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Xaviers Institute
of Business Management Studies
MARKS: 80
SUB: Business Communication
N. B. : 1) Attempt any Four
Case studies
2) All case studies carry equal marks.
No: 1
A REPLY SENT TO
AN ERRING CUSTOMER
Dear Sir,
Your letter of
the 23rd, with a cheque for Rs. 25,000/- on account, is to hand.
We note what
you say as to the difficulty you experience in collecting your outstanding
accounts, but we are compelled to remark that we do not think you are treating
us with the consideration we have a right to expect.
It is true that
small remittances have been forwarded from time to time, but the debit balance
against you has been steadily increasing during the past twelve months until it
now stands at the considerable total of Rs. 85,000/-
Having regard
to the many years during which you have been a customer of this house and the,
generally speaking, satisfactory character of your account, we are reluctant to
resort to harsh measures.
We must,
however, insist that the existing balance should be cleared off by regular
installments of say Rs. 10,000/- per month, the first installment to reach us
by the 7th. In the meantime
you shall pay cash for all further goods; we are allowing you an extra 3%
discount in lieu of credit.
We shall be
glad to hear from you about this arrangement, as otherwise we shall have no
alternative but definitely to close your account and place the matter in other
hands.
Yours
truly,
Questions:
1. Comment on the appropriateness of the
sender’s tone to a customer.
2. Point out the old – fashioned phrases and
expressions.
3. Rewrite the reply according to the principles of effective
writing in business.
NO. 2
WAVE
(ATV : Advertising Radio FM Brand)
A young, gorgeous woman is standing
in front of her apartment window dancing to the 1970s tune, “All Right Now” by
the one – hit band free. Across the
street a young man looks out of his apartment window and notices her. He moves closer to the window, taking
interest. She cranks up the volume and
continues dancing, looking out the window at the fellow, who smiles hopefully
and waves meekly. He holds up a bottle
of wine and waves it, apparently inviting her over for a drink. The lady waves back. He kisses the bottle and excitedly says,
“Yesss.” Then, he gazes around his
apartment and realizes that it is a mess. “No !” he exclaims in a worried tone
of voice. Frantically, he does his best
to quickly clean up the place, stuffing papers under the sofa and putting old
food back in the refrigerator, He slips on a black shirt, slicks back his hair, sniffs his armpit, and lets
out an excited , “Yeahhh!” in eager anticipation of entertaining the young
lady. He goes back to the window and
sees the woman still dancing away. He
points to his watch, as if to say “ Come on.
It is getting late.” As she just
continues dancing, he looks confused.
Then a look of sudden insight appears on his face, “Five,” he says to
himself. He turns on his radio, and it
too is playing “All Right Now.” The man
goes to his window and starts dancing as he watches his lady friend continue
stepping. “Five, yeah,” he says as he
makes the “okay” sign with his thumb and forefinger. He waves again. Everyone in the apartment building is dancing
by their window to “All Right Now.” A
super appears on the screen: “Are you on the right wavelength ?”
Questions
:
1. What is non – verbal communication ? Why do you suppose that this commercial
relies primarily on non-verbal communication between
a young man and a gorgeous woman ? What types of non – verbal communication are being used in this case ?
2. Would any of the non-verbal
communications in this spot (ad) not work
well in another culture ?
3. What role does music play in this spot ?
Who is the target market ?
4. Is the music at all distracting from the
message ?
5. How else are radio stations advertised on
TV ?
NO. 3
ARVIND PANDEY CAUGHT IN BUSINESS WEB
Arvind Pandey is a project manager
at Al Saba Construction Company in Muscat.
It s a flourishing company with several construction projects in Muscat
and abroad. It is known for completing
projects on time and with high quantity construction. The company’s Chairman is a rich and a highly
educated Omani. A German engineer is
Arvind’s Vice – President for urban and foreign construction projects.
Three months ago, Al Saba had
submitted a tender for a major construction project in Kuwait. Its quotation was for $ 25 million. In Kuwait the project was sponsored and
announced by a US – based construction company called Fuma. According to Al Saba, their bid of $ 25
million was modest but had included a high margin of profit.
On 25 April, Arvind was asked to go
to Kuwait to find out from the Fuma project manager the status of their
construction proposal. Arvind was
delighted to know that Fuma had decided to give his company. (Al Saba) the construction project work. The project meant a lot of effort and money
in planning the proposed construction in Kuwait.
But before Arvind could tank the
Fuma project manager, he was told that their bird should be raised to $ 28
million. Arvind was surprised. He tried
to convince the Fuma project manager that his (Arvind company had the bast
reputation for doing construction work in a cost effective way . However, he could always raise the bid by $ 3
million. But he wanted to know why he was required to do so.
The Fuma manager’s reply was,
“That’s the way we do our business in this part of the world, $ 1 million will
go to our Managing Director in the US, I shall get $ 1 million, you, Mr.
Pandey, will get $ 1 million in a specified account in Swiss Bank.
Arvind asked, “ But why me ?”
“ So that you never talk about it to
any one.” The Fuma Project Manager said.
Arvind promised never to leak it out to any one else. And he tried to bargain to raise the bid by $
2 million. For. Arvind was familiar with
the practice of “ pay – offs” involved in any such thing. He thought it was against his loyalty to his
company and his personal ethics.
Arvind promised the Fuma project
manager that the bid would be raised to $ 28 million and fresh papers would be
put in. He did not want to lose the job.
He came back to Muscat and kept
trying to figure out how he should place the whole thing before his German Vice
President. He obviously was at a
loss.
Questions
:
1. Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s
dilemma.
2. Does Arvind Pandey really face a dilemma
?
3. In your view what should Arvind Pandey do
? Should he disclose it to his German Vice President ?
NO. 4.
COMPANY ACCEPTING A CONTRACT
A computer company was negotiating a
very large order with a large size corporation.
They had a very good track record with this client.
In this corporation, five different
departments had pooled their requirements and budgets. A committee was formed which had
representation from all the departments.
The corporation wanted the equipment on a long lease and not outright
purchase. Further, they wanted all the
hardware and software form one supplier.
This meant that there should be bought – out items from many suppliers
since no one supplier could meet all the requirements of supply from its range
of products.
The corporation provided an
exhaustive list of very difficult terms and conditions and pressurized the
vendors to accept. The computer company
who was finally awarded the contract had agreed to overall terms that were fine
as far as their own products were concerned but had also accepted the same
terms for the brought – out items. In
this case, the bought – out items were to be imported through a letter of
credit. The percentage of the bought – out items versus their own manufacture
was also very high. One of the terms
accepted was that the “system” would be accepted over a period of 10 days after
all the hardware had been linked up and software loaded.
The computer company started facing
trouble immediately on supply. There
were over 100 computers over a distance connected with one another with
software on it. For the acceptance
tests, it had been agreed that the computer company would demonstrate as a
pre-requisite the features they had claimed during technical discussions.
