Management Strategy for UPSC CSE

how to prepare for management, importance of management for UPSC, important books for management, management optional preparation strategy, UPSC management preparation strategy, what is management,

Management Strategy for UPSC CSE

Management is UPSC’s another optional subject for CSE. But this is not popular as other subjects. But now the no. of candidates who are opting management are increasing. But still, there are few candidates who are able to clear the exam.

So in this article, we are going to discuss management as an optional subject for UPSC and the strategy for the preparation of management.

What is Management?

Management is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a not-for-profit organization, or government body. Management includes the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its employees to accomplish its objectives through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological, and human resources.

There is a well-said line about management by Steve Jobs i.e. “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”

Advantages of Management

• The questions on this subject are mostly straightforward so, it will easy to understand the question & answer. If you prepare well it will be easy for you to attempt the question.
• If you will go through the previous year question papers then you will notice that the questions are more predictable.
• Management is a logical subject so you do not need to interpret the answer. That’s why management is more scoring than other subjects like history, literature etc.
• Another major thing is that you have less competition on this subject as there are few candidates who opt management as an optional subject.
• Management will also help you in future, if you will clear the exam then all the management skills will help you in your job.

Syllabus of Management

Management subject will have 2 papers in the main examination. The syllabus for the subjects is given below.

Paper 1:

1. Managerial Function & Process
2. Organizational Behavior & Design
3. Human Resource Management
4. Accounting for Managers
5. Financial Management
6. Marketing Management

Paper 2:

1. Quantitative Techniques in Decision Making
2. Production & Operations Management
3. Management Information System
4. Government Business Interface
5. Strategic Management
6. International Business

Strategy for Paper 1

Paper 1 is the theoretical subject that’s why the questions are mostly straightforward. This also includes the finance questions but the questions in finance are also theoretical. So all the candidates who are good at writing cannot get a better subject than management. You have to look at the previous year papers this will give you an idea about the questions pattern and you will get to know how to attempt the question. The most important topic for paper 1 is Human Resource & Operational Behavior.

The best thing is that mostly the questions were asked in finance like what is NPV, IRR, CAPM etc. These are the basic questions which everyone should know.

Strategy for Paper 2

Paper 2 covers the decision making and quantitative techniques. This paper is all application based. This paper includes case studies & numerical these are the things which make the paper lengthy. Do not forget to focus on formulae & models, as this will help you to score well. The important topics for this paper are operations, business statics & strategic management.

In case of case studies, you need to read all the formulae and the basic framework. Read only those frameworks & models which are mention in the syllabus do not go to the advanced level. In quant, the questions were asked on basic things like mean, mode, media, graphical method etc.

Reference Books

The books which will help you in management preparation are given below.

1. IGNOU Booklets
2. HRM – Ashwathappa, Prasad
3. Organisational Behavior – Robbins, Luthans
4. Marketing – Kotler, Saxena
5. Strategic Management – Michael Porter
6. Operations – Adams, Taha, David Collier
7. MIS – Loudon and Loudon
8. Finance – Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe; Khan & Jain
9. Quantitative techniques – Levin & Rubin
10. Management – Koontz and Koontz, Drucker
11. Financial management – Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe
12. Theory of organizational development and change – Thomas Cummings

Disadvantages of Management

As everything comes with the pros & cons. So let’s discuss some limitations of management as an optional.

• The biggest & the main limitation is that the management will be suitable only for the students from management background. Management is recommended only for the candidates who have read management in their graduation or post-graduation. It is not an easy subject, you need to know from scratch to clear the exam.
• The syllabus of management is vast, so it becomes a little bit tougher to cover the syllabus on time.
• The second paper of management is very long. So, you need good writing skills with good speed to attempt the paper.
• As in case of economics or other optional subjects also include the syllabus of general studies which will help you in both examinations. But there is nothing like that with economics. There is no overlapping of general studies syllabus with the economics syllabus.

Questions from Previous Year Papers

1. Enumerate the contribution of F.W. Taylor for management thought.
2. Differentiate between ‘choice-making’ & ‘decision making’ in management.
3. Discuss three human resource management challenges faced in the 21st century.
4. What non-monetary compensation & benefits will you devise to increase employee productivity?
5. Define the term entrepreneur. Explain the essential managerial skills for a successful entrepreneur.
6. A & B decide to meet 3 pm & 4 pm, but each of them should wait no longer than 10 minutes for the other. Determine the probability that they meet.
7. The two regression lines obtained from a certain data were Y=X+% & 16X=9Y-94. Find the variance of X, if the variance of Y is 16. Also, find the covariance between X & Y.
8. What is MIS planning? Discuss with an example how it is linked to general business planning.
9. Discuss the merits & demerits of online payment systems & the legal &ethical issues of online business.
10. What is meant by cost of quality? Describe its components.
11. “Behavior is a problem.” Comment as perception.
12. How do job analysis & job evaluation enable better performance?
13. What is meant by quality articles? Explain the impact of quality circles on productivity.
14. A department store had forecast the sales of Rs. 1, 10,000 for last week. The actual sales turned out to be Rs. 1, 25,000. Given α=0.1, what is the forecast for this week? If the sales this week turn out to be Rs. 1, 20,000 what is the forecast for the next week?

If you have any doubt or need guidance you can comment below, our team will try to answer it.