MID TERM EXPERIENCE !

MID TERM EXPERIENCE !

PRE-EXAM JITTERS

A month in NITIE and we were bombarded with a lot of exams and presentations. In the same league, we had our mid-term for "Principles of Operational Management". We had to recall all the classroom teachings, practical learning, management concepts and the blog experience for the mid-term. There was a sense of anxiety before the mid-term and everyone was busy preparing for it in the best possible way.

PREPARATION

http://pomcourse2012nitie.blogspot.in/2012/07/pom-quiz-questions.html

Amidst all the long hours of reading Stoner and learning the concepts of management, Mr Mandi posted an online quiz for all of us. It was a very fruitful experience. We had a brainstorming session on the quiz and everyone came up with brilliant ideas and views. The whole concept of such debatable statements made it all the more interesting.

The more we discussed, the more ideas came up. Everyone had such wonderful thoughts which never came out before the session. The questions were tricky too. For instance, if the working conditions are enhanced, will the productivity be increased. Or if the working conditions are better, will the burden on the workers be reduced. Such questions generated the maximum conflicts and by the end of the session we all came to a mutual consensus.

Since we have a very huge batch and a lot of people have different opinions. With no offence to anyone, there were few who had the Munna-Bhai attitude!

They were so inspired by the movie that they were planning to use unethical means for the exam. But the mail by Dr Mandi specifying the important details related to the test cleared a lot of tension and everyone was motivated to perform well. Moreover the seating arrangement in the test ensured that people were not tempted for the same :) 

THE DAY 

Before we began, Dr Mandi in his usual chirpiness made us shout slogans like "Aaj ki roti aaj hi kamayenge" ... "Socho becho .. becho seekho ... seekho socho"
There is this thing with such slogans which brings out the best in you. You have this feeling of doing something for yourself.
The paper was distributed to us one by one and with each passing second, the thought of what and how the paper would be grew larger and deeper. Finally the paper landed in my hands and a quick glance brought a smile to my face. I had studied the syllabus and was happy to see most of the questions in my zone.
Time management was not a major worry for a lot of people as everyone was well prepared. The major issue in an exam is the preparation and the time management. Since most of the people had read the concepts well, so the other factor was not a big issue.
We had to share the examination hall with Section C who had their Financial Accounting Mid-Term but unlike us they had the issue of time management. The paper was a little lengthy as they say and they found it difficult to finish it in time.

The paper had a variety of questions almost engulfing the whole syllabus. From managerial skills to Hawthorne experiments, the paper had everything taught in the classes. Everyone took less than 1 hour to finish the paper and we could all see smiling faces post exam. They had this satisfaction that the hard work put in the preparation has finally reaped benefits.

THE EVALUATION

After the exam, we got a mail from Dr Mandi with the subject "POM Quiz test results". My heart started racing and with prayers flowing into my mind I opened the mail. We had been evaluated and I was pretty relieved with my performance. The evaluation is given as below :


1. Technical skills emerge as critical for higher levels of managerial
positions Ans. FALSE


Right answers - 97 %; Wrong answers - 3%


2. Flat Hierarchy organization involve greater coordination with in
organisaiton compared to taller hierarchy organizations - Ans.. FALSE


Right answers - 49 %; Wrong answers - 51%


3. Bounded rationality principle encourages the managers to be
gamblers Ans. FALSE


Right answers - 69 %; Wrong answers - 31%


4. Craftsmanship encourages involves specialization Ans. FALSE


Right answers - 97 %; Wrong answers - 3%


5. Hawthorne experiments concluded that better working conditions
leads to higher productivity Ans.. FALSE


Right answers - 73 %; Wrong answers - 27%


6. Organizations structures are conditioned by he organizational
purpose and organizational processes. Ans. TRUE


Right answers - 98 %; Wrong answers - 2%


7. As per SMART goals principle realizable goals may be defined as the
goals that are already realized. Ans. FALSE


Right answers - 97 %; Wrong answers - 3%


8. Both scientific management and administrative management theories
conflict each other . Ans. FALSE


Right answers - 23 %; Wrong answers - 77%


9. The word ..Scientific means in Scientific management..


Verifiable, Objective, Involves testing and experimentation,
analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality; empiricism; repeatable,


10. Differentiate Work - Job:


Job:  A group of homogeneous tasks related by similarity of functions.
Work - Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the
production or accomplishment of something.

We can see that majority of the students performed decently well. There is always some scope for improvement and I am sure that the mistakes will be rectified in the exams to come. I will be signing off now.
Wait for my next blog ! :)