POST GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT

WRITTEN ANALYSIS AND COMMUNICATION

GROUP 1 - SECTION B

ANCHAL MATHUR 2017IPM018

ANISH NAG S 2017IPM019

ASHWINI RATNOO 2017IPM030

BHARTI SHISHODIA 2017IPM038

GAYATRI K SHENOY 2017IPM048

HARSHIT KANT 2017IPM050

UJJAWAL

MARUL TRIPATHY 2017IPM070

RITHIK MANTHOGARI 2016IPM059

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

12th November, 2020

Dr Shweta Kushal,
Assistant Professor, Communications
Indian Institute of Management Indore
Prabandh Shikhar, Rau-Pithampur Road, Indore - 453 556

Subject: WAC Report Submission

Dear Dr Kushal,

This is to inform you that the members of Group 1, Section B have thoroughly read and
discussed the case titled, “Your Star Salesperson Lied: Should He Get a Second Chance?” and
have prepared a case analysis report.

The report contains the group’s original ideas and recommendations, based on our study of the
situation at hand at Novacib Labs. We have tried to keep away our biases and analyze the issue
strictly within the context, and we believe we have been fairly successful.

Kindly let us know of any clarifications you might need on any part of the report and we will be
glad to address the same.

We hope you find our observations interesting.

Sincerely,
Group 1, Section B
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Siddhant Kapoor, CEO of Novacib Labs, an 'ethical pharmaceutical-marketing firm' is faced

with a critical dilemma regarding the employment of Uday Madhav, who has been a star
performer in the organisation. Recently, he was found to have falsified reports. Siddhant has four
alternatives at hand - Fire, retain without punishment, retain with an open apology, and demote.
Upon careful evaluation, retaining with an apology is found to be the best course of action - it
strengthens the firm's reputation in the long run and retains a talented employee. A contingency
plan has also been proposed in case the selected alternative fails.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

CASE ANALYSIS 5
SITUATION ANALYSIS 5
PROBLEM STATEMENT 5
OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES 6
CRITERIA 6
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES 7
RECOMMENDATION 8
ACTION PLAN 8
CONTINGENCY PLAN 8
CASE ANALYSIS

SITUATION ANALYSIS
Siddhant Kapoor is the CEO of Novacib Labs, one of the largest pharmaceutical-marketing firms
in Western India. Novacib Labs is positioned as an ‘ethical pharmaceutical-marketing firm’ in its
market and uses the tagline ‘Health with Integrity’ as the firm’s tagline. To protect and maintain
the firm’s reputation of being an ethical firm and avoid falsified reports, Novacib follows a zero-
tolerance policy on ethics violations.

Recently, Siddhant learned that one of the top salespeople, Uday Madhav, has falsified customer
call information in his recent sales report. Uday routinely exceeds his sales targets, getting over
$250,000 in revenue each year, and also acts as a mentor for new salespeople joining the firm.
Uday’s recent sales report contains false dates for 3 client meetings.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Uday has been a star performer and has good relationships with clients and colleagues. However,
he has been identified to have falsified his recent sales report which is a grave ethical issue and is
against company values. What should be Siddhant’s next course of action with respect to this
issue?

OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES

1. Terminate Uday’ employment - As his actions have been against the company’s values
and in personal interest, he should be fired to uphold the firm’s integrity.
2. Retain without punishment - Uday is allowed to continue without punitive action,
considering the difficulties of juggling office-work and the new fatherhood. Despite
reassurances, he had fudged the dates, so it might be pressure he is putting on himself. A
counselling session can be arranged for Uday so his mental health is taken care of.
3. Retain with an open apology - Uday is allowed to continue after writing an open apology
letter to the entire organisation.
4. Demote - Uday will be demoted, and he may resign if he is not willing to accept the
demotion
CRITERIA

1. Integrity: Adhering to an ethical code was non-negotiable , according to Siddhant. Under

him, the firm’s tagline was changed to ‘Health with integrity’. He placed a zero-tolerance
policy for ethics violations.

2. Reputation: Any news that puts in bad light a star sales employee of the company will
attract unwanted attention from outside the organization. It is safe to assume that there
will be a backlash in the short run at least, post which it may or may not reinforce the
ethical image of the organisation.

3. Positive employee perception/motivation: Uday, Novacib’s star salesperson, often took

new employees under his wing to share sales tactics. The news of his unethical approach
and the way the firm deals with the situation will have an impact on the other employees’
motivation as well as their perception of the organization.

4. Business/sales: Novacib deals with several retail pharmacies as well as physicians, and it
has built its brand on the integrity of the organization. Any news on handling unethical
behaviour in the organization will have several eyes. Therefore, it is an important aspect
while making a decision.

5. Contact/ Relations of Uday: In the due time, with the organization, Uday has developed
good relations with the physicians and retailers. He was successfully able to leverage his
contacts for the organization, which might take a hit as a consequence of the decision.
Therefore, for the benefit of the organization, it becomes a significant factor when
dwelling at alternatives.

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES

1. Fire him- Firing Uday will be about saving the integrity and reputation of the company
while it affects other employee’s motivation. It would also damage client relations that
Uday has had and thereby, reduce overall sales of the company
2. Retain without punishment- Retaining Uday will be a bad mark on integrity, which is the
utmost important thing of the company, and other employees would not take it positively.
Whereas, this option helps us to retain contacts of clients, reputations of the firm and
sales.
3. Retain with open apology - Retaining with open apology internal to the company retains
integrity, the reputation of the company, contacts of Uday, and sales. But, it might not
leave a good impression on other employees’ motivation
 4. Demote- Option of demoting will be losing out contacts of Uday, sales generated by
them, and other employee’s motivation. While it will correct option to maintain the
integrity and reputation of the company

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4

Integrity ✓ X ✓ ✓

Reputation ✓ ✓ ? ✓

Employee Perception/Motivation X X ✓ X

Business/Sales X ✓ ✓ X

Uday’s Contacts X ✓ ✓ X

RECOMMENDATION

The best course of action would be to retain Uday and ask him to write an open apology letter to
the company. In doing so, the company would be able to protect its integrity, set an example for
the employees and would be able to retain Uday’s sales accounts without incurring major losses.
Though the reputation of the company may be negatively affected by this action, the company
can build back its reputation in the long term for being transparent, accountable for its actions
ensuring its stakeholders that ethical breaches would not be tolerated.

ACTION PLAN

First of all, Uday should be asked to write an open apology letter addressed to the organisation.
This letter should be put on the notice boards. Secondly, a meeting should be called where Uday
puts his stance in front of everyone. Thirdly, all of Uday’s previous contracts should be
scrutinized so that the company is aware and ready to face the backlashes in the future, if any.
This incident may be included in the companies code of ethics as an example so that employees
are aware that the firm takes ethics very seriously, even if you are a star performer.
CONTINGENCY PLAN

Though it is very unlikely, it may so happen that Uday might refuse to write the apology letter or
word it inappropriately. In case this happens,his firm should go ahead and terminate his
employment.
Novacib has placed great importance on integrity and the employees must respect that. Letting
him continue then would also set a wrong example for the rest of the organization. A refusal also
indicates that Uday is not aligned to the values of the firm and hence it is better to not retain him.