Reference no: EM133077384

Question 1

Ken Confectionery Company Ltd (KCCL) was founded by Mr. Kenneth Wakare in 2007 with its main offices located in Kasangati He realized his dream of establishing his own confectionery company after resigning his job as a director at HIPS Confectionery Company Limited. The company produces a variety of pastries such as bread, doughnuts, biscuits and cookies.Mr. Wakare holds a diploma in home management. He initially employed 20 workers, among who were the educated and the uneducated. He appointed Mr. Tommy Kiberu as the general manager. Each department had a manager who was responsible for its day-to-day activities. For example, the production manager had to analyse and make decisions covering inventory levels of both the raw materials and finished products.

The company started on a high note with increasing daily sales. This motivated Mr. Wakare to open up outlets in Kasangati and the nearby towns.Within five years, KCCL had expanded to more than five districts in the central region. The success of the company was attributed to the high quality of their products, good customer care, hygienic and neat spacious outlets. Modern technology was used in all departments and there were systems put in place to make work easy and manage time as required.

In order to ensure KCCL's success, Mr. Kiberu with the help and advice of Mr. Wakare, applied a number of strategies which were focused on the development and growth of the company so that the short and long term objectives could be achieved.Among the strategies applied was to develop long term goals to achieve growth, increase productivity and profitability, and boost return on investments. He also aimed at improved customer service and corporate social responsibility.

He endeavoured to develop organisational objectives so that the middle and lower level managers could create compatible plans aligned with these objectives. With the growth of the company, he used modern technology to test a new process for making bread which proved to shorten the production time and resources, required to make and deliver it to the customers.Mr. Kiberu would supervise the weekly employees' schedules, assess the ordering and stocking of inventory and create quarterly budgets for all the branches of KCCL.

He always prepared back-up plans which were to be implemented in case of a crisis, like when the raw materials were scarce or during machine breakdown, so that business would continue to operate normally in all their branches.

Mr. Kiberu mentored the different managers as part of the succession plan so that the continuity of the company would be guaranteed in case he retired.

The result was that realisation of growth of KCCL in a short time, which became a motivator to the employees and their products, remained the best in the central region. Mr. Kiberu focused on proper planning, a tool which has enabled him to reach where he is today.

Required:

(a) Explain the different types of plans that were used by Mr. Kenneth Wakare and Mr. Tommy Kiberu to ensure growth of KCCL.

(b) Discuss the characteristics of a good plan and its usefulness as applied by the managers of KCCL.

Question 2

Control is a systematic effort by management to compare actual performance with predetermined results, plans and objectives in order to determine whether actual performance is in accordance with them or not and take any remedial action. It is the process managers go through to ensure something happens the way it was planned and also ensure the organisational objectives are achieved.

Required:

(a) Explain the characteristics of an effective control system.

(b) Discuss the benefits control function to an organisation.

Question 3

Jimta Ltd was established by Mr. Magezi in 2012 to process and supply residents of Namayiba in Mpigi district with quality beef products. Mr. Magezi realised that there was shortage of meat and meat products like sausages, bacon, hamburgers and minced meat in Namayiba and the nearby Kampala city. He established an abattoir at Namayiba to take advantage of large heads of livestock in the area so as to reap profits. However, he also buys from the livestock traders from Mbarara heading to Kampala city. He supplies meat to hotels and domestic buyers. Mr. Magezi relies heavily on effective communication to run his business.

Two years down the road, Mr. Magezi realised that the business was lucrative. He decided to invest in meat processing by constructing a meat processing plant, Jimta Annex Ltd. The demand for the meat products was high not only in Kampala but also in neighbouring countries of South Sudan and Rwanda. Mr. Magezi ensured lateral and up-downward communication. All his employees were actively engaged in the pursuit of an effective communication process.

In an effort to expand their operations, Jimta Ltd employed a cross section of people from different cultural backgrounds; South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda. The use of local languages at work eroded customer care. The perception of work and responsibility by the young employees left a lot to be desired. They spent most of their time on social media, ignoring vital information regarding issues of tenders and important orders for meat products. Many a time, vital market information was misinterpreted. For example, customer complaints about the quantity of salt in the processed products were disregarded. Similarly, need for urgency was ignored which led to loss of business at Jimta Ltd.

Mr. Mukasa, the head of marketing department, was accused of losing a tender to supply meat products to one of the big hotels in Kampala largely because the hotel manager never trusted his credibility. His use of slang language irked the hotel management. On that ground, the hotel manager decided to award the tender to another company.

Due to loss of business, Mr. Magezi decided to intervene in the matter. He called a meeting during which he directed all employees to switch off their phones during working hours. He believed it was the reason employees were not attending to customers fully. He even directed that no personal visitors would be allowed during working hours.

He hired a consultant, Mr. Kowa, to advise management and employees of Jimta Annex Ltd on the remedies to the prevailing challenges. Mr. Kowa advised the managers to use the available communication lines appropriately to ensure effective communication. They were to adhere to a chain of command and available channels of communication to ensure constant flow of information to all employees.

In addition, no excuses would be entertained as the managers would ensure that information processing was to be immediate by each department to avoid missing tenders and unsatisfied orders. The communication gadgets that needed network upgrading were worked upon to prevent loss of vital information like had been the case. Within a few months, Jimta Annex Ltd was back to profitability.

Required:

(a) Discuss the barriers to effective communication faced by Jimta Annex Ltd.

(b) Explain the remedies employed by Mr. Magezi and Mr. Kowa to bring back Jimta Annex Ltd to profitability.

Question 4

McGregor's theory X and Y is essentially a set of assumptions about human behaviour. It asserts that the way in which managers approach the performance of their jobs and the behaviour they display towards subordinate staff is likely to be conditioned by predispositions about people, human nature and work. He put forward two suppositions about human nature and behaviour at work.

Required:

(a) Define the term motivation.

(b) (i) Identify the assumptions of theory X.

(ii) Explain the assumptions of theory Y.

Question 5

(a) Explain the factors that should be considered when selecting a site for a manufacturing plant/enterprise.

(b) Discuss the benefits of a well -planned facilities layout.

Question 6

Ethical dilemmas require making a choice between two or more alternatives, in which case the outcomes are equally undesirable or equally favourable. In some Ugandan firms, making a decision between two morally sound options sometimes becomes practically impossible.

Required:

(a) Explain the benefits that firms would derive from practicing ethical values.

(b) State the limitations that firms would experience if they are to practice ethical values