(Paper) IAS Mains Previous Years Paper : Public Administration (1984)

IAS Mains Previous Years Paper : Public Administration (1984)

PAPER - I
SECTION A
1. Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) Critically examine Rensis Likert’s contribution to organization theory.
(b) Distinguish between “trait” theory of leadership and situational” theory of leadership. Which leadership theory would be mere relevant to the developing Countries?
(c) Explain the difference between “job enlargement” and job enrichment”.
(d) Why may a budget to considered both a plan and a means of control?

2. What led Chris Argyris to believe that close adherence to the classical principles of designing organizations is unwise? Examine his thesis for designing a large public sector organization in India.

3. What conditions must be fulfilled if linear programming is to be used for decision-making in an industrial organization? Does linear programming make use of the laws of probability? In which areas of decision-making linear programming would be more relevant than the other methods and why? Support your answer with illustrations.

SECTION B
PART I (Marketing Management)
Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
4. (a) Why may a change in the share of the market be more important than an increase or decrease in actual sales?
(b) What is the Delphi Method? Discuss its merits and demerits in Indian conditions.
(c) What is the multiple (building-block) analysis? On what does the reliability of its forecast depend?
(d) How far has public distribution system been successful in its objectives?

5. What is the role of advertising for market development in a developing country like India? It is believed that for improving the equality of life and even ultimate survival of mankind “demarketing” and “counter marketing” strategies have a vital role to play today. Comment.

6. What are the limitations of export promotion strategies adopted by India? Discuss with an example of a product group.

PART II (Production and Materials Management)
7. Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) Quality control not only does increase production costs but also adversely affect production schedules. Comment
(b) What is simulation and to what types of problems is it applicable?
(c) How does “Risk Analysis” help managers to take decision under uncertainty?
(d) Explain the Queuing Theory and the uses of it in areas of production management.

8. Distinguish between CPM and PERT. Which of the two techniques would be more useful for effective palming and control of a construction project to avoid time and costs overruns?

9. An enterprise wants to know how much of each of the two products it should manufacture in order to maximize its profits. Product-I yields a per-unit profit of Rs. 7 and Product-Il yields a perunit profit of Rs. 4. The enterprise desires to manufacture at least 3,000 units of product-TI for certain policy reasons. There are 30,000 man-hours available for manufacturing these two products. Product-I requires 2 man-hours & 3 kg of material per unit & product - II requires 5 man-hours & 1 kg of material per unit:
(a) Which of the OR techniques would you use in solving this problem?
(b) State the objective function and the constraints in algebraic form.

PART III (Financial Management)
10. Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) Why may the ratio of profits after taxes to investment be considered the most important indicator of how an organization is performing?
(b) What are the standard costs? What are some of the ways in which these may be used as a tool of control?
(c) What is a capital budget, an expense budget, a cash budget and a performance budget?
Discuss their importance for effective functioning of an enterprise.
(d) How is break-even analysis used as a tool of control?

11. What are the sources of long-term financing in India? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of these sources and critically examine the role of financial institutions vis-à-vis the management of borrowing organizations.

12. Critically examine the financial performance of public sector enterprises in India. Do you agree that the public Sector enterprises in India are using “social objectives” as a cover for the bungling of finance management? Support your answer with illustrations.

PART W (Personnel Management)
13. Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each
(a) What types of psychological tests for selection of personnel are available for use in industry? Examine the appropriateness of these tests for selecting right people for the right jobs.

(b) What are the different methods of performance appraisal of employees in industrial organizations? Discuss the merits and demerits of each for ensuring validity and reliability.

(c) Explain the different methods of job evaluation. What factors tend to distort job evaluation and which method do you consider is the fairest method?
(d) What are “subsistence wage,” living wage” arid “fair wage”?

14. Emergence of individual centers in the trade union movement in India is a symptom of disintegration of political parties led trade union movement. Comment.

15. Under what conditions collective bargaining may function as an effective method of conflict resolution in industry? Do the labour laws in India help development of these conditions or repress? Support your arguments with illustrations.

PAPER - II
SECTION A
1. Comment on any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) ‘When we come to analyze the nature of administration, we find ourselves confronted with two broad views, which may conveniently be called the “integral” and the “managerial” view.’
(b) ‘One of the surest sources of delay and confusion is to allow any superior to be directly responsible for the control of too many subordinates.’
(c) ‘Unity of command does not actually exist and cannot be established in real organization.’
(d) ‘Communication is central to the exercise of authority.’

2. (a) Discuss the view that unless the study of public administration is made comparative, claims for, a science of public administration will remain hollow.
(b) Examine the characteristics of the Structural Theory of Organization.

3. (a) ‘Without delegation no organization can function effectively.’ Elucidate the statement and briefly discuss the limits of delegation of authority.
(b) Discuss the functions that a central personnel agency should perform.

4. (a) Discuss the scope of judicial control of public administration and examine the limitations from which it suffers.
(b) Explain the objectives of public relations in administration and discuss the obstacles in the development of public relations.

SECTION B
5. Comment on any three of the following m not more than 200 words each:
(a) ‘No-person shell be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.’ (Article 21 of te Constitution of India)
(b) ‘The Central Secretariat occupies a key position in the administrative hierarchy.’
(b) ‘The main objectives underlying the all-India services remain valid today The creation of other all-India services, where feasible, should be welcomed.’
(d) ‘It is of basic importance that the civil service should remain non-political though loyal to the Government in power.’

6. (a) ‘What makes one doubt that the Constitution of India is strictly and fully federal are the powers of intervention in the affairs of the states given by the Constitution to the Central Government and Parliament.’ Discuss. .

(b) Examine the position of the Prime Minister vis-à-vis (i) the President and (ii) the Council of Ministers.

7. (a) Give an assessment of the work of (i) the Public Accounts Committee and (ii) the Estimates Committee of Parliament as instruments of control over public expenditure.

(b) ‘Municipal government in India, generally speaking, is made to depend on the State Government even for its bare existence.’ Discuss.

8. (a) Give reasons why the company form has tended to become “the accepted form and the successful form” of organization for public undertakings.
(b) Examine the view that a permanent solution of the problem of corruption in public administration requires the creation of a new social order.