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AN INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING TOOLS

 

 

Participants in flexible learning programs have limitations on the nature of the time they can spend on learning. Typically they are employed fully or partially, pursuing higher studies or have other social and familial responsibilities. Availability of time is a great constraint to these students.

To aid the participants, we have developed four unique learning tools as below:

 

·       Bullet Notes  :   Helps in introducing  the important concepts in each unit

 

of                                                                                                           curriculum,  equip  the  student  during                                                                                                            preparation  of                                                                                                                               examinations  and

 

·       Case Studies :   Illustrate the concepts through real life experiences

 

·       Workbook   :   Helps absorption of learning through questions based on real life nuggets

 

·       PEP Notes : Sharing notes of practices and experiences in the Industry will help the student to rightly perceive and get inspired to learn concepts at the cutting edge _{application level.}placementinterviews

 

Why are these needed?	· Adults  learn  differently  from  B.  School  or  college  going
	students who spend long hours at campus.
	· Enhancing analytical skills through application related learning
	kits trigger experiential  learning
	· Availability of time is a challenge.
	· Career  success  increasingly depends  on continuous  learning
	and success

What_· makes it relevant?

 

·

 

 

How_· is it useful?

 

·

 

·

 

Where· does this lead to?

 

·       Easier to move ahead in the learning process.

 

·       Will facilitate the student to complete the program earlier than _otherwise.Helpsstay motivated and connected.

When_· is it useful?

 

·

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Case Studies:

Organizational Behavior

 

© The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad, March, 2015. All rights reserved

 

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise – without prior permission in writing from The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ref. No. OB-CS-IFHE – 032015

 

For any clarification regarding this book, the students may please write to The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad giving the above reference number of this book specifying chapter and page number.

 

While every possible care has been taken in type-setting and printing this book, The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad welcomes suggestions from students for improvement in future editions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ii

 

CONTENTS

 

1	Honeywell‟s Globalization Challenge in High-Growth Markets	5
2	The Secret Ingredient Behind German Worker‟s High Organizational Performance	6
3	METRO Cash & Carry	8
4	Diversity at IBM	9
5	Honda: Communicating the „Waigaya‟ Way	10
6	Adapting to Cultural Change the Michelin Way	12
7	Can Pooja Jain Micromanage Luxor with her Personality Traits?	13
8	Kailash Satyarthi : A Story of Motivation	15
9	Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Changing Perceptions about Women as Entrepreneurs in India	16
10	KV Kamath Used Learning as a Tool to Transform ICICI Bank	18
11	A Case of Employee Protection: The Pixar Story	20
12	The Best Office Perk From WordPress	21
13	Walmart‟s New Dress Code: Triggering Employee Conflict?	22
14	Google Could Upshoot Innovation through Group Formation	23
15	Team Building: Menlo Innovations‟ Formula for Success	25
16	Elements of Informal Organization at Google	27
17	Holacracy @ Zappos	29
18	The Decision Rationality behind Appointing Shikha Sharma @ Axis Bank	31
19	The Power Games @ BCCI	33
20	General Motors: Inculcating a New Organizational Culture	35
21	The Ignition Switch Recall Crisis: Lessons for General Motors	36
22	Reviewing Consultants through Survey Feedback	37
23	Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A Case of Sensitivity Training	39
24	Roca Inc.: The Story of „People-Oriented‟ Approach to Organizational Development	40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

iii

 

Introduction to the Case Study

 

 

 

 

Participants in ICFAI University Programs are eager to apply theory into practice. They realize that application orientation can enhance their learning and subsequent usage of management precepts and practices. Picking out the principle behind real world events is critical to this learning.

 

To fulfill this objective the institution has introduced the Case Study methodology as a learning tool. A one page case is developed for learning a concept/topic from an illustration of a real world occurrence. The case illustrates a situation pertinent to an individual/a company/an industry or an economy in relation to a concept or issue covered in the curriculum. The illustration is specific to the point being discussed.

 

The case depicts the knowledge which can be applied as illustrated in the practice of the real world. These experiences can be distilled to look at a core principle at play by the participant. While there could be multiple principles at play, the illustration of each case helps in its better understanding of the concept at a very fundamental level.

 

The learning outcomes expected are:

 

1.     Real world is illustrated and connected back to one concept/topic for better theoretical understanding.

 

2.     Application based approach, which significantly enhances absorption and retention.

 

3.     Exposure to specific business situations and developments improves perspective.

 

It may be used for Assessment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

iv

 1

Honeywell‟s Globalization Challenge in

 

High-Growth Markets

 

Honeywell International, Inc. a multinational conglomerate headquartered at Morris Township, New Jersey was incorporated in 1927. Honeywell had a long history of over 125 years and included many predecessor companies. Honeywell manufactured consumer and commercial products, aerospace systems, etc. for customers including leading corporations, Governments and private consumers. A Fortune 100 company, Honeywell had a global workforce of nearly 1, 32,000 employees in 2014.

 

The company had operated in international markets since 1934. Despite its global experience, Honeywell found itself struggling in high-growth regions like China and India. In 2004, David Cote, Honeywell‟s

CEO,  appointed  Shane  Tedjarati  as  the  President  and  CEO  of  high  growth  regions,  to  handle  the

 

situation. In China, Honeywell faced competition from 5 players who sold similar products. Honeywell adopted an „East for East‟ strategy under Tedjarati‟s leadership to cope-up with this competition. This

strategy  was  devised  to  learn  all  aspects  of  running  a  business  like  sourcing,  manufacturing  and

 

marketing from its Chinese competitors. The company shifted its R&D activities to China as a part of this strategy. It hired nearly 150 general managers in China based on its „East for East‟ strategy.

Honeywell started developing products locally in the Chinese market, a first for the company. To monitor the impact of strategies and policies, a feedback mechanism of self assessment was undertaken

 

annually. It was reviewed by the CEO. Based on the China success story, a similar approach was adopted to revive Honeywell‟s business in the Indian market in 2008. The „East for East‟ strategy was modified

to suit the requirements in India. Later the staff of both countries collaborated on product development.

 

China and India collectively contributed to 30% of the company‟s growth by 2011.

 

It was not feasible to adopt the „East for East‟ approach in smaller emerging nations like Vietnam. Tedjarati created a „go-to-market‟ strategy based on local market requirements. A team of 3 to 5 people

comprising of a senior business manager, an expert in government relations and a marketing executive

 

along with a couple of junior employees, was constituted in these countries which helped in nurturing business partnerships and cross-business cooperation. This team would represent Honeywell‟s business

in each of these nations. Honeywell deployed this successful strategy to its businesses worldwide in

2012. In 2014, most of the country managers at Honeywell were hired from within the organization.

 

China, Honeywell‟s largest market outside U.S., served as the platform for all its globalization efforts.

 

Business strategies for global markets must be designed in accordance with the demands of the local markets. The case of Honeywell illustrated ‘creation of a global village’. Organizations could

 

succeed in new markets by adopting a flexible approach and tweaking its style of operations to meet the local requirements.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Why should companies alter their strategies in the global market?

 

(Hints: cope with local competition-understand demands of the local market-suit local requirements)

 

2.     Compare „East for East‟ and „Go-to-Market‟ strategies. How did these strategies help to cope with the globalization challenge?

 

(Hints: producing products locally-hiring local talent-helped nurture business partnership)

 

Course Reference: Concept- Creation of Global Village/Unit 1-Understanding Organizational Behavior/Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Claire Jin, “Honeywell Names Shane Tedjarati President, High Growth Regions and Stephen Shang President, Honeywell China,” Press Releases, www.honeywell.com, January 01, 2012.

 

ii.     Luc Minguet, Educardo Caride , Takeo Yamaguchi, and Shane Tedjarati, “Shifting the Focus to Emerging Markets,” Harvard Business Review, September, 2014.

 

iii.    Sudipto Dey, “We Don‟t Want to Turn India into an Outsourcing Hub,” Business Standard, February 08, 2014.

 

iv.    “Coming of Age: Asia‟s Evolving R&D Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist, August 2012.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

 

 

5

 2

The Secret Ingredient Behind German Worker‟s High Organizational Performance

 

Germany, a developed nation, consisted of 16 states and had a population of about 80 million in 2014. Berlin was the country‟s largest city and also its capital. German employees worked for an average of 35

 

hours per week and were granted about 24 paid vacation days per annum. Germany fostered a work culture aimed at increasing employees‟ productivity (Refer to Chart 1 for German‟s Focus on

Productivity).

 

Chart 1: German‟s Focus on Productivity

 

·

The 'German' Work Culture

·

Benefits to Employees

'Intense

Focus':

Working  hours

Balance between work and

·

were strictly devoted to work

·

personal life

Frivolous activities like Facebook,

'Work Hard & Play Hard'

Increased

checking private emails, indulging

§

Employees

did

not

Employee

in

office   gossip

was   socially

spend time together after

Productivity &

unacceptable.

Zero

Tolerance

work hours

Higher

towards

such

unproductive   +

§

=

·

activities

Employees

clubs

were

Organizational

A

culture

of

Direct

involved  in

like

Performance

·

sports and music

Communication

was

encouraged.

Higher  number

of

paid

Workers spoke directly with their

superiors on all matters including

holidays allowed employees

to enjoy up to a month off

performance review without using

with their families

icebreakers

 

Adapted from Amol Sarva, and Eryn Paul, “Why Germans Work Fewer Hours But Produce More: A Study in Culture,” The Huffington Post, November 11, 2014

 

German workers differed in their work culture compared to their US counterparts (Refer to Chart 2 for contrast between German and US Employee).

 

Chart 2: German Employee Vs. US Employee

 

German Employee	US Employee
Their language was commanding and devoid	US employees used polite phrases in their official
of polite phrases.	communication.
For instance, “I need this report by 10.00 am‟	For instance, “It would be great if you could get
	that report done by 4.00 pm”
To counter the accessibility offered by smart	US employees were always connected to their work
phones, the Government proposed to impose	due  to  the  accessibility  offered  by  technological
ban on 'work related emails' post 6.00 pm	devices like smart phones
Both parents could take paternal leave together	US employees did not enjoy a similar benefit
for  the  complete  or  partial  granted  period
(maximum of 3 years each per child)

 

Adapted from Amol Sarva and Eryn Paul, “Why Germans Work Fewer Hours But Produce More: A Study in Culture,” The Huffington Post, November 11, 2014

 

·       The fourth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP in 2014

 

·       The third largest importer and exporter of goods in the world in 2014

 

·          The country single-handedly pulled the Eurozone‟s economy from the brink of recession in 2012^{ThehighperformanceofGermanshadmadethecountry:}

 

 

6

‘Organizational Performance’ referred to the actual output or results delivered by an employee, team, department, etc. compared to the intended or desired output. German employees spent relatively lesser number of hours at work. But their productivity was relatively higher in comparison to their counterparts in other countries. Their culture of single-minded focus on work, goal oriented communication and intolerance towards unproductive activities had contributed significantly in increasing organizational productivity.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the role of culture in improving organizational performance.

