INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

GHAZIABAD
Post-Graduate Diploma in Management – Full Time
(Batch 2021 – 23)
End Term Exam: I (Take Home Exam)
Subject: Organizational Behavior (OB)

Faculty Name: Profs Bindu Gupta / Nidhi Yadav / Richa Saxena / M.

Venkatesan / Nilanjana Bhaduri / Seeta Gupta / Vijay Lakshmi Singh

Exam Date: 27.09.2021 Section : ALL

Time: 2:30 Hrs. Maximum marks : 40, Wtg. – 40%

Instructions: All questions are compulsory. Use appropriate concepts and frameworks to
answer all the questions.

Case 1: How do you solve a Problem Like Marcus?

1. Analyze the behavior of Marcus using appropriate concepts from the course? (5)
2. What leadership approach should Grant use with Marcus and why? (5)
3. Analyze the performance appraisal of other employees in the annexure? What leadership
approach will you suggest for these employees and why?
(7)
4. If you had a team like Grant is having, what factors would you consider to motivate the
team? How would you improve the effectiveness of the team?
(8)

Case 2: Kartar Singh: Leading Change in the R&D unit of Raristan Hydel Power
Company (RHPC)

It was 10 PM and Kartar Singh, head of Raristan Hydel Power’s Solar R&D Unit (SRDU) sat
down at his desk to catch his breath. He had been on the unit since 6:30 AM but planned to stay
for another two hours to help with the lagging solar power R&D. It had been one month since he
had assumed charge as the head of R&D for the troubled solar unit. During this time, he felt, as
he did this evening, tired and overwhelmed.
As head of SRDU, he was responsible for the output, client satisfaction, managing the staff,
scheduling and budget for the unit. His 33-person staff included 25 researchers and 8 support
staff. In his first month as the unit head, he had already lost two researchers and in the six
months prior to his joining the unit three researches had left. But because of the recently
instituted hiring freeze at RHPC, Kartar was not able to replace some of these positions.

The unit was short-staffed; stress levels were high and employee morale low. In fact, solar unit
had the lowest employee satisfaction scores and highest employee turnover rate among all of the
departments at RHPC. And although its client (those using the R&D output in the company and
outside) satisfaction scores were average, they had been declining steadily over the past two or
three years. Furthermore, solar unit was infamous for its culture of confrontation, blaming and
favoritism. Relationships were tense not only between the research staff but also with many of
the unit’s other stake holders including other departments of RHPC.

To make matters worse, incentives for additional work could no longer be offered due to
additional cost cutting measures. He could also not outsource some of the work unlike his
predecessors, because of the cash crunch. This had severe negative effect on the staff dynamics
and quality of R&D output.

