Utkarsh Krishna Avtar

MBA2020-177

MIT Mid Term

Scenario 1
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is in quite a dilemma because situation does not
seem to be in their favor. Due to ongoing covid-19 crisis the change of venue
from India to UAE has brought them to starting point again. Even if the team
has high net value the amount of expenditure being incurred is really high for
instance including some problems like-
(i) Travelling expenses for whole team including players, coaches,
management etc. which will be quite high.
(ii) Cost of accommodation and according to preferences of the players
also has to be incurred.
(iii) The revenue which the team used to earn through sale of tickets or
sponsorship is out of the box due to covid scenario.
(iv) The situation of playing in a country which has high number of cases
and putting others into danger can really be risky for others and
players themselves.
Going through these problems one by one a decision has to be taken
whether to perform in IPL 2020 or not and has to be carefully evaluated.
For the following the process of decision making has to be followed. It
involves taking the best rational final decision and the particular model is
followed, and is assumed that there is complete access to information and
choosing one which gives most output.
The process followed is as under and CSK will perform decision making as
under-
(i) Define the problem- Identifying what is the problem which
particularly in case of the scenario is whether to take part in IPL 2020

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 or not and it is generally the objective towards which decision making
is directed.
(ii) Identifying decision criteria- It involves collection of all those factors
the team finds necessary which will help in taking final decision
whether to participate or not for instance
 Cost- Involving hotels and travelling etc.
 Risk- Causing transmission of virus.
 Outcomes- Results which will happen after taking decisions.
(iii) Allocating weights to criteria- Providing weightage which are more
critical than others and lay more emphasis on decision making apart
from others for instance- fear of spreading by playing in 2nd most
contaminated country is the issue which requires immediate
attention, quarantine period to be spent by players.
(iv) Developing the alternatives- Now developing alternatives regarding
decision making starts taking place for in this case it is very clear is
whether to participate or not.
(v) Evaluating different alternatives- Comparison takes place which has
more emphasis and which has more scope on choosing and is in best
interest and causes least loss. Special emphasis is placed on
economic, social, political factors etc. For instance- Playing at risk of
causing spread to others.
(vi) Selecting the best alternative- After careful analysis and drawing all
necessary points, conclusion is drawn regarding which is the best
feasible option and which has to be followed keeping in mind the
consequences that have to be provided for.

Final Conclusion-
 Keeping the mind the fast spread of corona virus and players lives
at stake, IPL-2020 should be cancelled for the time being as the
teams are already incurring high costs and due to ongoing
uncertainty, best option would be to either postpone or cancel for
the current year. Even after taking so many security and safety
measures already many countries had tried reopening sports
competitions failed for ex.- Italy.
 As main source of revenue for teams is getting exhausted, there is
no point for conducting full number of matches as it will not only

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 put CSK but also other teams at risk and increase the spread of
contamination with many players not from India but also foreign
countries. This is already lead to sponsors already backing out and
playing safe with only tv broadcasting companies taking coverage.
Number of matches should be reduced collectively to make IPL
span short collectively.

Scenario 2
Due to COVID pandemic, the existing staff cannot be called so appointment of
a new staff is crucial and personality tests are a crucial part during hiring of
employees. Personality tests are important because they bring out the traits in
the employees which are within and check if they match with the skills
required to bring the most qualified staff and place staff.
BIG 5 personality traits is a special tool for doing the same and is most
prominently used. It includes following-
 Openness
 Conscientiousness
 Extraversion
 Agreeableness
 Neuroticism

In short known as OCEAN.

 Openness- Always willing to explore new ventures and face new
experiences and learn new things. They always have lots of interest.
 Conscientiousness- Being quite aware, thorough and systematic.
 Extraversion- They are very interactive with others and can blend easily
with the surroundings and quite open with talking to new people.
 Agreeableness- Amiable, modest in communication and efficient in
group tasks.
 Neuroticism- measures the level of positivity and resistance to
emotional instability.
Regarding Chennai Super Kings, hiring employees should be on basis of
following benchmarks and they should fulfil these requirements-