Now, as you are aware, if a Hero
Honda motorcycle claims 80 km to a litre of petrol, it is under ideal test
conditions and if a motorcycle from the showroom were to be tried for this test
before being accepted, it would never pass the test. In corporation’s case, due to internal
politics, the corporation persons from one department – who insisted on going
exactly by the contract – did not sign acceptance since the “ system” could not
meet the ideal test conditions.
Further, in a classic case of, “ for
want of a horse – shoe, payment for the horse was held up”, the computer
company tried to get the system accepted and payment released. The system was so large that at any point of
time over a period of 10 days something small or the other always gave problems. But the corporation took the stand that as
far as they were concerned the contract clearly were concerned the contract
clearly mentioned that the “system” had to be tested as a whole and not module
by module.
Questions
:
1. Comment on the terms and conditions
placed by the corporation.
2. What factors influenced the computer
company’s decision to accept the contract ?
3. Was it a win – win agreement ? Discuss ?
NO. 5
EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW OF R P SINHA
Mr. R P Sinha is a MBA. He is being interviewed for the position of
Management Trainee at a reputed company.
The selection committee’s is chaired by a lady Vice – President. Mr. Sinha’s interview was as follows :
Committee :
Good morning !
Mr. Sinha :
Good morning to Sirs and Madam !
Chairperson :
Please, sit down.
Mr. Sinha :
Thank you (sits down at the edge of the chair, keeps his portfolio on the
table)
Q. Chairperson
: You are Mr. R. P. Sinha
A Sinha : Yes,
Madam. This is how I am called.
Q. Chairperson
: You have passed MBA with 1st Division.
A. Sinha : Yes,
Madam.
Q. Chairperson
: Why do you want to work in our organization ?
A Sinha : It is
just like that. Also, because it has
good reputation.
Q. Member A :
This job is considered to be quite stressful.
Do you think you can manage the stress involved.
A. Sinha : I
think there is too much talk about stress these days. Sir, would you tell clearly what you mean by
stress ? I am very strong for any stress.
Q. Member B :
What are your strengths ?
A. Sinha : Sir,
who am I talk boastfully about my strengths.
You should tell me my strengths.
Q. Member C :
What are your weaknesses ?
A. Sinha : I
become angry very fast.
Q. Member A :
Do you want to ask us any questions ?
A Sinha : Yes
Sir ! What are the future chances for
one who starts as a management trainee ?
The member tells M. Sinha the
typical career path for those starting as Management Trainee. The Chairperson thanks Mr. Sinha. Mr. Sinha promptly says in reply, “you are
welcome,” and comes out.
Questions
:
1. Do you find Mr. Sinha’s responses to
various questions effective ? Give reasons
for your view on each answer given by Mr. Sinha.
2. Rewrite the responses that you consider
most effective to the above questions
in a job interview.
3. Mr. Sinha has observed the norm of
respectful behaviour and polite
conversation. But, do you think there is
something gone wrong in his case
? Account for your general impression of Mr. Sinha’s performance at the interview.
NO. 6
Comment on the form and structure of the Report.
Xaviers Institute
of Business Management Studies
Effective HR Training and Development
Note:
(i) There are three Sections A, B and C.
(ii) Attempt any three
questions from Section A and B. All questions carry 8 marks each.
(v) Section C is
compulsory for all, and carries equal marks for each case study.
SECTION A
1. 'The nature and objectives of the organization determine the role and
type of HRD processes to be chosen for developmental intervention.' Comment on
this statement and discuss underlying concepts with suitable examples.
2. What are the salient causes of dissatisfaction and frustration? How
is frustration passed on to others? Explain with example, how a supervisor can
cope with the frustration of the employee working with him.
3. Identify the major areas of integration between the development of
HRD and IR in an organization. Describe various pre-requisites for successful
HRD-OD approach to IR.
4. Define and describe HRD climate. How are HRD climate and
organizational climate related to each other?
5. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Task Analysis
(b) HRD Instruments
(c) Approach and Avoidance aspects of management
(d) HRD in voluntary organizations
(e) Developmental Supervision
SECTION B
1. Define and discuss the concept and objectives of coaching and
mentoring. Briefly discuss their applications in the organizational context.
2. What is Action Research? How does it differ from OD? Discuss the
important factors to be considered in the development of internal self renewal
facilitators, with suitable examples.
3. Define and describe the objectives and advantages of Multisource
Feedback and Assessment Feedback Systems (MAFS). Discuss what are the
indicators of an organization’s readiness to participate in MAFS.
4. Discuss the means of managing technological changes in work
organization. Briefly describe the factors which facilitate developing the
change mind-set. Explain with suitable examples.
5. Write short notes on any three of the following :
(a) Designing Reward System
(b) Operationalising HRD for workers
(c) Career Transition and Choices
(d) Developing Business Ethics
(e) Horizontal Re-skilling
SECTION C
1. XYZ
Limited
Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the
end.
The eleven workers whose annual increments were stopped made a
representation to the management of XYZ Limited that the action taken was not
justified and that they wanted to know what their fault was. The management
which acted upon the recommendation of the department head concerned, Mr. Rog,
felt guilty because such an action was taken for the first time in the history
of the company.
XYZ Limited was a large paper manufacturing company in South India. The
major departments of the factory were:
1. Chemical processing: The raw material was mixed with certain
chemicals for making pulp.
2. Pulp department: Pulp was mixed with other ingredients according to
specifications for each order of paper.
3. Paper machine department: This was the heart of the factory where
processed pulp was fed into the paper machines. At first, a wet weak paper was
formed which was subsequently dried and rolled.
4. Finishing department: The paper rolls were then moved to the
processing department where the required coating was given.
5. Grading, winding and packing departments.
6. Quality control department.
Twenty eight workers worked in the paper machine department in four
groups - each group attending one machine. The nature of the work on each
machine was such that all the seven workers had to work in cooperation. Because
no individual tasks could be specified, the group was made responsible for the
work turned out by them. All the workers working in the paper machine
department had been with the company for over ten years.
The company did not have any incentive wage system for any class of its
employees. They were all given straight salaries with normal annual increments.
The annual increments were sanctioned each year in a routine way. It was the
policy of the company that the increments should not be stopped unless the
department head concerned recommended such an action.
Mr. Rog was placed in charge of the paper machine department a year ago.
Though Mr. Rog was a newcomer in the organization, he proved himself to be a
very competent man. The management noted that he was very aggressive and
enthusiastic and that he knows his job well. At the end of the year when
increments were due to be sanctioned, he recommended to the management that the
increments due to eleven men in his department should be stopped, for, in his
opinion they were lazy and inefficient. The eleven men concerned belonged to
all the four groups operating in the department.
The management, though puzzled about the action recommended by Mr. Rog,
acted upon it and stopped the increments due to the eleven men concerned. The
management was aware that such an action was the first of its kind in the
history of the company. Most of the employees were with the company for a
fairly long period and there was never an instance of strained relations
between the management and the employees.
