UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2004/2005
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
CSO 561 : SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 10TH JUNE, 2005 TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.
ANSWER ANY THREE OUESTIONS:
1. Critically discuss the following concepts, showing why and where you would incorporate
or avoid them in a work re-design consultancy:
(a) Customer Focus (b) Labour Process
(c) Esprit de corps (d) "Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties"
(e) Task Identity.
2. Briefly discuss the Hawthorne Experiments, pointing out their lessons for to-day's work
re-design tasks in Africa.
3. Identify the key elements of Theory Z, and discuss their applicability to the contemporary
African environment.
4. To what extent has Taylorism reincarnated or survived as a key feature of contemporary
ideas about work design?
5. Discuss the Job Diagnostic Survey (IDS) as a tool in work re-design.
6. What work re-design lessons can we in Africa draw From Peters and Waterman's In
Search of Excellence?
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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
JULY-OCTOBER 1004 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 15th OCTOBER 2004 TIME: 5.30 P.M. - 8.30 P.M.
ANSWER ANY THREE OUESTIONS:
1. Critically discuss ANY FOUR of the following concepts, and show their importance or
otherwise to work re-design in contemporary Africa:
(a) Theory X (b) Theory Y
(c) Self-Actualization (d) "Motivation Factors" in Herzberg's Two-Factor theory.
(d) Job Rotation.
2. Critically discuss the contributions of ANY THREE of the following authors to work-
re-design thinking: Henri Fayol, Warren Bennis, Elton Mayo and Max Weber.
3. Identify the key elements of a systems approach to work organization.
4. With particular reference to the African experience, critically discuss Chris Argyris's
immaturity-maturity theory of personality change, and relate it to trends in work design.
5. Critically discuss the contributions of Hackman and Oldham, on the one hand, and
Hammer and Champy, on the other, to contemporary work-redesign principles and
practices.
6. "Motivation and customers are over-rated factors in work-redesign, compared to the
respective contingencies of size, technology and leadership." Critically discuss this claim,
supporting your answer with concrete examples.
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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME 2002/2003
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 16TH AUGUST, 2003 TIME: 8.30 A.M. -1130 A.M.
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Answer ANY THREE Questions.
1. Critically discuss ANY THREE of the following concepts, and show their importance or
otherwise to work re-design in contemporary Africa:
(a) Scientific Management (b) Universal Design Theory
(c) Scalar Chain (d) "Hygiene Factors" in Herzberg's Two-Factor theory.
(e) Business Process Reengineering.
2. (a) What do you understand by Theory Z, or the "Japanese miracle" ?
(b) In what important ways are the prescriptions of Theory Z similar to, or different
from, the culture of excellence approach propounded by Peters and Waterman?
3. Identify the key elements of the contingency approach to work organization.
4. What were the main contributiol1~ofthe human relations movement to work re-design in
general, and which contributions do you consider to be the most relevant to African
organizations?
5. Critically discuss the main variants of Job Design, and show how each variant may impact
upon motivation.
_____________________________________________________________________ ________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2001 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 15TH AUGUST, 2002 TIME: 5.30-8.30 P.M.
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INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS
1. Critically discuss ANY THREE of the following concepts, and show their relevance to
work re-design in contemporary Africa:
(a) Business Process Reengineering (b) Job Enrichment (c) Robotics
(d) Motivation (e) Globalization.
2. a. What are the causes of stress in work organizations?
b. How can work re-design help to reduce stress at the workplace today?
3. When considering the future of work re-design in the next decade, which of the following
two options do you think will be preferable and more rewarding, and why?
Option 1: Fitting jobs to people.
Option 2: Fitting people to jobs
4. Critically discuss the two theories which you consider to be the most useful in
understanding contemporary trends in work re-design.
5. What are the attributes of successful work groups, and what is the contribution of
work design to the success?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2001 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN'
DATE: 19TH DECEMBER, 2001 TIME: 5.30-8.30 P.M.
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INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS
1. Critically discuss ANY FOUR of the following concepts, and show their relevance to
work design in contemporary Africa:
(a) Vertical Loading (b) Division of Labour (c) De-Skilling
(d) Ergonomics (e) Bureaucracy (f) Work Re-design.