Kartar Singh
Kartar grew up in a small town in Punjab. Both his father and mother were researchers, though
in the academic world. So, he developed a deep respect and admiration for research at an early
age. By the time he entered high school he knew that he, too, like his parents wanted to be a
researcher.
After his M.Tech from IIT Mumbai, he had a stint in research in Eastern Massachusetts
University. His thesis for PhD was in solar generation. Later he worked for some of the top
teams in Germany and made a name for himself in solar energy research.
Kartar was married to a traditional family and his wife was a home maker. She had her
graduation from the local college in Kartarpur and preferred to live in India. Her desire to be
in India became even more pronounced after they had two daughters. Eventually, Kartar
decided to relocate to India. He joined RHPC in 2016 in the production department. Though
he liked research far more than production, he had to be content with the job to begin with.
He adapted well to the job, and was appreciated by the head of production, who considered
him an asset.
In 2012, the Govt. had decided to give a major push to solar energy taking a cue from
Germany during the visit of the head of the state to that country. So, RHPC decided to jump
into the fray. They had many ideas. The hydel projects were generally linked to a canal
system and along the canal, one could create solar farms. As for generation of power and its
transmission to the grid, RHPC had adequate expertise, and so, they thought that solar based
power generation would be easy for them to handle. However, solar power required a
different kind of research and hence the company added a solar research unit in its R&D
dept. in 2013. However, the solar unit somehow lacked leadership and had not met its targets
fully since its inception. In 2017, a new CEO took charge of RHPC and on review found that
the millennial goal of the organization would not be met for several reasons. Furthermore, the
aggressive stance of environmentalists made it very difficult to build large dams. Several
projects were in the limbo. The CEO thought of solar as a viable alternative to retain the lead
of RHPC in power generation.
On reviewing the solar unit of R&D, the CEO found that things were not in order. So, he
called the head of the solar unit and held him accountable. The head of solar unit resigned the
next day. RHPC advertised the vacancy quickly. Kartar consulted his boss, SK Sinha, about
taking up the challenge. Sinha knew Kartar’s credentials in solar energy research, but was
skeptical about how he would be able to perform in the unit which he considered ‘a lost
cause’ and advised him against applying for the job though he indicated that if Kartar could
turn over the unit, it would be a very special achievement. Kartar highly valued the advice of
Sinha but the call of what he loved coupled with the challenge of turning over the unit made
him think of the vacancy again and again. Finally, he applied for the job. During the
interview, the CEO was pleasantly surprised at Kartar’s expertise but he kept a studied
silence. No doubt, Kartar got selected for the job.
After several parleys with Sinha, Kartar finally took up the job. On accepting the job, the
CEO congratulated him and said, you’re doing the right thing, Kartar. I’m counting on you
to turn this unit around and do it fast. Kartar thanked him for the vote of confidence but
secretly worried that he had taken on more than he could handle.
Also weighing on his mind was the hard, downward turn the economy had taken right around
the time he accepted the job. All leading indicators suggested recovery was several months, if
not years away. RHPC’s revenue decreased sharply while costs continued to increase and the
leadership had to make difficult decisions to guide the organization through the economic
crisis and to help it stay afloat. They enacted a hiring freeze, stopped all special incentives
and reduced R&D spend. The administration framed all of these measures within the context
of the crisis and for the greater and longer term good. But an overworked and stressed staff
could not always muster the good will and foresight needed to take the long view, and
tensions were growing in the halls of RHPC.
Solar Unit
The staff in his old unit, the production unit, was a close-knit group who worked well
together as a team. Many of them were friends, ate lunch or dinner together and some also
socialized outside of work. There was a helping culture within the unit; a tone set and finely
calibrated by Sinha who was respected and well-liked. Sinha had earned a reputation as a
responsive manager who acknowledged his staff and sought their input on important
decisions relevant to the unit.
Soon after Kartar begun as manager in Solar R&D Unit (SRDU), he received requests from
29 of the unit’s staff members for one-on-one meetings and he soon experienced firsthand the
culture of conflict and blaming he had heard about. For instance, rather than helping and
mentoring the newer engineers, the more senior researches were often highly critical and
complained about them behind their backs. And many of the unit’s experienced researchers
were frustrated with the new comers and complained that they had inadequate training and
skill sets.
And Kartar also discovered that his predecessor had not kept complete and accurate records of
the staffs’ annual performance reviews. Kartar viewed regular informal inputs and the more
formal annual review as critical management tools. And he knew through his own personal
experience how open communication and a transparent review system had contributed to his
growth and development.
Kartar decided to run an off-site for his staff. At the very least he hoped to provide a forum to
begin discussion between members of the unit, but his larger hope was that the off-site would
inspire the beginning of a turnaround for the unit.
The Off-Site
Kartar stood in front of his staff and asked each of them to take a pen and sheet of paper from the
basket that was making its way around the room and to write, anonymously, the 2 to 3 things that
most frustrated or bothered them about the unit. He then collected all the responses and read
them one by one to the group.
Response after response identified lack of collaboration and teamwork, interpersonal and
intergroup conflict, senior researchers who treated the juniors as order takers rather than
colleagues, administrators who cared more about money than research output, favoritism,
dissatisfaction with staffing levels and performance review procedure. Kartar was blown away
by the amount of negativity; he got more than he bargained for with this exercise.
After he had finished reading all the responses, Kartar asked if anyone would like to comment or
follow up. His request was met with complete silence. He asked again this time becoming visibly
frustrated, but still there was no response and just as Kartar was about to ask again, Lalitha, a
young lady engineer who had been on the unit for one year jumped to her feet and exclaimed,
you people have no idea how mean you are!
During his month on the unit, Kartar observed Lalitha to be a very bright and affable person who
cared deeply about the unit’s output and research rigor. And in turn Lalitha seemed to receive a
lot of positive feedback from some of the clients but not the senior lot in the unit.
Lalitha was upset with some of the seniors. I want to feel like I belong and am a member of the
team, but I often get indirect negative messages and feedback from you. You make me feel like I
am doing everything wrong but won’t address me directly or in a straightforward manner.
Lalitha, then shifted uncomfortably in her place and her face flushed as she continued to speak.
One evening a few weeks ago, I overheard two of you talking about me at the desk. She paused
and drew a deep breath. You said you were tired of me and all of my questions and called me a
pest! Lalitha’s face fell with this last sentence; her eyes fixed on the floor.
Just then Rahul stood up. Rahul had worked in the unit since its inception. Kartar had noted
Rahul’s strong skill set especially with new technologies and his wonderful acumen with
research and integration. Also, he was one of the few researches who seemed to go out of his
way to help others in the unit.
Rahul said, I want feedback. It helps me to be a better researcher and to be a better co-worker,
but the review process here is a mystery! As is the annual salary increase. I’ve heard that we all
receive the same increase regardless of our performance. Is this true? If it is, I don’t think this is
fair.
Rahul also spoke about how he went above and beyond regarding continuing education
requirements and made it a point to bring himself up to speed on all new technologies, although
this often meant spending hours of his own time in classes and seminars. I do this because I want
to, he said, but I have to admit that I don’t get any type of acknowledgment whether it be verbal
or compensatory for my efforts.