 

(Hints: creates work-life balance-encourages new hobbies-increased productivity)

 

2.     Distinguish between German and American work culture.

 

(Hints: communication style-fixed working hours-greater employee benefits)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Organizational Performance/ Unit 2-Foundations of Human Relations and Organizational Behavior/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Amol Sarva, and Eryn Paul, “Why Germans Work Fewer Hours But Produce More: A Study in Culture,” The Huffington Post, November 11, 2014.

 

ii.     C.W and A.J.K.D., “Working Hours: Get a Life,” The Economist, September 24, 2013.

 

iii.    Gabi Thesing, Jana Randow and Aaron Kirchfeld, “Germany‟s Growth: New Rules, Old Companies,”

 

BloombergBusinessweek, September 30, 2010.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

 

3	METRO Cash & Carry

 

Metro Cash & Carry‟s (METRO) success story began in 1964. METRO‟s wholesale store offered professional customers (like hotel and restaurant operators and catering firms, etc.) and bulk consumers the chance to pick out their own goods and take them away themselves. The company allowed its customers the luxury of selecting items under a single roof.

 

METRO positioned itself as a B2B wholesaler. It catered to the needs of its small and midsize enterprises

 

by offering them a wide range of customized products and services. It adopted the cash-and-carry approach reflecting the company‟s model of bulk buying and self-service. METRO had slowly yet

steadily grown its presence across the globe.

 

In 2003, it entered the Indian market with its first wholesale store in Bangalore (Karnataka). The market had poor transportation facility and a reluctance to embrace the cash only model, where customers were

 

expected to pay for their purchase only in cash. Indian customers were used to informal sources of credit. They did not find the company‟s model of strictly paying by cash appealing. They also found

 

transporting bulk purchases difficult on account of poor transportation facilities. These constraints challenged METRO‟s business model.

 

The company took time to grasp this challenge and continued to stick to its original operating model. Consecutive years of bad business and four CEOs later, it realized that its conventional approach was failing. Understanding the context of the Indian market, METRO altered its payment and delivery model. In addition to its conventional cash-and-carry option, the company also offered the following new alternatives for its Indian customers:

 

a.      Credit and carry (No cash and carry)

 

b.     Cash and delivery (Cash and no carry)

 

c.      Credit and delivery (No cash and no carry)

 

The remodelling and renewed efforts paid off. It clocked €670 mn as revenue in2010. METRO geared to expand from seven outlets in 2014 to about 50 by 2020.

 

Organizations were required to learn when faced with adversity. They could experiment with their business models, policies, schemes, products or services. The case of METRO illustrated ‘situated learning and associative learning’. The learning could help them in new markets.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the challenges faced by companies in the international market.

 

(Hints: infrastructural challenges-understanding customer mindset and preferences- difference in customer expectations)

 

2.     What strategies did Metro adopt to succeed in the Indian market?

 

(Hints: changed the traditionalist approach-changed delivery model-offered new payment options)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Learning / Unit 3-Understanding People and Organizations / Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Antonita Madonna and Mahesh Kulkarni, “Metro Cash & Carry Revamps India Strategy,” October 24, 2013.

 

ii.     Suneera Tandon, “Metro to Add 50 Wholesale Stores by 2020 in India,” Livemint, May 5, 2014.

 

iii.    “German Retailer Metro AG Plans to Have 50 Wholesale Stores in India by 2020,” The Economic Times, May

 

6, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 

4	Diversity at IBM

 

The International Business Machines Corporation, well-known as IBM, a US multinational technology and consulting firm, headquartered in New York was incorporated in 1911 under the name Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. The name IBM was adopted in 1924. The company was one of the largest technology firms worldwide in 2014.

 

IBM had been a leader in workplace diversity. Decisions like hiring, employee compensation etc. were made without a bias towards gender, sexual orientation, color, etc.

 

·       The first training session was conducted for women employees in 1935.

 

·       It was the first organization to offer „domestic partner benefits‟ for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. The company published its first policy letter on equal opportunity in 1953.

 

·       IBM held its first LGBT global leadership conventions in 2000 and 2001.

 

·       The company supported the Employment Non-Discrimination Action in 2002. In the same year, Sandra K. Johnson became first black female member of IBM Academy.

 

·       IBM was the first company to implement the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act in 2005.

The Act prohibited employers from using an individual‟s genetic information.

 

·       To bridge the differences in thought among diverse cultures and generations, the company introduced a concept named „Diversity of Thought‟ in 2010.

 

·       IBM introduced its Global Accessibility Center to make technology more accessible to employees with disabilities.

 

·       IBM had launched several programs worldwide with the aim of employing greater number of women. For instance, in India IBM launched a „Bring Her Back‟ campaign in 2011 with the aim of re-employing young mothers, women who had taken a break on personal grounds and those who had _{been on a sabbatical.}IBM‟sdiversityinitiatives included the following:

 

In 2014, IBM was ranked 2^nd in DiversityInc‟s Top 10 Companies for Global Diversity. DiversityInc was an online magazine that offered news on the role of companies in strengthening diversity. In 2014, IBM followed an approach named Diversity 3.0¹ to ensure that the culture of diversity was uniformly adopted at all IBM offices globally.

 

The case of IBM illustrated ‘organizational approaches of managing diversity’. Instead of overlooking differences, organizations should work towards understanding diversity. Organizations could reap benefits by fostering a culture which embraced diversity.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the various ways of inculcating a culture of diversity in organizations.

 

(Hints: hiring women and individuals from the LGBT community, etc.-adopting non-discrimination policies- introducing diversity promoting programs)

 

2.     How did focusing on diversity contribute to IBM‟s success?

 

(Hints: high ranking in the Global Diversity survey-one of the largest technology firms worldwide)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Individual and Organizational Approaches to Managing Diversity/ Unit 4-Diversity and Ethics/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Source:

 

i.       Glenn Llopis, “Diversity Management is the Key to Growth: Make it Authentic,” Forbes, November 6, 2011.

 

ii.     N Shivapriya,“IBM on a Drive to Hire More Women in India,” The Economic Times, May 21, 2012.

 

iii.    “Employee Diversity,” Corporate Responsibility Report, 2010.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM, International Business, Organization Development, Leadership and Change

 

 

¹         Diversity 3.0 is the term used to denote IBM‟s latest diversity policy. The objective of Diversity 3.0 is to make the best use of employee diversity for innovation.

 

 

9

 

5	Honda: Communicating the „Waigaya‟ Way

 

Honda Motor Company Ltd., a Japanese multinational automobile, power equipment and motorcycles manufacturer was founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda and was headquartered at Minato, Japan. In 2014, Honda recorded a revenue of about USD 120 billion and had a global workforce of about 200,000 employees.

 

At Honda, decisions were made using an impromptu and agenda-free communication technique popularly known as „Waigaya‟. Waigaya was a Honda coinage to symbolize the noise generated by the

 

jabbering and heated discussion of a number of people (Refer to Chart 1 for the Waigaya Process @ Honda).

 

Chart 1: The „Waigaya‟ Process @ Honda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Jeffrey Rothfeder, “For Honda, Waigaya Is the Way,” strategy-business.com, August 1, 2014

 

Honda widely resorted to Waigaya to resolve product related problems. For instance, Waigaya was instrumental in designing Honda‟s third generation „Acura TL‟, a midsized luxury sedan launched in

 

1995. A decade later, Acura TL started losing its sheen. It was viewed as stuffy and old-fashioned due to its „boxy‟ design. A team of ten participated in the Waigaya which lasted for months. At the end of this process, TL was re-styled as „The Ultimate Athlete‟. Despite these advantages, experts had voiced their concern over Waigaya‟s effectiveness as an organization-wide communication medium (Refer to Chart 2

for the advantages and disadvantages of Waigaya).

 

Chart 2: Advantages Vs. Disadvantages of Waigaya

 

	“Advantages”		“Disadvantages”
ü	Encouraged open-communication	ü	„Waigaya‟  dids  not  result  in  any  value
ü	Encouraged fearless defense/challenging  of		addition  more  than  half  the  time,  thereby,
			leading to waste of resources and time
	ideas
ü		ü  Absence of a structure and agenda made it a
	An idea was accepted solely on its „MERIT‟.
	Factors like hierarchy and designation held	ü	less productive process
			Lacked  the „leadership‟ element necessary
ü	no relevance.
	Served as a catalyst for innovation		for creating strong results
ü	Aided unbiased decision-making

 

Adapted from various sources

 

At Honda, Waigaya had offered a platform for open ‘communication’ among employees irrespective of their designations. These uninhibited discussions had helped Honda resolve numerous problems ranging from product styling to growth-related issues.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the importance of communication in organizations.

 

(Hints: platform to discuss problems/facts/opinions, etc.-work out feasible solutions-encourage innovation)

 

 

10

 

2.     What were the advantages and disadvantages of adopting Waigaya as a way of organization wide communication method?

 

(Hints: helps in unbiased decision-making-productivity issues- absence of clear leadership)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Communication/ Unit 5-Managing Communication/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Jeffrey Rothfeder, “5 Brilliant Strategies That Make Honda One of the World‟s Most Innovative Companies,”

 

BusinessInsider, July 29, 2014.

 

ii.     Jeffrey Rothfeder, “For Honda, Waigaya Is the Way,” strategy-business.com, August 1, 2014.

 

iii.    Karen Lowry, Larry Armstrong and David Woodruff , “A Car is Born,” Bloomberg Businessweek, September 12, 1993.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM, HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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6	Adapting to Cultural Change the Michelin Way

 

Michelin, a leading manufacturer of tyres and other rubber products with its headquarters at Clermont-Ferrand, France was established on May 28, 1888 by Michelin brothers, Andre and Edourad. Michelin was initially involved in the manufacture of tyres for bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. In the 1890s, the company introduced pneumatic tyres for automobiles. Michelin set-up its first plant outside France in Turin (Italy) in 1906. In 2014, the company had about 72 production facilities across 19 countries with nearly 111,200 employees of 120 different nationalities across the globe. The company adopted different

 

strategies in order to cope-up with cultural changes worldwide. For instance, in 2001, Michelin entered a joint venture with China‟s Shanghai Tyre and Rubber Company.

