The die was cast. Prem Nath Divan, executive chairman of Vertigo, the country’s largest engineering project organization, decided to switch tracks for a career in academics
The die was cast. Prem Nath Divan, executive chairman of Vertigo, the country’s largest engineering project organization, decided to switch tracks for a career in academics
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Case 1: PROMOTING THE PROTÉGÉ
His premature exit was bound to create a
flutter at the Vertigo board. Having
joined Vertigo as a management trainee soon after college, he had gradually
risen through the hierarchy to take a board position as the marketing director
of the firm at 32. He had become the president
five years later and the youngest chairman of the company at 45. But, by the time he was 50, the whizkid had
acquired a larger than life image of a role model for younger managers and a
statesman who symbolized the best and brightest face of Indian management.
On
his wife’s suggestion that it would be wise to discuss the move with one of his
trusted colleagues before making a formal announcement of his intention to seek
premature retirement, Divan called on Ramcharan Saxena, a solicitor who has
been on the Vertigo board for over a decade.
Sexena was surprised at Divan’s plan.
But he was unfazed. “If that is
what you want to do for the rest of your life, we can only wish you well”, he
told him. “The board will miss you. But
the business should go on. We should get
down to the task of choosing a successor.
The sooner it is done, the better.
“I
think the choice is quite obvious, “said Divan, “Ranjan Warrior. He is good and
…” Divan was taken aback to see Saxena grimace.
“You don’t have anything against him, do you?” he asks him. “No, no,”
said Saxena, “He is good. A financial
strategist and a visionary. His
conceptual skills have served the company well.
But he has always had staff role with no line experience. What we need is someone from operations. Like Richard Crasta.”
“Richard
known things inside out alright”, said Divan, “But he is just a doer. Not fire in the belly. Vertigo needs someone who understands the
value of power and known how to use it.
Like me. Like Ranjan.”
“That
is just the problem, “said Saxena. “Prem, let me tell you something. Ranjan is
a man in your own image. Everyone known that he is your protégé. And are never popular. He has generated a lot of resentment among
senior Veritigo executives and there would be a revolt if he were to succeed
you. An exodus is something we can’t
afford to have on our hands. We should think
of someone else in the interest of stability to top management.” Divan could
not believe what he heard. He had always
prided himself on his hands – on style and thought he had his ear to the
ground. “How could I lose touch?” he
wondered, somewhat shaken.
“When
you are the boss, people accept your authority without question,” continued
Saxena. “In any case, you have been successful at Vertigo and it is difficult
to argue with success. But the moment
you announce your intention to leave, the aura begins to fade away. And in deciding on your successor, the board
will seek your opinion, with due regard to your judgment. The board member must do what in their view
is right for the company. Having said
that, may I also mention that if there is a showdown in the boardroom, you
could always choose to stay on ? We would like it. Or we could bring in an outsider.”
“I
have finalized my career plans and there is no question of staying on beyond
six months from now,” said Divan. “The
board is scheduled to meet next month.
Let us shelve the matter till then.
In the meantime, I rely on you, Ram, to keep this discussion between the
two of us.”
“Of
course yes,” said Saxena.
On
his way home, Divan thought about the matter in detail. Bringing an outsider would undo all his
life’s work at Vertigo. There were
considerations like cuture and compatibility which were paramount. The chairman had to be an inside man. “Richard lacks stature, “Divan said to
himself. “Ranjan is the one I have been grooming, but heavens, the flip side of
it all had missed me completely. There
is no way I can allow a split at the top just before I quit. I must leave on a high note in my own
interest. I must find a way out of he
imminent mess.”
Question:
1.
What should Divan do?
Case 2: PREJUDICES IN WORKPLACES : REAL
OR PERCEIVED ?
Manjula Srivastav had been head of
marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer products firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two –
and a half times during the period and its market share in a number of precuts
had also moved up marginally. What was
creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer
prices had been crashing.
Although
she had a talent for striking an instant report with people – particularly with
the company’s dealers – Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as
she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers
in the company were concerned. Srivastav
had to fight male prejudice all the way.
She found it unfair that she had to prove herself regularly at work and
she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.
Six
months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group which had a
diversity of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with
funds. The change of ownership had led
to a replacement of the managing director, but it had not affected the existing
core management team. Anand Prakash, the
new managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had
declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our
first concern.”
Prakash
had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special
responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks
as a part of a familiarization programme.
Much to her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the
vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to
Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company
and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was
already working on would by put into effect.
One
morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message
flashed on her screen. It was from
Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.
Later
at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general
manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in
customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal
material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was
quick to react. “There is very little I
can contribute in that kind of job,” she said.
“I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home
marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be
looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic
and export sales. “If you continue in
marketing, you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought may not be
fair to you. In any case, we need someone
who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am
offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me
directly.”
“You
are being unfair and your are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported
Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also
know I am the best. Why then am I being
deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly,
“would you have done this to a male colleague?”
“That
is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash.
