MONDAY: 1 August 2022. Morning paper. Time Allowed: 3 hours.
Answer ALL questions. Marks allocated to each question are shown at the end of the question. Do NOT write anything on this paper.
QUESTION ONE
XYZ COUNTY
In a week’s time after the conclusion of the general elections, Baridi Joto, popularly known as BD will be declared as governor elect of XYZ County by the electoral body since he was unopposed. He is the only gubernatorial candidate unopposed in the country. BD will be taking over the leadership of the XYZ County at a time when nothing seems to work at the county. The county has been greatly mismanaged by the outgoing governor, Kipenda Pesa with his team. The population, especially in the two major towns of XYZ County, Kipeo and Makao has been declining at an alarming rate as many people have been migrating to other towns outside XYZ County in search of better prospects. Kipenda Pesa’s government has been highly bureaucratic and incompetent. His wife appears to wield more power than the governor and she influences how the county government is run. County employees follow her orders unquestionably to avoid trouble. Several large scale manufacturing plants in the county closed down while others have relocated to the neighbouring counties where the business environment is conducive. This has resulted in an increase in unemployment levels that further led to high crime rate in the county.
Many residents described Kipenda Pesa as a “lame duck” who could not make a decision without consulting his wife. As a result of the chronic bad decisions regarding the governance of XYZ County, the county is currently dysfunctional. Garbage is all over the streets, residents have no access to essential drugs in the county hospitals, educational facilities and county roads are dilapidated and some businesses have closed down due to high cost of doing business. Residents of XYZ county have become poorer under Kipenda Pesa’s reign. It is against this backdrop that Baridi Joto (BD), a renowned economist and consultant with an international organisation was approached by some opinion leaders to contest the position of governor and rescue the county. All the aspirants who had been nominated by their respective political parties stepped down in BD’s favour.
BD has promised to offer visionary leadership in the county. Towards this course, he has developed a manifesto that if implemented, water shortages, bad and impassable roads, lack of drugs in hospitals, children dropping out of schools will be a thing of the past. He has promised to pay all the pending bills owed to XYZ County’s suppliers which run into billions of shillings. Pending bills have really affected small scale suppliers especially those who had borrowed money from financial institutions on the strength of local purchase orders and local service orders issued by the county. Many of them have closed down their businesses while others have seen their businesses auctioned.
BD has promised to develop a county integrated development plan (CIDP) six months after he assumes office which will address most of the social problems faced by the residents of the county. Currently, there are no recreational facilities in the county. County staff are demotivated due to meagre and delayed salaries. They have been bearing the brunt of various jokes from their peers in other counties especially when they meet in county forums. BD will have to work extremely hard to ensure that the county staff work as one united team in his endeavour to return the lost glory of the county. He has a daunting task of completing projects which were half-way abandoned by his predecessor due to inadequate budgetary allocation and misuse of funds. BD inspires hope and everyone in XYZ County, including children are looking up to him to deliver them from many years of bad leadership.
Required:
1. Kipenda Pesa ran a highly bureaucratic county government.
With reference to the above statement, evaluate six drawbacks of bureaucracy that could have contributed to the ills at XYZ County. (12 marks)
2. Kipenda Pesa’s wife wields a lot of power and county employees follow her orders unquestionably.
Identify Kipenda Pesa’s wife’s source of power. (1 mark)
Discuss six disadvantages of the use of power identified in 2 (i) above with respect the county government’s office. (12 marks)
3. Many small scale suppliers closed down their businesses or have seen their businesses auctioned due to failure of XYZ County to clear their pending bills.
Explain two external environment factors or aspects that might have contributed to the closure of businesses in XYZ County. (4 marks)
4. State BD’s leadership style. (1 mark)
Examine five qualities of the leadership style stated in 4 (i) above. (10 marks)
(Total: 40 marks)
QUESTION TWO
1. Enumerate seven distinguishing features between a “project” and a “programme”. (7 marks)
2. Assess four advantages of functional organisational structure to an organisation. (8 marks)
(Total: 15 marks)
QUESTION THREE
1. Discuss four characteristics of an effective control system. (8 marks)
2. Explain the term “decision making”. (2 marks)
Summarise five steps of the decision making process. (5 marks)
(Total: 15 marks)
QUESTION FOUR
1. Examine four types of delegation of authority in an organisation. (4 marks)
2. With reference to organisational change, explain the following:
Reactive change. (2 marks)
Proactive change. (2 marks)
3. Enumerate three types of marketing strategies. (3 marks)
4. Discuss the four strategic roles of leaders. (4 marks)
(Total: 15 marks)
QUESTION FIVE
1. With reference to product development, explain the following terms:
Creativity. (2 marks)
Innovation. (2 marks)
Invention. (2 marks)
2. A great leader has to be someone who can identify and strike the right balance between what are usually two opposing ideas.
With respect to the above statement, explain five of these balances. (5 marks)
3. Summarise four qualities of an effective leader. (4 marks)
(Total: 15 marks)
