Management Case Studies: True Cases

Showing posts with label True Cases. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Don’t be an Emotional Fool; It’s a Ruthless World

That morning Naren Moorthy was in a jubilant mood. He had superseded many brighter and deserving candidates of the company and got elevated to the position of the principal manufacturing unit of the company as the unit chief of finance and information technology.

This story relates to a bit older period when finance and information technology went hand in hand. Since during the early days of computerization, the accounting and payroll systems were the first systems to be computerized, the information technology department was invariably organized under the chief of finance. Though Naren Moorthy had no background in finance (he was information technology man), yet he needed to be promoted as a reward for his excellent personal services (in unsophisticated language it is called sycophancy) to the corporation’s group chief of finance and information technology Ashish Chandok. Naren Moorthy had played a great political role in supporting Ashish Chandok in his bad days in the company and Chandok owed one to Naren Moorthy.

Now that Ashish Chandok was once again in the saddle in the top management politics of the company and regained his powerful position, he wanted to return the favor to Naren Moorthy. So he promoted Moorthy out of turn and sent him to company’s main manufacturing plant which was located in another town nearer to the city in which corporate office was located. Chandok always wanted Moorthy around him and not too far from him.

Naren Moorthy was young, as compared to others, for the position he got now. He knew it and he prided himself for that. He was an ambitious person and this out of turn promotion convinced him that anything was possible for him if he hitched himself to the right people in the organization or even outside the organization.

He barely settled in the new job and soon one day he got an urgent phone call from Ashish Chandok from the corporate office.

Chandok said, “Moorthy, find out someone who is really good at system design and manpower planning functions. I am sure that there must be someone like that there in your department or elsewhere in the plant. Depute him immediately to Universal Finance Corporation- two blocks away from our corporate office. Ask him to meet the chairman of Universal Finance Mr Putli day after tomorrow at 10AM sharp. You must know that he is on our board of directors since his company finances our company in a big way. He is very important for our company and the board. He has a serious industrial relations problem in his own company. His workers union has threatened to go on strike if he does not sanction extra manpower to manage the new scheme he has recently launched. And they are asking far too many additional people which he does not wish to sanction because he wishes to computerize that section soon. He thinks that an outsider can study the requirements of extra manpower and quickly suggest a computerized system. That is why I am particular about the type of person you depute to work with Mr Putli. And Moorthy, I don’t want any delay since the appointment is already fixed.”

Moorthy, the genuine yours truly, affirmed the arrangement by simply saying, “Yes, sir.” He was mighty happy to think that he would get a chance to get closer to Mr Putli through this new God sent assignment. After all Mr Putli was such an influential man in the corporate circle and if he could please Putli by hitching him the way he did with Chandok, only sky could be the limit for his progress in the corporate world.

Moorthy did some serious probing very fast and found a senior manager named Jeet Gavkar who fitted the profile Chandok had asked for. Jeet Gavkar was working in information technology department and he had an earlier experience in manpower planning too. Jeet was working under the chief of information technology of the plant Raj Cowra. Raj Cowra was a seasoned elderly person. Moorthy though much younger, was now Raj Cowra’s boss. Raj Cowra detested this. Moorthy was no match to Raj Cowra in technical expertise and so Moorthy also avoided him as much as possible.

So, Moorthy, as usual, bypassed Cowra and directly contacted Jeet Gavkar. Jeet Gavkar met Moorthy in his cabin. Moorthy instructed, “Day after tomorrow at 10AM sharp you have to meet Mr Putli, the Chairman of Universal Finance.” And then he rattled all the details that Chandok had given him about the assignment.

Jeet Gavkar said, “You may know that I am right in the middle of launching the new production scheduling system that cannot be delayed. Raj Cowra is directly supervising it. Can you please keep Cowra informed about this new assignment at Universal Finance that you want me to additionally take up?”

Moorthy said, “Look Jeet, if you wish to rise in my department you must be prepared to undertake additional special assignments from me and it is up to you as to how you deal with Cowra for your other work. Manage Cowra as well as his work in your own way. I am out of that picture. Is it OK?” Then he got busy with other things indicating to Jeet Gavkar that the meeting was over.

As luck would have it, that evening Jeet Gavkar met with an automobile accident. It could have been a near fatal accident. He got hurt very badly. His right leg got twisted and was in ferocious pain. He suffered bruises all over his body particularly on the temple and just above the eyes. He lost a lot of blood and became weak.