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  Team Coach- He is the driving force of the team and trains while
keeping a close eye on the performance of players. He should always
be aware of how his players are performing and as players of team
are from different countries and different ethnicity, he should be able
to communicate with them properly without any hesitation and
rectify their mistakes. Coach should not be rigid and invite ideas and
opinions from fellow peers.
 Team Doctor- In current period of pandemic with strict rules of
medical checks to follow, he has to be cautious while dealing with
players as it is a critical situation and treat it with necessary attention
required. He should carefully examine players in case of injuries and
not act carelessly with a boost of energy and enthusiasm for his work.
 Team Manager- He should be a mix of friendliness and a strictness.
Friendly in the way he should cater to the needs of players and fulfil
them, strict in the aspect that he should ensure that proper chain of
communication and discipline is followed.
 Performance Analyst- He has a field job and should show enthusiasm
while being attentive at the same time observing players. Proper
communication skills and adjusting to different modes of operation is
necessary for ex.- observing different skills.
 Logistics Manager- He should be consistent and uniform in his work
by keeping close eye on movement of players or staff with minimum
chances of carelessness. Keeping in record the luggage as well as the
transport services as per the requirement of team and showing
qualities of friendliness with the group he is working. He should also
keep inventory in check.
Keeping these traits in mind for the different types of staff will help in
recruiting well qualified employees.

Scenario 3
As cricket is heart and soul for people of living in the country, people have
feelings attached to the sport and to its players. When MS Dhoni announced
his informal retirement from international cricket on his Instagram handle,
through a video highlighting every instance of his career, everyone was taken
aback. BCCI could not organize a ceremony due to ongoing pandemic, although
Board of CSK decided to do the needful with proper arrangements so that he
can communicate properly to his audience and give his message. The main aim
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is to organize a proper way to communicate so that idea can be transmitted in
a right way and in right manner as intended so as to eliminate barriers of
communication which can cause information to distort and get misunderstood.
For this, proper communication model process to be followed so as to
maintain uniform transmission of ideas as intended and make communication
effective-
(i) Sender- Dhoni is the speaker who wants to communicate his message
to the public as earlier he took informal way of communication which
was not that effective and invited mixed reviews. He is the origin of
process of transmission and has to transmit the idea or message he
plans to give.
(ii) Encoding- He has to encode the message in such a way that it can be
conveyed properly without any distortion, particularly through verbal
means as his clear intention can be shown through his way of talking
and the interaction can be more profound.
(iii) Channel- Since the pandemic will decrease the chances of physical
interaction, choosing channels will be very important and preferred
channels will be- tv, online social platforms like twitter and video
conferencing so that it reaches maximum people.
(iv) Receiver- It refers to the end people who will get the message
ultimately and for whom the conference was intended. Many are
confused due to casual declaration of retirement and want a picture
of clarity with proper channel of communication.
(v) Decoding- Understanding of message will depend on the decoding
capacity of the receiver and understanding to his capacity.
(vi) Feedback- It is the answer to the message transmitted and is the end
of communication process which can be response to the message
which will be present in form of questions after end of interaction.
Communication without feedback is incomplete.
Barriers are part of every communication of process and disturbances exist,
they can’t be eliminated but can be avoided by-
(i) Need of audience- Current need of the audience is they want direct
communication from Dhoni and he should cater to the same about
why he took retirement and his future plans etc.

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 (ii) Proper body language- Non-verbal communication can also have a
better impact on the public as it shows positivity and willingness to
talk.
(iii) Inviting feedback- A lot of people are puzzled and have a lot of
questions in mind regarding to the scenario. Many things can be
cleared if after him talking, attending some questions which will give
an overall picture can help a lot which involves nothing specific but
general questions.
(iv) Clarity- He should communicate in a way that can be understood by
everyone and provide proper insight so that the situation can be
understood well and leave little chances of doubt. Systematic
communication is the key and organization of thoughts already will
help and decrease chances of getting sidetracked.
(v) Uniformity- Sticking to the statement given or answered and not
getting changing stand will ensure the intention of skipper to the
group of receivers and all their doubts will be clarified to an extent.

Scenario 4
A team is not only formed by players who play in every match, players only
perform but there is a collective action force acting behind the player’s
performance. The success rate of Chennai Super Kings and its exceptional
performance also goes to the coaches, team manager, team CEO etc. who
through their knowledge and skills give shape to the players thinking and
improve their quality by enhancing their abilities. That is the role of managers,
they set targets and objectives and direct all the activities or work done with
competent staff to achieve end goal and find deviations for future
improvement. CSK’s performance has been shaped in this way only, through
continuous evaluation and change is management functions has helped the
team in long run.
There are 3 types of skills known-
(i) Human Skills- These skills involve understanding people of diverse
groups and motivating them to perform better.
Team Captain and Vice Captain demonstrate these skills, they are
responsible for integrating the team and to boost morale of every

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 player so that team can perform better. MS Dhoni the captain of the
team has this task and keeps check on every player.

