Damba Enterprises Limited (DEL) was established by Mr. Dafala and his wife Mbabazi in the heart of Kampala. Started in 1981, DEL has been one of the longest operating business enterprises in Uganda, offering education services to learners from within and outside the country. It employs over 120 people as instructors, drivers and other support staff from all corners of Uganda and others from neighbouring Kenya. Most of the instructors are females, thus raising concern from their male counterparts who show skepticism about their efficiency. DEL adopted and emphasized the practice of maintaining clear information flow from its onset. This enabled DEL to foster motivation and improve social relations among the employees. Information flows at every level through use of notice boards, suggestion boxes, meetings and of recent e-learning, has been adopted. Social media groups have also boosted information flow, encouraging employees to supply ideas and suggestions for improving upon the work environment. Meetings and seminars help give information that are useful in communicating changes in methods of operation which has helped to guard against misinformation and ambiguity that are likely to cause conflict and tension. The communication at DEL has had issues to do with noise and interpersonal. By nature of this business, there are many distractions; physical or otherwise, and blocking of messages between departments and between individuals. Whatever the case, the survival, awareness and excellent performance of DEL has a link to do with the clear lines of communication. Competition has been handled since information flow is unlimited. However, some departmental heads withhold information deliberately discouraging teamwork, while some individual instructors have resented the idea of meetings held every day at lunch time. They argued that, such time is characterized with noise from learners while others considered it as an off from the heavy schedule. 

 

Required: 

 

(a) Explain the benefits of effective communication as used by DEL.  (b) Describe the causes of barriers to effective communication at DEL.

 

Question 2 

 

(a) Explain the different types of planning used by business organisations.

(b) Explain the relevance of planning to business organisations.

 

Question 3 

 

(a) Explain the principles of effective delegation.

 

(b) Explain the barriers to delegation and suggest remedies.

 

Question 4 

 

Bella Bella Limited Bella Bella Limited (BBL) was established in Jinja Uganda in the 1980s to fill the gap that existed in the clothing and garments industry. It is engaged in the production of quality garments both casual and office, for local and export markets. It employs over 50 people in various activities such as fashion and design, tailoring, among others. Prior to its inception, a feasibility study had to be undertaken by BBL to ensure that its operations were in line with government legislations and regulations. Consultations were made with different authorities to ensure that once established, workers, consumers and the government would not have any ground from which attempts would be made to destabilize its operations. Changes in the government policies towards education, health, and population have necessitated close monitoring by BBL. They have brought changes in attitudes, values and ethics. Such meant that BBL had to make adjustments to keep afloat. For the youth, BBL had to engage in production of high quality denim jeans in various designs such as; boot leg, skinny, high waist, low waist so as to attract them to buy its products. Improvement in health services through immunization and primary health care have led to both increase in population and considering huge investment in decent office wear to attract those large income earners whose taste for the traditional jean wear had tilted towards formal wear. Similarly, demographic issues of changes in family size, growth rate, together with changes in attitudes and beliefs of the society has seen many females take to wearing trousers, thereby necessitating BBL to make adjustments in its operations. You have been approached by management of BBL. 

 

Required: 

 

Explain the; 

(a) legal and regulatory issues affecting businesses.  

(b) social-cultural environment factors that influenced operations of BBL.

 

SECTION B 

 

Question 5 

(a) Define the term computer network topologies.

 

(b) With illustrations, explain the limitations of the following computer network topologies. 

 

(i) Mesh topology.  Star topology.  Hybrid topology. 

 

(c) Explain three reasons why; 

(i) mesh topology is preferred for wireless connections.

(ii) star topology is preferred to other network topologies. 

 

Question 6 

 

Format Tour and Travel (FTT) is a privately owned company. The company offers transportation, accommodation, and other travel services in Uganda. They also cooperate with clients to determine their needs and advise them on appropriate destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs and accommodation. They provide relevant information, brochures and publications (guides, local customs, maps, regulations, events) to travelers. Additionally, they book transportation for their clients, make hotel reservations for them and collect payments/fees from them. They use promotional techniques and prepare promotional materials to sell itinerary tour packages, deal with occurring travel problems, complaints and refunds where necessary. All the above is enhanced by use of databases and online facilities. FTT built a database driven website to effectively and efficiently carry out its duties. With the help of a database management system (DBMS) and other website development tools, FTT is now fully functional online. The objects of databases that FTT frequently use include tables, forms, queries and reports. 

 

Required: 

 

(a) Define the following terms used in the scenario. 

 

(i) Databases.  (ii) Database management system. 

 

(b) Explain three ways in which FTT is benefiting from the use of a DBMS to effectively run its business processes. (6 marks) 

 

(c) Explain two ways in which FTT uses the following database objects in its day-today activities. 

 

(i) Queries.

(ii) Reports.

 

(iii) Forms. 

 

Question 7 

 

Buntu Enterprises Limited (BEL) does online business as is the trend currently. They set up a commercial website for their activities where their customers can have accounts with them for better customer care. They are conscious that as long as one carries out any form of online activity, there are potential information security threats posed by hackers and viruses. As a result of this consciousness, BEL have put in place a number measures to avert loss and compromise of the online data. 

 

Required: 

Explain; (a) (i) the term information security threat.

(ii) three examples of BEL's sensitive data likely to be at risk of hackers.

(iii) four likely security threats to keep BEL's commercial website and their clients unsafe from hackers and viruses. (8 marks) 

(b) List four ways BEL can employ to prevent data loss.