All of this and the meeting with Putli of Universal Finance the day after were staring at him mockingly. Jeet mentioned about the impending meeting to his wife, “Are you a fool? How can you even think of a meeting when you are so badly hurt? The doctor has advised complete rest at least for the next three to four days and you are looking so funny with all those bandages on you. You can’t even wear your shoes; the legs are all bruised. Just ring Moorthy and Cowra and get the meeting postponed by a couple of days.”

That day after the meeting with Moorthy, Jeet kept Cowra informed about the assignment Moorthy had given him to which Cowra shrugged his shoulders.

On advice of his wife, Jeet Gavkar first called Cowra and requested him to request Moorthy to postpone the meeting. Again Cowra showed the same indifference and said, “Well, though I fully sympathize with you, I am really not in the picture. I just don’t know anything about this assignment that Moorthy gave you directly. So I suggest you to directly contact him. And get well soon. The production scheduling system needs you too.”

Jeet felt greatly cheesed off. He had no choice but to speak with Moorthy now. He rang him, gave him all the details of his automobile accident and said, “Therefore, Mr Moorthy, may I request you to talk to either Mr Chandok or Mr Putli and get the meeting postponed. As soon as I pick up a bit, I will meet Mr Putli?”

Moorthy retorted, “Jeet, you told me that you are not totally bed ridden. Right? And with some difficulty and with the support of a stick you can still move around. I suggest- don’t press me to change the date of the meeting. Chandok and Putli have fixed up the date and time of the meeting after lot of planning. They are the directors of two huge companies and their time is very precious. Plus, it is a union matter- may lead to a strike by the workers. No, I cannot even suggest postponement. I don’t have any other person here in the plant who can replace you. Take full rest the whole day tomorrow and charge day after tomorrow. OK? Keep me informed of the happenings.”

Jeet Gavkar said, “I understand your compulsions but please try to understand my compulsions too. Doctor has advised me rest for three to four days and I am on heavy pain killers.”

Moorthy rebuffed, “No, I do not buy it. Do keep the pain killers handy with you and you are saying that pain killers keep down the level of pain. So you can still make it……take rest full day tomorrow; do not come to the office tomorrow- that much I can do for you. And Jeet, if you wish to progress in the corporate world, you got to be tough. You cannot put off your work just because of some little ailment here or there. And now I leave it you. You decide and also be ready to face the repercussions if something goes wrong because of your decisions and actions.”

With this, Moorthy hung up the phone.

Jeet Gavkar had a brief conference with his wife that day and then, decided to attend the meeting in his all bandaged condition using a stick to support and gulping the pain killers. He decided to hire a luxury taxi the day after so that the journey could be less tiring. He decided to bear the extra expenses for the hiring of such a taxi since the company would pay him only for an ordinary taxi as per company’s travel rules.

He entered the office of Mr Putli at Universal Finance the day after. Putli’s secretary announced his arrival to Putli. Jeet entered Putli’s cabin. Putli saw Jeet in all bandaged condition and limping.

He showed some curiosity, “Hey, what happened. Chandok did not tell me about it. We could have fixed up another date. Why, even your boss Moorthy rang me only yesterday and confirmed the meeting, gave your background and the name. So, he knew about your accident. Then I suppose it may not be such a serious thing after all though from the first looks of it you look pretty bad.”

Putli continued, “And now that you are here, why not get started with the business. I am in a pretty bad soup and Chandok and Moorthy promised me to take me out of it. So, first let me fill you up with some details.”

And then Putli continued with the meeting while Jeet was suffering great pain.

Related Book

"Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" (available from Amazon, get it online)

Read many more management anecdotes/management case studies in the eminent author Shyam Bhatawdekar's best selling book "Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" available online from Amazon as an eBook as well as a printed book.

Other Related Reading

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Also, refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Read other blogs of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com

Additional Reading Opportunities

Alphabetic List of of Management Topics and Their Site URLs
(The term "management" here does not limit itself to just about business management but it encompasses management of all kinds of things like life management, home management, family management, health management, travel management, food management and so on).

