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M.B.A. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
SECOND YEAR
Academic Year 2017 - 2018
ASSIGNMENT TOPICS
This booklet contains assignment topics. Students are asked to write the
assignments for SIX papers as per instructions, those who have opted Project and
Viva-Voce.
Students are asked to write the assignments for the EIGHT Papers as per
instruction those who have opted Two Theory Papers (2.7.1 & 2.7.2) as specialisation.

NOTE:
1. Assignments sent after 15-03-2018 will not be evaluated.
2. Assignments should be in the own hand writing of the student concerned and
not type-written or printed or photocopied.
3. Assignments should be written on foolscap paper on one side only.
4. All assignments (with Enrolment number marked on the Top right hand corner
on all pages) should be put in an envelop with superscription “MBA
Assignments” and sent to The Director, Directorate of Distance Education,
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar – 608 002 by Registered post.
5. No notice will be taken on assignments which are not properly filled in with
Enrolment Number and the Title of the papers.
6. Students should send full set of assignments for all papers. Partial
assignments will not be considered.
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Write assignments on any TWO topics in each paper out of the FOUR. For each
topic the answer should not exceed 15–pages. Each assignment carries 25 marks
(2 topics).
DR. M. ARUL
DIRECTOR
2
2.1 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
1. “OD is the prescription for the process of planned change in organisations”-
Discuss.
2. “A collection of suitable interventions, built on humanistic- democratic values,
that seeks to improve organisational effectiveness and employee well-being”-
Discuss.
3. “Change is easy to devise but difficult to implement and impossible to sustain”-
Examine this statement and offer your comments.
4. “Learning organisations attack fragmentation, competitiveness, and reactiveness”-
Elaborate this statement?
2.2 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
1. A leading FMCG company in India decides to train its entire population of
employees and managers to provide “Legendary Customer Service.” Suggest
and explicate a design for evaluating the impact of such a massive training
effort.
2. Is training transfer an important issue in the automobile manufacturing
companies? How transfer is evaluated in those companies? Design an action
plan sheet that a manager and employee could use to facilitate transfer of
training. Justify each category included in the action plan.
3. In a financial services company where 100 employees are working in
information technology department had a high employee turnover rate. A survey
of employees revealed that the reason most left was dissatisfaction with the level
of training. The average turnover rate was 23 percent per year. The cost to
recruit and train one new employee was Rs. 56,625/-. To address the turnover
problem, the company developed a skills training program that averaged 80
hours per year per employee. The average employee wage was Rs. 35/- per
hour. Instructor, classroom, and other costs were Rs. 170,000/-.
a) What is the total cost of training? The total cost of turnover?
b) If the turnover rate dropped 8 percent (from 23 percent to 15 percent), what
was the financial benefit of the training program?
c) What was the ROI of the training program?
d) How much would the turnover rate have to be reduced (from 23 percent) for
the training program to show a benefit?
4. Assume you are a personnel manager in an service organisation, If you had an
opportunity to choose between adventure learning and action learning for
developing an effective team in your organisation, which would you prefer?
Defend your choice with precise justification.
3
2.3 LABOUR WELFARE
1. Elucidate the objectives scope and need of the voluntary welfare measures.
2. Discuss the various welfare measures available to protect the female labour and
the Agricultural labour mention the social assistance available to them.
3. Write the various statutes enacted by Indian Parliament from time to time and
various schemes implemented by government for the welfare of child, female
and contact labours in India.
4. Explain the psychological issues relating to the employment and measures to be
taken to prevent adverse impact on overall health of employees.
2.4 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
1. Describe the new perspectives of 1990s. Discuss the implications of post
