POKHARA UNIVERSITY Section B

Level: Master Trimester – Fall Year : 2019 Case analysis 20

Programme: MBA Full Marks: 100 MR. ALOK BANARJEE
Course: Organizational Behaviour and Leadership Pass Marks: 60 Mr. Alok Banarjee is the Chief Executive of a medium- sized pharmaceutical
firm in Calcutta.He holds a Ph D in Pharmacy. However, he has not been
Time : 3 hrs
involved in research and development of new products for two decades.
Candidates are required to give their answers in their own words as far
Though turnover is not a problem for the company, Mr. Banarjee and his
as practicable. The figures in the margin indicate full marks.
senior colleagues noticed that the workers on hourly basis are not working up
to their full potential. It is well known fact that they filled their days with
Section A unnecessary and unproductive activities and worked only for the sake of a
Short Question Answer pay cheque. In the recent past the situation has become quite alarming as the
Attempt any six questions (6x10=60) organization began to crumble under the weight of uneconomical effort. The
1. Assume that a friend states, “Organizational behavior is selfish and situation demanded immediate managerial attention and prompt remedial
manipulative, because it serves only the interest of management.” measures. Mr. Banarjee knew very well that the only way to progress and
How would you respond? prosper is to motivate workers to peak performance through various incentive
2. There are various fields that have contributed to the field of plans.
organizational behavior. Explain their contributions. One fine morning, Mr. Banarjee contacted the Personnel Manager and
3. As a manager, why do you need to be focused towards the job-related enquired: “What is the problem with the workers on hourly basis? The wage
attitudes of your employee? Analyze critically. bill shows that we pay them the highest in the industry. Our working
4. If one of your friends stated that he/she was facing a lot of conditions are fine. Our fringe benefits are excellent.Still these workers are
communication barriers in his/her organization, how would you not motivated. What do they require really?” The Personnel Manager gave
suggest him/her to overcome these barriers of communication? the following reply: “I have already informed you a number of times, that
5. Elaborate the rational model of decision making. How is it different money, working conditions and benefits are not enough. Other things are
from bounded rationality and intuition? equally important.
6. If you were appointed as a change agent for an organization, critically One of workers in that group recently gave me a clue as to why more and
analyze the intervening techniques while implementing change in more workers are joining the bandwagon of ‘non-performers’. He felt bad
organization. that hard work and efficiency go un-noticed and un-rewarded in our
7. Organizational change is often not welcomed by organizational organization. Our promotion and benefit plans are tied to length of service.
people. How would you tackle such situation so that there would be Even the lazy workers, accordingly, enjoy all the benefitsin the organization,
no or minimal resistance? which, in fact according to workers, should go only to those who work hard.”
Mr. Banarjee then wanted the Personnel Manager to look into the problem
more closely and find out a solution to the problem of workers on hourly
basis.
Answer the following questions oftheir global competitors. Former Sony executive Yoshiaki Sakito said,
1. Explain the motivational problem in this case by relating to “Sony makes too many models, and for none of them can they say, ‘This
Herzberg’s theory. contains our best, most cutting-edge technology.’ Apple, on the other hand,
2. What would be your response to Banarjee’s statement, if you were makes one amazing phone in just two colors and says, ‘This is the one.’
the Personnel Manager of the Company? For Japanese electronics companies to survive, they must change. They were
3. If you were the manager, how would you motivate the employees so once able to structure their organizations around abundant, inexpensive labor
that they work better. to keep costs down and prices competitive, but that’s no longer the case. One
Source: Kondalkar, V.G, Organizational Behaviour, New Age complicating factor is that Japan is an ancient
International (P) Limited, Publishers, 2007.p-115 Country of many traditions, with a low birth rate and an aging population, so
there will be increasing shortage of workers. The country’s culture will make
Section C it even more difficult to realign to globalization. It now must change to foster
Case analysis 20 innovation, which may involve a cultural, as much as an organizational
When Companies Fail to Change transformation.
The Triniton TV, transistor radio, Walkman, and VC Rare the stuff of time
capsules nowadays, but not long ago they were cutting-edge technology. Questions:
Japan was at the pinnacle of the home consumer electronics industry from the 1. What made the Japanese electronics industry initially successful?
1970s to the 1990s, introducing new innovations to the world each year. Now 2. How does a corporation such as Sony fundamentally differ from one
those same Japanese firms are at the back of the pack and struggling to stay like Apple?
in the game.Japanese electronics production has fallen by more than 41 3. Where might Japanese organizations outsource production to remain
percent, and Japan’s global market share of electronics goods and services competitive in today’s markets?
has decreased by more than half since 2000. Sony, for example, hasn’t earned
a profit since 2008.What happened? Sources:H.Hiyama,“SonyBreak-Up Call Shines Lighton Electronics Industry
The simple answer is failure to innovate. While firms outside Japan Problems,”Japan Today, June7,
pioneered digital technology and conquered the Internet, Japanese firms stuck 2013,www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/sony-break-up-call-
to semiconductors and hardware. But the deeper issue is the refusal of shines-lighton-electronic-industry-problems; R. Katz, “How Japan Blew Its
Japanese managers to adapt to the global environmentand change their Lead in Electronics,” The Wall StreetJournal, March 23, 2012, A15; and H.
organizations accordingly. For instance, Sony mastered the technology Tabuchi, “How the Parade Passed Sony By,” The New YorkTimes, April 15,
needed for a digital music player years before Apple introduced the iPod in 2012, B1, B7.
2001, but its engineers resisted the change. Sony’s divisions would not
cooperate with one another fastenough to compete in this market or in the
new market for flat-screen TVs. Even now, Sony has not managed to change
its organization to reflect current global thinkingin the industry. For instance,
it and other Japanese firms make a larger number of products than most