4.

Read the following case and answer the questions given at the end
Rohit joined CVS Caremark project at TCS-Noida in November after a successful stint at Aviva in TCS-
Bangalore. Rohit felt that Caremark offered better career prospects, as it was a new project and the
company offered to work on the current technologies that were in demand in the market. He was
confident that he would excel in his new workplace. Rohit joined as Assistant Systems Engineer at
Caremark, with a handsome pay hike for becoming a confirmed employee of the company. He joined
Ashish Mehta's five-member team at Caremark. His team members seemed warm and friendly, and
comfortable with their work. He introduced himself to the team members and got to know more about
each of them.
At Aviva, he had worked under Sudhir Reddy and had looked up to him as a guide and mentor - always
guiding, but never interfering. Sudhir used to let Rohit make mistakes and learn from them. Sudhir
always encouraged individual ideas, and let the team discover the flaws, if any, through discussion and
experience. He rarely held an individual member of his team responsible if the team as a whole failed to
deliver - for him the responsibility for any failure was collective.
In his first week at Caremark project work, Rohit found the atmosphere at the office a bit dull. However,
he was quite excited. The team had been assigned a new project and was facing a few glitches with the
new software. Rohit thought about the problem till late in the night and had come up with several
possible solutions. He could not wait to discuss them with the team and Ashish. He smiled to himself
when he thought of how Ashish would react when told about his several possible solutions to the
problem. He was sure Ashish would be happy with him, having put in so much effort into the project,
right from day one.
Rohit was daydreaming about all the praise that he was going to get when Ashish walked into the office.
He waited for him to go into his workplace, and after five minutes, called him up, asking to see him.
Ashish asked Rohit to come in after ten minutes. When Rohit went in, Ashish looked at him blankly and
asked, "Yes?" Not sure whether Ashish had recognized him, Rohit introduced himself. Ashish said, "Ok,
but why did you want to meet me?” Rohit started to tell him about the problems they were having with
the software. But before he could even finish, Ashish told him that he was busy with other things, and
that he would send an email with the solution to all the members of the team by the end of the day, and
that they could then implement it immediately.
He came out of Ashish's cabin and went straight to where his team members sat. He thought it would
still be nice to bounce ideas off them and also to see what solutions others might come up with. He told
them all the solutions he had in mind. Sanjay, one of the team members, said, "What is the point in
discussing these things? Ashish is not going to have time to listen to us or discuss anything. He will just
give us the solution he thinks is the best, and we will just do what he tells us to do; why waste
everyone's time?"
Rohit felt like his heart sunk. Was this the way things worked over here? However, he refused to lose
heart and thought that maybe, he could change things a little. But as the days went by, Rohit realized
that Ashish was the complete opposite of his old boss. While he was efficient at what he did and
extremely intelligent, he had neither the time nor the inclination to groom his subordinates. His solutions
to problems were always correct, but he was not willing to discuss or debate the merits of any other
ideas that his team might have. He did not hold the team down to their deadlines nor did he ever
interfere. Ashish did not allow his team members to participate in making decisions. He makes decisions
alone and announces it to group to implement. However he is more concerned with completing the work
on time. If work did not get finished on time, he would just blame the team, and totally disassociate
himself from them.
Time and again, Rohit found himself thinking of Sudhir, his old boss, and of how he had been such a
positive influence. Sudhir was used to conduct group meetings, get the suggestions and makes the
decision. At the same time, he was used get the work done on time with the support of his group
members.
Rohit gradually began to lose interest in the work - it had become too mechanical for his taste. He didn't
really need to think; his boss had all the answers. He was learning nothing new, and felt his career was
going nowhere. As he became more and more discouraged, his performance suffered. From being
someone with immense promise and potential, he was now in danger of becoming just another mediocre
techie.
Questions
a. What, according to you, were the reasons for Rohit's disillusionment? Answer the question using
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory and Theory X and Theory Y? [6]

b. Identify leadership style of Ashish Mehta and Sudhir Reddy from the angle of Managerial Grid.
Give justification. [6]

c. What can a team leader do to ensure high levels of motivation among his/her team members? [4]

a) What, according to you, were the reasons for Rohit's disillusionment? Answer the question
using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Theory X and Theory y.

