hr mgmt
DESCRIPTION
SOLUTIONTRANSCRIPT
MARKS : 80COURSE :MAPM
SUB : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
N. B. : 1) Attempt any Four 2) All questions carries equal marks.
NO. – 1
ENRICHING JOBS AT STANDARD DECOY
Standard Decoy in Witchell, has been making traditional wooden hunting
decoys since 1927. Cyrus Witchell began the business by carving a couple of
ducks a day by hand. Demand and competition have long since driven the
company to use modern machinery and assembly-line techniques, and they
now turn out two hundred ducks daily even on the slowest days.
When Steward Alcorn, Cyrus Witchell’s grandson, took over the
business, he knew things needed to change. Output had not fallen, and the
company was surviving financially despite competition from what he called
“plastic ducks” from the Far East. But Alcorn noticed that the productivity
per worker had stayed the same for ten years, even during the period since
the company had bought the latest equipment. While touring the plant, he
noticed many employees yawning, and he found himself doing the same. No
one quit. No one complained, They all gave him a smile when he walked by.
But no one seemed excited with the work.
Alcorn decided to undertake a survey. He appointed a respected
worker at each step in the production process to ask each of his or her co-
workers questions and to fill in response sheets. One conclusion emerged
from the survey : The “fine-tuners”, as Alcorn thought of them, were the
most content ones. That is, those who used fine tools and brushes to get the
ducks’ heads, expressions, and feathers just right seemed to enjoy their
work most. In contrast, the people who planed and cut the wood into blocks,
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rough – cut the body shapes, spray – painted the body colour, and applied
the varnish were all pretty bored.
Alcorn had heard about a technique called “job rotation” and decided
to try it out. He gave all workers a taste of the “fun” jobs. He asked for
volunteers to exchange jobs for one morning a week. The fine-tuners were
skeptical, and the other workers were only slightly more enthusiastic. The
whole programme turned out to be a disaster. Even with guidance, the
planers and the spray – painters could not master the higher – precision
techniques, and the fine-tuners seemed to give them only limited assistance.
After one trial week, Alcorn gave up.
During a lunch break that Friday, Alcorn was wandering outside around
the plant bemoaning his failure. Then he noticed one of the rough-cutters, Al
Price, whittling at something with an ordinary pocket knife. It turned out to
be a block of wood that he had cut incorrectly and normally would have
thrown in the scrap heap. But as Price said, “It kind of looked like a duck, in
an odd way,” and he had started whittling on it in spare moments.
Alcorn liked what he saw and asked Price if he would be willing to sell
him the duck when he got through with it. Price looked surprised, but he
agreed. The following week, Alcorn noticed that Price had finished the
whittling and was getting one of the fine-tuners to help him paint the duck in
a way that made it look even odder. When it was finished, Alcorn offered it
to one of his regular customers, who took a look at it and said, “You’ve got
this hand made ?” and asked if he could order a gross.
By the middle of the next month, Alcorn’s “Odd Ducks” programme
was in full swing. Workers were still responsible for producing the usual
number of conventional ducks, but they were allowed to use company tools
and materials any time they wanted to work on their own projects. There
were no quotas or expectations for the Odd Ducks. Some employees worked
on for weeks. Others collaborated and produced one or two a day.
Some wouldn’t sell their ducks but crafted them to practice their skills
and brought them home to display on their mantels. Those who would sell
them kept half the selling price. That price usually did not amount to more
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than their regular hourly wage, but no one seemed to care about the precise
amount of income.
The response to the Odd Duck programme was so great that Alcorn put
up a bulletin board he called “Odd Letters, as a place to post appreciative
notes from customers. Most of the customers, it seemed, had no interest in
hunting but just liked to have the ducks around. And when Alcorn learned
that some of his customers were in turn selling the ducks as “Cyrus
Witchell’s Olde Time Odd Ducks,” he did not complain.
