UPHESC Assistant Professor Commerce 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: Match each motivation theory with its author.

1. Theory Z – William G. Ouchi (1981, Japanese management) → IV.
2. Equity theory – J. Stacy Adams (1963) → II.
3. Two-factor (motivation–hygiene) theory – Frederick Herzberg (1959) → I.
4. Expectancy theory – Victor Vroom (1964), printed here as 'Broom' → III.

Short trick: Z–Ouchi, Equity–Adams, Hygiene–Herzberg, Expectancy–Vroom.

Concept: Blake and Mouton's grid: x-axis = concern for production, y-axis = concern for people (1–9 each).

1. 1,9 – Country club: high people, low production.
2. 9,1 – Authority-compliance (task): high production, low people.
3. 1,1 – Impoverished; 5,5 – Middle-of-the-road; 9,9 – Team management (ideal).

Short trick: Country club = friendly and comfortable, little work → (1,9).

Concept: Thomas–Kilmann model uses two dimensions – assertiveness (own concern) and cooperativeness (other's concern).

1. Competing: high assertive, low cooperative (win–lose).
2. Collaborating: high–high (win–win). Avoiding: low–low.
3. Accommodating: low assertive, high cooperative. Compromising: medium–medium.

Short trick: Competing = 'my way' → assertive but uncooperative.

Concept: Transactional Analysis (TA) was developed by psychiatrist Eric Berne (printed 'Berni') in the late 1950s; popularised by 'Games People Play' (1964).

1. TA studies ego states – Parent, Adult, Child – and the transactions between people.
2. Elton Mayo – Hawthorne studies; Peter Drucker – MBO; Adam Smith – division of labour.

Short trick: TA = Berne = P-A-C ego states; 'I'm OK – You're OK' (Thomas Harris).

Concept: Internal sources fill vacancies from people already connected with the organisation.

1. Internal: promotion, transfer, former/retired/retrenched employees recalled, extension of service, employee referrals.
2. External: advertisement, employment exchanges, campus, placement agencies, contractors and jobbers (labour contractors).

Short trick: Contractors/jobbers bring outside labour → external source.

Concept: NREGA was passed by Parliament in August 2005 and notified on 7 September 2005.

1. The scheme was launched on 2 February 2006 in 200 districts (Anantapur, A.P.) – do not confuse the launch year with the enactment year.
2. Renamed MGNREGA on 2 October 2009; guarantees 100 days of wage employment per rural household per year.

Short trick: Act 2005, scheme 2006, 'Mahatma Gandhi' added 2009.

Concept: Maslow (1943) – needs are satisfied from the bottom of the hierarchy upwards.

1. Physiological (IV) → Safety/Security (III) → Love/Belongingness (I) → Esteem (II) → Self-actualisation.

Short trick: 'PSLES' – Physiological, Safety, Love, Esteem, Self-actualisation.

Concept: Rational decision-making follows a logical order.

1. Identify/define the problem (I).
2. Search for / develop alternatives (IV).
3. Evaluate the alternatives (III).
4. Choose the best alternative (II), then implement and follow up.

Short trick: Problem → Search → Evaluate → Choose = I, IV, III, II.

Concept: Match each managerial function with its essence.

1. Planning – deciding in advance, decision making → II.
2. Organising – grouping activities and establishing authority–responsibility relationships → I.
3. Directing – guiding, instructing and motivating subordinates → IV.
4. Controlling – comparing actual performance with standards and correcting deviations → III.

Short trick: Plan → decide; Organise → authority structure; Direct → instruct; Control → compare.

Concept: RBI is the central bank; it does not deal directly with the public.

1. Its functions: note issue, banker to government, bankers' bank and lender of last resort, credit control, custodian of foreign exchange reserves, regulation and supervision.
2. Agricultural credit reaches farmers through commercial banks, RRBs, co-operatives and NABARD – RBI does not lend directly to farmers.

Short trick: Central bank = bank of banks and government, never of individuals.