 

Michelin‟s head office at France was keen on adopting its „Management System of Daily Production‟

 

(MDP) in China. Chinese employees, in general, and the production line workers, in particular, lacked faith in Michelin‟s management team. Soon, cultural disparities between the local employees in China

 

and the expatriates started surfacing. This resulted in high reject rates of its tyres and a high turnover of the production line employees.

 

Michelin introduced a cultural integration program, giving the Chinese team members adequate time to

 

understand and learn the Michelin culture. Overseas studies were also offered as a part of this integration program. By end of 2010, the tyre‟s reject rate dropped by 32% and turnover of production line staff

dropped by 44%.

 

Similarly, when Luc Minguet, took over as the COO of Michelin‟s U.S. truck business in 2002, his candid management style was not well received by his colleagues in the US. Minguet‟s approach of

giving  candid  feedbacks,  focusing  only  on  the  performance  drawbacks,  was  not  welcomed  by  his

 

American colleagues. His earlier experiences in the international market, including 7 years in the UK and 3 years in Spain, did not help. Guidance from an „executive coach‟ specializing in cultural issues helped

Minguet develop a culturally sensitive approach.

 

Managers at Michelin underwent training in order to understand the cultural norms and expectations of employees worldwide. In 2014, the managers at Michelin were offered cultural training even if they moved to seemingly similar countries. For instance, when Michelin decided to enter Mexico, its Mexican and American managers were offered cultural training together. This allowed them to share their experiences and strengthened their inter-personal bonds.

 

Developing a culturally sensitive culture called for significant time investment. But Michelin reaped benefits like employees‟ trust and strong inter-personal relations with its workers.

 

Companies must sensitize themselves and their managers to the diverse cultural norms before setting up operations in new markets. The case of Michelin illustrated ‘cultural adaptation and overcoming barriers to cultural adaptation’. Cultural training could be critical for companies that aspired to

succeed on the global business platform.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     What reasons contribute towards cultural disparities between local employers and expatriates? (Hints: lack of faith in the new management-lack of cultural awareness and understanding)

 

2.     Explain how managers at Michelin benefitted by adapting to the cultural difference?

 

(Hints: training to develop cultural sensitivity- training from executive coaches specialized in cultural issues)

 

Course Reference: Concept- Cultural Adaptation/ Unit 6-International Organizational Behavior / Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Erin Meyer and Sapna Gupta, “Leading Across Cultures at Michelin (A), INSEAD, 2009.

 

ii.     Jean Lee, Jenny Zhu, Jane Xie and Rebecca Chung, “Michelin Overcame Cultural Gulf at Shanghai Joint

Venture,” Financial Times, July 29, 2013.

 

iii.    Karel Cool, “The Competitiveness Challenge of European Manufacturers: The Case of Michelin,” INSEAD

 

Blogs, November 7, 2012.

 

iv.    Luc Minguet, Eduardo Caride, Takeo Yamaguchi and Shane Tedjarati, “Voices from the Front Lines,” Harvard Business Review, September 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM, HRM

 

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 7

Can Pooja Jain Micromanage Luxor with her

 

Personality Traits?

 

The Luxor Group, a family-run, manufacturer and marketer of pens and writing instruments in India, was founded by Davinder Kumar Jain (D K Jain) in 1963. In 2008, the company began diversifying into sectors like hospitality, real estate and retail. In 2014, the company had started eyeing the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Luxor exported to nearly 85 nations worldwide and had a workforce of about 2500 employees in 2014.

 

Pooja Jain (Pooja), daughter of DK Jain and head of Luxor‟s writing instruments‟ business, stepped in as the Executive Director of the Group after her father‟s demise in 2014 (Refer to Chart 1 for personality

traits of Pooja).

 

Chart 1: Pooja Jain‟s Personality Traits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Shabana Hussain, “Pooja Jain is Rewriting Luxor‟s Future,” Forbes India, September 2, 2014

 

Pooja preferred to micromanage all elements of Luxor‟s business, contrary to her father‟s participatory

 

approach. Company veterans were apprehensive whether Pooja would be able to shoulder the mantle of the Luxor Group with her personality traits (Refer to Chart 2 for apprehensions about Pooja‟s

Leadership).

 

Chart 2: Apprehensions Surrounding Pooja‟s Leadership

 

Apprehensions		Indicators
Rushing   in   to	Ø Worked 24X7
prove her worth	Ø	Called  employees  at  odd  hours  including  on  weekends.  For  instance,
		employees  received  calls  at  1  a.m.  to  brainstorm  new  ideas  or  general
		business.
Over-ambitious	Ø Had set a goal of Rs.2, 000 crores for the writing instruments‟ business alone.
goals	Ø	Expected a 4 times revenue increment within 3 years. However, the industry
		growth rate had dropped to 5% p.a. in 2014  from 10% p.a. in 2009 which
		would make this a challenging feat

 

Adapted from Shabana Hussain, “Pooja Jain is Rewriting Luxor‟s Future,” Forbes India, September 2, 2014

 

Pooja Jain had used her „personality traits’ like conscientiousness and result-oriented approach to manage Luxor after her father‟s sudden demise. An individual‟s personality could have a positive or negative impact on an organization‟s performance. Luxor‟s new Executive Director could play a major role in determining the company‟s fortune.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     What personality traits should a business leader display? (Hints: analytical skills-conscientiousness-goal oriented)

 

13

 

2.     What apprehensions surrounded Pooja Jain‟s ability to lead the Luxor Group?

 

(Hints: haste to prove worthiness- over-ambitious Goals)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Meaning of Personality/ Unit 7-Personality and Attitudes/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Purvi Malhotra, “Beauty on the Go,” India Today, November 7, 2008.

 

ii.     Shabana Hussain, “Pooja Jain is Rewriting Luxor‟s Future,” Forbes India, September 2, 2014.

 

iii.    “Luxor to Diversify its Biz: Foray in Other Consumer Segments,” The Economic Times, May 23, 2008.

 

Other Keywords: HRM, Leadership and Change Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

 

8	Kailash Satyarthi : A Story of Motivation

 

Kailash Satyarthi, born in 1954, was an Indian activist dedicated to the cause of protecting children‟s

 

rights. Satyarthi held a degree in electrical engineering. In 1980, he gave up his job as an engineering lecturer and founded „Bachpan Bachao Andolan‟ (BBA), a non-profit organization. By 2014, under Satyarthi‟s leadership, BBA had rescued more than 80,000 children from the clutches of child labor across 144 nations worldwide (Refer to Chart 1 for BBA‟s Initiatives).

 

Chart 1: BBA‟s Initiatives

 

BBA was the first civil society campaign against child exploitation in India.

 

It adopted a „raid and rescue‟ approach where the police and BBA activists together raided factories involved in child labor

 

BBA introduced its „Bal Mitra Gram‟ (BMG) program to rescue children from child labor and enroll them into schools.

 

O    There were more than 100 BMGs across India by 2014

 

O    BMG program had made about 365 villages as children friendly across 11 Indian states by 2014

 

Adapted from Harriet Alexander and Dean Nelson, “Nobel Peace Prize: Who Is Kailash Satyarthi?,” The Telegraph, October 10, 2014

 

Even as a young child, Satyarthi was disturbed by the state of those kids who had to work while he attended school. This motivated him to start a football club to pay the school fees of underprivileged children and to start a book bank. In 1994, Satyarthi founded Rugmark, later known as GoodWeave

 

International, a network of non-profit companies, dedicated towards putting an end to child labor in the rug manufacturing industry. He led the „Global March Against Child Labor‟ across 103 nations in

January 1998. This was a global event uniting NGOs, trade unions, etc. in their fight against child labor.

 

Over his 30 years long crusade against child labor, Satyarthi encountered numerous perils including break-ins and threats to self and family members. For instance, in 2004, Satyarthi and his fellow activists were brutally attacked while trying to rescue trafficked Nepalese girls from an Indian circus. Despite being injured, Satyarthi continued his protest by going on a hunger strike. His efforts persisted till all the girls were rescued.

 

Satyarthi had received many awards for his persistent efforts including the Aachener International Peace Award (1994), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1995) and the Medal of Italian Senate (2007). On October 10, 2014, Satyarthi was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Malala Yousafzai for his relentless efforts towards liberating children from suppression.

 

The case of Kailash Satyarthi illustrated the concept ‘achievement motive’, where a person desired to

 

perform excellently to handle complex situations. Here Satyarthi relentlessly worked to liberate children from child labor. Satyarthi‟s motivation to protect children‟s rights won him numerous

awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     How can an individual fulfill his achievement motive? Discuss in the light of Kailash Satyarthi‟s accomplishments.

 

(Hints: motivated to start a football club to help underprivileged kids pay their school fees- gave up job as an engineering lecturer to start BBA-started Rugmark with the aim of ending child labour)

 

2.     Discuss the challenges in fulfilling a social cause like protection of children‟s rights.

 

(Hints: break-ins, arson attacks, etc.-physical threat)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Achievement Motive/ Unit 8-Motivation/Subject-Organizational Behavior Sources:

 

i.      “Kailash Satyarthi: A Profile,” Business Standard, October 10, 2014.

 

ii.     “The Fight for Protection of Children has to Continue,” Business Standard, December 16, 2014.

 

iii.   Harriet Alexander and Dean Nelson, “Nobel Peace Prize: Who Is Kailash Satyarthi?,” The

 

Telegraph, October 10, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: HRM, Leadership and Change, Organizational Development

 

 

15

 9

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Changing Perceptions about Women as Entrepreneurs in India

 

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, an Indian entrepreneur, was the founder and Chairman of Biocon Limited, India‟s largest Biopharmaceutical Company. Biocon was founded in 1978 at Bangalore. Kiran started her professional journey as a trainee brewer at Melbourne‟s Carlton and United Breweries (Refer Chart 1 for Kiran‟s Professional Rise).

 

Chart 1: Kiran‟s Rise as a Successful Woman Entrepreneur

 

“The Initial Years”

 

Kiran was encouraged by her father, a brewer, to

study fermentation science and to undertake

training to become a brew master.

 

 

Was perceived as an unconventional field of

study and work for women

 

 

Was the only woman studying Malting and Brewing  at Ballarat College of Advanced Education, Australia, at the time. She topped her class.

 

She started her career as trainee brewer at

Melbourne.

 

Between 1975-1977, worked as technical consultant and technical manager at brewery companies in Calcutta and Baroda, respectively.

 

Explored new prospects in cities like Delhi and Bangalore but was unsuccessful.