Soon after the action was taken, the eleven employees concerned made a
representation to the management requesting them to let them know what was
wrong with their work as to warrant stopping of their increments. The
management were in a fix because they did not have specific reasons to give
except Mr. Rog's report in which he simply mentioned that the eleven men
concerned were "lazy and inefficient".
The management were naturally concerned about the representation and
therefore, they tried to ascertain from Mr. Rog the detailed circumstances
under which he recommended the stoppage of increments. When Mr. Rog could not
pin-point the reasons, the management suspected that Mr. Rog's recommendation
was based on his "impressions" rather than on facts. They, therefore,
advised Mr. Rog to maintain a register from then on noting the details of day
to day incidents of "lazy and inefficient" workers and obtain the
signatures of the workers concerned. Mr. Rog was to make the final appraisal of
each worker in his department on the basis of this register and recommend each
case giving specific reasons why increments should be stopped.
Mr. Rog started maintaining a register as suggested by the management;
but he found it difficult to report satisfactorily any case of laziness or
inefficiency for want of specific reasons.
The management were convinced that their action of stopping increments
of eleven men on the strength of Mr. Rog's report was not a proper one. They
realized that no similar action in future would be taken based on inadequate
information. But, they were wondering whether the suggestion made to Mr. Rog
was the proper course of action to prevent occurrence of similar situations.
Questions:
(a) Identify and discuss the core issue in the case.
(b) Was management of the company justified in implementing the
recommendations of Mr. Rog, in the absence of proper report?
(c) How would you view the action of Mr. Rog, if you were the M.D. of
the company?
(d) Do you think the reward system instituted by the company needs to be
reviewed? Substantiate your answer with logic.
2. SEWA
Please read the case and answer the questions given at the end.
SEWA - The purposeful beginning
SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) was started in 1972, by Ela
Bhatt, in the form of a union of the unorganized sector, which was to be
incorporated into the mainstream. It was observed that most of the production
of goods and services in the country was, at that time, done through the
informal sector, and hence the decision was taken to unionise this informal
sector.
SEWA was not like a typical union i.e., unlike the usual union of
workers, it (SEWA) spoke about the solidarity of the workers themselves. Its purpose
was fight for the mega system which exploited the vast working force through
its labour contract systems. The whole system typically involves the middlemen
and money lenders and the mindsets of the urban middle class, the educated, the
upper castes, their perceptions of development. Thus, through SEWA, efforts
were made to question the whole system of policy making, the census (which had
not recorded them as workers), the definition and purpose of a trade union and
the definition of 'worker'.
After the registration of SEWA as a trade union, it was found that the
union activity stopped at a certain level and the informal sector workers were
hardly covered by any protective labour legislation. Added to this, profit
making, handling of cash etc., even sometimes caused conflicts of interest in
the union. Hence, over a period of time, a strategy of joint action by union
and cooperative - a member based, democratic organization, beneficial to the
unprivileged of society with networks at the state level, national level and
international level was chosen.
It was felt that through a cooperative presence, SEWA would be able to obtain
bargaining power for all those who are members as well as for those who were
not a part of the co-operative. On the one hand, the producer's labour value
goes up and she enjoys a better bargaining power. Alongside, the other workers
in the villages also have wider choices in taking decisions related to who and
how many have to go for work on the farms, whether the workers should migrate
or concentrate on home-based crafts and so on. And, on the other hand, for all
those who were not a part of SEWA, their wage structure (for both men and
women) goes up. For instance, in case of the agricultural workers: the new jobs
create a shortage of labour in the region, so they also get higher wages.
Similarly, artisans also get higher wages. In this way SEWA is able to bring
about economic changes in the villages through the joint action of the union
and cooperative.
'SEWA Bank' - A subsidiary
Inspite of unionizing the self employed workers, it was found they faced
two common problems:
Shortage
of capital, forcing the workers to pay a heavy interest (often paying 10%
interest per day).
Absence of owning their own means of productions (like handlooms, push carts
etc.). They had to pay rent on these from their own meager income.
These two reasons prompted the decision at SEWA to have their own bank.
In a period of six months, the necessary share capital was collected, and SEWA
tried for registration. But many objections were raised - How can SEWA have
cooperatives and a bank? How to form a bank for workers who were women,
undependable, unreliable and who cannot even sign?
Inspite of these inhibitions, the strongest point in their favor was
that the workers were all economically independent and generating cash every
day. Thus, it was necessary for them to save money and also be able to avail of
credit, whenever necessary, rather than depending upon private money lenders.
This necessity finally led to the birth of the SEWA Bank.
The SEWA Bank is about one of the 10 co-operatives in SEWA with five
kinds of primary co-operatives - dairy, artisans, traders, services and labour.
The SEWA Bank has a working capital of about Rs. 26 crores; while, the other
co-operatives registered under SEWA together have a working capital of Rs. 20
crores. When SEWA discovered that many of its workers were unable to absorb
more loans because of the many risks and outside forces which did not allow
them to expand their business, it decided to offer another form of financial
services like insurance schemes - against maternity risk, group insurance
scheme to link all member workers with their deposits and integrated social
insurance bank service covering a wide range of services.
Other Activities and Vision for the Future
SEWA has attempted to create co-operatives of various services provided
by the labour community especially in the areas of domestic labour, health
care, child care and video production. So as to enable these persons' to market
their services, efforts are being made to provide them training on a continuous
basic.
Another effort on the part of SEWA is to build a management system which
will help the labour force to stand firm in the market. Such a system should
not only help these people to have access to credit but also help them to be
literate enough to have a basic understanding of accounting, the interest rates
and accessibility to market infrastructure.
Another attempt of SEWA has been at coming together of women on a common
platform, on the basis of work in the form of co-operatives/union/federations
or as workers or producers or economic agents, cutting across barriers of
caste, region and language.
SEWA's Attempt at Empowering Employees
The vision of Ela Bhatt, who started SEWA, has always been to ensure
that the informal sector is in the mainstream of labour movement with a leading
role to be played by the rural women. SEWA'S aim has been to empower such women
who are poor and illiterate to become economically active through the process
of empowerment. This view is slowly becoming a reality, when, after joining
SEWA and attending formal training programmes, such women have become bold, realized
their sense of self through participating, facing, managing situations and
other people and thus learning to become 'leaders' in the true sense. Thus
process of empowerment has enabled them to develop an inbuilt strength to do
liaison with the police, take up the causes of fellow workers, actively
participate in the decision making process especially while sitting on
committees, travelling and meeting people for the growth of the organization.
At SEWA, there is no formal organization structure as such. In the words
of Ela Bhatt, "SEWA is like a banyan tree, it grows and takes root, then
these roots grow and take root...." i.e.. SEWA's growth is totally
dependent on its members who become owners, managers, beneficiaries and a truly
empowered organization in the long run.
