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Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh GX_____
National University of Ireland, Galway
Semester I Examinations 2007 /
Exam Code(s) 2BC1, 2CL1, 2BF1, 2IF Exam(s) Business Organisation and Management
Module Code(s) MG Module(s) SECOND COMMERCE EXAMINATION SECOND CORPORATE LAW EXAMINATION SECOND B.Sc. IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECOND B.Sc. IN BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Paper No. 1
External Examiner(s) Professor C. Eden Internal Examiner(s) Professor H. Scullion Mr W Geoghegan
Instructions: Multiple Choice, use the Answer Sheet provided
NB: Make sure you fill your name and student number on the MCQ answer sheet. Fill in your student number followed by a zero. Duration 2 hours No. of Pages Department(s) Management Course Co-ordinator(s) Mr W Geoghegan
Requirements : MCQ Yes Handout No Statistical Tables No Graph Paper No Log Graph Paper No Other Material
OLLSCOIL NA hÉIREANN, GAILLIMH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, GALWAY
SEMESTER I EXAMINATIONS 2007/
MG203 – BUSINESS ORGANISATION & MANAGEMENT
PAPER 1
Professor Colin Eden Professor Hugh Scullion Mr. Will Geoghegan
Time allowed: TWO hours
Please attempt BOTH questions: Question 1 and Question 2.
For Question 2, Multiple Choice, use the Answer Sheet provided
Q1. In respect of the attached case, based on the facts of the case and knowledge
learned in the course, please answer ALL three questions. All questions carry equal marks
(66% of Total Marks)
Q2. In respect of the 34 multiple choice questions attached, choose the best answer
from the responses listed. Record your answers, together with your name and student number, on the MCQ answer sheet provided. 1 mark is awarded for each correct answer, 0 marks if there is no answer and – 0.33 marks for each incorrect answer.
(34% of Total Marks)
Can the iPhone Even Come Close?
The buzz preceding the upcoming iPhone rings similar to the hype that the iPod has whipped up around its slender frame since 2001, and in keeping with tradition, the hype is largely focused on the phone's radical user interface. The iPhone boasts a patented 'multi-touch' keyboard technology that allows users to interact directly with the device using their fingers instead of conventional buttons. The wide display area serves as both keyboard and control panel, and is one large luminous screen that changes according to the functions desired. If you're checking your voicemail for instance, your message appears as a visual icon. Poke the message you want to listen to and you've got it.
"We are all born with the ultimate pointing device -- our fingers -- and the iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse," stated Apple's Steve Jobs at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The CEO hailed the phone as a "magical device" that would "revolutionize the industry," explaining that it combines three different products -- a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and an Internet communications mechanism -- into one portable device.
Speculation is now running rampant as to whether the iPhone will be to the mobile phone market what the iPod is to the digital music market. Apple has indicated an intention to take 1 percent of the world market for cell phones, or 10 million phones per year, by the end of 2008. The company may actually do better than that.
The latest USA-based ChangeWave consumer cell phone survey, which polled 2, users, indicates that if the phone lives up to expectations, Apple is likely to exceed its 2008 goals. In fact, the survey indicates that the iPhone could alter the face of the cell phone industry dramatically. At the moment, according to ChangeWave, the market belongs primarily to Motorola (33 percent), LG (15 percent), and Nokia (14 percent). The survey indicates that with the release of Apple's new phone, Motorola's share among consumers will register a dramatic decline -- perhaps falling as low as 17 percent.
"As more and more consumers switch to the iPhone, we are going to see a huge migration from cell phone manufacturers like Motorola to the hipper, cooler iPhone," states Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing. "And, because of Apple's deal with AT&T's Cingular as their exclusive service provider for the iPhone, we are also going to see a big migration away from Verizon and other cellular providers." About 79 percent of likely buyers from the survey said they would abandon their existing wireless carrier, switching to Cingular to use the new iPhone.
This may seem like a huge percentage, but the number of likely buyers is limited: the survey indicates that just 9 percent of respondents said they are likely to buy the phone for themselves, and just 7 percent are likely to buy it as a gift for someone else.
Apple experts, such as MacWorld's Chris Breen, and Editorial Director Jason Snell, argue that the company is unlikely to dominate the cell phone market the way it does the music player market. First and foremost, the iPod entered a far less competitive
and well populated market than the one the iPhone will have to crack. Additionally, Apple has limited itself by committing to Cingular, which has a customer base of about 60 million. It is notable that 55 percent of those polled in the ChangeWave survey expressed satisfaction with their existing cell phones -- indicating no intention of switching networks.
Snell points out that that doesn't necessarily mean Apple made a mistake however. It would have been impractical for the company to try to launch the iPhone independent of an established service provider. Had it done so, Jobs and his team would be faced with creating different versions of the phone to fit the capabilities and structures of different networks. Plus, even if Apple could overcome its technical complications and enter into agreements with cell phone providers other than Cingular, other networks might not even be interested in partnering with it.
Additionally, the potential success of the iPhone could be dampened by its price. If looked at as three devices in one, the price isn't unreasonable -- buying a 4GB iPod Nano and a BlackBerry 8700c (which acts as a phone and Internet device) separately for instance would set you back about $500. But when looked at as simply a phone, which is the way many people perceive the device, it's just plain expensive. People may not be willing to pay $499 to $599 for a cell phone that does not function any better as a phone per se, in that it makes calls as well as the next phone.
