cum-withdrawal benefits
• Deposit linked insurance Amount equal to the average balance in Provident Fund of deceased subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- ($559.79).

 

Section B

 

1. Principles –

pervade the entire hierarchy of an organization.

A matter of social obligation

Helping employees in the long run

Proper coordination, harmony and integration

Cooperation and active participation

Periodical assessment.

 

12.Counselling – is a collaborative process that involves the development  of a unique, confidential helping relationship. The counselor acts as a facilitator in helping the clients to understand feelings, behavior, relationships with others.

Differences –

The counselor does not have authoritative relationship with his clients whereas, the supervisor has an authoritative relationship with his clients/employees.

The counselor deals with Human/relational problems, whereas, the supervisor deals with the problems occurring in the work in an organization.

 

13. objects and functions of Industrial Relations –

Objects –

• Healthy labour-mgt relations.
• Maintenance of highest level of industrial peace and productivity.
• Development of growth and industrial democracy.
• Improvement of economic conditions of workers.
• Promotes harmonious industrial relations (state control on industries for regulating production)

Functions –

• Employer-employee relationship.
• Labour-mgt relationship.
• Industrial peace and productivity.
• Industrial democracy.
• Liaison function.

 

 

14. limitations of Participative Mangement –

Not good for every type of an employee

Complex technology and organizations

Feudalistic concept still prevalent

Most of the unions are politically inclined.

Unwillingness of employers to share the power.

 

15. trade union –.meaning

Why people join TU –

Dissatisfaction

Lack of power

Union instrumentality

Affiliation

 

16. Devising a REMUNERATION PLAN /REMUNERATION MODEL –

Job description

Job evaluation

Job hierarchy

Pay survey

Pricing jobs.

 

 

17. There are many different signs and symptoms that can indicate when someone is having difficulty coping with the amount of stress they are experiencing:

Physical: headaches, grinding teeth, clenched jaws, chest pain, shortness of breath, pounding heart, high blood pressure, muscle aches, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, increased perspiration, fatigue, insomnia, frequent illness.

Psychosocial: anxiety, irritability, sadness, defensiveness, anger, mood swings, hypersensitivity, apathy, depression, slowed thinking or racing thoughts; feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or of being trapped, lower motivation.

Cognitive: decreased attention, narrowing of perception, forgetfulness, less effective thinking, less problem solving, reduced ability to learn; easily distracted.

Behavioural: overeating or loss of appetite, impatience, quickness to argue, procrastination, increased use of alcohol or drugs, increased smoking, withdrawal or isolation from others, neglect of responsibility, poor job performance, poor personal hygiene, change in religious practices, change in close family relationships.

 

18. types – directive and non-directive

Skills/Do’s of a counselor –

Privacy

Unbias attitude

Attentive listener

Should not act with authority

19. a)physical hazards –

heat and cold,

light

noise and vibration

ultraviolet  radiation

b), Chemical hazards –

c). biological hazards

d). mechanical hazards

e). psychological hazards.

 

 

20. FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPLOYEE REMUNERATION. –

External factors – labour market, cost of living, labour union, labour laws, society, economy.

Internal factors – business strategy, job evaluation and perf appraisal, employee related factors.

21. causes and prevention of Industrial Accidents. –

Causes –

• Unsafe conditions
• Chance occurrence
• Unsafe acts of employees

Preventions –

• Making every employee safe in a work place is the primary responsibility of the mgt.
• have to strictly follow the Legislations relating to the safety measures.
• Many mgts. adopt their own preventive measures.
• The responsibility of providing safety rests on the shoulders of all cadres of management
• Locating the cause
• Quick action
• Monitoring by management
• Accountability
• Training of employees
• SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS (SO) – this is a wing of a business or manufacturing establishment which is set up to look after the safety aspect of the employees. This will be a centralized activity directed by Safety Director. SO frames SAFETY POLICIES and PROGRAMMES .
• Safety Forms – providing safety engineering in Product Designing, layout and installation.
• Safety Education
• Safety Policy – it’s a Document which envisages the various safety programmes to be adopted in the organizations.
• Statutory Provisions.
• Safety officer.

 

22. case study. – the answers to the case study is an individual’s perception and has to be judged accordingly.

 

 

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