 

“The Birth of Biocon”

 

Started exploring the International market and

was offered a job in Scotland.

 

 

In a chance encounter, Kiran met Leslie

 

Auchincloss, founder of Biocon Biochemicals Limited (BBL), Ireland, before she could move to Scotland.

 

 

Leslie was searching for an Indian entrepreneur to help set-up an Indian subsidiary.

 

 

 

Kiran undertook the assignment

 

 

Worked briefly as a Trainee Manager at BBL, Ireland, to understand and learn the business better.

 

Kiran returned to India and started Biocon

Limited

 

Adapted from various sources

 

Kiran encountered perceptual barriers as a woman entrepreneur in India (Refer to Chart 2 for the Perceptual Barriers).

 

Chart 2: Perceptual Barriers and Kiran‟s Approach of Overcoming Them

 

	Perceptual Barriers		Overcoming the Perceptual Barriers
	The Existence of Gender Barriers:	1.	Had the family support to pursue her career in a field
	1.   Absence of female role model in the		considered	unconventional		for	women-
	Indian corporate scenario		entrepreneurship
	2.   Job of brew master was perceived as	2.	Started Biocon in the garage of her rented home in
	a „man‟s job‟ in the Indian market.		Bangalore with an initial investment of INR 10,000.
	The Existence of Sexism:	3.	Instead of getting de-motivated, she made use of the
	Women  had  limited  opportunities  and		available resources		like home-grown innovation.
		4.	Had  the  ability  to  experiment  and  was  open  to
	were not given adequate chances
	The Credibility Challenge:		change.
		5.	Shifted   Biocon‟s		focus    from	enzymes    to
	Given her young age (was 25 years when
			Biopharmaceuticals in the 1990s when the company
	she  started  her  business)  banks  were
			decided to go global.
	reluctant to fund her venture.
Adapted from various sources
			16

 

Despite these perceptual barriers against women, Kiran‟s success as a woman entrepreneur presented her as a role model:

 

1. In 2014, Kiran was appointed as a Director on Infosys‟s Board of Directors.

 

2. Was appointed as the Chairman of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, in 2014.

 

3.   Under her leadership Biocon recorded a profit of nearly INR 4 million in 2014.

 

4.  Forbes ranked her as the 92^nd Most Powerful Woman in the world in 2014.

 

5. Germany‟s Kiel Institute awarded Kiran the Global Economy Prize for Business in 2014.

 

‘Perception’ referred to the cognitive process where individuals interpreted situations based upon their senses and stimulation. Despite the perceptual barriers against women in the business field, Kiran emerged successful as a woman entrepreneur and served as a role model in the Indian corporate arena.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.      What perceptual barriers did women entrepreneurs in India have to face? (Hints: gender barriers-existence of sexism-credibility issues)

 

2.     How did Kiran succeed as a woman entrepreneur despite the perceptual barriers against women in corporate India?

 

(Hints: family support-personal determination-ability to experiment)

 

Course Reference: Concept- Perception/Unit 9-Perception/Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Bhakti Bapat Mathew, “Women Must Find the Strength to Soar,”www.livemint.com, May 12, 2013.

 

ii.     “Kiran Mazumdar0Shaw Receives Award from Germany‟s Kiel Institute,”www.business-standard.com, June 24, 2014.

 

iii.    Catherine Lee, “Biocon‟s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Female Entrepreneurship in India,” www.marketmagazine.net, May 12, 2013.

 

Other Keywords: HRM, Leadership and Change Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17

 

	10		KV Kamath Used Learning as a Tool to Transform
			ICICI Bank

 

ICICI Bank, a multinational banking and financial services firm based in India, was headquartered in Mumbai. It was set-up by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), in 1994, as

 

its fully owned subsidiary. In 2002, ICICI, the parent company merged with ICICI Bank, its subsidiary and took on the latter‟s identity. It was the largest private sector bank in India in 2014.

 

K.V. Kamath joined ICICI‟s Project Finance Division in 1971 as a management trainee. In 1996, Kamath

 

took over as the CEO and Managing Director (May 1996 till April 2009) of the Bank. Kamath used „learning‟ as a tool to transform ICICI Bank into a global financial services and banking giant (Refer to Chart 1 for Kamath‟s Learning and Implementation Method).

 

Chart 1: Kamath‟s Learning and Method of Implementation

 

WHAT TRIGGERED	WHAT TRIGGERED THE	WHAT TRIGGERED THE
THE LEARNING?	LEARNING?	LEARNING?
“Curiosity and the	“The need for constant learning”	“The realization that learning is
imporatnce of reflection”.		ugly”
Kamath learnt the		During a seminar in New York,
importance of „talent	Kamath learnt about the concept	Kamath learnt about the „90-day
development‟ from	of „parking‟ while reading a	rule‟ (concept designing, product
Hindustan Lever, an Indian	magazine article.	development, testing and take to
consumer goods company.		market within 90 days).
Hindustan Lever‟s ability to		On reaching London, he called the
produce an „entrepreneurial	This concept helped him learn	Mumbai office and asked the team
leader‟ every 5-10 years		handling a technology project to
	the art of dealing with stagnating
inspired Kamath to nurture		immediately apply the 90-day
	employees.
and build talent within the		rule.
bank.
	Employees who had stagnated	In the 6 months that followed, the
		bank undertook nearly 10-12
	and were acting as blockages in
		projects, all of which were
	the bank‟s organization chain
		successfully achieved using this
	were parked in new spots.
		rule.

 

 

The parking approach helped

create a „blockage-free‟

 

organizational chain at the bank.

 

Adapted from KV Kamath, “KV Kamath on How to Manage Change”, www.rediff.com, February 9, 2005

 

Kamath briefly parted ways with the bank in 1988 to join the Asian Development Bank (ABD), Manila.

 

·       The nature and working of emerging markets.

 

·       To handle operations on a global scale in the international market.

 

·         New processes in the field of banking.^{AtABD,Kamathlearnt:}

 

In 1996, Kamath re-joined ICICI bank as CEO and MD. Kamath put his learning at ABD to use in the

 

·       He initiated structural changes  and created new operations at the bank

 

·         He brought about strategic initiatives to introduce flexibility in the functioning of the bank^{Indianmarket:}

 

 

18

 

Under Kamath‟s leadership:

 

·       ICICI bank became the first Indian financial institution to be listed in the NYSE in 1999.

 

·       The Bank introduced ATMs in 2003. This step played a major role in boosting the Bank‟s growth rate to about 180% in that year.

 

·       The Bank‟s total assets grew from Rs. 21,000 crores in 1996 to Rs. 3,80,000 crores in 2009, the year when the CEO baton was passed on to Chanda Kochhar.

 

·       ICICI Bank became the first bank in India to go online.

 

KV Kamath had put his ‘learnings’ from various professional experiences to play at ICICI Bank which helped it emerge as the largest private sector bank in India. Organizations stood a chance to gain by displaying a willingness to learn new skills and knowledge.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the significance of learning in the success of an organization.

 

(Hints: understand the need for new processes/structures, etc.- introduce new operations to meet market demands)

 

2.     What role did Kamath‟s leadership play in ICICI Bank‟s success?

 

(Hints: the first Indian financial institution to be listed in the NYSE-first Indian bank to go online-significant growth in assets)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Significance of Learning/Unit 10-Learning/Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Charles Assisi, “Making a Strong Case to Live the Learned Life,” Livemint, December 17, 2014.

 

ii.     KV Kamath, “KV Kamath on How to Manage Change”, www.rediff.com,  February 9, 2005.

 

iii.    “How KV Kamath Built ICICI into a Global Giant”, www.rediff.com, June 9, 2007.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19

11            A Case of Employee Protection: The Pixar Story

 

 

Pixar Animation Studios (Pixar) a US based, Academy Award winning, computer animation film studio was set-up in 1979 as a part of the computer graphic division of Lucasfilm Ltd. to develop imaging technology and its own imaging computers.

 

Pixar had brought to life many notable animated feature and short films. The company had produced a continuous streak of hit films (The Incredibles, Cars, etc.) and revived the art of animation in the movie industry. By 2014, Pixar was a multibillion dollar company and one of the leading producers of animated films worldwide.

 

But Pixar‟s initial years were far from successful. In 1985 the company, then known as the Computer division of Lucasfilm, was surrounded by financial troubles. George Lucas (Lucas), the founder, was uncertain about the financial worth of computer animated movies and recruited Dough Norby (Norby) as President to deal with the situation.

 

Norby decided to bring about layoffs across the division. Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith, leaders of the computer division, were advised to choose the names of employees to be laid off. Both these leaders kept stalling the matter. Catmull suggested that sacking employees would diminish the value of the computer division which could be profitably sold-off instead.

 

Norby was determined to see the layoff through. Catmull and Smith were finally ordered to come up with a list of employee names. Both these leaders agreed upon two names – Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith. Then the management decided not to fire any of the employees. The bold steps taken by the leaders to protect the welfare of employees were highly appreciated.

 

Subsequently, in 1986, the computer division of Lucasfilm was bought by Steve Jobs for $5millions and named Pixar. His idea was to build it into a computer company. The passion of animators of the erstwhile computer division made Pixar into an animation powerhouse.

 

The success of Toy Story in 1995 marked the beginning of Pixar‟s promising future. Subsequently, 12 feature films by the company generated nearly $7.2 billion globally. In 2006, Pixar was bought by The Walt Disney Company for $7.4 billion and Catmull was named the President.

 

Business leaders must be empathetic towards the needs and welfare of their employees. The case of Pixar illustrated „leadership and leadership skills’. It was not possible for leaders to be truly effective

and efficient unless they focused on honing their human skills.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the measures taken by Pixar leaders Catmull and Smith, to protect their employees.

 

(Hints: suggestion to sell the computer division instead of firing employees- offering to sacrifice their own jobs to save the jobs of their team members)

 

2.     Discuss the role of human skills in creating effective leaders.

 

(Hints: creates empathy- garners appreciation- builds employee morale)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Leadership Skills/ Unit 11-Leadership / Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Daniel Terdiman, “With Pixar, Steve Jobs Changed the Film Industry Forever,” www.cnet.com, October 6, 2011.

 

ii.     Robert I. Sutton, “Pixar Lore: The Day Our Bosses Saved Our Jobs,” HBR Blog Network, January 10, 2011.

 

iii.    “The Pixar Timeline,” Pixar.com.

 

Other Keywords: HRM, Leadership and Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

12                        The Best Office Perk From WordPress

 

 

Automattic, Inc. (Automattic), a web development firm established in 2005 was most notable for WordPress (a free and open source blogging platform). Automattic had created a buzz in the business world with its unconventional work culture of a 100% distributed workforce. Its global workforce, of over 260 employees, either worked from home or from wherever else they wished to work from, whenever they wanted.