Questions :
1. How: did the “Odd Ducks” programme enrich the jobs at
Standard Decoy ?
Ans: Enriching Jobs at Standard Decoy
I found this case to be very interesting. Enriching Jobs at Standard Decoy was about
improving and motivating the employees at a specific company. Standard Decoy was a
company that made traditional wood hunting decoys for years. Although they definitely
made profit and it was a fairly successful business, the employees seemed happy yet bored
and not completely satisfied. The owner's grandson, Alcorn, decided there needed to be a
change. After surveys and talking to the employees, he came up with a new approach. He
decided job rotation. However, this was not successful because no one could master their
new jobs. Finally, Alcorn came up with a completely new approach. This was to create a
brand new program, called Odd Ducks. Workers were still responsible for producing the
usual number of ducks, as they were now allowed to use company tools and materials any
time they wanted to work on their own projects. Employees were now creating their own
ducks, in different shapes and styles.
I found the Odd Ducks program to be an excellent idea. This seemed to be successful
because the employees were more than just workers on an assembly line. They were now
personalizing their work. They were being creative and actually enjoying their job. This
definitely motivated the employees because they now felt that they were making a
difference in the company.
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Enriching Jobs at Standard Decoy In this case, it was not merely money that motivated the employees; instead job enrichment motivated them. Prior to this program, the employees were getting bored with their work and didn't take much pride in it because their tasks weren't very meaningful and they were not even creating a whole product. The "Odd Ducks" program enriched the jobs at Standard Decoy in several ways. It gave them a chance to express their ideas and creativity about their work and gave them more autonomy by allowing them to create their own pieces of work. This gave the workers a sense of pride and accomplishment, thus improving motivation. The success of the "Odd Ducks" program can be explained by the Job Characteristics Theory discussed in our book. This program demonstrated the five characteristics of jobs that enable the three psychological states that lead to greater worker outcomes. First, it demonstrated skillvariety; by creating their own ducks, the workers were able to use a variety of different skills and activities instead of simply working on just a small part. This also prevented the workers from getting bored from performing the same monotonous tasks over and over. Second, the program demonstrated task identity by allowing the workers to create a whole, tangible, identifiable piece of work that they could be proud of. Third, the program demonstrated autonomy because it allowed the workers to work on their own individual projects and at their preferred pace. Fourth, it demonstrated task significance because it created a market for odd ducks and the workers could sell them and collect half of the money. Many of the workers also collaborated with others to make the odd ducks. Lastly, the program demonstrated positive feedback from the managers, buyers, and fellow workers. As the job characteristics theory points out, the existence of all five of these dimensions allows for the three critical psychological states: experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work, and knowledge of the actual results of work activities. Since all 5 core job dimensions were present in the "Odd Ducks" program, the workers were able to experience these psychological states, thus resulting in higher motivation, higher quality work performance, higher satisfaction with their work, and probably lower absenteeism and turnover.
Question No 1
How did the "Odd Ducks" program enrich the jobs at Standard Decoy?
