IGNOU MCS-214
- Professional Skills and Ethics,
Latest Solved Assignment
(January 2024 - July 2024)

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

MEETINGS

Do you ever feel as though you spend all your time in meetings?
Henry Mintzberg, in his book The Nature of Managerial Work, found that in large organizations managers spent 22 per cent of their time at their desk, 6 per cent on the telephone, 3 per cent on other activities, but a whopping 69 per cent in meetings. There is a widely held but mistaken belief that meetings are for “solving problems” and “making decisions”. For a start, the number of people attending a meeting tends to be inversely proportional to their collective ability to reach conclusions and make decisions. And these are the least important elements.
Instead hours are devoted to side issues, playing elaborate games with one another. It seems, therefore, that meetings serve some purpose other than just making decisions. All meetings have one thing in common: roleplaying. The most formal role is that of chairman. He (and it is usually a he) sets the agendas, and a good chairman will keep the meeting running on time and to the point. Sadly, the other, informal, role-players are often able to gain the upper hand. Chief is the “constant talker”, who just loves to hear his or her own voice.
Then there are the “can’t do” types who want to maintain the status quo. Since they have often been in the organisation for a long time, they frequently quote historical experience as a ploy to block change: “It won’t work, we tried that in 1984 and it was a disaster”. A more subtle version of the “can’t do” type, the “yes, but…”, has emerged recently. They have learnt about the need to sound positive, but they still can’t bear to have things change.
Another whole-sub-set of characters are people who love meetings and want them to continue until 5.30 p.m or beyond. Irrelevant issues are their speciality. They need to call or attend meetings, either to avoid work, or to justify their lack of performance, or simply because they do not have enough to do.
Then there are the “counter-dependents”, those who usually disagree with everything that is said, particularly if it comes from the chairman or through consensus from the group. These people need to fight authority in whatever form.
Meetings can also provide attenders with a sense of identification of their status and power.
A popular game is pinching someone else’s suggestions. This is where someone, usually junior or female, makes an interesting suggestion early in the meeting, which is not picked up. Much later, the game is played, usually by some more senior figure that propounds the idea as his own. The suggestion is of course identified with the player rather the initiator.
Because so many meeting ends in confusion and without a decision, another more common game is played at the end of meetings, called reaching a false consensus. Since it is important for the chairman to appear successful in problem-solving and making a decision, the group reaches a false consensus. Everyone is happy, having spent their time productively. The reality is that the decision is so ambiguous that it is never acted upon, or, if it is, there is continuing conflict, for which another meeting is necessary.
In the end, meetings provide the opportunity for social intercourse, to engage in battle in front of our bosses, to avoid unpleasant or unsatisfying work, to highlight our social status and identity. They are, in fact, a necessary though not necessarily productive psychological sideshow. Perhaps it is our civilized way of moderating, if not preventing, change.

Answer the following questions:

i) What is the purpose of a meeting according to the writer?
ii) The “can’t do” type wants to maintain a status grow. Elaborate.
iii) What does devoted to side-issues”” mean in this context?
iv) What is the position in the organization of those who steal others’ ideas? How do they do it?
v) What does the “counter-dependents” mean?
vi) Complete the following table:

Q2: Write a telephone conversation on the basis of cues given below:

A: Ask to speak to Mr. Andrew (Hint: May I speak to……..?)
B: He’s in a meeting
A: Ask when he’ll be free
B: You don’t know. Offer to find out
A: Say you’ll wait
B: He won’t be free till after 6 p.m.
A: You want him to call you first thing tomorrow.
B: Find out caller’s name and number.
A: Give your (real) name and number
B: Note down the information and say you’ll leave the message on his desk
A: Say thanks and goodbye.

Q3: Write short notes on any four of the following:

i)Significance of Minutes of the meeting.
ii)Interpersonal Skill of a Manager in an Organization.
iii)Do’s and Don’ts during Meetings.
iv)Importance of Visuals in Presentations.
v)Do’s and Don’ts on Social Media.

Q4: You work for a company, which manufactures external hard disks and pen drives. You are visiting another company, “Ajitech”, to buy some accounting software for your finance department. They have expressed an interest in your company’s external hard disks and pen-drives. You would like to take twenty brochures and three sample external hard disks and pen-drives with you.

• Write a memo to Mr. John, the stores manager.
• Ask for his permission to take these items.
• Explain the time and date when you want to collect them.
• Say what you hope to achieve by showcasing these products.

Q5: Read the advertisement below and write your Curriculum Vitae on the basis of it.

Q6: Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions:

Last year, The Indian Trade Fair 2023 was held……………the Bharat Mandapam, Pragathi Maidan, Delhi …….November 10……….20. The fair was organized by the Trade Fair Authority of India(TFAI). The fair, was open……….11 a.m. ………….9 p.m. ………..all the days for Public. It was an all India fair. Traders and Manufactures…………..all the states participated …..it. The aim of the fair was to bring together the buyers and sellers of goods manufactured……….different parts of India and promote trade and industry……..the country.

Q7: These are the answers to ten questions. Write the Wh- questions.

Example: Who does Rahul for? Rahul works for JTN.

i) ………………………………. He is the Marketing Director.
ii) ………………………………. There are five Directors at JTN.
iii) ……………………………… He lives in Mumbai.
iv) ……………………………… He starts work at 8.30 a.m.
v) ……………………………… Next week he’s going to a trade fair in Abudhabi.
vi) ………………………………… He joined the company six years ago.
vii) ………………………………… He has been Marketing Director since 2017.
viii) ………………………………… Before joining JTN, he worked for FANTASTECH India.
ix) ………………………………… He was with them for seven years.
x) ………………………………… He left because of a misunderstanding.

Q8: Prepare a presentation on any one of the following:

i) Presentation on any Software MNC (or else the company where you work)
ii) Any hardware (latest) product
iii) A software project you have been involved in recently
iv) Emerging Technologies in your working area.

Before you begin, indicate:
i) you and audience
ii) who they are
iii) if it’s a formal or informal occasion.
Indicate any props you may need, e.g., White board, Overhead projector, Power point, etc. The presentation must be in about 200 words.

Q9: Prepare minutes for an official meeting that was held in XYZ company (or in your company where you are working) to discuss the Quarterly Sales Report of a Product and future plans to promote it further.

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

ii. Give two reasons why managers are giving so much importance to time management.

iii. Explain the difference between period of time and point of time giving your own examples.

iv. Do you think time management can reduce stress? Discuss.

Q2: Pick out words/phrases from the passage which have the following meanings.

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.
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: Write short notes on any four of the following:

i) Antivirus Software
ii) Interpersonal Skill Development at Workplace
iii) Do’s and Don’ts during Presentations.
iv) Importance of Visuals in Presentations.
v) Do’s and Don’ts on Social Media.

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.

Q6: Read the advertisement below and write your Curriculum Vitae on the basis of it.

Q7: Mark the stress in the following words:

i) attend attention
ii) believe belief
iii) assist assistance
iv) lovely loveliness
v) commerce commercial

Q8: Prepare a presentation on any one of the following:

i) Any eCommerce portal
ii) Any software product
iii) A software project you have been involved in recently
iv) Applications of Artificial Intelligence
The presentation must be about 20 slides.