Course Code : MCS-015

Assignment Number : MCA(1)/015/Assign/06

Maximum Marks: 100

Weightage : 25%

Last Date of Submission : 15^th April, 2006

This assignment has eight questions. Answer all questions. Rest 20 marks are for viva voce. You may use illustrations and diagrams to enhance the explanations. Please go through the guidelines regarding assignments given in the Programme Guide for the format of presentation.

Q1: Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:

Time management has become one of the key issues of the second half of the twentieth century. Managers, grappling with work pressures and deadlines, have come to recognize that time is a precious commodity to be 'saved', 'gained', and not 'wasted' or 'lost'. But if time is a commodity, how then can we best describe, measure and manage it?

To describe and manage it, imagine a line that goes back to the beginnings of creation and continues into the mists of the future. And on that line are a number of significant marks-these separate the past from the present from the future. And within each time zone-past, present and future-we can differentiate periods of time from points of time. For example, the 1980s gave us a period of rapid economic growth; black Monday was a point of sudden financial catastrophe.

How can this brief analysis help the international manager? Firstly, there is the link between past, present and future. In other words, historical performance should be a guide to the future, and the present ought to represent last year's forecast. So change-that which normally differentiates any two periods on our continuum - can be seen as a gradual evolution rather than a dramatic revolution.

Secondly, the use of a time-planning system, on which key points and periods are plotted, enables managers to organize their activities so that bottlenecks can be avoided and deadlines can be met. So stress, where the jobs to be done exceed the available time, can be reduced to an acceptable and productive level.

i. Tick the right choice:

Time management was one of the major issues
a) in the beginning of the twentieth century
b) in the latter part of the twentieth century
c) in the twentieth century (1 Mark)

ii. Give two reasons why managers are giving so much importance to time management. (2 Marks)

iii. Explain the difference between period of time and point of time giving your own examples. (4 Marks)

iv. Do you think time management can reduce stress? Discuss. ( 3 Marks)

Q2: Pick out words/phrases from the passage which have the following meanings. (10 Marks)

i. time when the world was made
ii. area
iii. latest time by which an activity must be completed.
iv. step by step.
v. article which can be bought and sold
vi. make a division between two things
vii. work very hard to solve a problem
viii. unclear period of time
ix. time or place when jobs cannot be carried out, usually because of other pressures
x. terrible event.

Q3: Put the verbs in brackets in their correct form. (10 Marks)

We…………i…………(write) to tell you about the reorganization at Softsys. As you ……….ii…………(know), we …………..iii………..(trade) for two years now and …………iv…………..(establish) a reputation as a reliable local supplier of business software. On the one hand, the rapid growth in our business during this period………v………..(give) us very good results; on the other, this increased business…………….vi…………..(now place) a lot of pressure on our organization. So, we ……………vii……………..(currently change) the structure of Softsys so that we can continue to provide the level of service and support that you, as a valued customer, …….viii…….(expect). We ……..ix……(not plan) any major changes; the company……….x………(continue) to be owned and run by the three partners.

Q4: You are looking for a job and your prospective employer asked you to prepare a presentation on any one of the following:

You may use visual aids to support your presentation (15 Marks)

i. Your career so far
ii. The history of your company
iii. The history of your sector/type of business (e.g. computers)
iv. Your personal life (family, hobbies, education and so on)

Q5: You have seen a job with a multinational company advertised in a newspaper. Write a letter in about 200-250 words to the company applying for the job. Include relevant factors such as the nature of the job and why you are interested in it, your qualifications and experience, what you are doing now and what you could contribute to the position. (15 Marks)

Q6: A benefactor has given a sum of money to your school/college. One condition of the gift is that both students and staff must be involved in deciding how the money is to be used. A further condition is that the money must be spent on permanent and tangible things. You have been asked by the principal of the school/college to survey the views of staff and students and to present him/her with an information report. Write a report in about 250 words. (20 Marks)

Q7: Mark the stress in the following words: (10 Marks)

i) attend - attention

ii) believe - belief

iii) assist - assistance

iv) lovely - loveliness

v) commerce - commercial

Q8: Write short notes on the following: (10 Marks)

i) The essentials of note-taking
ii) Effective group discussions