IGNOU Master of Computer Applications (MCA) :: Assignments

This assignment has seven questions. Answer all questions. You may use illustrations and diagrams to enhance the explanations. Please go through the guidelines regarding assignments given in the Programme Guide for the format of presentation.

Q1. Read the following passage and answers the questions below:

Nobody actually wants to cause offence but, as business becomes ever more international, it is increasingly easy to get it wrong. There may be a single European market but it does not mean that managers behave the same in Greece as they do in Denmark.

In many European countries handshaking is an automatic gesture. In France good manners require that on arrival at a business meeting a manager shakes hands with everyone present. This can be a demanding task and, in a crowded room, may require gymnastic ability if the farthest hand is to be reached.

Handshaking is almost as popular in other countries—including Germany, Belgium and Italy. But Northern Europeans, such as the British and Scandinavians, are not quite so fond of physical demonstrations of friendliness.

In Europe the most common challenge is not the content of the food, but the way you behave as you eat. Some things are just not done. In France it is not good manners to raise tricky questions of business over the main course. Business has its place after the cheese course. Unless you are prepared to eat in silence you have to talk about something —something, that is, other than the business deal which you are continually chewing over in your head.

Italians give similar importance to the whole process of business entertaining. In fact, in Italy the biggest fear, as course after course appears, is that you entirely forget you are there on business. If you have the energy, you can always do the polite thing when the meal finally ends, and offer to pay. Then, after a lively discussions, you must remember the next polite thing to do—let your host pick up the bill.

In Germany, as you walk sadly back to your hotel room, you may wonder why your apparently friendly hosts have not invited you out for the evening. Don't worry, it is probably nothing personal. Germans do not entertain business people with quite the same enthusiasm as some of their European counterparts.

The Germans are also notable for the amount of formality they bring to business. As an outsider, it is often difficult to know whether colleagues have been working together for 30 years or have just met in the lift. If you are used to calling people by their first names this can be a little strange. To the Germans, titles are important. Forgetting that someone should be called Herr Doktor or Frau Direktorin might cause serious offence. It is equally offensive to call them by a title they do not possess.

In Italy the question of title is further confused by the fact that everyone with a university degree can be called Dottore -and engineers, lawyers and architects may also expect to be called by their professional titles.

These cultural challenges exist side by side with the problems of doing business in a foreign language. Language, of course, is full of difficulties — disaster may be only a syllable away. But the more you know of the culture of the country you are dealing with, the less likely you are to get into difficulties. It is worth the effort. It might be rather hard to explain that the reason you lost the contract was not the product or the price, but the fact that you offended your hosts in a light-hearted comment over an aperitif. Good manners are admired: they can also make or break the deal.
(4+2+2+2+4+6=20 Marks)

1. Discuss the importance of culture in doing business in the light of the following statement from the text:
   “........ as business becomes ever more international, it is increasingly easy to get it wrong.”

2. How are the French different from the British, where ‘shaking hands' is concerned?
3. Suggest two ways in which the Italians differ from the Germans in their dealings with business colleagues.
4. What title would you give the passage?
5. What would you tell a foreign visitor about “good manners” in our country?
6. Find opposites of the following words from the text:
   1. deliberate
   2. nearest
   3. animosity
   4. simple
   5. dull
   6. rude

Q2: Use the phrasal verbs given in the box to complete the sentences given below: (10 Marks)

Verbs: is over, call back cut off, get through, give up, hang up, hold on, look up, pick up, put through

1. The phone's ringing. Why don't you ___________ the receiver?
2. I'm afraid she isn't available at the moment. Can you ___________ later?
3. Can you ___________their number in the directory, please?
4. I'm afraid she's with a client, shall I ___________you ___________ to her secretary?
5. Hello? Are you still there? I think we were ___________for a moment.
6. Mr. Green never seems to be in his office. I've been trying to ___________to him all morning.
7. Could you ___________ for a moment? I'll just find out for you.
8. If the telephonist says ‘Thanks you so much for calling' and plays me that awful electronic music again, I'll ___________
9. If you get a wrong number, it's polite to say ‘I'm sorry, I've dialed the wrong number' before you ___________
10. If an American telephonist asks ‘ Are you through?' , she wants to know if your call ___________

Q3. Put the verbs in brackets into the passive form in the following sentences. (10 Marks)

1. You'll hardly recognize our office. It (redecorate) since your last visit.
2. Two players (send) off the field during last Saturday's match.
3. The hotel, which (complete) only last year (equip) with a business center and a gym.
4. Application (invite) for the post of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture. Preference (give) to applicants with teaching experience.
5. As my car (repair) last Friday, I (give) a lift to work by a colleague.
6. As soon as your order (receive), it (process) and an acknowledgment sent.

Q4. Write down what you would say in each of these situations. (10 Marks)

1. Your flight to Chennai is delayed. Find out the reason.
   _______________________________________________
   
2. You're booked on flight LJ 879 on May 16. You want to change this to ZZ 857 on May 17.
   _______________________________________________
   
3. Flight RA 372 doesn't leave till 5pm but you've arrived at the check-in desk at 12 noon.
   _______________________________________________
   
4. You don't understand how to get a ticket from an automatic machine. Ask a passer-by for help.
   _______________________________________________
   
5. Someone asks you how to get to the main railway station –tell him or her that it's two blocks down and then left.
   _______________________________________________
   
6. You have arrived late because your rented car wouldn't start. Apologize to your host or hostess.
   _______________________________________________
   
7. You don't understand some of the dishes on the menu. Ask your companion for help.
   _______________________________________________
   
8. You want to order a plain omelet, which is not on the menu.
   _______________________________________________
   
9. Ask your companion to recommend a local dish.
   _______________________________________________
   
10. At the end of the meal you want to pay the bill, but the waiter has given it to your companion.
    _______________________________________________

Q5 . (5+10 Marks)

1. What are the four phases in a negotiation process? Discuss.
2. Every Diwali a company gives its customers gifts ranging from diaries and calendars to silver items. The financial manager says it's too expensive and wants to stop the practice. The sales manager disagrees. Write a dialogue between the two.

Q6. (15 Marks)
You are the General Manager (Human Resource Development) of the company. You want to talk about the effective ways of making good presentations to the Sales staff. Use the following points to make your presentation.

• How good presentations can benefit your company.
• How speakers should prepare before giving presentations
• The qualities of a good speaker
• How a speaker can keep the attention of the audience
• The effective use of visual aids in presentations

Q7: (20 Marks)

Imagine that your General Manager has asked you to find out the precautions and preparations needed to arrange for the disaster management provisions in your company. These are the notes you've made. Draft a report of about 300 words to your General Manager by expanding the notes into paragraphs.

1. Fire— particularly in areas where a lot of paper is stored
2. Earthquake —cracks due to previous earthquake
3. Lightening —inadequate safety measures

• Fire frightening equipment to be maintained regularly
• Fire fighting training to the support staff
• Display of safety regulations
• Hooters to be installed —signal warning
• Exit outlets to be highlighted
• Important telephone numbers —Hospital, Fire-Brigade, Doctors, senior officials of the company
• Action committee to be formed