Questions:
(a) What are the unique features of SEWA?
(b) Discuss the worker oriented development approach of SEWA affecting
the performance.
Can you suggest ways in which private corporate organizations can also
be involved in developing management programmes along with SEWA for the
upliftment of the rural people?
3. MICRO
ELECTRONICS
Read the following case carefully and answer the questions given at the
end.
Training for Whom?
Microelectronics, a California-based electronics defense contractor, has
enjoyed a smooth growth curve over the past five years, primarily because of
favorable defense funding during the Reagan administration's build-up of U.S.
military defenses. Microelectronics has had numerous contacts to design and
develop guidance and radar systems for military weaponry.
Although the favorable funding cycle has enabled. Microelectronics to
grow at a steady rate, the company is finding it increasingly difficult to keep
its really good engineers, based on extensive turnover analyses conducted by
Ned Jackson, the human resources planning manager, Microelectronics problem
seems to be its inability to keep engineers beyond the "critical"
five year point. Apparently, the probability of turnover drops dramatically
after five years of service. Ned's conclusion is that Microelectronics has been
essentially serving as an industry college. Their staffing strategy has always
been to hire the best and brightest engineers from the best engineering schools
in the United States.
Ned believes that these engineers often get lost in the shuffle at the
time they join the firm. For example, most (if not all) of the new hires must
work on non-classified projects until cleared by security to join a designated
major project. Security clearance usually takes anywhere from six to ten
months. In the meantime the major project has started, and these young
engineers frequently miss out on its design phase, considered the most creative
and challenging segment of the program. Because of the nature of project work,
new engineering often have difficulty learning the organizational culture -
such as who to ask when you have a problem, what the general dos and don'ts
are, and why the organization does things in a certain way.
After heading a task force of human resource professionals within
Microelectronics, Ned has been designated to present to top management a
proposal designed to reduce turnover among young engineering recruits. The
essence of his plan is to create a mentor program, except that in this plan the
mentors will not be the seasoned graybeards of Microelectronics, but rather those
engineers in the critical three-to-five year service window, the period of
highest turnover, these engineers will be paired with new engineering recruits
before the recruits actually report to Microelectronics for work.
According to the task force, the programme is twofold: (1) it benefits
the newcomer by easing the transition into the company, and (2) it helps the
three-to-five-year service engineers by enabling them to serve an important
role for the company. By performing the mentor role, these engineers will
become more committed and hence less likely to leave. As Ned prepared his
fifteen-minute presentation for top management, he wondered it he had
adequately anticipated the possible objections to the program in order to make
an intelligent defense of it. Only time would tell.
Questions:
(a) Identify the salient issues from HR point of view for this case.
(b) lf you were to study this turnover problem, how would you conduct a
needs analysis or evolve a counseling programme ?
(c) What are the causes of dissatisfaction and turnover in
Microelectronics?
(d) Do you find the mentoring programme suitable to reduce turnover?
Justify your answer.
Xaviers Institute
of Business Management Studies
Human Resource Management
(i)
There are three Sections A and B and C.
(ii) Attempt any three
questions each from Section A and B. All questions carry 10 marks each.
(iii) Section C is
compulsory for all and carries 40 marks.
SECTION A
1. Define and differentiate between Job Analysis, Job Description and
Job Evaluation. Select an appropriate job evaluation method and create a plan
for evaluating jobs of scientists in different grades.
2. Discuss the role of indoctrination in organizations. How can
Performance Appraisal, and Training and Development be made an integral part of
Human Resource Planning? Discuss.
3. Discuss the scope of Human Resource Audit. While auditing Reward
systems for employees in a manufacturing organization, which factors should be
taken into account and why? Explain with suitable examples.
4. Define and discuss the need for Human Resource Planning in an
organization. Briefly discuss various approaches to HRP
5. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Training methods
(b) Value determinants of HRP
(c) Human Resource accounting
(d) Labour Market Behavior
(e) Promotion and Reward Policies
SECTION B
1. Define and discuss the objectives of Human Resource Planning at
organizational level. How does it help in determining and evaluating future
organizational capabilities, needs and anticipated problems? Explain with
suitable examples.
2. Define and describe Job Analysis. Briefly discuss several methods in
which information about a job is collected and evaluated.
3. What is the purpose and process of recruitment function? Discuss
various methods of sourcing manpower.
4. How is monetary value assigned to different dimensions of Human
Resources costs, investments, and worth of the employees? Briefly explain Cost
and Economic value approaches of measurement.
5. Write short notes on any three of the following :
(a) MBO
(b) Succession Planning
(c) Competency Mapping
(d) Job Evaluation
(e) H.R. Inventory
SECTION C
1. Quality
control Department
Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end.
Mr.
Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali were working in a scooter manufacturing public
sector industry as Senior Quality Control Engineers in 1988. One post of Deputy
Chief Quality Controller has fallen vacant due to the retirement of the
incumbent and the management decided to recruit a qualified, knowledgeable and
experienced professional from outside so that the present quality standard may
be improved thus ensuring better marketability of their scooters in the face of
stiff competition. Mr. Kapil Kumar, who was a mechanical engineer with about 15
years experience in the Quality Control Department dealing with mopeds and
scooters, could have been promoted to fill the post on the basis of seniority.
However, the management was looking for a graduate in statistics with
experience in latest Quality Control (QC) techniques like statistical quality
control, quality assurance and other related areas rather than a mechanical or
automobile engineer with the routine experience in quality control. As such
instead of promoting Kapil Kumar, the management advertised for the post of
Deputy Chief Quality Controller - since as per company rules it was DR (Direct
Recruitment) vacancy also.
Selection of Outsider
Out of the applications received in response to the advertisement, six
candidates were called for interview including the two internal candidates, Mr.
Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali. The person selected was an outsider, one Mr.
Ratnam, who had over 12 years experience SQC, quality assurance etc., in the
two-wheeler private manufacturing industry. Mr. Ratnam joined within 2 months
time expecting that in his new position he would be the main controller for
quality. However, after joining the organization he came to know that he would
be the second senior most person in the hierarchy for controlling the quality
and would be reporting to one, Kirpal Sing,. The Chief for Quality Controls.
Mr. Kirpal Singh had come up to this post by seniority and was basically a
diploma holder in automobile engineering. He had to his credit about 28 years
of industrial experience, out of which 20 years were spent in Quality Control
Department of two industries. He joined the present organization in its Quality
Control Department and had 17 years experience in the organization and was due
for retirement within the next 2 or 3 years. On learning about the retirement
time of Mr. Kirpal Singh, Mt. Ratnam had the consolation that he would be able
to take up the position of 'Chief Controller of Quality' very soon.