Concept: India's short-term co-operative credit structure is three-tier.

1. State level – State Co-operative Bank (apex bank).
2. District level – Central (District) Co-operative Bank.
3. Village level – Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

Short trick: State → Central (District) → Primary (Village).

Concept: Under Section 9(1) of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 the Board of Directors of an RRB has 9 members.

1. Chairman (appointed by the sponsor bank under Section 11) – 1.
2. Directors: 2 nominated by the Central Government, 1 officer of the RBI, 1 officer of NABARD, 2 officers of the sponsor bank, 2 officers of the State Government – 8.
3. Total 1 + 8 = 9. Section 9(2) only lets the Central Government raise the strength, subject to a ceiling of 15 – so 15 is the upper limit, not the composition.

Short trick: RRB board = Chairman + 2 Centre + 1 RBI + 1 NABARD + 2 Sponsor + 2 State = 9 (max 15).

Concept: Arrange by year of establishment.

1. UTI – 1963 (first mutual fund, UTI Act 1963).
2. SBI Mutual Fund – 1987 (first non-UTI, public-sector bank fund).
3. Franklin Templeton India – 1996 (private/foreign entry after 1993).
4. UTI Mutual Fund – 2003, after UTI was bifurcated (UTI Repeal Act, 2002).

Short trick: UTI (1963) → SBI MF (1987) → Franklin (1996) → UTI MF (2003) = II, III, IV, I.

Concept: Commercial banks accept deposits, lend/invest funds and create credit.

1. (A) True – loans, cash credit, overdrafts and bills discounted are the largest and most profitable use of bank funds.
2. (R) True – every loan creates a derivative deposit, so credit creation also enlarges bank funds (deposits).
3. (A) is about where banks employ funds; (R) is about how banks expand funds – two separate functions, so (R) does not explain (A).

Short trick: Employment of funds (A) ≠ creation of funds (R) → option (B).

Concept: RBI was set up on 1 April 1935 (RBI Act 1934) with its central office first in Calcutta; it moved permanently to Mumbai in 1937.

1. (A) is wrong – the Central Office is in Mumbai, not New Delhi (New Delhi has a regional office).
2. (R) is right – credit control (bank rate, CRR, OMO, repo etc.) is a core central-banking function.

Short trick: RBI HQ: Kolkata (1935) → Mumbai (1937 onwards).

Concept: Penetration pricing sets a low introductory price to enter the market quickly and win a large market share.

1. Suitable when demand is price-elastic and economies of scale exist; it also discourages competitors.
2. Initial high price = skimming; same product at two prices = price discrimination.

Short trick: Penetrate = enter deep with a LOW price.

Concept: Kotler's five-stage model: Problem (need) recognition → Information search → Evaluation of alternatives → Purchase decision → Post-purchase behaviour.

1. Social factors (family, reference groups, roles and status) INFLUENCE buying behaviour but are not a stage of the process.

Short trick: Stages = N-I-E-P-P; cultural/social/personal/psychological = factors, not stages.

Concept: Peppers and Rogers' IDIC model of one-to-one relationship marketing has four steps.

1. I – Identify customers.
2. D – Differentiate customers (by value and needs).
3. I – Interact with customers.
4. C – Customise the offering for each customer.

Short trick: I-D-I-C = Identify, Differentiate, Interact, Customise.

Concept: The ABC/tri-component model views attitude as Cognitive → Affective → Conative.

1. Cognitive (first) – knowledge and beliefs about the object.
2. Affective – feelings/emotions (like or dislike).
3. Conative – intention to behave/buy.
4. 'Creative' is not a component.

Short trick: Think → Feel → Do (learn-feel-do hierarchy).

Concept: Agricultural inputs are all resources used in farm production.

1. Seed – biological input; pesticide – agro-chemical input; tractor – farm machinery (capital input).
2. All three are agricultural inputs, so 'None of the above' is the answer.

Short trick: Inputs = seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, water, power, machinery, credit.