Some consumers will just not be interested in all the additional capabilities that the iPhone offers. "What the iPhone potentially does promise is to make the features that most people don't use on their phones -- web browsing, more advanced kinds of messaging, email, music playback, etc -- far easier to use," states Breen. "The question is how many people desire these kinds of features; are there enough to propel the iPhone to the top of the heap? I kind of doubt it. If less expensive iPhones appear, younger users are likely to gravitate to them in a big way. I'm not so sure about the parent who just needs to keep in touch with their kid, or the grandparent who flings a cell phone into the glove compartment for safety sake, or the many, many people who just want to make a call."
According to Steve Koenig, Senior Manager for Industry Analysis at the Consumer Electronics Association, research indicates that in spite of the 'new convergence' among consumer electronics, strong counter trends to consolidation do exist. Many users continue to prefer stand alone devices that perform their designated function as simply and effectively as possible, others may simply shy away from the idea of having one master device that could get lost or broken. It isn't All Bad News Though
While Apple is unlikely to dominate the cell phone market, its new device is expected to make a large mark on the smart phone market. And in the long term, once the company begins to diversify, producing iPhones of different prices, sizes and capacities, similar to what it now offers with the iPod, it could begin to make an impact on the cell phone market in general.
ChangeWave's survey corroborates this, revealing that while 28 percent of those polled stated that the new phone was too expensive, 10 percent stated that they would
QUESTION 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE
Use the Answer Sheet provided
NB: Make sure you fill your name and student number on the MCQ answer sheet. Fill in your student number followed by a zero.
Choose the best answer from the responses listed. 1 mark is awarded for each correct answer, 0 marks if there is no answer and
- 0.33 marks for each incorrect answer.
- Which of the following is a function of management?
(a) Planning (b) Culture (c) Employing (d) None of the above
- The character Gordon Gecko from the film Wall Street would be seen as a
proponent of which school
(a) The Shareholder Value Maximisation Model (b) The Stakeholder Model (c) Shaper of society model (d) All of the above
- Managers should attain the organisations goals _________ and _________?
(a) Efficiently and effectively (b) Efficiently and speedily (c) Quickly and honestly (d) Quickly and expediently
- Top level managers are mainly involved in?
a) Direction and leadership b) Implementation of organisational tasks c) Supervision of workers d) Mentoring
- Which of the following would be an example of a corporate parent?
a) Sony b) Bravia c) Playstation d) PSP
- Organisational Environments may differ by _________?
a) Geographic location b) Size c) Location d) All of the above
- Some examples of Blind spots in industry analysis include?
a) Misjudging Industry Boundaries b) Poor Identification of the Competition c) Faulty Assumptions about the Competition d) All of the above
- Which of the following is not a disadvantage of a low cost strategy?
a) Easily imitated by rivals b) Technological breakthroughs open up cost reductions for rivals c) The economy may go into recession d) Becoming overly fixated in reducing costs
- A core competence of an organization would be included in which element of
SWOT?
a) Strengths and Opportunities b) Solely Strengths c) Solely Opportunities d) Weaknesses
- To evaluate a strategy one may employ which of the following tests?
a) Loss leader, Differentiation, Focus b) Feasibility, Suitability, Acceptability
- Interviews and psychometric testing for companies hiring people is an example of
what type of control?
a) Screening Control b) Preliminary Control c) Postaction Control d) None of the above
- Which of the following is not one of Mintzberg’s Basic Building Blocks in
organising?
a) Operating Core b) Strategic Apex c) Programming d) Middle Line
- Which one of the following is part of the configurations found in practice with
regard to organizing an organization?
a) Professional Bureaucracy b) Adhocracy c) Missionary d) All of the above
- The main elements in organizing a task involve which of the following?
a) How to divide up work b) Coordination and Control c) Span of Control d) All of the above
- Which of the following is not included in the triple bottom line in Corporate
Social Responsibility?
a) People b) Profits c) Promotion d) Planet
- Which of the following moral stances is in accordance with Milton Friedman and
that the action is right if it benefits the firm?
a) Ethics of self-interest b) Ethics of purpose c) Ethics of consequence d) Ethics of Principle
- Which of the following is not a form of ethnocentrism?
a) Patronization b) Disrespect c) An aura of inferiority d) Inflexible behaviour
- Which of the following is not an element of culture?
a) Religion b) Language c) Religion d) All of the above
- Within Hofstedes 4 dimensions of culture, which of the following best describes
Individualism?
a) The degree to which less powerful members of organisations and instituions accept the fact that power is not distributed equally b) The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created institutions and beliefs for minimizing or avoiding these uncertainties c) The tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only d) The degree to which the dominant values of a society are “success, money, and things”
- Which of the following helps you analyse which of your competitors compete
directly against you?
d) individual functions.
- A contingency model of leadership is the path-goal theory. It suggests that
subordinates will see leadership behaviour as a motivating influence if:
a) path-goal relationships are clarified. b) their effective performance will satisfy their needs. c) the necessary direction, guidance, training and support is provided. d) all the above.
- Hersey and Blanchard present a form of situational leadership based on the
___________ of the people the leader is attempting to influence.
a) intelligence b) motivation c) readiness d) personality
- A Pluralist approach to industrial relations views the industrial enterprise in terms
of being categorised by:
a) A team approach b) Composed of differences of interests c) The need to motivate people d) Control not commitment
- Trends in European industrial relations include:
a) Shift from national collective bargaining to enterprise-level collective bargaining b) Greater occupational mobility and removal of traditional demarcations between jobs c) Growth of pan-European bodies such as ETUC d) All of the above
- The following acronyms stand for employer groupings in Ireland. Which one is
an industry-specific employer association representing employers in the automotive
industry?
a) ISME b) SIMI c) IBEC d) SFA