Interference from Top
Ratnam could not put forth many good suggestions (for quality control)
because of the interference and direct supervision of Kirpal Singh. He, however,
could pick up a good deal of knowledge about the working of the company, the
nature-and tendency of different production department heads particularly with
regard to care for quality, organization for 'QC' in the company, the various
components required for assembly of the company's two-wheeler scooter and the
expected quality standards, drawback in the present system of quality controls.
etc.
Right from the time the advertisement for the selection of Deputy Chief
Quality Controller appeared, the O.A. (Officers Association) of the
organization had been pressing the management to consider the case of Kapil
Kumar for promotion to the above post based on his seniority in the
organization.
Meanwhile, the management obtained a license in 1989 for producing Three-Wheeler
Autos. As a result of this and the pressure from O.A., Ratnam was transferred
to look after the Quality Control Department at the company's new Three-Wheeler
plant, whereas Kapil Kumar was promoted as Deputy Chief Quality Controller in
the present two-wheeler scooter plant in 1990 (after creating one additional
post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller for the new Project).
In 1991, the State Government, which controlled the company in question,
changed the Managing Director. During the regime of this new Managing Director,
Kapil Kumar was promoted as Chief (Quality Controls) next year, when Kirpal
Singh retired. This decision was based on the recommendations of Kirpal Singh
and partly attributed to pressure from O.A., for further promotion of Kapil
Kumar based on his vast experience in the Quality Control function of this
industry. Abbas Ali rose to the position held earlier by Kapil Kumar.
Allotment of Company Quarters
The Company had its own township near the factory. Its quarter allotment
scheme was based on the length of service, i.e., date of joining. Ratnam had
asked for a suitable quarter at the time of interview and was thus allotted a
tile quarter meant for the Senior Engineer's cadre. He learnt about this, after
occupying the quarter. Ratnam asked for a change of Quarter - preferably a
RCC-roof quarter, - but his request was turned down, since he had put in only
few months of service whereas many others senior to him, on the beds of their
longer length of service in the Company (having over 10 years service), were
staying in tiled-roof quarters and were awaiting a chance for a RCC-roof
quarter. Kapil Kumar and Abbas Ali were residing in RCC-roof quarters. Soon
after Kapil Kumar's promotion to the post of Chief (Quality Controls), he was allotted
a bungalow.
The management's decision in this case must be viewed in the context of
the downtrend in the demand for scooters and three-wheeler autos during 1993
following complaints from dealers about the deteriorating quality of components
as also their short life. Notably the complaints had risen ten-fold in that
year as compared to that in 1988.
Questions
(a) Was the management justified in taking a decision to recruit a
qualified and experienced person from outside as Deputy Chief Quality Controller?
(b) Was it in the interest of the organization to transfer Ratnam to the
new auto-wheeler plant and promote Kapil Kumar? What could have prompted the
management to take this decision?
(c) How do you view the role of O.A.s in supporting only the local and
internal candidates and overlooking the interests of direct recruits even when
they were family members of the Association, particularly at a time, when the
industry needed professionally qualified persons to fill key technical posts?
(d) How would you react to the management's scheme for quarter allotment
and why?
2. Pearl
Engineering
Pearl Engineering Company was a large heavy-engineering unit. It
attached great importance to the recruitment and training of its senior
supervisors. Apart from selecting them from within the organization, the
company recruited, every. Alternate year, about ten young engineering graduates
and offered them training for a period of two years, before they were appointed
as senior supervisors. Such appointments were made to about 40 per cent of the
vacancies of senior supervisors that occurred in the organization. This was
considered necessary by management as a planned programme of imparting vitality
to the organization. Besides, many of the old-timers, who had risen from the
ranks, did not possess the necessary academic background with the result that
they could not keep pace with the technological changes. Management also
believed that in the rapidly changing conditions of industry, a bank of
technically competent supervisors played a pivotal role, besides serving as a
pool from which to select future departmental managers.
Engineering Graduates were selected from amongst those who applied in
response to an all-India advertisement. For the selection of one engineer, on
an average, eight applicants were called for interview. A selection committee
consisting of the General Manager, the Production Manager, the Personnel
Manager and the Training Officer interviewed and selected the candidates. The
selection interview was preceded by a written test and only those who secured
40 per cent marks qualified for interview.
The engineers thus selected had to undergo a two year intensive
theoretical and practical training. A well-staffed and equipped Training
Institute was directly responsible for the training of the graduate engineers,
besides training trade apprentices and operatives required by the company.
Lectures on theoretical subjects were given at the Training Institute and
practical training was imparted in all the works departments under the guidance
of qualified and experienced instructors. A few lectures by senior officers of
the company were also arranged to acquaint them with the company policies on
different matters. During the last quarter of their two-year training programme
they were deputed to work fulltime to familiarize themselves with the
conditions in departments where they were to be absorbed eventually.
On successful completion of training, the graduate engineers were
offered appointments, depending on their performance and aptitude as revealed
during training. On placement in the work departments, however, most of them
faced some difficulty or the other.
According to management, some of the heads of departments, who were
themselves not qualified engineers, did not have sufficient confidence in these
younger men. They preferred the subordinates who came up from the ranks to hold
positions of responsibility. A few discredited them saying that it would take
years before these youngsters could pick up the job. Besides, some of the
employees, whose promotional opportunities were adversely affected by the
placement of graduate engineers, tried their best to run down the latter as a
class, sometimes working on the group feelings of the workers. Some of the
supervisors who were not graduate engineers also spoke derisively of them as
"the blue-eyed boys" of the organization. Management knew that many
of the graduate engineers were not utilized according to their capacity or
training, nor was any attempt made to test or develop their potentialities.
They also knew that many of the graduate engineers were, therefore,
dissatisfied with their work life. Some of them who did not get equal
promotional opportunities as their colleagues placed in other departments, were
looking for better jobs elsewhere.
On the other hand, according to management, the young graduate engineers
were themselves partly responsible for the hostile attitude of others in the
organization. Some of them failed to appreciate that a newcomer invited
hostility in the beginning and it took time before he was accepted as a member
of the work-group. They did not realize that they would be fully productive
only after gaining about five to seven years experience in the organization. A
few thought that they belonged to a superior cadre and threw their weight
around. They did not bother to understand and appreciate the problems of the
rank-and-file of employees who worked under them.
In spite of these drawback, the General Manager of the company felt that
these men were a set of disciplined supervisors. They had a sense of pride in
their profession, and with the extensive training they had received, they would
be able to take up any responsible position in the organization in course of
time.
The General Manager could not allow the situation to continue especially
when it was a difficult and costly process to recruit and train young
engineering graduates of the requisite type and caliber. He knew that the
prosperity of the company, to a large extent, depended on these young men. In
addition, a large number of lucrative employment opportunities were available
to these young engineers elsewhere and there was a systematic raid on them, He,
therefore, called a meeting of all heads of departments to review the
situation.
Questions:
(i) Identify the issues related to manpower planning as evident in the
case.
(ii) Discuss the strategies to tackle the percentage of internal
promotion at the organizational level.