modernism for employment relations. Explain the latest developments in HRM
for industrial relations issues with suitable examples.
2. Explain the historical perspective of Industrial relations in India. Discuss the
issues and challenges facing by the organisations related to industrial relations
in an organisation you are familiar with.
3. Explain the meaning, origin and growth of trade unions in India. Describe the
present trade union scenario of an industrial area with which you are familiar.
What are your suggestions for strengthing the trade unions in India.
4. Define grievance and discuss the role of Human Resource department in
grievance handling. Explain various approaches of grievance resolution, in your
opinion which approach is most effective and why?
2.5 WAGES AND SALARY ADMINISTRATION
1. ‘‘Indian managers are poorly paid compared to their counterparts abroad’’.
Examine this statement and offer your comments on it with suitable evidences.
2. ‘‘Hard workers get poor wage where as the workers hardly work get high wage.’’
Do you agree to this statement? Justify your stand with valid evidences.
3. Do you agree that the objectives of collective bargaining are to reduce the areas
of conflict and to crate work atmosphere geared to productivity? Elucidate.
4. “If selection and placement decisions are done effectively, an individual
performance should not vary a great a deal; therefore, an incentive system is not
necessary”. Dou you agree to this statement? Justify your view.
4
2.6 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
1. If strategic planning is essentially a program, can it display the degree of
adaptiveness that 21st century enterprises need? Would ‘strategic improvisation’
be a plausible alternative? Explore the practical consequences of strategic
improvisation for enterprise management.
2. Select an Automobile industry in India, and evaluate its competitive
business strategy using Porter’s five force model? What strategies can you
suggest to convert the unattractive forces in to attractive ones?
3. “Complementary mergers may result in each firm filling in the missing
pieces of their firm with pieces from other firm” – Examine the validity of the
statement in the Indian context with necessary examples.
4. ‘Formality is the enemy of creativity and innovation’. ‘Informality is the
enemy of disciplined and reliable performance’. Is it consequently impossible
for an enterprise to be both innovative and disciplined? Investigate how
these qualities can be combined.
2.7.1 E-COMMERCE
1. Describe the current e-commerce scenario in India and explain the future
prospect of e-commerce.
2. Explain the characteristics of large companies that involve B2G and B2C
transactions in their business, which require roboust, capable and scalable
electronic commerce system.
3. Visit the following sites:
www.olx.com / www.labour.tn.gov.in / www.clicks.co.za / www.digitalplanet.co.za
a. For each site determine whether it is in the exposure stage, interaction stage, ecommerce stage or e-business stage. Provide reasons for your answer.
b. Determine whether each site is B2C, C2C, C2B or B2B and why.
c. Critically discuss the process of setting up a free-standing website and evaluate
the potential of e-commerce for small business development in India.
4. Consider the development of a portal for a Retailer shop. Discuss the various
technologies, tools and components involved in designing the same.
2.7.2 BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS
1. Below is the gist of an article from Business Week. After reading it
(a) identify the broad problem area, (b) define the problem, and
(c) explain how you would proceed further.
“While Chrysler‘s minivans, pickups, and sport utility vehicles take a big share
of the truck market, its cars trail behind those of GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota.
Quality problems include, among other things, water leaks and defective parts”.
2. It is advantageous to develop a directional hypothesis whenever we are sure of
the predicted direction. How will you justify this statement?
3. If a control group is a part of an experimental design, one need not worry about
controlling other exogenous variables. –Discuss this statement.
4. Whenever possible, it is advisable to use instruments that have already been
developed and repeatedly used in published studies, rather than develop our own
instruments for our studies. Do you agree? Discuss the reasons for your answer.
M.B.A.[H.R.M.] – 2ND YEAR - Assignment C- 1900
ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY PRESS 2017 - 2018