Answer: Rohit as an individual was highly self motivated person and his personality can be related to
the ‘Self Esteem’ grid of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory. Rohit always felt the need to be
respected; He also felt a strong need to have self-esteem and self-respect. He always had a desire to be
accepted and valued by others. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory speaks about two versions of
esteem needs: a "lower" version and a "higher" version. The "lower" version of esteem is the need for
respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The
"higher" version manifests itself as the need for self-respect.
For example, Rohit seems to have a need for recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. Deprivation of
these needs may lead to an inferiority complex, weakness, and helplessness. Rohit found himself in the
state of weakness, and helplessness and felt he was not contributing anything and felt he was just
another employee. This had highly demotivated him hence he was disappointed.

b) Identify leadership style of Ashish Mehta and Sudhir Reddy from the angle of Managerial
Grid. Give justification.

Answer: Ashish Mehta and Sudhir Reddy’s leadership style has been plotted using the following grid
Ashish Mehta displayed a Task management (9, 1) also called dictatorial or perish style of leadership.
He is more concerned about the job in hand and has less concern for employees. The style is based on
theory X of McGregor. The employees’ needs are not taken care of and they are simply a means to get
the work done. Ashish Mehta can be counted as a leader who believes that efficiency can result only
through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of people wherever possible. Such
a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short run but due to the strict policies and
procedures, high labour turnover is inevitable.
Sudhir Reddy displayed a Team Management (9, 9) style of leadership. This style portray high people
and task focus, the style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most effective
style according to Blake and Mouton. Sudhir Reddy as a leader felt that empowerment, commitment,
trust, and respect are the key elements in creating a team atmosphere which will automatically result in
high employee satisfaction and production.

c) What can a team leader do to ensure high levels of motivation among his/her team members?

Answer:
• An individual has to be motivated in order to motivate others: A person cannot expect to motivate
others if he/she is not individually motivated. To successfully evaluate what is needed to motivate
others, it is pertinent to consider the type of person that might motivate you.
• Motivation requires a goal: Without a specific goal in mind, it is impossible for a group or team to be
motivated. Although they might feel motivated, without a specific reason for working or something
they are working towards, their motivation serves little purpose.
• Motivation, Once Established, Never Lasts: Motivation should be an ongoing process. It cannot be a
once a year booster. Groups must come together on a frequent basis to discuss their strengths and
weaknesses and draw up plans of action and self-improvement for the future.
• Motivation Requires Recognition: People will strive harder for recognition than for almost any other
single thing in life. Consider a parents whose child brings home a picture that they have painted at
school.
• Participation Motivates: It is vital to get people involved and to seek their opinions. When working
in groups or teams it is important that an environment is established that gives each group member
an opportunity to express and share their ideas.
• Seeing Progression Motivates: When individuals progress as a group, moving forward and
achieving, they will always be more motivated. When they are going backwards and not making
progress, people are naturally less motivated.
• Challenge Only Motivates if there is a Potential to Win: If targets for results are set to high, they
may actually have a de-motivating effect. If the consensus of the group or team is that the targets are
out of reach or impossible to achieve, de-motivation will be the result. Competitions and challenges
can certainly be motivating and can inspire people to greater activity.
• Group Belonging Motivates: People want to have a sense of belonging. The smaller the group or
team, the greater the loyalty, motivation and effort. Extra-curricular activities can be used to draw
people together.
• Inspired Leaders are Motivational: This is not necessarily a manager. Leaders are those that inspire
others to action. Leaders are willing to take risks, are continually looking for new challenges and
opportunities.