(iii)What type of additional training programmes should be imparted for
direct entrants?
(iv) Suppose you are the head of the personnel division. What would be your
suggestions in the meeting - Which has been called by the General Manager?
Xaviers Institute
of Business Management Studies
Industrial relations and Labour Law
Note:
(i) There are two Sections A and B.
(ii) Attempt any five questions from Section A. Each question
carries 8 marks each
(iii) Section B is
compulsory and carries 15 marks each case study.
SECTION A
1. What are the constitutional directives in the field of labour laws?
The labour laws have reached new dimensions with the advent of the doctrine of
welfare state. Discuss.
2. Attempt any two of the following:
(a) What are the safety measures under the Factories Act, 1948?
(b) What are the obligations of the principal employer and contractor
under the Contract labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970?
(c) What are the occupations and processes where child labour is
prohibited under Child Labour Act, 1986?
3. What is a "trade union" under the Trade Unions Act, 1926?
What is the procedure for registration of a trade union under the Act?
4. Discuss the various provisions laid down under the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947 for settlement of Industrial disputes.
5. Examine the main features of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936. What are
the provisions for deduction from wages? Are they sufficient?
6. (a) What are the benefits payable under the ESI Act, 1948? Give
details.
(b) What are the provisions regarding payment of gratuity to employees
under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972? Explain.
7. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Main features of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
(b) Salient features of the Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
(c) Notice of change (Section 9-A)
(d) Special features of labour laws
(e) Principles of natural justice
8. Discuss the role of Indian Constitution in evolving labour policy.
Identify the impact of ILO on industrial relations.
9. Briefly explain how internal affairs of the union are managed.
Describe the new roles of trade unions.
10. Define collective bargaining. Describe the types of collective
bargaining citing suitable organization examples.
SECTION B
1. Theft or
Ignorance
Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end.
CASE
On March 25, 1996 at about 6.45 PM, the Duty Officer (Security), Kumar,
at the Work gate informed Rathod, Electrical Engineer on telephone that one
Narayan, supervisor of his department has been caught red-handed at the Works
gate while attempting to steal one small electric motor and certain other spare
parts used in the Electrical Dept. Rathod was requested to come to the Security
Control Room, where a preliminary enquiry was to be held.
During the preliminary enquiry, it came to light that Narayan, Personnel
No. 5824, Foreman, came to the Works gate at 6.15 PM on his Suvega auto cycle
bearing registration no. BRX 1421 (the number was not clearly visible). The
works guard on duty, Krishna Bahadur asked Narayan to stop and open the
tool-box that was hanging on the right side of the rear wheel. When it was
opened, only one empty Tiffin-box was found. Since the driver's seat appeared
to be thicker and of unusual size, the works guard enquired about the same from
Narayan, and not being satisfied with the reply, gave it a jerk. It was found
that Narayan had constructed one box under the seat where a 0.50 hp motor and
eight 5 amps switches belonging to the company were concealed.
On being asked, Narayan replied that he had attended a break-down after
5 PM in the Mill and replaced one 0.50 hp motor. The motor that was recovered
was the defective one but he could not return it as the store-issuer had
already left for home after his duty which ended at 5 PM. He thought he would
return the motor next day, as he had done many times in the past. He, however,
could not explain why he was carrying the 5 amps switches. Nor did he give any
satisfactory reason for not keeping the materials in the tool-box that was
visible from outside, rather than where these were kept. On checking up at the
Security Control Room, it was found in the presence of Narayan that the
electric motor recovered was in working condition.
As per the Company's Certified Standing Order No. 23 (iii), 'theft,
fraud, or dishonesty in connection with company's business or property' is
misconduct.
Questions:
(a) Does this case deserve suspension, pending enquiry?
(b) Advise the Works Manager on the steps for handling the above case.
2. Norman
(I) Limited
Read the case carefully and answer the questions given at the end:
Norman (I) Limited
THE COMPANY
The first wall tile manufacturing plant in India was established by Kay
Pee in 1963 at Thane in Mumbai under the name Norman Tiles. The company was
using the brand name 'Norman', a leading international tile manufacturer,
Norman International Limited and was paying royalty for the same. The Norman
International Limited owned 49% equity in this venture since its inception.
With growth in sight the company set up another manufacturing unit at Rampur in
the state of Uttar Pradesh with an investment of Rs. 85 million in the year
1981. Initially, at Rampur unit the company was carrying out only partial operations
with semi-finished products being supplied by Thane unit. It was only in 1984,
that the company started carrying out full operations at the Rampur unit. Since
the market for ceramic tiles started expanding, the company expanded its
operations accordingly. The process of manufacturing wall tiles was such that
it needed unskilled manpower barring few fitters and electricians. Accordingly,
the company hired 400 workers mostly uneducated and unskilled from nearby
villages. Few of them were taken for the fitter and mechanic positions. Apart
from these, there were sixty staff members looking after the other support
functions. The workers were paid low wages and were employed on temporary basis
at the beginning and till 1986 most of them were not made permanent. The human
resource department was headed by R.C. Jain, who was an experienced
professional and was with the firm since its inception.
THE GENESIS
In 1986 the company ventured into floor tile manufacturing and set up
another facility at Rampur unit. This plant was semi-automatic as compared to
the wall tile plant which needed manual operations. The machinery of floor
tiles unit was bought from Italy and due to the nature of process some
experienced workers were shifted from wall tile facility. Slowly, two distinct
groups of workers emerged based on the nature of their job and subsequent
skills required. First group was that of unskilled workers mostly associated
with manual operations and the second group was that of skilled workers looking
after technical operations. The second group was paid higher wages than the
first group. This disparity led to discontentment among workers but in the
absence of union, it never came out as an organized reaction. The first such
organized attempt was made by workers in 1988, but a prompt and harsh action
from management aborted the workers bid to form union. However, this event drew
management's attention towards workers grievances and management helped workers
to form a union in 1989. The union was named "Bhartiya Crystallization
Mazdur Sangh". However, since most of the workers barring few technical
ones were uneducated, they were unaware of roles and responsibilities of union
The management started negotiations with the newly formed union and the
first wage settlement agreement was signed on January 19, 1990. In this
agreement, though the management agreed to increase wages to the extent of Rs.
250 per month, it linked wages to production targets. After three months of
this agreement, the union leader left the organization to join government
service. The union was left leaderless. After some time the workers started
voicing their concern about the target-linked wages, but in the absence of a
leader their concerns could not get a voice. It was at this point that some external
labour leaders started inciting the workers. A gate meeting was organized to
exploit the situation on September 21, 1990. After this incident the industrial
relations situation further worsened and led to a go-slow movement by workers
in January 1991. This affected the productivity of the plant severely. Due to
the absence of union leadership, management too found it difficult to control
the situation, since external leaders influence was very much visible and
company's HR manager R.C. Jain refused to talk to the outsiders. He remained
adamant and left the job in March 1991 and the go-slow by the workers
continued. In another development the incumbent HR manager Arun Joshi, who took
over after Jain left converted variable DA to a fixed DA rate. Since, at that
time inflation was spiraling and the rate of DA, elsewhere, was high, the
workers refused to accept this provision. Ultimately, under pressure from
external leaders as well as workers of the firm, Joshi withdrew the fixed DA
and accepted the variable DA provision.