M.B.A. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
FIRST YEAR
Academic Year 2017 - 2018
ASSIGNMENT TOPICS
This booklet contains assignment topics. Students are asked to write the
assignments for EIGHT papers as per instructions.

NOTE:
1. Assignments sent after 15-03-2018 will not be evaluated.
2. Assignments should be in the own hand writing of the student concerned and
not type-written or printed or photocopied.
3. Assignments should be written on foolscap paper on one side only.
4. All assignments (with Enrolment number marked on the Top right hand corner
on all pages) should be put in an envelop with superscription “MBA
Assignments” and sent to The Director, Directorate of Distance Education,
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar – 608 002 by Registered post.
5. No notice will be taken on assignments which are not properly filled in with
Enrolment Number and the Title of the papers.
6. Students should send full set of assignments for all papers. Partial
assignments will not be considered.
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Write assignments on any TWO topics in each paper out of the FOUR. For each
topic the answer should not exceed 15–pages. Each assignment carries 25 marks
(2 topics).
DR. M. ARUL
DIRECTOR
2
1.1 PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
1. What do you see as the main difference between a successful and an
unsuccessful decision? How much does luck versus skill have to do with it? Give
a detail note on it.
2. Take any two Indian companies and examine how they have succeeded or failed
due to poor strategic planning.
3. Suggest a method of departmentation for a large multi-product Organisation
with a huge market spread over the whole country. Explain the reasons for your
suggestions.
4. ‘Motivation is the core of management’. Comment. What practical suggestions
would you offer to management to motivate its staff in an industrial
Organisation?
1.2 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
1. “Chinese computer and electronic products possess advantages in design,
innovation, rapid response and global market flexibility”- comment.
2. “Legal aspects protect competitors and consumers from many unethical pricing
strategies that unscrupulous marketers may wish to attempt”. Critically analyse
the statement.
3. “Advertising on the internet has changed significantly over the past decade and
some might argue that it is for the worse" Do you agree or disagree? Discuss
with practical illustrations.
4. Examine the challenges encountered by the pharmaceutical wholesale
distributor for surviving and thriving in this new and ever changing environment
1.3 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
1. “The consequences of over- capitalization are far more serious and fatal than
under-capitalization”. Discuss.
2. “An optimal combination of the decisions relating to investment, financing and
dividends will maximize the value of the firm to its shareholders”. Examine
3. “Efficiency inventory management is reflected in the liquidity and profitability of
the firm.” Explain.
4. “A low dividend payout Ratio promotes the welfare of stock holders because
long-term capital gains are treated more favourably than dividend income from
the tax point of view.”
3
1.4 OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
1. Operations management is the area of creating competitive advantage. Do you
agree? Justify your answer.
2. A manufacturer requires 10,000 items per year. Price discount as follows:
Rs.4 up to 2000 items, Rs. 3.80 between 2000 and 4000 items. Rs.3.70 for
quantities above 4000. Ordering cost = Rs. 50.
Comparative inventory cost=25% per year of average inventory price. Determine
the optimum purchase policy under discount.
3. Explain JIT. Do you think it is practically feasible in India? What is your
suggestion for implementing JIT?
4. Operations personnel usually have a large volume and variety of resources at
their command. They should endeavor to make effective and efficient use of
these resources to achieve the largest outputs. Comment! What are the
approaches for enhancing the utilization of resources?
1.5 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
1. “The field of HRM changes so rapidly that had become necessary for one to
constantly review procedures and laws so that the practices will be effective and
legal”. Critically evaluate this statement.
2. “Majority of the testing techniques for selection do not accurately assess the
characteristics of the job. In fact most of the executives would divulge that the
testing had no impact on future job performance. Do you accept or not?
Discuss with justification.
3. “Identify the paramount barriers to effective training programme in IT field and
how to crush them”. Explain with real life examples.
4. Technological advancements and automation are causing high stress and burn
out among employees, which results negatively and unable to reap the benefit of
automation”. Do you agree or disagree? State your view.
1.6 STATISTICS FOR MANAGERS
1. A random sample of 1000 workers from south India show that their mean wages
are Rs. 47 per week with a standard deviation of Rs. 28. A random sample of
1500 workers from North India gives a mean wage of Rs. 49 per week with a
standard deviation of Rs. 40. Is there any significant difference between their
mean level of wages?
2. Calculate seasonal indices for the data given below by the link relative method

4
3. The following is the summary of a survey on the color of pens purchased by
persons belonging to different age groups. use chi-square test at 5 % level of
significance to find whether the age of the person has any association with the
choice of color.