(ii) Technical Skills- Skills which involve specialized expertise and

knowledge in performing a task and maybe having prior experience in
doing the same. The job is to perform practical tasks and there is
proper divisions assigned regarding the nature of job.
 Team Manager- He is assigned to check which players and
properly providing them what is deemed to be necessary and
ensuring uniformity in maintaining order.
 Media Manager- They are specialized in communicating to
various online platforms for example- uploading on twitter etc.
They also check the content going online and also in charge of
creating, writing material.
 Logistics Manager- He is in charge of maintaining supply of
goods, in this case sports material- bats, gloves, bats and keep
the inventory in check while keeping track of baggage of team.

(iii) Conceptual Skills- The skills which are not routine in nature and have
a major impact overall. Proper evaluation of situation and critical
thinking takes place.
 Chairman’s Representative- He is responsible for keeping an
overall watch on the functioning taking place and brings
necessary changes which require major attention.
 Team CEO- He is responsible for the overall team like-
appointing staff, hiring players, making arrangements for
resources of team.

Managerial roles are the duties which a person is expected to perform as per
his qualification and capacity. There are as of 10 managerial roles-
(i) Interpersonal Roles-
 Figurehead- They are face of the business and well known.
They hold importance but exercise little or no power. For
example- players like Shane Watson, Suresh Raina.
 Leader- Guiding force of the enterprise and keeps check. Team
Coach comes under this head as well as Team Captain.

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  Liaison- They are the source of interaction outside
organization. Media manager takes active role in this and
everything communicated outside is done by him only.
(ii) Informational-
 Monitor- Checks flow of information and source.
 Disseminator- Breaks the data. Team Manager analyses the
past data and makes calculations and how to implement
changes as per requirement and if something crucial,
communicate to higher level.
 Spokesman- Provides information to outside world.
(iii) Decisional-
 Resource allocator- Allocates resources accordingly as per
requirement. Logistics manager keep a close look on inventory.
 Negotiator- Enquires about the resources and different
decisions which are beneficial and in the favor of the
company’s best interest.
 Entrepreneur- Brings decision for major changes. Team CEO
and Chairman’s representative are major decision makers.
 Disturbance Handler- Makes changes for uncertain
circumstances. Team manager makes sudden changes in squad
as per requirement and as per the urgent needs.

Scenario 5
Perception is a process of collecting information and organizing in such a way
so that he/she can understand and form an image about the subject.
Perception is very dynamic and depends on the thinking ability of a person and
there are many ways in which you can look at things and shape ideas
individually. For same situation different persons can form different ideas
about a subject and all can be correct.
Regarding Chennai Super Kings, the shift in perception may have took place
between people due to following reasons-
(i) Perceiver- Our personal characteristics play a role in this like-
attitudes, personality, motives, etc.
 Motives- Motives refers to the objective towards which all
activities are directed and reflects the results. The main can
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 only be to win IPL 2020 and not about the well-being of the
players and staff as they are putting their lives at risk. It creates
an image that they are focusing on larger objective by risking
health of players and flying them to second most contaminated
country and compromising on more important things which
require attention.
 Expectations- Expectations refer to what we aspire for things
out. Cricket creates a sense of unity among people and their
expectations have been crushed as it is appearing to people
that the team is only concerned about the profits and not
being a responsible team. As Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar
and three support staff getting infected has caused disruption
of distrust among fans as they estimated well-being of their
team as whole.
 Psychological State- The mindset of the person also plays a
major role in changing a perception. Here people are assuming
that proper measures were not taken by the team which
caused spread of COVID and blaming it all on the travel which
was the cause.

(ii) Target- Characteristics in target play a crucial role and help in

perception as we tend to observe carefully characteristics like-
motion, sound, size etc. The scenario provides insight as the
reputation took hit because people in general assumed that no team
is affected it is taken as a general assumption. But the situation
arising in CSK has been put as an irresponsible group.
(iii) Context- Context refers to the situation or background in which it has
been framed and helps provide an overall picture and influence our
attention like- situational factors. Due to pandemic spreading already,
the fans are already blaming the management for conducting
tournament in this period and are ignoring the fact that even in India
they might have already been infected and have started showing
symptoms in Abu Dhabi on which they didn’t have much control and
are forming assumptions while blaming the management for the
unfortunate event that has occurred. These points have changed the
thinking of the people and flipped the picture completely.

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Utkarsh Krishna Avtar
MBA2020-177

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