Just as Rahul sat down, Nandakumar moved to the center of the room. Nandakumar had been
with the R&D unit for the last 20 years and with the solar unit since its inception. Kartar knew
Nanda delivered very good output but had also noted that he was resistant to change, quick to
complain and could come across as abrasive to his co-workers.

Nanda opened by remarking, sometimes I feel like I spend more time tending to paper than to
research. He then complained about the support asked for by the younger researchers. I
don’t have enough time to do my own job, he exclaimed. Every day I have to make difficult
decisions about what I cannot do in research. I resent this because we have too few
experienced researchers. I have to pick and choose the support I can give for a real
engineering problem brought by the production. And after all, isn’t that why we are all here
for? To take care of engineering problems?
Kartar had planned for this session to last for one hour but they were now passing the one
and half hour mark. He was trying to find a way to close the session using some kind of
positive take-away. After Nanda finished speaking, Kartar stood up and said okay, we have a
good overview of our problems, but can anyone offer any solutions?
Once again, there was an uncomfortable silence. In the room Kartar recalled how Sinha
involved the engineers in the production unit in decisions regarding staffing to great effect.
Kartar said, I do, and smiled. What if, he started, when I’m going to decide on staffing for
anything, I involve you? If you tell me, for example, “We need someone to process
paperwork on Saturday afternoons,” I can immediately bring that back to a staff meeting and
say this is what we have. We can hire someone for the paper work support or have someone
from the team volunteer if we don’t have money to hire. What do you want to do? It’s your
choice. This is how much money we have. We can take a little bit out of the research and we
can hire a secretarial assistant but we’re going to lose a little research punch. And you can
help me make the decision. I can do the same thing if we have to cut resources.
At the end of the day Kartar sat alone in outbound center; everyone else had departed but he
was using these last few moments to reflect on the day’s events.

1. Suggest what changes are required in this unit? Why? (7)

2. If you were Kartar Singh, how would have you initiated and implemented the
change?
(8)