 

The company was not against the idea of having a conventional office space. But it preferred to focus its

 

efforts on hiring self-motivated candidates (preferably with experience in freelancing or being self-employed) instead of creating a lavish office. They understood employees‟ need for autonomy which

made their location of work insignificant.

 

All official communication between the employees happened online. Instead of relying on emails, employees collaborated and interacted on internal blogs, in chat rooms and Skype, etc. A special type of blog, named P2, further facilitated employee interaction and allowed them to catch up on any activity they might have missed.

 

Employees were equipped with the latest Apple devices like MacBook and a big monitor. All newly hired employees were given $2,000 in order to improve their home offices. Employees also received reimbursements in case they wished to get a desk at a co-location centre (type of data centre providing space, power and bandwidth for rent).

 

The fortune saved on creating plush offices had been dedicated to travel and meeting budgets for its employees. Teams were free to meet for a „hack‟ week (time away from day-to-day work to collaborate

and develop ideas employees were passionate about) at any location in the world, whenever they wanted. The company also paid for an annual „Grand Meetup‟ at exotic locations like San Francisco, Quebec,

Mexico, etc.

 

The distributive and decentralized workforce model had helped the company to attract and hire some of the best engineering talent worldwide. It had also kept office politics at bay.

 

·       It may curb creativity

 

·       It may need a considerable amount of adjustments and allowances especially from managers

 

_{·                   It required a significant level of self-motivation from employees}Despitethesebenefits,expertswereapprehensiveaboutthebenefitsof remote work culture:

 

Organizations must strive towards hiring the right employees and should create and nurture a culture based on mutual trust. The case of Automattic illustrated „employee empowerment and participation’. Empowering employees and encouraging participation based on mutual trust could be

vital for a company‟s success.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the measures taken by Automattic to ensure employee empowerment and participation.

 

(Hints: created a distributed workforce-recruited self-motivated candidates-provided monetary assistance to create conducive work environment at home)

 

2.     Discuss the pros and cons of remote/distributed work culture.

 

(Hints: money saved on offices was dedicated towards travel and meeting budgets that further motivated employees-fear of curbing creativity-might require significant adjustments from the management)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Empowerment / Unit 12-Empowerment & Participation / Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Aimee Groth, “The Makers of WordPress Learned Years Ago that the Ultimate Office Perk is not Having an

Office,” QUARTZ India, September 15, 2014.

 

ii.     Julie Bort, “Great Place to Work:  At Automattic Employees All Work From Home and Travel to Exotic

Locations,” Business Insider, August 8, 2013.

 

iii.    Rachel Emma Silverman, “Step Into the Office-Less Company,” The Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2012.

 

iv.    Scott Berkum, “How WordPress Thrives with a 100% Remote Workforce,”www.hbr.org, March 15, 2013.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM

 

 

21

 

	13		Walmart‟s New Dress Code: Triggering Employee
			Conflict?

 

Walmart Stores, Inc., well-known as Walmart, a US based multinational retail giant was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and was headquartered at Arkansas.

 

In August 2014, Walmart announced its decision to introduce a new dress code – khaki or black trousers and blue or white collared polo shirts - effective September 2014. Employees were expected to bear the expense for these new outfits, estimated to cost $40-$50 per annum.

 

Walmart would continue to provide its mandated branded blue vest for free. Employees could either buy new clothes or use existing outfits that met these new specifications. They could buy these new outfits at

 

Walmart stores using „employee discount‟ or at any other store. Walmart‟s decision irked employees, especially those at the lowest end of the pay spectrum (Refer to Chart 1 for Employee‟s objection about the new dress code and the company‟s justification).

 

Chart 1: Walmart‟s New Dress Code

 

·	Employees‟ Objections	·	Company‟s Justifications
	Employees expected Walmart to		Legally, companies were expected to pay if they required
	bear  the  cost  of  the  newly		employees to wear branded clothes or outfits that could not
	introduced dress code.	·	be worn outside of work.
			Collared shirts and khakis were outfits that could be worn
·		·	elsewhere.
	Expecting  workers  to  pay  for		Employers were expected to bear the expense if the cost of
	their  new  outfits  would  put		the dress and its cleaning fees caused a worker‟s wage to
	additional burden on the already		drop below $7.25/hour. Full-time employees at Walmart
	pressed budgets.	·	earned about $12.92/hour.
·  Employees felt that a change in			The new dress code was introduced to impart a professional
	dress  code,  by  burdening  its		touch  and  to  distinguish  Walmart‟s  employees  from
	employees, was not a necessary		customers dressed in khakis and blue or white t-shirts.
	action.

 

Adapted from Deborah Weinstein, “What Employers Should Learn from Wal-Mart‟s Dress Code Controversy,” Knowledge@Wharton, September 22, 2014

 

Walmart could find itself embroiled in class action suits if it failed to resolve this conflict. Legal experts suggest that Walmart should either recall its new dress code or work out a settlement with its employees.

 

The case of management-employee disagreement at Walmart illustrated ‘conflict caused due to organizational change’. The decision to introduce a new dress code was viewed differently by the

 

organization and its employees. Employers must exercise caution while formulating and implementing policies that could impact its employees in a negative manner.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the reasons that could trigger employee conflict in an organization.

 

(Hints: change in company policy- passing on the financial burden of a policy change on the employees)

 

2.     What objections did employees raise over Walmart‟s new dress code?

 

(Hints: employees were expected to bear the cost of the new dress code- felt it was not a necessary action)

 

Course Reference: Concept- Destructive Conflict/ Unit 13- Conflict, Negotiations & Inter Group Behavior/Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Deborah  Weinstein,  “What  Employers  Should  Learn  from  Wal-Mart‟s  Dress  Code  Controversy,”

 

Knowledge@Wharton, September 22, 2014.

 

ii.     Erik Sherman, “How Walmart‟s „Dress Code‟ Costs Employees,” Forbes, September 8, 2014.

 

iii.    Jillian Berman, “Walmart Workers Complain they Can‟t Afford New Dress Code,” The Huffington Post,

 

October 9, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

22

 

	14		Google Could Upshoot Innovation through Group
			Formation

 

Google, a US-based MNC, founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, offered internet based services and products. It had around 47,756 employees as of 2013, out of which 10,000 employees worked as software developers in 40 offices.

 

Larry Page took the charge of CEO at Google for second time in 2011. Page reorganized (Refer to Chart 1 for Page‟s Reorganization Plans) the original group called as “OC” (Operating Committee) to a new team called “L Team” (Larry Team). He revamped the existing groups and created L team to attain some

 

specific organizational goals. His motive in reorganizing and creating the group was to be more competitive in the battle against companies such as Apple Inc and Facebook.

 

 

·       Removing inefficiencies

 

·       Coordinating different product groups

 

·       Developing a self-driven team

 

·       Giving autonomy

 

·       Foster innovation

 

·       Diverting resources to big projects

 

·       Speed up decision making

 

_{·                 Improve execution}Specificorganizational goals to be attained:

 

 

Combining Groups

 

·     Merged the groups working on computer-operating software and Google's Chrome Web browser with the team of Android mobile operating software

 

·     The work of software developers was simplified by combining two different platforms

 

·     The group was initiated to develop an app that converted Android apps to run on Chrome

 

·     Anticipating the future demand, the groups focus was on Android

Chart 1: Page‟s Reorganization Plans

 

Reorganizing Groups

 

·     Split the team of mapping and commerce unit into two separate groups

 

·     The mapping group was made a part of search team

 

·     The commerce unit group was included in advertising products groups

 

·     The commerce team was expected to focus on selling the ad space on Google sites

 

Forming New Group

 

·     Formed a new group called "L Team" ("L" means Larry)

 

·     Executives who were less successful to fit the Google products under one umbrella were moved to new projects

 

·     Executives who were successful in defining the products fit were taken into L-Team

 

·     The team directly reported to the CEO and focused on developing new products (Resultant: Google+)

 

 

Adapted from Efrat Amir,“Page Shakes Up Google Leadership Team Further,” Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2013

 

Page‟s objective behind reshaping the teams and forming of L-Team was to encourage quick innovation and offer a unified service platform to the customers.

 

 

23

Different types of ‘groups are formed’ to achieve specific results in organizations. Page could foster innovation in Google by combining and re-organizing teams, allocating new tasks and responsibilities and by developing a new team called L-Team.

 

Discussion Questions:

 

1.     Explain the reasons for and goals to be achieved in formation of groups?

 

(Hints: achieve specific goals-removing inefficiencies- speed up decision making)

 

2.     Name the internal factors that forced Larry Page to reorganize groups in Google? (Hints: to be more efficient-to be able to compete against competitors like Apple)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Nature of Groups/ Unit – Foundations of Group Behavior/ Subject – Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       “There‟s A Pretty Big Tension In How Larry Page Is Running Google,” Business Insider, March 15, 2013.

 

ii.     Efrat Amir, “Page Shakes Up Google Leadership Team Further,” Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2013.

 

iii.    Oreskovic Alexei, “Exclusive: Google CEO‟s Inner Circle: Meet the L Team,” in.reuters.com, San Francisco, December 17, 2011.

 

Other Keywords: Organization Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24

 

	15		Team Building: Menlo Innovations‟ Formula for
			Success

 

Menlo Innovations, well known as Menlo, a software design and development firm was incorporated in 2001. It was headquartered at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Menlo was known for its culture of innovation and experimentation. It had an open workspace devoid of physical barriers like cubicles. Even the CEO,

 

Richard Sheridan, found himself seated next to his staff members. In 2012, Sheridan and his team members conducted over 240 tours, showcasing Menlo‟s culture to representatives from established players like Toyota and Thomson Reuters. (Refer to Chart 1 for the details of Menlo‟s collaborative team culture):

 

Chart 1: The Collaborative Team Culture @ Menlo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Richard Sheridan, “Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love,” strategy-business.com, 2013

 

Despite its high-involvement culture, experts had voiced their apprehensions about Menlo‟s team-building approach (Refer to Chart 2 for concerns about Menlo‟s collaborative work culture).

