IGNOU MMPC-002 June 2022 Previous Year Question Paper

MASTER OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION (MBA)/

MASTER OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION IN BANKING AND

FINANCE (MBF)

Term-End Examination

June, 2022

MMPC-002 : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Time : 3 Hours Maximum Marks : 100

Weightage : 70%

Note :

(i) Attempt any three questions from

20 marks.

(ii) Section B is compulsory and carries

40 marks.

A global company with its headquarters in the

United States and business divisions all over the

world is very people oriented, and the parent

company is keen to implement as ma ny global

processes as possible, with customization to meet

country- and business -specific needs. There is, for

example, a global performance and development

planning scheme (appraisal) which occurs annually

at the same time across the branches worldwide.

Other processes have local (country and division)

components. Th e aim is to make management

processes as easy as possible; most of the support

material and process tracking is available online.

Across the board, the responsibility for managing

and developing staff is very muc h vested in local

managers : the HR departments do not have a

‘policing’ role. All activity is based on objectives

(organizational and divisional objectives cascaded

down the management to individuals). Individuals

are also responsible for their own develo pment as

much as their managers are and there is a wide

range of internal and external development

opportunities for those who want them (where they

are relevant to the job).

Levels of induction

The company’s induction practice in the UK is

about to chang e, partly due to feedback from staff

about induction and partly through a need to

communicate coherently at the organisational

(global) level following a merger. Induction has

three tiers. There is a global, online, Web -based

induction programme for all em ployees, which is

just about to be released following a period of

piloting. This has four elements : company

strategies, structures and processes, values and

behaviour, reward, and other ‘individual’ issues. At

the country (UK) level, a new induction day has

also started recently. This is particularly in

response to staff feedback. Although new starters

understood their role and place in the local

organisation, they were less clear about how the

different UK businesses fitted together and how

their role contributed to the UK -wide business as a

whole. New induction day is observed every 2 -3

months to bring together new recruits from across

the country along with the UK Director and Senior

Managers from the range of UK businesses. It is

called a Business and N etworking Orientation

Event. An interesting component is the ‘interview’ :

new recruits divide into small groups, each of which

interviews one of the senior managers and then

provides feedback to the rest (in front of the

managers) regarding what they have learned from

the interview. There is also a quiz (unchecked) that

aims to reinforce some of the learning from the day.

At the local level, each manager has a checklist

(available through the company intranet) which

they are prompted to use as soon as an

appointment has been accepted. The recruitment

and induction processes are therefore linked. The

checklist highlights things to do before the new

recruit arrives, such as ordering equipment, setting

up voicemail, what to do on the first day and

subsequently. This includes booking new staff on

the local health and safety induction, which is the

only part of the local induction not conducted by the

managers. New starters are also sent an e -mail

confirming their automatic booking on the UK

induction and highlighting things they must do as

in the first few weeks. It is very much the

manager’s responsibility to make sure that

induction is done effectively. There is no central

policing of whether the checklist is being complied

with. There is a very str ong philosophy in the

company that staff are managers’ responsibility.

HR will check attendance at the UK induction (but

there is no chec k on effectiveness). This is expected

to come through in per formance monitoring

processes (the performance planning pro cess).

Managers will set objectives for new staff usually

for a six month period, with regular reviews. Any

issues arising from an ineffective induction should

be highlighted as part of this. Any senior manager

can see the per formance plans and ratings of the

managers and staff in their divisions.

Performance planning process (appraisal)

There is no probation process as such, but short -

term objectives are set for the new staff, which are

fed into regular reviews and the annual

performance planning process a t the same time

across the entire organization. The scheme is

objective-oriented and results in a ‘rating’ which

indicates to managers what salary increase might

be applicable for the staff. The system is

automated, so that the previous year’s objectives

and development actions are brought forward for