Answer: Alcorn was the man who Odd Ducks program enrich the jobs at
standard decoy. When alcorn take over the business from his grant father it not
very good position so he take some changes that are very much impact on
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standard decoy. He knew things needed to change. Output hadn’t fallen, and the
company was surviving financially despite competition from what he called
"plastic ducks" from the Far East. But Alcorn noticed that productivity per
worker had stayed the same for ten years, even during the period since the
company had bought the latest equipment. While touring the plant, he noticed
many employees yawning, and he found himself doing the same. No one quit. No
one complained. They all gave him a smile when he walked by. But no one
seemed excited with the work. So Alcorn first try to change working condition
and environment so he uses job rotation technique. He gave all workers a taste of
fun jobs but after one trial week, alcorn understand it not working some were
not responding so alcorn gave up but alcorn innovation some new thing after his
change he notice one of the rough cutters whittling something this look like Duck
in an Odd way. Alcorn liked what he saw and asked Price if he would be willing
to sell him the duck when he got through with it. Price looked surprised, but he
agreed. The following week, Alcorn noticed that Price had finished the whittling
and was getting one of the fine-tuners to help him paint the duck in a way that
made it look even odder. When it was finished, Alcorn offered it to one of his
regular customers, who took a look at it and said, "You’ve got hand made?" and
asked if he could order a gross. By the middle of the next month, Alcorn’s "Odd
Ducks" program was in full swing. Workers were still responsible for producing
the usual number of conventional ducks, but they were allowed to use company
tools and materials any time they wanted to work on their own projects. There
were no quotas or expectations for the Odd Ducks. Some employees worked on
one for weeks; others collaborated and produced one or two a day. Some
wouldn’t sell their ducks but crafted them to practice their skills and brought
them home to display on their mantels. Those who would sell them kept half the
selling price. That price usually did not amount to more than their regular
hourly wage, but no one seemed to care about the precise amount of income. The
response to the Odd Duck program was so great and that way Odd Ducks
program enrich the jobs at standard decoy.
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Question No 2
What motivated workers to participate in making the Odd Ducks?
Answer: When you think about it, the success of any facet of your business can
almost always be traced back to motivated employees. From productivity and
profitability to recruiting and retention, hardworking and happy employees lead
to triumph.
Unfortunately, motivating people is far from an exact science. There's no secret
formula, no set calculation, no work sheet to fill out. In fact, motivation can be as
individual as the employees who work for you. One employee may be motivated
only by money. Another may appreciate personal recognition for a job well done.
Still another may work harder if she has equity in the business.
But you can boil down employee motivation to one basic ideal -- finding out what
your employees want and finding a way to give it to them or to enable them to
earn it. Here our case we say alcorn motivated his Workers were still responsible
for producing the usual number of conventional ducks, but they were allowed to
use company tools and materials any time they wanted to work on their own
projects. There were no quotas or expectations for the Odd Ducks. Some
employees worked on one for weeks; others collaborated and produced one or
two a day. Some wouldn’t sell their ducks but crafted them to practice their skills
and brought them home to display on their mantels. Those who would sell them
kept half the selling price. That price usually did not amount to more than their
regular hourly wage, but no one seemed to care about the precise amount of
income. The response to the Odd Duck program was so great that Alcorn put up
a bulletin board he called "Odd Letters" as a place to post appreciative notes
from customers. Most of these customers, it seemed, had no interest in hunting
but just liked to have the ducks around. And when Alcorn learned that some of
his customers were in turn selling the ducks as "Cyrus Witchell’s Olde Time
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Odd Ducks," he did not complain.
So at last we can say that this all motivated worker is the main engines of Odd
Ducks all success and those are participate in making the Odd Docks.
Conclusion
We analysis this case very carefully and fund some thing those are mainly
created problem to run alcorn odd ducks business properly. When alcorn take
this business from his grandfather, he try to make some changes because he
noticed that productivity per worker had stayed the same for ten years, even
during the period since the company had bought the latest equipment. While
touring the plant, he noticed many employees yawning, and he found himself
doing the same. No one quit. No one complained. They all gave him a smile when
he walked by. But no one seemed excited with the work and some other cases but
alcorn take some very good decision like undertake survey. He appointed a
respected worker at each step in the production process to ask each of his or her
coworker’s questions and to fill in the response sheets. Alcorn also used job
rotation technique but whole program turned out to be a disaster. But alcorn
come back very greatly and his Odd Ducks programmed was in full swing.
2. What motivated workers to participate in marking the Odd
Ducks ?
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NO. 2
DETERMINING PAY RAISE
The Scientific Equipment Manufacturing company is a small manufacturing
unit located in Peenya, Bangalore. The company is non-unionised and
manufactures analytical equipment for hospital laboratories.