Home Pages for All the Topics

1. (Home Pages for Brief Introduction to All the Business Management Topics) http://management-universe.blogspot.com/, http://management-universe-enotes.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com

2. (Home Page for All General and Psychological Counseling) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/

3. (Home Page for All Home Tips: Home and Family Management) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/

4. (Home Page for All Products: Products Knowledge Management) http://products-all.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Numbers

(5S Housekeeping) http://5s-housekeeping.blogspot.com/
(5S Housekeeping at Home: Home Management) http://5s-housekeeping-home.blogspot.com/

Topics Starting with Alphabets

A
(ABC Analysis or Pareto Analysis or 80/20 Rule) http://abc-pareto-analysis.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2011/07/20/abc-analysis-or-pareto-analysis/
(Activity Based Costing- ABC) http://activitybased-costing.blogspot.com/
(Advertising) http://advertising-mass-communication.blogspot.com/
(Anecdotes in Management) http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/
(Anger Management) http://controlling-anger.blogspot.com/
(Articles, blogs and knols of Shyam Bhatawdekar: Home Page) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com/
(Assertiveness) http://assertiveness-skill.blogspot.com/
(Assessment Centers) http://assessment-centers.blogspot.com/
(Authentic and Free Management Notes) http://authentic-management-notes.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Management Systems) http://a-z-management-systems.blogspot.com/
(A to Z of Quality Techniques) http://a-z-quality-techniques.blogspot.com/

B
(Balanced Scorecard) http://balanced-scorecard-system.blogspot.com/
(Basic Statistics) http://statistics-basic.blogspot.com/
(Behavioral Safety) http://behavioral-safety.blogspot.com/
(Benchmarking) http://benchmarking-system.blogspot.com/
(Body Language or Non-verbal Communication) http://body-language-communication.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Books) http://best-book-list.blogspot.com/
(Books- Best Management Books) http://best-management-books.blogspot.com/
(Boundaryless) http://shyambhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Brainstorming) http://brainstorming-technique.blogspot.com/
(Branding- Personal/Professional Branding http://professional-branding.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/
(Business Ethics and Ethics in Management) http://business-management-ethics.blogspot.com/
(Business Plan) http://business-plan-preparation.blogspot.com/
(Business Process Reengineering- BPR) http://business-process-reengineering-bpr.blogspot.com/

C
(Career Planning within Organizations) http://organizational-career-planning.blogspot.com/
(Case Method) http://case-method.blogspot.com/
(Case Studies in Management) http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/
(CEO Roles, Qualities and Competencies) http://ceo-qualities.blogspot.com/
(Change Management) http://manage-change.blogspot.com/
(Child Development: Stories for Children) http://stories-children.blogspot.com/
(Children’s Behavior Problems: Family Management) http://child-behavior-problems.blogspot.com/
(Coaching) http://coaching-skill.blogspot.com/
(Communication) http://communication-for-business.blogspot.com/
(Competencies- Life Management) http://shyam-bhatawdekar.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix/Competency Mapping: Success by Building Competencies/Skills) http://competency-matrix-mapping.blogspot.in/
(Competency Mapping) http://competency-map.blogspot.com/
(Competency Matrix) http://competency-matrix.blogspot.com/
(Conflict Management) http://manage-conflict.blogspot.com/
(Corporate Governance) http://corporate-governance-policy.blogspot.com/
(Cost Management) http://cost-management-control.blogspot.com/
(Cost of Quality- COQ) http://cost-of-quality.blogspot.com/
(Counseling at Workplace)http://counseling-skill.blogspot.com/
(Counseling: Psychological) http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/
(Creativity- Out of Box Articles) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
(Creativity and Innovation) http://creativity-management.blogspot.com/
(Critical Thinking skills) http://critical-thinking-skills.blogspot.com/
(Cross Cultural Etiquette and Manners) http://cross-cultural-etiquette.blogspot.com/
(Customer Orientation) http://customer-orientation.blogspot.com/
(Customer Relationship management- CRM) http://customer-relationship-crm.blogspot.com/

D
(Daily Management) http://daily-management.blogspot.com/
(Decision Making) http://decision-making-role.blogspot.com/
(Delegation) http://delegation-skill.blogspot.com/

(Democracy) http://democracy-liberation.blogspot.com/
(Design for Manufacture) http://design-for-manufacture.blogspot.com/
(Dining Etiquette and Table Manners) http://dining-manners.blogspot.com/
(Discipline at Work) http://discipline-at-work.blogspot.com/