In the meantime, K.N. Trivedi took over as the unit head on May 5, 1991.
Before joining this plant, he had served the Indian Air Force for seventeen
years and was a strict disciplinarian. The organizational situation demanded
quick action to stop go-slow because the company had market share of forty per
cent in both the tile categories and the demand for tiles was still going up.
The management did not want to lose a single day's production. In a calculated
move the management suspended thirty five workers who were on a go-slow. This
was for the first time that any worker was suspended from the plant which
instilled a sense of fear in the minds of the workers. As a result of this,
workers started working and the productivity of the plant started showing
Meanwhile, the management had terminated some of the suspended employees who
later on moved to the labour court against management's action on the
presumption that labour courts are generally sympathetic to the workers. At the
same time, Trivedi started dialogue with the external leaders to end the
stalemate. The external leaders put pressure on the management to reinstate the
suspended workers. Management agreed to make permanent those employees who were
working with the company since its inception and did it with immediate effect.
Suspension of some of the workers was also cancelled. Though these efforts
helped management in streamlining the production, the attitude of the workers
could not be changed totally. The ownership spirit amongst workers could not be
developed.
The situation took another ugly turn in February, 1992 when the workers
who were suspended earlier tried to create disturbances in the plant. The
discontent was further fuelled by bad food provided to the workers in the
unit’s canteen in March, 1992. Ultimately, this led to formation of a new union
"Bhartiya Yuva Sanitary and Crystallization Mazdur Sangh". This union
was not affiliated to any national labour union. However, the leaders were
under the influence of Bhartiya Mazdur Sangh (BMS). This union submitted a
charter of demands to the management. The demands included grain loan which was
a contentious issue because the company had never given any grain loan to the
workers. The demands were not accepted by the management. The workers gheraoed
Trivedi but the management did not accede to the demands and called the police
to intervene.
On March 17, 1992 the workers went on strike on the call of the union
without giving any prior notice. The management terminated seventeen workers
during the strike. The strike continued till May 5, 1992. The workers were not
paid any wages during the strike period. Since the workers were low wage
earners, they were unable to continue the strike for a longer period. The
management used the situation to their advantage and accepted only minor
demands of sanctioning an advance of Rs. 500 to the workers. The workers
accepted the management decision and were willing to restart production.
Management re-employed the suspended workforce gradually over a period of
fifteen-twenty days. Since, the workers did not receive wage. For the strike
period. they had realized the importance of their employment.
In October, 1993 the second agreement was signed between management and
the union. Between October, 1993 and December, 1996 the productivity and
industrial relations were improved. In 1996 the organization started receiving
export orders for its products. The quality requirements for the export orders
were stringent. Therefore, the organization decided to go in for ISO 9000
certification for their Rampur plant. The management realizing the importance
of workers involvement in ISO 9000 certification process started training
workers on a continuous basis in June, 1996. The in-house training emphasized
on housekeeping, general hygiene of the workers, standard operation procedure
and awareness about all kinds of losses. As a result of continued efforts, ISO
9002 certification was received by the plant in January, 1997. Meanwhile, the
third wage agreement was signed between the management and the union for a
period of three years in January, 1997. To reinforce the training process, HRD
cell with well-equipped in-house training tools was developed in January, 1998.
Training programmes focused on shop-floor excellence and total Productive
maintenance (TPM). Quality manual for internal use was also developed. The
goals for 2000-2001 for the plant were devised as under:
- Laying
of natural gas pipeline
- ISO
14000 certification
- Control
of losses
- Reduction
in personnel expenditure
- Team
building training
The Rampur plant of Norman had come a long way since its inception. In
the words of Trivedi "despite all the bottlenecks we have achieved a
satisfactory level of productivity. We still intend to continue doing so by
various means. However, I want to build this plant as a community where each
member's commitment with the plant remains high. This can only be achieved by
inculcating the ownership value. We sincerely believe that this can only be
developed by creating a community of Norman in which every member is ensured of
a minimum standard of living with all basic amenities and worry free life away
from work. We intend to do so by providing medical, educational and vocational
training facilities for their families, thereby developing trust between the
management and the workers".
Questions:
(a) Does formation of trade unions help organizations improve industrial
relations?
(b) Was it a right strategy to nurture pro-management union leaders?
(c) The strategy to instill fear in the minds of workers to improve
their productivity was in the interest of the organization, Discuss.
(d) In your view, what action should have been taken by the management
at various stages to improve labour-management relations?
3. Geetha
Laboratories
Read the case carefully and answer the questions given at the end.
Geetha Laboratories Private Limited was established by Mohan Ramnath in
1988 at Chennai. He, a soft spoken gentleman, was Ph.D. in chemistry, who did
not believe in working under pressure. The company was a small scale unit
manufacturing non-patented antimalarial medicines. The company had 6 days per
week working making 26 working days per month and was running smoothly. In
1978, CITU supported union came into existence. The industrial relations started
deteriorating making it difficult for the company to survive. In 1988 Ramnath
decided to enter into partnership with three other partners, Chandan Keshav,
Bharat Pathak and Veenu Ramachandran to overcome the difficulties faced by him.
The company came to be known as Geetha Laboratories Limited. Even after this
the industrial relations did not improve till 1990 and it was during this
period that 14 workers were sacked. In 1990 Ramnath decided to sell his shares
to Emission Pharmaceuticals, a multinational, though other partners continued.
Now, the company was called German Drug House (GDH). During this period CITU
withdrew support to the union and Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) came into the
picture. An average increment of Rs. 225 was given to all workers and
industrial relations improved to some extent.
IMPLA Pharmaceuticals Limited was another non-patented antimalarial bulk
drug manufacturing giant having units at Pune, Mysore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore
and Corporate office at Baroda. It wanted to have monopoly in the ant malarial
drug manufacturing by taking over GDH. But before taking such a step. They
wanted to assess the internal condition of the company. Therefore, in January
1994 Vishal Shrivastava, qualified chartered accountant was inducted as Director
by purchasing a requisite number of shares of the company. In September, 1994
after IMPLA was convinced about the favorable conditions of GDH it formally
took over the company. At that time the manpower strength of the plant was 210
in which 130 were workers and 80 were executives and staff members. After
taking over, IMPLA made many changes and the major ones were:
(i) They increased the salaries of executives and staff of the unit to
reduce the gap in the pay structure of the executives and staff of this unit
and their other units.
(ii) They invested Rs. 3-4 crores for up gradation of the plant.