Approximately one year ago, the manager of the Component Assembly
Department established three production goals for the department. The
goals were : (i) reduce raw material storage costs by 10 per cent ; (ii) reduce
variable labour costs (i.e. overtime) by 12 per cent; and (iii) decrease the
number of quality rejects by 15 per cent. The manager told the six unit
supervisors that the degree to which each supervisor or exceeded these
goals would be one of the major inputs for their merit – pay increases for the
year. In previous years, merit increases were based on seniority and an
informal evaluation by the department manager.
The six supervisors worked on separate but similar production lines. A
profile of each supervisor is as follows :
Amitha Aged 28, single; three years with the company after receiving her
degree from the Bangalore University. Has a job offer from another
company for a similar job that provides a substantial pay increase over her
present salary. The scientific Equipment does not want to lose Amitha
because her overall performance has been excellent.
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Shindhe Aged 32, married with three children; three years with the company,
high school education. One of the most stable and steady supervisors.
However, he supervise a group of workers who are known to be unfriendly
and uncooperative with him and other employees.
Anandan Aged 34, married with four children; high school equivalent
learning; one year with the company. Came to Karnataka six years ago from
Tamil Nadu. A steady worker, well-liked by his co-workers, but has difficulty
in learning the local language. He has, therefore, problems of
communication within his group and with others.
Hemalatha Aged 29, divorcee with three children, two years with the
company ; high school education. Since her divorce one year ago, her
performance has begun to improve. Prior to that, her performance was very
erratic; with frequent absences. She is the sole support for her three
children.
Eshwar Murthy Aged 27, single ; two years with the company, college
graduate. One of the best liked employees at Scientific Equipment.
However, he has shown a lack of initiative and ambition on the job. Appears
to be preoccupied with his social life, particularly around his recently
purchased house.
Cheriyan Aged 24, married with no children ; one year with the company
after graduating from a local college. First full – time job since graduation
from college. He is liked by all employees and has exhibited a high level of
enthusiasm for his work.
Exhibit 11.3 presents summary of the performance of the six supervisors’
during the past year. The data include the current annual salary, the
performance level on the three goals, and an overall evaluation by the
department manager.
The new budget for the upcoming year has allocated a total of Rs.
1,40,000 for supervisory salaries in the Component Assembly Department,
Rs. 40,000, increase from last year. The management has indicated that
salary increases should range from five per cent to 12 per cent of the
supervisors’ current salaries and should be tied, as closely as possible, to
their performance.
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In making the merit-pay increase decisions, the following points should
be considered.
1. The decisions will likely set a precedent for future salary and merit
increases.
2. Salary increases should not be excessive, but should be representative
of the supervisor’s performance during the past year. It is hoped that
the supervisors develop a clear perception that performance will lead
to monetary rewards and that this will serve to motivate them to even
better performance.
3. The decisions should be concerned with equity, that is, they ought to
be consistent and comparable with each other.
4. The company does not want to lose these experienced supervisors to other firms. The
management of this company not only wants the supervisors to be satisfied with their
salary increases, but also to further develop the feeling that Scientific Equipment
Manufacturing is a good company for advancement, growth and career development.
Exhibit 11.3Superviso
rCurren
t Salary (Rs.)
Storage
Costs (10%)
Goal Labou
r Costs (12%)
Attainment Quality Rejects (15%)
Effort Manager’s Cooperativene
ss
Evaluation Ability to
work Independentl
y
Knowledge of job
Cherian 23,000 12% 12% 17% Excellent
Excellent Good Good
Amitha 24,000 12% 13% 16% Excellent
Excellent Excellent Excellent
Shindhe 24,000 6% 2% 3% Good Excellent Good GoodAnandan 22,000 4% 4% 12% Excellen
tGood Fair Fair
Hemalatha
23,000 11% 10% 10% Fair Fair Fair Good
Eshwar Murthy
24,000 8% 10% 3% Fair Fair Fair Fair
Instructions for the exercise
1. Each person in the class should individually determine the Rupee
amount and percentage increase in salary for each of the six
supervisors, Individual decisions should be justified by a rationale or
decision rule.