 

Chart 2: Menlo‟s Collaborative Work Culture & Concerns

 

	Collaborative Work Culture				CONCERNS
Open-Collaborative Workspace					Did  not  use  any  of  the  proven
·	Pair	Programming'-No	employee	Employee	techniques  like  stock		ownership
	worked alone			Compensation	and profit sharing for rewarding its
					employees
Employee-Friendly Work Environment					Management	tactic	of	making
·	The company allowed its employees to			Real Intention	employees	work   hard		without
				behind the	adequately	compensatingand
	bring  their  babies,  known  as  'Menlo
				„Joyful, Team‟	rewarding them for the same
·	Babies' to work			Culture
	40 hours work weeks
Self-Managed Teams					Not  feasible  for  established  and
·	Employees were encouraged to work on			Applicability	large organizations
	the simplest things that could possibly
	work

 

Adapted from Leigh Buchanan, “Taking Teamwork to the Extreme,” Inc..com, April 18,2013

 

 

25

‘Building effective teams’ served as the secret ingredient in Menlo Innovation‟s success story. By

creating  a  bossless  culture,  Menlo  encouraged  its  employees  to  continuously communicate  and

collaborate with each other. Menlo‟s approach of empowering its employees had been instrumental in

 

its success.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     How did Menlo succeed in creating a collaborative work culture?

 

(Hints: recruit the right candidates-adopted a problem-solving approach-a hierarchy free organization structure)

 

2.     Discuss the drawbacks of the team-building approach.

 

(Hints: doubts over the real intention behind creating happy teams- feasibility issues)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Essential for Building Effective Teams/ Unit 15-Understanding Work Teams/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       John Baldoni, “Menlo Innovations: Putting the Joy Into Work,” Forbes, January 7, 2014.

 

ii.     Leigh Buchanan, “Taking Teamwork to the Extreme,” Inc..com, April 18,2013.

 

iii.    Richard Sheridan, “Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love,” strategy-business.com, 2013.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26

16                Elements of Informal Organization at Google

 

 

Google, a multinational company providing Internet-related services and products like search and online advertising technologies, was founded by Stanford University PhD students, Larry Page (Page) and Sergey Brin (Brin). It was incorporated in 1998 and was headquartered at Mountain View, California.

 

Google encouraged its employees, popularly known as Googlers, to pose work and company related

 

queries directly to Page, Brin or any other employee or superior, irrespective of their designation (Refer to Chart 1 for the Flat Organization Structure @ Google). Employees were attracted to the company‟s wafer-thin hierarchical structure. Google was ranked first in Fortune magazine‟s „Best Companies to

 

Work For‟ in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013.

 

Chart 1: The Flat Organization Structure @ Google

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Karl Moore and Kylie, “The Decline but Not Fall of Hierarchy – What Young People Really Want,” Forbes, June 14, 2011

 

Despite its benefits, Google‟s flat organization structure suffered from certain drawbacks (Refer to Chart 2 for the pros and cons of Google‟s organization structure).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27

 

Chart 2: Pros & Cons of Google‟s Flat Organization Structure

 

PROS	CONS
Promoted employee empowerment and employee	Required a great deal of adjustment from both,
engagement	the employer and the employee
Focused on work instead of designations	Could lead to a chaotic work environment

 

Helped  in  creating  greater  transparency  and  a       Sharing  confidential  information  like  company

sense of ownership among employees                       roadmaps and product launch plans could lead to

information   leakage    which                      could       cost       the

company in the long-run

 

Adapted from Karl Moore and Kylie, “The Decline but Not Fall of Hierarchy – What Young People Really Want,” Forbes, June 14, 2011

 

Experts opined the benefits of a hierarchical organization structure could not be totally over-looked.

 

1.     Relevant in times of crisis : Managers/Superiors could use their past experience to guide their juniors and relatively less experienced sub-ordinates in handling a crisis situation more efficiently

 

2.     Fostered a sense of accountability: When sub-ordinates were required to report to a higher authority it would drive a sense of responsibility and accountability.

 

‘Informal Organizations’ referred to firms where power was derived from personal characteristics instead of the position/designation of an individual. Google adopted a hierarchy-free, fun-filled work environment where employees were not expected to adhere to conventional norms like dress codes.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the characteristics of an informal organization.

 

(Hints: flat organization structure-open communication-high level of employee involvement)

 

2.     What were the pros and cons of Google as an informal organization?

 

(Hints: focus on work not designations-greater transparency-could lead to a chaotic work environment

 

Course Reference: Concept-Nature of Informal Organizations/ Unit 16-Informal Organizations/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       James B. Stewart, “Looking for a Lesson in Google‟s Perks,” The New York Times, March 15, 2013.

 

ii.     Karl Moore and Kylie, “The Decline but Not Fall of Hierarchy – What Young People Really Want,” Forbes, June 14, 2011.

 

iii.    “Our History in Depth,” www.google.co.in.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28

17                                                 Holacracy @ Zappos

 

 

Zappos.com, popular as Zappos, a Las Vegas based online clothing and shoe retailer, was founded in 1999 and was acquired by Amazon.com in 2009. Zappos had about 1,500 employees in 2014.

 

In late 2013, the company decided to bid adieu to its conventional hierarchical organizational structure. It adopted a holacratic organizational design instead. The decision to adopt a holacratic organizational

 

design was taken to save Zappos from becoming unwieldy and inflexible as its business and workforce expanded (Refer to Chart 1 for Zappos‟ Holacratic Organizational Design). Holacracy: Based on the Greek term „holon‟ which referred to units that were self-reliant yet dependent on the greater whole, of

which they were a part.

 

Chart 1: Zappos‟ Holacratic Organizational Design

 

 

Self-Governing

 

Importance on 'Job Roles'

 

 

 

 

 

Overlapping Circles with Even

Power Distribution

 

400 Circles

 

Employees took up Multiple Roles

 

 

 

 

Holacratic

Design

 

 

 

 

Removal of Designation

 

Restricted Positional Power.

 

Employees Took Accountability

 

 

 

 

 

Voiced Grivence

 

At the Frequent 'Town Halls

 

 

Adapted from Steve Denning, “Making Sense of Zappos and Holacracy,” Forbes, January 15, 2014

 

Till 2014, Zappos was the largest company to adopt a holacratic structure. Despite its many advantages, holacracy suffered from a few drawbacks (Refer to Chart 2 for the pros and cons of holacratic organizational design).

 

Chart 2: Pros & Cons of Zappos‟ Holacratic Organizational Design

 

PROS	CONS
Promoted employee empowerment	Required  a  great  deal  of  adjustment  from  both,  the
	employer and the employee
Focused on work instead of people	Holacracy may seem impractical and unreal. For instance,
	it  may  not  be  feasible  to  design  meetings  to  instantly
	redress employee complaints/issues
Helped in creating greater transparency	Lacked a „human-centric‟ approach
as employees could not use designations
as an excuse for non-performance.

 

Adapted from various sources

 

The case of Zappos illustrated ‘types of organizational design’ which defined the framework within

 

which employees functioned. Holacracy was one of the new emerging organizational designs. The decision of adopting a holacratic structure may prove critical in deciding Zappos‟ fate.

 

 

29

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     What were the characteristic features of Zappos‟ new holacratic organizational design?

 

(Hints: self-governing-frequent Town Halls-even power distribution-no designations)

 

2.     Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the holacratic organizational design?

 

(Hints: promoted employee empowerment-focused on work instead of people-lacked human-centric approach)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Types of Organizational Design/ Unit 17-Foundations of Organizational Structure/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Jena McGregor, “Zappos Goodbye to Bosses,” The Washington Post, January 3, 2014.

 

ii.     Steve Denning, “Making Sense of Zappos and Holacracy,” Forbes, January 15, 2014.

 

iii.    “The Holes in Holacracy,” The Economist, July 5, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM, HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

	18		The Decision Rationality behind Appointing Shikha
			Sharma @ Axis Bank

 

Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank, provided financial services to customers including retail businesses and large and mid-sized companies. Axis Bank headquartered in Mumbai, India had about 2,400 branches and nearly 12,900 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) countrywide in 2014. It was the 3^rd largest private bank in India in 2014.

 

In 2009, majority of the Board members at Axis Bank arrived at the decision to appoint Shikha Sharma, Managing Director (MD) and CEO at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, as Axis Bank‟s new CEO and MD. This decision was not supported by Axis Bank‟s outgoing Chairman and MD, PJ Nayak. Nayak was

 

unable to stop the decision to appoint Shikha as all the Directors, barring him, supported her hiring (Refer to Chart 1 for arguments supporting and negating the decision to hire Shikha Sharma‟s).

 

Chart 1: Arguments Supporting and Negating Shikha Sharma‟s Recruitment Decision Making

 

Internal Candidates Lacked

the Desired 'Well   -Rounded'

Experience

 

 

 

Absence of  a	Reasons	Shortlisting of
Suitable	Supporting	potential successor
Successor within	Recruitment	without seeking
the Bank	Decision	Board's approval

 

 

Shikha's Strategic Decision Making Ability

 

ICICI Pru continued to be the 'Market Leader'    under

Shikha's Leadership

 

 

Excellent Internal

				Leadership
		An Insider
		Should be
	Considered			Reasons	Felt Shikha
				Opposing
		Nayak			lacked relevant
				Recruitment
		preferred			banking
				Decision
Hemnat Kaul					experience
		and MM
		Agarwa  l

 

 

Adapted from Sourav Majumdar, “The Quiet Architect: Shikha Sharma has Magically Transformed Axis Bank in a Short Span,” Forbes India, October 13, 2014

bagged the „Best CEO Private Sector‟ award. Under her leadership, Axis Bank:

 

·       Featured in Forbes Asia‟s „Fab 50‟.

 

·       Emerged as both, a corporate and retail institution.

 

·       Witnessed 44% (year-on-year) growth in retail term deposits, in the June 2014 quarter.

 

·         Recorded 18% growth in its net profit (year-on-year).^{In2014,Shikha-}

 

Recruiting Shikha Sharma as Axis Bank‟s new CEO and MD illustrated the case of ‘decision rationality’. Organizations were often expected to choose a course of action from a set of available

 

alternatives. The top management at Axis Bank evaluated both, the internal and external candidates and arrived at a decision that proved beneficial for the Bank.

 

 

 

 

31

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the decision rationality process.

 

(Hints: problem definition-identification of key criteria-awareness of alternatives-evaluation of alternatives-choosing the alternative with the highest value)

 

2.     Discuss the decision rationality behind Shikha Sharma‟s appointment as the CEO at Axis Bank.

 

(Hints: need for a suitable successor-absence of a suitable candidate internally-Shikha‟s strategic decision-making ability)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Decision Rationality/ Unit 18-Decision Making/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       “Nayak Quits After Axis Bank Appoints Sharma as MD,” Business Standard, April 21, 2009.

 

ii.     Shyamal Majumdar and Sudeep Jain, “Lunch with BS: Shikha Sharma,” Business Standard, February 16,

 

2010.