(iii) They shifted from 6 days working per week to 7 days working per
week to improve the productivity and enhance cost-effectiveness of the unit.
The shift from 6 days to 7 days working without any financial gains made
workers resist the change. At this juncture, Sumeet Joshi, Corporate Manager
(lR) intervened and promised the workers that they would be paid for 30 days
instead of 26 days, but Ravi Shriman, Director (Personnel) and Vishal
Shrivastav, CM (Operations) refused to agree to this since they were not
involved when Sumeet Joshi made the commitment. The promise was not fulfilled
which further complicated the problems. The issues kept on Lingering for 6 months.
No decision could be taken because of the difference of opinion among senior
executives. In June, 1995 the workers gheraoed Vishal Shrivastav to pressurize
the management to take the decision. They were successful to some extent as it
led to the agreement of management with workers that financial benefits would
be given with retrospective effect of 4 years making it one additional year
over and above 3 years of normal agreement. They were asked to give a notice of
change which the workers could not give till December, 1995 because of
disagreement among themselves It was felt at this point of time by Shrivastav
that plant should have an Assistant Manager (personnel) instead of having
Personnel Officer. Ajit Dubey, Assistant Manager (personnel) was appointed in
October, 1995 but even this appointment took 3-4 months because of discord in
opinions of Shrivastav and Shriman.
In December, 1995 the workers gave a notice of change demanding an
increase of Rs. 2200 per month. In January, 1996 a notice of change was given
by management. In February, 1996 the negotiations started and continued till
July, 1996. Shrivastav, Rajkumar, the new Corporate Manager (IR), Ajit Dubey
and Kishore were to represent the management side and nine members of the union
were to represent the Workers, besides V.D. Agarwal the General Secretary of
BMS.
The first two rounds of meeting did not lead to any outcome as none of
the parties were ready to budge. This made V.D. Agarwal withdraw as he was fed
up with the rigid stand of the union leaders.
The third meeting was held without Agarwal wherein the union leaders
came down to Rs. 1, 200 from Rs. 2, 200 p.m. The minutes of the meeting were
jotted down but the union leaders refused to sign. Taking advantage of the
occasion, Dubey and Shrivastav had a secret meeting with Agarwal in a hotel.
Agarwal advised the representatives of the management to maintain a low key for
a few months to crack down the workers aspirations as they had very high
expectations. It was observed by Dubey that there were perceptual differences
between senior and junior union leaders. Taking cue from this, Dubey adopted a
policy of divide and rule and took into confidence Devilal, the senior union
leader and had a secret meeting with him to explore the last settlement amount
and apprised him that the management could go only up to Rs.450. He also took
Janak Singh, the junior union leader into confidence and convinced him that
management was not going to bend before their demands and as such the workers
were going to be the ultimate sufferers. Besides this, Dubey spread the message
that no wages would be given retrospectively.
The next day meeting resumed in which union representatives came down to
Rs. 750 (because of the pressure from the workers) beyond which they were not
ready to come down. It was decided that instead of having meeting with all the
members, only two members, one senior union leader, Devilal and one junior
union leader, Janak Singh would sit in the negotiations. Immediately a meeting
among Shrivastav, Rajkumar, Devilal and Janak Singh was held and it was
resolved that Rs. 575 average per month would be given for 4 years
retrospectively. An MOU was drafted by the legal consultant at the corporate
office and was duly signed by Shrivastav, Rajkumar, Dubey and all the union
representatives. In the evening a dinner was hosted in which all the
negotiators were invited. When the papers were sent to R. Shriman, he objected
to the MOU on two points.
First, the other plants were having 30 days pay system leading to less
average pay per day and in Chennai plant it was to be given for 26 days leading
to higher average per day. Second the milk allowance given for overtime at
Chennai unit was higher than other units. It look Shrivastav and Rajkumar two
months to convince Shriman about the agreement and thereafter, implementing the
same. A total amount of Rs. 14 to 15 lakhs was given to all the 160 workers
within a week as arrears and the issue was settled.
Questions:
(a) Was it right for V.D. Agarwal to withdraw half way during the
negotiations?
(b) Identify the tactics used by management in the case. Are they
justified?
(c) Should Director (Personnel) have raised objections after MOU
(Memorandum of Understanding) was signed? Give reasons.
(d) In view of the information given in the case, suggest the strategies
that could have made IMPLA Pharmaceuticals a more progressive organization.
4. V. J.
Textiles
Read the case carefully and answer the questions given at the end.
V.J. Textiles is a leading industry having a workforce of more than 1200
employees, engaged in the manufacture of cotton yarn of different counts. The
company has a well-established distribution network in different parts of the
country. It has modernized all its plants, with a view to improve the productivity
and maintain quality. To maintain good human relations in the plants and the
organization as a whole, it has extended all possible facilities to the
employees. Compared to other mills, the employees of V.J. Industries are
enjoying higher wages and other benefits.
The company has a chief executive, followed by executives in-charge of
different functional areas. The Industrial Relations Department is headed by
the Industrial Relations Manager. The employees are represented by five trade
unions - A, B, C, D and E (unions are alphabetically presented based on
membership) - out of which the top three unions are recognized by the
management for purposes of negotiations. All the unions have maintained good
relations with the management individually and collectively.
For the past ten years, the company has been distributing bonus to the
workers at rates more than the statutory minimum prescribed under the Bonus
Act. Last year, for declaration of rate of bonus, the management had a series
of discussions with all recognized unions and finally announced a bonus. This
was in turn agreed upon by all the recognized unions. The very next day when
the management prepared the settlement and presented it before the union
representatives, while Unions A and C signed the same, the leader of Union B
refused to do so and walked out, stating that the rate of bonus declared was
not sufficient. The next day Union B issued a strike notice to the management
asking for higher bonus. The management tried its level best to avoid the unpleasant
situation, but in vain. As a result, the members of Union B went on strike.
They were joined by the members of Union D.
During the strike, the management could probe the reason for the deviant
behavior of Union B leader; it was found that leader of Union A, soon after the
first meeting, had stated in the presence of a group of workers, "lt is
because of me that the management has agreed to declare this much amount of
bonus to the employees; Union B has miserably failed in its talks with the management
for want of initiative and involvement". This observation somehow reached
the leader of Union B as a result of which he felt insulted.
Soon after identifying the reason for Union B's strike call, the
Industrial Relations Manager brought about a compromise between the leaders of
Unions A and B. Immediately after this meeting the strikers (members of Unions
B and D) resumed work and the settlement was signed for the same rate of bonus
as was originally agreed upon.
Questions
(a) Was the leader of Union A justified in making remarks which made the
leader of Union B feel offended?
(b) What should be management's long term strategy for avoiding
recurrence of inter-union differences on such issues?
(c) If you were the Industrial Relations Manager what would you have
done had the Union B resorted to strike for a reason other than that mentioned
in the case
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