2. After each individual has reached a decision, the group will convene
and make the same decision as noted in (1) above.
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3. After each group has reached a decision, a spokesperson for each
group will present the following information to the full class :
a) The group’s decision concerning merit pay increase for each supervisor
(rupee and percentage)
b) The high, low and average individual decisions in the group.
c) A rationale for the group’s decision.
NO. 3
TRAVAILS OF A TRAINING MANAGER
Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined System, as a training manager, was
feeling
uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing
director of the company.
Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a
turnover of Rs. 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several
products – both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 percent of its turnover
came from selling electronic component products which were assembled
locally from imports of semi knocked – down kits. The landed cost of its
imports was about Rs. 10 crore last year. The products had an assured
demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea
providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been
operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities
were production oriented rather than market oriented.
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Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had
announced, as a part of its economic liberalization strategy, several policy
measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by
exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for
working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its
account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.
The company management had three option before it. First, to build up
its domestic trading activity rapidly ; second, to assemble at least a few of
the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue
after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run
and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the
long run.
Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how
quickly it could train its people – beginning from a handful of sales engineers
– to become market – centred and customer – friendly in their approach to
business.
“ The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told
Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the
training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “ We
have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure
orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you
come in. It will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure
that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher,
“Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had
no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a
training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more
sales.”
That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to
let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training
packages for workers, shop – floor supervisors, administrative staff and
senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesman.
Deciding to start with the salesman first, he met the sales manager to ask
him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales
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manager was skeptical and only half – heartedly consented to release people
for the two – day training.
The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the
proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee
break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a
drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past
and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had
been delivered.
The attendance for the second day session was thin. This lack of
interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works
manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence
of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he
said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him to whole thing was a
big joke.
Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had
worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective.
He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so
were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one
set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He
also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional
trainer.
But Kumar began to realize that he had made a few tactical errors in
his particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally
inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality
and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with
the module for senior executives first.
“I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is
simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has
been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself. What
should he do ?
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NO. 4
“ WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, ANYWAY ?”
It was past 4 pm and Purushottam Kshirsagar was still at his shopfloor
office. The small but elegant office was a perk he was entitled to after he
had been nominated to the board of Horizon Industries (P) Ltd., as workman
– director six months ago. His shift generally ended at 3 pm and he would be
home by late evening. But that day, he still had long hours ahead of him.
Kshirsagar had been with Horizon for over twenty years. Starting off as
a substitute mill-hand in the paint shop at one of the company’s
manufacturing facilities, he had been made permanent on the job five years
later. He had to formal education. He felt this was a handicap, but he made
up for it with a willingness to learn and a certain enthusiasm on the job. He
was soon marked by the works manager as someone to watch out for.
Simultaneously, Kshirsagar also came to the attention of the president of the
Horizon Employees’ Union who drafted him into union activities.
Even while he got promoted twice during the period to become the
head colour mixer last year, Kshirsagar had gradually moved up the union
hierarchy and had been thrice elected secretary of the union.
Labour-management relations at Horizon were not always cordial. This
was largely because the company had not been recording a consistently
good performance. There were frequent cuts in production every year
because of go-slows and strikes by workmen – most of them related to wager
hikes and bonus payments.
With a view to ensuring a better understanding on the part of labour,
the problems of company management, the Horizon Board, led by chairman
and managing director Avinash Chaturvedi, began to toy with the idea of
taking on a workman on the board. What started off as a hesitant move
snowballed, after a series of brainstorming sessions with executives and
meetings with the union leaders, into a situation in which Kshirsagar found
himself catapulted to the Horizon board as workman-director.
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It was an untested ground for the company. But the novelty of it all
excited both the management and the labour force. The board members –
all functional heads went out of their way to make Kshirsagar comfortable
and the latter also responded quite well. He got used to the ambience of the
boardroom and the sense of power it conveyed. Significantly, he was soon
at home with the perspectives of top management and began to see each
issue from both sides.