 

iii.    Sourav Majumdar, “The Quiet Architect: Shikha Sharma has Magically Transformed Axis Bank in a Short

Span,” Forbes India, October 13, 2014        .

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32

19                                        The Power Games @ BCCI

 

 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, popularly known as the BCCI, was the national governing organization for cricket in India. BCCI was founded in 1928 and was headquartered in Mumbai, India. It was a member of the International Cricket Council. This membership gave BCCI the authority to select officials, players and umpires to participate in various international events (Refer to Chart 1 for BCCI‟s Transformation Story).

 

Chart 1: BCCI‟s Transformation Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Venkat Ananth, “India‟s Cricket Board, a Law Unto Itself,” MINT, December 2, 2014

 

N. Srinivasan, faced a number of allegations as the President of BCCI in 2013 (Refer to Chart 2 for allegations against N Srinivasan).

 

Chart 2: Allegations Against Srinivasan

 

	Allegations	Actions Taken
Srinivasan  became  the  owner  of  the		Case  on the  grounds of conflict  of interest  was  pending
IPL team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK)		against him in the Supreme Court of India in 2014.
through his company India Cements
·	K.  Srikkanth  was  appointed  as
	CSK‟s brand ambassador when he
	was  still  the  Chairman  of  the
·	National Selectors‟ Committee
	The  Indian  Cricket  Captain  and
	captain of CSK, M.S. Dhoni, had
	been appointed as a vice-president
	in India Cements
Was accused in spot fixing and betting		His  son-in-law  was  accused   of  passing  confidential
scams in the IPL matches		information to bookies and was jailed.
Continued to serve as the Chairman of		In  March  2014,  the  Supreme  Court  of  India  urged
BCCI  despite  numerous  allegations		Srinivasan to step down from the Chairman‟s position.
and investigations against him		In December 2014, Supreme Court questioned the rationale
		behind  Srinivasan‟s  presence  in  the  BCCI‟s  meetings
		despite stepping down from the Chairman‟s position.

 

Adapted from Shankar Raghuraman, “BCCI Politics Similar to National Politics,” January 3, 2013 and recent newspaper articles

 

33

‘Power’ referred to the ability of an individual, group, etc. to influence and control anything that was of significance to others. The scams at BCCI had cast an impression of power misuse in order to influence important decisions like elections and selecting members for international matches.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     What role could power play in influencing important decisions in organizations?

 

(Hints: influence recruitment decision-influence selection decision-create a culture of bias)

 

2.     Discuss the incidents that created an impression of power misuse at BCCI.

 

(Hints: allegations of funds misappropriation at HCA- accusations on grounds of bias in match allocations)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Power/ Unit 19-Power and Politics/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Krishnadas Rajagopal, “Supreme Court Tells Srinivasan to Keep Away from BCCI Working Committee,” The

 

Hindu, December 10, 2014.

 

ii.     Shankar Raghuraman, “BCCI Politics Similar to National Politics,” The Economic Times,  January 3, 2013.

 

iii.    Venkat Ananth, “India‟s Cricket Board, a Law Unto Itself,” MINT, December 2, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Global HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

34

 

	20		General Motors: Inculcating a New Organizational
			Culture

 

General Motors an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Detroit was set-up on September 16, 1908 by William Billy Durant. In 2014, GM operated in more than 120 nations worldwide with over 2, 00,000 employees.

 

In the 1980s and 1990s, GM focused on global expansion. By 2000, GM had established its presence in emerging economies like Brazil and China. During the global recession and credit crisis in 2008, car sales plummeted. GM suffered significant losses and faced severe cash shortage. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was bailed out by the US government. The US government invested nearly $50

 

billion to bail out GM. According to experts, GM‟s cost structure and its culture were regarded as the major reasons behind the auto giant‟s plight.

 

GM‟s culture had been bureaucratic. Edward Whitacre, GM‟s newly appointed CEO in December 2009, made efforts to revamp this hierarchical set-up at GM by personally interacting with employees. In September 2010, Whitacre passed on the CEO baton to Dan Akerson. To break the silo culture at GM, Akerson reorganized the office space allocated to him. Instead of 3 large offices of about 13,000 square feet, many smaller offices were created in order to accommodate the complete executive operations committee. Luxuries like private bathrooms and daily food cart were done away with. Instead, cold cuts were made available for lunch to all employees in the boardroom.

 

Communication was central to Akerson‟s approach of cultural transformation. He conducted frequent video meetings to connect with GM‟s 1,500 senior managers. Akerson focused on fostering a culture of

accountability, which was an aspect that had been overlooked in the past. Employees, at all levels, were

expected to focus on performance and results as they would be answerable for their actions and inactions.

 

In 2013, the company‟s revenue reached 155 billion as compared to 105 billion in 2009.

 

His efforts were being taken forward by Mary Barra who stepped in as GM‟s CEO in January 2014. Like Akerson, Barra was also working towards building a culture of responsibility at GM. For instance, she appointed Jeff Boyer as the Global Safety Chief to cope with the ignition switch recalls at GM. This would help the company stay focused on critical customer safety aspects and also instill a sense of accountability.

 

Organizations must strive towards creating a culture that encouraged collaboration and communication. The case of General Motors illustrated ‘organizational culture and types of culture’.

Companies with a top-down management approach and water-tight departments might not be able to sustain in the long-run.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     How did the organizational culture at GM evolve under the leadership of different CEOs?

 

(Hints: initially bureaucratic-attempts at personal interaction with employees-organizational re-structuring)

 

2.     What measures could be taken to break the hierarchical organizational culture in an organization?

 

(Hints: break silo culture- increase employee interaction-reduce structural and hierarchical barriers)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Organizational Culture/Unit 20-Organizational Culture/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Amy C. Edmondson, “Fixing a Weak Safety Culture at General Motors,” Harvard Business Review Blog, March 20, 2014.

 

ii.     Bill Vlasic and Nick Bunkley, “Obama is Upbeat for G.M.‟s Future,” The New York Times, January 1, 2009.

 

iii.    David Welch, “GM Files for Bankruptcy,” Bloomberg Businessweek, June 1, 2009.

 

iv.    “General Motors Co.,”www.marketwatch.com.

 

v.      Eric Beech, “U.S. Government Says it Lost $11.2 billion on GM Bailout,”www.reuters.com, April 30, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Leadership and Change

 

 

 

35

 

	21		The Ignition Switch Recall Crisis: Lessons for
			General Motors

 

General Motors, popularly known as GM, a US multinational company, was established in 1908 by William Billy Durant. The company was involved in the designing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of automobiles and automobile parts. GM had operations across 120 countries globally and has a worldwide workforce of more than 2, 00,000 employees as of 2014.

 

GM had been embroiled in an ignition switch catastrophe since January 2014. It was blamed for 13 deaths and 31 crashes across the US. The faulty ignition switches stalled the car‟s engine, knocked out

the brakes and power steering and deactivated the air bags if the car crashed. GM admitted to being aware of the defect about a decade ago. The decision to recall these faulty cars came only in February 2014. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration issued a fine of $35 million to GM for its delay in recalling the 2.6 million faulty vehicles. The company was also accused of not informing its customers about the ignition switch issue despite being aware of the problem for 11 years.

 

In the past, GM did not welcome negative product feedback from its employees. For instance, Bill

McAleer, GM‟s former manager, had discovered and reported quality issues like gasoline leakage and steering linkage problems during a routine obstacle drive. GM ignored these warnings. Instead, McAleer was laid off in 2004.

 

In March 2014, GM appointed Anton Valukas, who investigated the Lehman Brothers collapse, to head their internal probe. In the same month, Mary Barra, GM‟s new CEO, appointed Jeff Boyer as VP for

global vehicle safety. This was a new designation created to tackle safety and quality issues at GM.

 

In April 2014, the company‟s dealers commenced the repairs on the recalled cars. Customers were not

 

charged for these repairs. In the same month, the company appointed Ken Feinberg, a lawyer specializing in corporate payouts, to handle compensation claims. A „Speak up for Safety Campaign‟² was also

 

initiated in April 2014. This campaign encouraged employees to bring out any potential safety issue. Later in the month, the company restructured its quality and engineering teams in its bid to focus on customer safety. GM changed its approach towards building a safety culture post the ignition switch

 

crisis. The company agreed to pay the $35 million fine in May 2014. In June 2014, 15 employees were dismissed and 5 others disciplined for their negligence and incompetence based on the internal review‟s

findings. In the same month, GM offered at least $1million to the families of the deceased. To reiterate the company‟s focus on customer safety, GM added a link, „ignition recall‟, on its website. This provided

detailed information regarding the safety hazards associated with its various cars.

 

Organizations should be willing to modify their strategies and style of management to meet the changing demands of business. The case of General Motors illustrated „managing planned change’.

It was essential for companies to be flexible and open to change in order to sustain in the long-run.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     What were the consequences of GM‟s reluctance to accept employee feedback in the ignition switch catastrophe?

 

(Hints: blamed for 13 deaths and 31 crashes across US- fined $35 million by the NHSTA)

 

2.     Discuss how planned change could benefit an organization.

 

(Hints: improve product development process- encourage timely correction in products)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Managing Planned Change / Unit 21-Organizational Change / Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Amy C. Edmondson, “Mary Barra Brings Teaming to General Motors,” Harvard Business Review, January 14,

 

2014.

 

ii.     Tim Higgins and Nick Summers, “GM Recalls: How General Motors Silenced a Whistle-Blower,” Bloomberg Businessweek, January 18, 2014.

 

iii.    “GM Didn‟t Warn Customers About Ignition Switch Problems for 11 Years,” The Huffington Post, July 19, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: Organization Development

 

2     General Motor‟s „Speak Up for Safety Campaign‟ was a program introduced for recognizing employees who came up with ideas to increase vehicle safety. It was also aimed at lauding employees whenever they voiced an aspect that could hamper customer‟s safety.

 

36

22          Reviewing Consultants through Survey Feedback

 

 

MQ Telecommunications (MQTC) Pvt. Ltd., a Singapore based company was incorporated in 2000. It offered technology and telecommunication solutions for commercial offices, dealing rooms and data centers. Its client list included government sectors, educational organizations, manufacturing, financial sector and technologies companies.