4. The following data represents rainfall (x) and yield of paddy per hectare (y) in a
particular area.

a) Fit the regression equation x on y
b) Estimate y when x = 145
c) Calculate karl pearson’s coefficient of correlation.
d) Calculate regression coefficient x on y and y on x
e) Check whether the regression line is a good fit.
1.7 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
1. Communication has its own merits and demerits based on the types? Discuss the
above with an example of your own.
2. It is difficult to study the growth of a firm without proper recordings of the
proceedings – Discuss the essentials of maintaining such activities in detail.
3. Success of an individual is based on the way he communicates with the people
around him – Discuss the above statement in relation with a HR Department.
4. Noise is from both external and internal sources, what are they and how can it be
overcome – Discuss in detail.
1.8 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
1. Some changes in Organisations are unplanned, where as others are the result of
strategic plans. Give examples of each of their verities of change and explain
their implications for Organisational functioning.
2. Once you are established in your careers, what special challenges are you likely
to confront? What can you do to enhance your chance of having a fully satisfying
successful career?
3. Explain how the field of Organisation behaviour stands to benefit by taking a
global perspectives. What would you say are the major challenges associated
with such a perspectives.
4. Do you believe that Organisational politics is inevitable or that it can be
curtailed? Explain your answer with examples.

M.B.A. [HRM] – 1ST YEAR – Assignment / C - 2000
ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY PRESS 2017 -2018

M.B.A.
FIRST YEAR
Academic Year : 2017 - 2018
ASSIGNMENT TOPICS
This booklet contains assignment topics. Students are asked to write the
assignments for EIGHT papers as per instructions.