It was smooth going until the union presented a week before the
monthly board meeting, its charter of demands, one of which was a 30 per
cent across-the-board hike in wages. The matter was taken up at the board
meeting as part of a special agenda.
“Look at what your people are asking for,” said Chaturvedi, addressing
Kshirsagar with a sarcasm that no one in the board missed. “You know the
precarious finances of the company. How could you be a party to a demand
that simply can’t be met ? You better explain to them how ridiculous the
demands are,” he said.
“I don’t think they can all be dismissed as ridiculous,” said Kshirsagar.
“And the board can surely consider the alternatives. We owe at least that
much to the union.” But Chaturvedi adjourned the meeting in a huff,
mentioning, once again to Kshirsagar that he should “ advise the union
properly.”
When Kshirsagar told the executive committee members of the union
that the board was simply not prepared to even consider the demands, he
immediately sensed the hostility in the room. “ You are a sell out,” one of
them said. “Who do you really represent – us or them ?” asked another.
“Here comes the crunch,” thought Kshirsagar. And however hard he
tried to explain, he felt he was talking to a wall.
A victim of divided loyalties, he himself was unable to understand
whose side he was on. Perhaps the best course would be resign from the
board. Perhaps he should resign both from the board and the union. Or may
be resign from Horizon itself and seek a job elsewhere. But, he felt, sitting in
his office a little later, “none of it can solve the problem.”
Question :
15
1. What should he do ?
NO. 5
THE RESENTFUL EMPLOYEE
It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind
that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two
women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger
woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs
that women in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and
took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy
dog. I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been
waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the
type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a
general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance
against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the
door.
“ You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.
“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and
address,” said the women, who had evidently expected the challenge and
knew the reply.
“You must take the dog out-that is my order.”
“ I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me,” said the
woman.
“Certainly not,” said her lady companion. “ You have got a cough as it
is.”
“ It is nonsense”, said her male companion.
The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.
“ This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out.” And he
stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He
had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His
embittered soul was having a real holiday.
The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army ?”
“Call the police,” “ Let us all report him,” “Let us make him give us our fares
16
back,” “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back.” Everybody
was on the side of the lady and the dog.
That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy
unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.
The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” said one
taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my
number,” said the conductor imperturbably. “Give us our fares back – you
have engaged to carry us – you can not leave us here all right.” No fares
back,” said the conductor.
Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night.
The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk
with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to
the shouts of the passengers to stop. “ They stick by each other, the
villains,” was the comment.
Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to
the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus ?” He said, and paused for a reply.
None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across
his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and
looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst
on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know, he said generally. “ Give your
name and address,” “That is what he is being offered and he won’t take it.”
“Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards
down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.
And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked
to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter – deck in the hour
of victory. A young woman whose vice had risen high above the gale inside,
descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was
immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in
a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of
statuary up the steel watching the drama. Then she came back,
imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had sat a silent witness of her
rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the
dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared
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he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an
opportunity to slip away.
Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of
resistance to abject surrender. “ I will go on the top,” said the sealskin lady
at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take
it” (This from the man.) Certainly not – she would die with her dog”. When
she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell,
and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was
savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.
Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the
driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the
stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor
came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand
went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed
to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the
original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking
his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady
declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.
Questions :
1. Which theory of motivation do use to motivate the bus crew ?
why ?
2. If you were the conductor what would you do ?
3. If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do ?
4. Role play (a) conversation between the conductor and the lady
with sealskin, (b) between policemen and the fellow
passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.