2. "BPR is exciting in theory but disappointing in practice!" Discuss this view, with particular
reference to the core arguments put forward by Hammer and Champy.
3. With particular reference to formal organization design, critically discuss the Weberian
notion that size leads to structure.
4. What design features and individual-employee attributes do you consider to be pre-
requisites for optimal input by individuals, and why?
5. Critically discuss the contributions of F.W. Taylor, McClelland and Herzberg to
contemporary ideas about work re-design.
6. Illustrating your answer with experiences from Africa and the United States, discuss the
main criteria for determining the feasibility of work re-design.
____________________________________________________________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MODULE II DEGREE PROGRAMME
JANUARY-APRIL 2001 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 25TH APRIL, 2001 TIME: 5.30-8.30 P.M.
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INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS
1. Critically discuss the key concepts in work redesign and business process reengineering,
and show their relevance to contemporary Africa.
2. (a) Identify the main building blocks of formal organization design.
(b) Show, with examples from Africa, why and how change in the organization's
environment leads to a rearrangement of the building.
3. "Increased surveillance at the workplace leads to increased productivity." Critically
discuss this statement with reference to:
(a) Both to private sector and public-sector organizations in your country;
(b) The comparative advantages and/or disadvantages of what you consider to be the
main techniques and/or tools for such surveillance.
4. What design features and group attributes do you consider to be pre-requisites for work-
group effectiveness, and why?
5. Critically discuss the contributions of Adam Striith, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber to
contemporary ideas about work redesign.
6. What work re-design and business process reengineering principles do you consider most
appropriate to the establishment of Just-In- Time manufacturing in a developing country?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME
MAY-AUGUST 2000 SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 29TH AUGUST, 2000 TIME: 5.30 - 8.30 P.M.
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INSTRUCTIONS:
ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS
1. Critically discuss Hammer and Champy's Reengineering the Corporation, paying particular
attention to the role of lT and each of the key actors whom they identify.
2. Discuss any four of these concepts in terms of their significance, or otherwise, to work
redesign:
Labour Standards Globalization De-skilling Ergonomics
CAD/CAM Job Enrichment Occupational safety
3. " 'Business Process Reengineering' and 'Work Redesign' are very distinct approaches to
the drive toward change in work organizations; and yet they manifest certain important
commonalities". Discuss this statement with close reference to relevant texts.
4. Critically discuss the job diagnostic survey as a tool for work re-design needs assessment.
5. Identify the main criteria for determining the feasibility of work re-design in the
contemporary African context.
6. Identify the theories which you consider to be the most relevant when re-designing work
for individuals as opposed to work groups.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
PARALLEL DEGREE PROGRAMME
FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS 1998/99
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
CSO 561: SOCIOLOGY AND WORK REDESIGN
DATE: 9TH SEPTEMBER 1999 TIME: 5.30 - 8.30 P.M.
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ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss the following key concepts and show their relevance to identified work redesign
contexts in Africa:
- Labour Process - Scientific Management
- Motivation - Just in Time
2. What do you see as Harry Braverman's main contributions to the critical understanding of
work design in contemporary societies?
3. What do you understand by Business Process Reengineering, and what are the main
components of both the underlying theory and practice? Discuss with particular reference
to recent American and African experiences.
4. What are the key components of the motivation theories of Maslow and Herzberg? Illustrate
your answer with examples from countries of your choice.
5. Construct a model for work redesign for Kenya's private-sector organizations. Are there any
extant laws and state policies which must be amended or changed altogether for your model
to become workable? Support your answer with concrete examples.
6. Outline the main tenets of Taylor's Scientific Management, and show to what extent Scientific
Management is relevant to today's global corporation.
7. Assess the importance of the "Job Diagnostic Survey" as a tool for needs assessment in the
area of work redesign.
8. Organization charts have been seen as maps for work redesign tasks. What do you see as the
major global trends in the construction of organization charts today, and what do you see as the
main social forces underpinning those trends?
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