NOTE:
1. Assignments sent after 15-03-2018 will not be evaluated.
2. Assignments should be in the own handwriting of the student concerned and
not type-written or printed or photocopied.
3. Assignments should be written on foolscap paper on one side only.
4. All assignments (with Enrolment number marked on the Top right hand corner
on all pages) should be put in an envelop with superscription “MBA
Assignments” and sent to The Director, Directorate of Distance Education,
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar – 608 002 by Registered post.
5. No notice will be taken on assignments which are not properly filled in with
Enrolment Number and the Title of the papers.
6. Students should send full set of assignments for all papers. Partial assignments
will not be considered.
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Write assignments on any TWO topics in each paper out of the FOUR. For each
Topic the answer should not exceed 15 – pages. Each assignment carries 25 marks
(2 topics).
Dr. M. ARUL
DIRECTOR
2
1.1 PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
1. What do you see as the main difference between a successful and an
unsuccessful decision? How much does luck versus skill have to do with it?
Give a detail note on it.
2. Take any two Indian companies and examine how they have succeeded or failed
due to poor strategic planning.
3. Suggest a method of departmentation for a large multi-product organization
with a huge market spread over the whole country. Explain the reasons for your
suggestions.
4. ‘Motivation is the core of management’. Comment. What practical suggestions
would you offer to management to motivate its staff in an industrial organization?
1.2 ACCOUNTING FOR MANAGERS
1. Arun the managing director is surprised that his profit every year is quite
different from what he wants or expects to achieve. Someone advised him to
install a formal system of budgeting. He employs a fresh accountant to do this.
For two years, the accountant faithfully makes all budgets based on previous
year accounts. The problem remains unsolved. Advise Arun the managing
director and the accountant on what steps they should take. Make assumptions
about what is lacking.
2. In a factory, actual fixed cost overheads were different from the standard fixed
overheads because the actual output, actual time consumed, actual rate per hour
and per unit of output differed. Compute the variances taking assumed figures.
3. A company has to decide whether to Make or Buy. Through differential cost
analysis, how will you ascertain the net difference between the two alternatives
so as to assist the management in their decision making? Use hypothetical
figures to illustrate.
4. As a management accountant you are asked to introduce a system of capital
expenditure control for your organization. Explain the important feature you
want to incorporate in the system you propose to introduce with the suitable
example of a project involving capital expenditure.
1.3 MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS
1. “The objective of Managerial Economics is to provide framework for analysing
business decisions. Instead of presenting detailed list of rules for specific
decision-making, managerial economics addresses the larger economic forces
that shape day-to-day decision-making”. Critically analyse the above statement.
2. “The quantity demanded of any good appears to depend upon utility, price and
income”. Elucidate the above statement with appropriate example.
3. “If the production function is homogeneous with constant returns to scale
everywhere, the returns to a single variable factor will be diminishing”. Comment
4. “If there is active price competition and free entry, the equilibrium output under
monopolistic competition will be very close to the minimum cost-output. However,
if firms avoid price competition and instead enter into non-price competition there
will be excess capacity in each firm”. Comment the above statement.
3
1.4 LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
1. The Indian contract Act, 1872 is not a complete code dealing with all branches
of the law of contract” .Comment
2. Mr. Vipin of Delhi engaged Mr. Abhishek as his agent to buy a house in west
extension area. Mr. Abhishek bought a house for Rs. 20 lakhs in the name of a
nominee and then purchased it himself for Rs 35 lakhs. He then sold the same
house to Mr. Vipin for Rs 40 lakhs. Mr. Vipin later comes to know the mischief
of Mr. Abhishek and tries to recover the excess amount paid to Mr. Abhishek. Is
he entitled to recover any amount from Mr. Abhishek? If so, how much can he
recover? Explain.
3. One of the benefits of listing is the easy transferability of the securities listed on
a stock exchange. If so justify this statement.
4. “The memorandum of association is the fundamental law or a charter defining
the objects and limiting the powers of a company” - Explain
1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND STATISTICS
1. “Human Lock” a leading human security force company has planned to know
the employee satisfaction level and the problems faced by employees in their job
at various levels. As a consultant you are requested to complete the task.
Design a suitable questionnaire for this purpose by considering different
dimensions related to human security force, and suggests a suitable sampling
design for the collection of data.
2. You are the R & D Manager of a research consultancy company. You have been
assigned to conduct a customer satisfaction study about cosmetic products of a
leading cosmetic company in India. You conducted the study and you are ready
to submit the report. How will you prepare the research report for your client?
(Use your own data and other relevant information)
3. Mr. Puneeth, the personnel manager of a Textile Mill is recruiting its graduate
trainees through two consultancy agencies. The performance index (0 – 10
scale) of the trainees from each consultancy agency follows normal distribution.
The variance of the performance index of the trainees selected through a
Consultancy Agency X is 12 and that of the trainees selected through another
Consultancy Agency Y is 6. The manager feels that the mean performance index
of the trainees selected through the Consultancy Agency X is less than that of
the trainees selected through the Consultancy Agency Y. To test his intuition,
he has drawn a sample of 64 trainees selected through the Consultancy Agency
X and their mean performance index is found to be 8. Similarly, he has drawn a
sample of 81 trainees selected through the Consultancy Agency Y and their
mean performance index is found to be 6.5. Test the intuition of Mr. Puneeth at
a significant level of 0.01.
4. “The economy of a nation depends on the quantum of research and development
activities” – Comment on the statement and substantiate your views with real
time examples.
4
1.6 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
1. “Some argue that WTO is the third pillar of global business. But many argue
that WTO is the wrong grade organization.” – Critically comment.
2. Do you believe that political stability leads to business development and Vice
versa? If yes state your answer with examples.
3. Analyse the steps taken by Indian government to globalize the economy.
4. Do you justify that the working pins would really link the present scenario of
international business with that of the future?
1.7 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
1. Communication has its own merits and demerits based on the types? Discuss the
above with an example of your own.
2. It is difficult to study the growth of a firm without proper recordings of the
proceedings – Discuss the essentials of maintaining such activities in detail.
3. Success of an individual is based on the way he communicates with the people
around him – Discuss the above statement in relation with a HR Department.
4. Noise is from both external and internal sources, what are they and how can it be
overcome – Discuss in detail.
1.8 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
1. Some changes in organizations are unplanned, where as others are the result of
strategic plans. Give examples of each of their verities of change and explain
their implications for organizational functioning.
2. Once you are established in your careers, what special challenges are you likely
to confront? What can you do to enhance your chance of having a fully
satisfying successful career?
3. Explain how the field of organization behaviour stands to benefit by taking a
global perspectives. What would you say are the major challenges associated
with such a perspectives.
4. Do you believe that organizational politics is inevitable or that it can be
curtailed? Explain your answer with examples.

M.B.A. - 1ST Year - Assignment C-500
ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY PRESS 2017 - 2018