 

Client-consultant relationship was evident from the ancient religious texts where kings used to take advice from the wise men, sages, and saints because of their vast experience and wisdom gained from travelling across kingdoms. This trend continued even in the modern world in different fashions. MQTC appointed external management consultants several times to formulate key business decisions. Each consultant assignment produced different levels of success. In 2012, a study was conducted by Steven H. Applebaum to find which factors were relevant for effective client-consultant relationship. Nine pre-determined factors in client-consultant relationship were considered for the study (Refer to Chart 1 for the success factors):

 

Chart 1: Nine Pre-determined Success Factors

 

Nine Pre-determined Success Factors

 

·       Consultant professionalism

 

·       Matching client expectations with project deliverables

 

·       Clear and well communicated expectations and outcomes

 

·       Visible executive support

 

·       Consultant adaptation to client readiness

 

·       Consultant investing time in learning the clients environment

 

·       Defining the outcomes in terms of incremental successes

 

·       Real partnership between client and consultant

 

·       Consultant participation in implementation phase

 

Adapted from Steven H. Appelbaum, The Client-Consulting Relationship: A Case Study of Critical Success Factors At MQ Telecommuniques, Journal of Business & Economics Research, Volume 2, Number 2, 2012

 

Data was collected from 102 employees of MQTC. Managers from middle and lower level were selected from human resources, enterprise services, corporate communications, marketing research and marketing departments for the study. The results from the survey and the guidelines prepared for future consulting projects based on the findings were as follows (Refer to Chart 2 for guidelines developed for client-consultant relationship):

 

Chart 2: Results of Last Client-Consultant Relationship and Guidelines Developed for Future Client-Consultant Relationship

 

	Independent variables that emerged as	MQTC‟s guidelines for consulting assignments
	significant for client-consultant relationship
·  Adaptation to client readiness		·  Need for clarity, internal communication and
·	Clarity   of   objective,   deliverables   and	·	buy-in
·	outcomes		Spending more time on learning MQTC‟s
	Prototyping  and  emphasis  on  incremental	·	environment
·	success		Leveraging in-house knowledge and expertise
	Continuously  partnering  with  the  project	·	Implementation planning and execution to be
·	team	·	consultant mandate
	Consultants professionalism		Developing	more	clear	governance
·	Understanding the sense of urgency		procedures.

 

Adapted from Steven H. Appelbaum, The Client-Consulting Relationship: A Case Study of Critical Success Factors At MQ Telecommuniques, Journal of Business & Economics Research, Volume 2, Number 2, 2012

 

 

 

37

 

The survey feedback of MQTC employees were tested against the pre-determined factors, where in some independent variables emerged as significant and aided in setting guidelines for future consulting projects at MQTC.

 

In organizational development, ‘survey feedback’ was conducted among the work groups or departments to understand the perceptions of employees about changes in the organization and to help in the development of a motivational climate in the organization. MQTS survey results suggested some improvements and evolved some guidelines for efficient client-consultant relationship for improved project outcomes.

 

Discussion Questions:

 

1.     What is survey feedback in this context?

 

(Hints: data collection- diverse audience for survey-analysis- feedback)

 

2.     What benefits does survey feedback offer to organizations?

 

(Hints: understand employee perceptions-help develop a motivational work environment)

 

Course Reference: Concept- Survey Feedback /Unit 22 – Fundamentals of Organizational Development/ Subject – Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Pattanaik Devdutt, “The Rishi-Raja Connect Reveals Advisory Lessons for today‟s CEOs,” Economic Times,

 

November 14, 2014.

 

ii.     Steven H. Appelbaum, The Client-Consulting Relationship: A Case Study of Critical Success Factors At MQ Telecommuniques, Journal of Business & Economics Research, Volume 2, Number 2, 2012.

 

iii.    http://www.mqcoms.com/index.html#client.

 

Other Keywords: Organization Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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	23		Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A Case of Sensitivity
			Training

 

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) was launched by Mr. Narendra Modi, India‟s 15^th Prime Minister to transform India‟s image from a filthy nation to a clean and hygienic country. This 5 year drive was initiated on October 2nd 2014, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to fulfill his vision of „Clean India‟.

 

SBA encouraged India‟s 125 crore people to pledge devoting 100 hours every year, approximately 2 hours/week, to clean their surroundings. SBA aimed at sensitizing people towards the adverse effects of open defecation. Making this program transcend beyond a photo-op, pledging campaign would not be an easy feat (Refer to Chart 1for Challenges faced by SBA).

 

Chart 1: Challenges of SBA

 

The “wa hhta Pledge was a general, broad-

 

ü It did not mention the need to use toilets.

 

ü A lea li ess appeal did not necessarily result in people using toilets.^{brushedmessage.}

 

“Open

DEFECATION

FREE  INDIA

by 2019”

Open_ü defecation is not considered unhealthy.

About 51% of the people who defecated in

the open, regarded it as being good for

 

hildre s health.

 

The rate of decline in open defecation must be

 

ü About 110 million toilets were needed to be built over the next 5 years.^trebled.

 

 

ü    Reluctance to use toilets led to the failure of the previous^{PeopleinIndiahadapoorcompliancebehavior.}

 

	initiatives – Total “a itatio  Ca  paig   a d  Nir	al
ü	Bharat A hi a  .
	People who defecated in the open perceived latri	e	to
	e a   ea s of lu ur  .

 

Adapted from Nidhi Khurana, “Beyond Brooms and Toilets,” Livemint, November 6, 2014

 

 

·       Programs for sensitizing communities towards the benefits of using toilets for their health were to be designed. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation decided to design campaigns to sensitize school students towards the importance of using toilets. As a part of this campaign, teachers and students were to be encouraged to spread the sanitation message, especially across their families.

 

·       Sensitivity training programs were to be designed by using the successful „community-led‟ and „demand-driven‟ approaches used in Nepal and Bangladesh. In 1990, the „Social Mobilisation‟

 

(SOCMOB) campaign which started in Bangladesh, increased the demand for toilets. It also created a lucrative market for the private toilet producers. In 2012, the rate of open defecation in Bangladesh _{dropped to 3% from 34% in 1990.}ExpertssuggestedthatfortheSBAtobe successful as a campaign:

 

‘Sensitivity Training’ was essential to make people receptive towards the importance of creating a Swachh Bharat. Attempts made in the past failed to meet the desired outcome due to the unwillingness of people to use toilets. Organizations could use sensitivity training to modify employee behavior by understanding and changing their attitudes towards policy, practice, etc.

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Explain how Sensitivity Training would help cultivate a cleanliness culture among Indians?

 

(Hints: create awareness towards the importance of using toilets- teachers and children to spread the sanitation message)

 

2.     Discuss the challenges that may impede the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

 

(Hints: it was a general message-did not mention the need to use toilets-reluctance to use toilets)

 

Course Reference: Concept-Sensitivity Training/ Unit 23-Organizational Development Interventions/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Debjani Arora, “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:India‟s Sanitation Needs More Focus,” The Health Site, October 12,

 

2014.

 

ii.     Nidhi Khurana, “Beyond Brooms and Toilets,” Livemint, November 6, 2014.

 

iii.    “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Kicks Off: 10 Key Facts,” The Financial Express, December 17, 2014.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

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	24		Roca Inc.: The Story of „People-Oriented‟ Approach
			to Organizational Development

 

Roca  Inc.,  well  known  as  Roca,  was  an  outcomes-driven  youth  development  organization.  It  was

 

dedicated towards transforming the lives of young gangsters in the ages 17-24. The company was set-up in 1988 and was headquartered at Boston. Many of Roca‟s employees were former gang members. In

 

2014, Roca served 494 high -risk youngsters. Of these, 92% had no fresh arrests and 98% had no technical infringements. Roca was driven by a „people-oriented‟ approach in turning around the lives of young women and men (Refer to Chart 1 for Roca‟s approach).

 

Chart 1: Roca‟s People-Oriented Approach

 

High-Risk Young		Involved in Criminal Activities like selling drugs and
People		street fights	GET TERM IN JAIL
	No Financial	No Jobs	Limited Educational
	Independence
			Exposure

Roca’s Outreach and Data-Driven

 

Evaluation + Transformational

 

Relationships Approach

 

 

Showed-up for these		Processes like Peace-
Youngsters		Keeping Circles
		Helped Transform into
		Responsible Adults
	High-Risk Young	+
		Created a Better Future
	People

Re-engage in Society

 

Educational Gains like life-skills and case management programs

 

Renounce Criminal Activities

 

Stay out of Jail

 

Get Good Jobs

 

Economic Independence

 

 

Consistent,

 

Positive

 

Outcomes

 

Adapted from Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton and John Kania, “The Dawn of System Leadership,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2015

 

Roca used processes like „Peace Keeping Circles‟ to transform youngsters (Refer to Chart 2 for process used at Roca).

 

Chart 2: Process Used @ Roca

 

Youngsters,

 

Police, Probation

 

Officers etc.

1^st  Step: All Critical Players get

Together in a Circle

 

 

 

2^nd Step: Each person voiced his/her deepest intentions in a few words

 

CORE IDEA

 

“What affects

 

the Individual

Affects the

Community”

3^rd Step: Players patiently listen to each others’ problems

 

 

4^th Step: PKCs make its participants realize that a problem affects all members of a community and not just an individual.

 

Adapted from Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton and John Kania, “The Dawn of System Leadership,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2015

raised certain apprehensions about Roca‟s „people oriented‟ approach:

 

·       Making the company and the leader acknowledge his/her own shortcomings and biases was not an easy feat.

 

·       Getting employees from different organizational levels to patiently resolve a problem called for a

 

well thought execution strategy and strong leadership^Expertshad-

 

„People-Oriented’ Approach referred to the supportive attitude of an organization‟s top-level management in successfully implementing the OD process. Roca and its management used a „people-centric‟ technique to bring about transformation among troubled youngsters. A similar approach

could be used by companies to alter employee attitudes, improve inter -personal relations and to bring about organizational changes.

 

 

40

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.     Discuss the „people-oriented‟ approach at Roca Inc.

 

(Hints: re-engage high-risk youth in society-help in getting good jobs-offer educational gains like life-skills)

 

2.     What drawbacks could a people-oriented technique suffer from?

 

(Hints: not an easy feat to attain- called for strong leadership and a well thought execution strategy)

 

Course Reference: Concept-People-oriented Approach/ Unit 24-Future of Organizational Development/ Subject-Organizational Behavior

 

Sources:

 

i.       Crystal Garland, “Mentoring Gang-Involved Youth: How Roca, Inc. Combines Mentoring and Services in a High-Risk Intervention Model,” Justice Center, January 31, 2012.

 

ii.     Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton and John Kania, “The Dawn of System Leadership,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2015.

 

iii.    “Roca‟s Mission is to Disrupt the Cycle of Incarceration and Poverty by Helping Young People Transform

Their Lives,” www.rocainc.org.

 

Other Keywords: HRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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