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NO. 6
WHEN AN EMPLOYEE SAYS HE IS HIV POSITIVE
Chemtech was a chemical firm employing nearly 1,500 people. Since the
company
was operating in a sheltered economic environment, the organizational focus
for
many years was on technology and manufacturing. There was little accent
on marketing. But a liberal import regime heralded by the Government of
India galvanized the management into sprucing up its sales and marketing
team. A number of people were being hired from outside the company in a
long overdue exercise of giving a customer – oriented focus to the
company’s operations. a few employees were also being promoted from
within. In a professional career spanning over two decades in personnel
function in different companies, Aparojit Das, Vice-president (HRD), was
closely involved with the hiring interviews. And he had always chosen well
even while most of his contemporaries had been expressing disillusionment
with the interview as a medium of getting the right candidate for the right
job.
The secret of his success lay in a technique he had worked to
perfection. As a candidate walked in for an interview, Das would quickly size
him up for a first impression. Subsequently, the whole tenor of his
questioning over the period of the interview would be aimed at destroying
that impression. If the first impression was favourable and if it persisted till
the end of an interview or if an unfavourable impression turned otherwise by
the end, Das had an intuitive feeling that he had a good candidate on his
hands. Of course, the assessment already made by the concerned divisional
head regarding specific job requirements would be a major benchmark in the
final selection of a candidate.
Das knew, however, that if he had chosen people well, it was not
because of any particular skill but because he was simply lucky.
That morning, as he looked at the folder lying in his desk, Das
wondered whether he was finally running out of luck. The folder contained
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dossiers of two candidates who have been interviewed at various levels over
the previous month. As a part of the final assessment, Das himself had met
them individually an hour ago. Both were internal candidates, presently
working as sales executives and seeking promotion to the post of the sales
manager to be based at the head office of the company. Both were highly
recommended by the company’s vice – president (sales) for the post.
The first dossier was of Prem Sagar who had been with Chemtech for
five years. Sagar had worked his way up and understood the company’s
product and their markets. He was very keen to take on new responsibilities.
The second was of Arvind Vardhan who had joined the company only the
previous year. He seemed confident, sensitive to others points of view, a
self starter, and a good team player. Das’s maiden impression was that
Vardhan was a natural salesperson and it persisted, however hard he tried to
disprove himself. He was clearly in favour of Vardhan.
It was when he was about to terminate the interview that Vardhan said
“Mr. Das, there is something that I think I must mention in all fairness. But
before I do so, I need to have your word that what I tell you will remain
between the two of us.” You have my word,” said Das. “ I have been
declared HIV positive,” said Vardhan, “the tests came last week.
If Das panicked, he did not show it. “ I don’t see how it can affect your
chances of promotion,” he said, in a voice that, much to his own surprise,
lacked conviction. “ I think we should talk about this separately,” he
continued, trying hard to retain composure. “ I will get back to you. In the
meantime, take care.”
Later, alone in his cabin, Das found the burden of having to make a
decision lying heavily upon him. The company’s standing orders stated that
no physical disability or even a chronic health problem should come in the
way of a promotion as long as it does not interfere with a performance
directly. But there were two major issues, as Das saw them. First, although
the HIV infected people were known to work productively for years, the risk
of developing active AIDS at any point of time was real. Recovery from even
a temporary about of illness such as pneumonia for example, would be
longer, reducing the pace of work and affecting performance on the job. This
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was an angle which had to be borne in the mind while giving a promotion.
Second, could the confidentiality of the information given by Vardhan be
retained at all for long ? It was important that two other persons be
informed quickly – the company’s managing director because this was the
first – ever case of its kind in the history of the company, and the vice-
president (sales) because he was Vardhan’s functional head.
Das further thought that once it was leaked, everyone in the company
would know quickly enough. Although there was no danger of contagion
from casual contact, people would surely be prejudiced against Vardhan
which in turn would affect his ability to deal with them. Das wondered
whether in such a scenario Vardhan could be entrusted with a responsibility
which in its very nature involved greater interaction with people and higher
pressure of work. On the other hand, Vardhan deserved the promotion on
sheer merit. To deny what was due to him would be unfair.
Question :
1. What should Das do ?
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