English: Reading Comprehension Set 48

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words are given in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.

Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem-solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. This distinction is absolutely crucial for our purposes here: Successful transformation is 70 to 90 per cent leadership and only 10 to 30 per cent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don’t have much leadership. And almost everyone thinks about the problems here as one of managing change.
For most of this century, as we created thousands and thousands of large organizations for the first time in human history, we didn’t have enough good managers to keep all those bureaucracies functioning. So many companies and universities developed management programmes, and hundreds and thousands of people were encouraged to learn management on the job. And they did. But, people were taught little about leadership. To some degree, management was emphasized because it’s easier to teach than leadership. But even more so, management was the main item on the twentieth-century agenda because that’s what was needed. For every entrepreneur or business builder who was a leader, we needed hundreds of managers to run their ever growing enterprises.
Unfortunately for us today, this emphasis on management has often been institutionalized in corporate cultures that discourage employees from learning how to lead. Ironically, past success is usually the key ingredient in producing this outcome. The syndrome, as I have observed it on many occasions, goes like this: success creates some degree of market dominance, which in turn produces much growth. After a while keeping the ever larger organization under control becomes the primary challenge. So attention turns inward, and managerial competencies are (nurtured). With a strong emphasis on management but not on leadership, bureaucracy and an inward focus take over. But with continued success, the result mostly of market dominance, the problem often goes unaddressed and an unhealthy arrogance begins to evolve. All of these characteristics then make any transformation effort much more difficult.
Arrogant managers can over-evaluate their current performance and competitive position, listen poorly, and learn slowly. Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities. Bureaucratic cultures can (smother) those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And the lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organisations to break out of the morass.

1. Why, according to the author, is a distinction between management and leadership crucial?
   
   Leaders are reactive whereas managers are proactive.
   Organisations are facing problems of not getting good managers.
   Organisations are pursuing the strategy of status quo.
   In today’s context, organisations need leaders much more than managers in transforming them.
   None of these
   Option D
   Proactive = creating or controlling a situation by causing things to happen rather than reacting to events.
   Status quo = the situation or state of affairs as it is now, or as it was before a recent change
   Refer to second last sentence of First Paragraph.
   
    



2. Why did companies and universities develop programmes to prepare managers in such a large number?
   Companies and universities wanted to generate funds through these programmes.
   A large number of organisations were created and they needed managers in good number.
   Organisations did not want spend their scarce resources in training managers.
   Organisations wanted to create communication network through trained managers.
   None of these
   Option B
   Refer to first sentence of second paragraph.
   
    



3. Which of the following is not the characteristic of bureaucratic culture?
   
   Managers listen poorly and learn slowly.
   Managerial competencies are nurtured
   Employees clearly see the forces that present threats and opportunities.
   Prevalence of unhealthy arrogance.
   Managers tend to stifle initiative and innovation.
   Option C
   Stifle = to suppress or control something
   Except Option C, all other statements are mentioned in paragraph -3 and 4.
   
    



4. Which of the following is SIMILAR in meaning to the word SMOTHER as used in the passage?
   suppress
   encourage
   instigate
   criticise
   attack
   Option A
   The meaning of the word ‘smother’ as mentioned in the passage is ‘to prevent something from developing or being noticed’; ‘to suppress of stifle something’. Hence the words ‘smother’ and ‘suppress’ are synonymous.
   
    



5. How has the author defined management?
   It is the process of adapting organisations to changing circumstances.
   It is the system of aligning people with the direction it has taken.
   It refers to creating a vision to help direct the change effort.
   Creating better performance through customer orientation.
   None of these
   Option C
   Planning can be defined as ‘creating a vision’, which is an important aspect of management.
   
    



6. Management education was emphasized in the management programmes because
   establishing direction was the main focus of organisations.
   motivating employees was thought to be done by managers.
   strategies for producing change was the main focus of organisations.
   organisations wanted to create powerful guiding coalition.
   management was the main item of agenda in organisations.
   Option E
   Refer to second paragraph.
   
    



7. What is the historical reason for many organisations not having leadership?
   
   A view that leaders are born, they are not made.
   Leaders lack managerial skills and organisations need managers.
   Leaders are weak in carrying out traditional functions of management.
   Leaders allow too much complacency in organisations.
   None of these
   Option E
   For most of this century, as a large number of organisations were created for the first time in human history, emphasis was given on management and leadership was overlooked.
   
    



8. In the passage, management is equated with
   Organisation
   Leadership
   Organisational vision
   Bureaucracy
   Managerial training
   Option D
   Managers are also bureaucrats.
   
    



9. Why does the attention of large organisations turn inward?
   Their managers become arrogant.
   They have to keep themselves under control.
   Their success creates market dominance.
   They want to project their predictability.
   None of these
   Option B
   
   
    



10. Which of the following is SIMILAR in meaning of the word NURTURED as used in the passage?
    created
    developed
    thwarted
    surfaced
    halted
    Option B
    The meaning of the word ‘nurtured’ as mentioned in the passage is ‘to help the development of something’.
    Hence the words ‘nurtured’ and ‘developed’ are synonymous.