“But I can’t think of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I
want to implement except what I am offering.”
“If
the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business
of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t think of any other slot for me,
then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”
“May
I reiterate,” Said Prakash, “that I value your role and its is precisely
because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally
handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because
it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organization?”
“I
need to think about this. I will let you
know tomorrow,” said Srivastav and left the office.
What should she do?
Case 3: MECHANIST’S INDISCIPLINED
BEHAVIOUR
Dinesh,
a machine operator, worked as a mechanist for Ganesh, the supervisor. Ganesh told Dinesh to pick up some trash that
had fallen from Dinesh’s work area, and Dinesh replied, “I won’t do the
janitor’s work.”
Ganesh
replied, “When you drop it, you pick it up”.
Dinesh became angry and abusive, calling Ganesh a number of names in a
loud voice and refusing to pick up the trash.
All employees in the department heard Dinesh’s comments.
Ganesh
had been trying for two weeks to get his employees to pick up trash in order to
have cleaner workplace and prevent accidents.
He talked to all employees in a weekly departmental meeting and to each
employee individually at least once. He
stated that he was following the instructions of the general manager. The only objection came from Dinesh.
Dinesh
has been with the company for five years, and in this department for six
months. Ganesh had spoken to him twice about excessive alcoholism, but
otherwise his record was good. He was
known to have quick temper.
This
outburst by Dinesh hurt Ganesh badly.
Ganesh told Dinesh to come to the office and suspended him for one day
for insubordination and abusive language to a supervisor. The decision was within company policy, and
similar behaviors had been punished in other departments.
After
Dinesh left Ganesh’s office, Ganesh phoned the HR manager, reported what he had
done, and said that he was sending a copy of the suspension order for Dinesh’s
file.
 |
| The die was cast. Prem Nath Divan, executive chairman of Vertigo, the country’s largest engineering project organization, decided to switch tracks for a career in academics |
Questions:
1. How would you rate Dinesh’s behaviour? What method of appraisal would you use?
2. Do
you assess any training needs of employees?
If yes, what inputs should be embodied in the training programme?
Case 4:
RISE AND FALL
Jagannath
(Jaggu to his friends) is an over ambitious young man. For him ends justify means.
With
a diploma in engineering. Jaggu joined,
in 1977, a Bangalore-based company as a Technical Assistant. He got himself enrolled as a student in an
evening college and obtained his degree in engineering in 1982. Recognizing as Engineer-Sales in 1984.
Jaggu
excelled himself in the new role and became the blue-eyed boy of the
management. Promotions came to him in
quick succession. He was made
Manager-Sales in 1986 and Senior Manager-Marketing in 1988.
Jaggu
did not forget his academic pursuits.
After being promoted as Engineer-Sales, he joined an MBA (part-time)
programme. After completing MBA, Jaggu
became a Ph.D. scholar and obtained his doctoral degree in 1989.
Functioning
as Senior Manger-Marketing, Jaggu eyed on things beyond his jurisdiction. He started complaining against Suresh the
Section Head and Prahalad the Unit Chief (both production) with Ravi, the EVP
(Executive – Vice President). The
complaints included delay in executing orders, poor quality and customer
rejections. Most of the complaints were
concocted.
Ravi
was convinced and requested Jaggu to head the production section so that things
could be straightened up there. Jaggu
became the Section head and Suresh was shifted to sales.
Jaggu
started spreading his wings. He prevailed
upon Ravi and got sales and quality under his control, in addition to
production. Suresh, an equal in status,
was now subordinated to Jaggu. Success
had gone to Jaggu’s head. He had
everything going in his favor-position, power, money, and qualification. He divided workers and used them as
pawns. He ignored Prahalad and
established direct link with Ravi. Unable to bear the humiliation, Prahalad
quit the company. Jaggu was promoted as
General Manager. He became a
megalomaniac.
Things
had to end at some point. It happened in
Jaggu’s life too. There were complaints
against him. He had inducted his brother
– in – law, Ganesh, as an engineer.
Ganesh was by nature corrupt. He stole copper worth Rs. 5 lakh and was
suspended. Jaggu tried to defend Ganesh
but failed in his effort. Corruption
charges were also leveled against Jaggu who was reported to have made nearly
Rs. 20 lakh for himself.
On
the new-year day of 1993, Jaggu was reverted back to his old position-
sales. Suresh was promoted and was asked
to head production. Roles got reversed.
Suresh became boss to Jaggu.
Unable
to swallow the insult, Jaggu put in his papers.
Back
home, Jaggu started his own consultancy claiming himself as an authority in
quality management. He poached on his previous company and picked up two best
brains in quality.
Fro
1977 to 1993, Jaggu’s career graph had a steep rise and a sudden fall. Whether there would be another hump in the
curve is a big question.
Questions:
1. Bring out the principles of promotion
that were employed in promoting Jaggu.
2. What would you do if you were (i)
Suresh, (ii) Prahalad or (iii) Ravi?
3. Bring out the ethical issues involved in
Jaggu’s behaviour.
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