E
(Effectiveness and Efficiency) http://effectiveness-efficiency.blogspot.com/
(Effectiveness Management: HSoftware) http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/
(Efficiency Techniques: Work study: Motion and Time Study) http://work-study-measurement.blogspot.com/
(Efficient Work Methods or Practices) http://efficient-work-methods.blogspot.com/
(Email Etiquette) http://email-etiquette-manners.blogspot.com/
(Emotions) http://emotion-feeling.blogspot.com/
(Emotional Intelligence) http://emotional-quotient-intelligence.blogspot.com/
(Empowerment) http://employee-empowerment.blogspot.com/
(Enterprise Resource Planning- ERP) http://erp-management.blogspot.com/
(Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur) http://entrepreneurship-entrepreneur.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment Management- English Movies) http://popular-movies.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment Management- Hindi Movies) http://hindi-movies-choice.blogspot.com/
(Executive Etiquette and Manners) http://executive-manners.blogspot.com/
(Exit Interview) http://exit-interview.blogspot.com/

F
(Financial Ratios and Financial Ratio Analysis) http://financial-ratios.blogspot.com/
(Financial Services) http://finance-related-services.blogspot.com/
(Free and Authentic Notes on Management) http://authentic-management-notes.blogspot.com/
(Functions of Management) http://functions-of-management.blogspot.com/
(Food Management: Recipes, Easy to Cook) http://easytocook-recipes.blogspot.com/
(Food Management: Recipes, Exotic) http://tastetherecipes.blogspot.com/

G
(Games and Icebreakers for Trainers) http://training-games.blogspot.com/
(Gemba Kaizen) http://gemba-kaizen-improvement.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge Management- GK) http://general-knowledge-gk.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge Management- Top 5/Top 10 of Everything) http://top-five-everything.blogspot.com/
(Genuine Professional- Long Article) http://professional-genuine.blogspot.in/
(Global Mindset) http://global-mindset.blogspot.com/
(Goal/Target Setting) http://goal-target-setting.blogspot.com/
(Good Boss) http://good-boss.blogspot.com/
(Great Professional) http://professional-genuine.blogspot.in/
(Group Discussion) http://group-discussion-gd.blogspot.com/
(Group Discussion for Job Seekers and Students) http://group-discussion-gd.blogspot.com/
(Group Dynamics) http://group-dynamics-process.blogspot.com/

H
(Health and Safety Management) http://safety-health-management.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Cholesterol Control) http://controlling-cholesterol.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Homeopathy) http://homeopathy-medicines.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Exercises) http://exercises-plan.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Quit Smoking) http://quit-smoking-plan.blogspot.com/
(Health management- Swine Flu and Its Prevention) http://swine-flu-precaution.blogspot.com/
(Health Management- Walking) http://walking-plan.blogspot.com/
(How to Be a Good Boss?) http://good-boss.blogspot.com/
(How to Get Promoted?) http://get-promoted.blogspot.com/
(How to Save Money?) http://save-money-ideas.blogspot.com/
(How to Save Money?- Long Comprehensive Article) http://manage-moneysaving.blogspot.in/
(Home Management- Home Page for All Home Tips) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/
(HR Dynamics) http://hrm-dynamics.blogspot.com/
(HR Strategies and Functions) http://strategic-functions-hrm.blogspot.com/
(Human Capital Architecture) http://human-capital-architecture.blogspot.com/
(Human Relations) http://human-relations-aspect.blogspot.com/
(Human Resource Management- Comprehensive Coverage of HRM) http://human-resource-management-hrm.blogspot.com/
(Human Resource Planning) http://human-resource-planning.blogspot.com/
(Human Software- HSoftware) http://human-software-hsoftware.blogspot.com/

I
(I Am Liberated- Life Management) http://i-am-liberated.blogspot.in/
(I Am OK, You Are OK) http://life-positions.blogspot.com/
(Icebreakers and Energizers) http://management-games-icebreakers.blogspot.com/
(Internal Motivation or Self Motivation) http://internal-motivation.blogspot.com/
(Interpersonal Relations) http://interpersonal-relations.blogspot.com/
(Interview Skills) http://interviewing-skill.blogspot.com/
(Interview Preparation for Job Seekers) http://interview-preparation-jobs.blogspot.com/
(Interview Questions) http://interview-question-bank.blogspot.com/

J
(Johari Window) http://johari-window-model.blogspot.com/
(Just in Time Management- JIT) http://just-in-time-management.blogspot.com/

K
(Kaizen) http://kaizen-improvement.blogspot.com/
(Knowledge Management) http://knowledge-management-initiative.blogspot.com/

L
(Lead Time Management) http://lead-time-management.blogspot.com/
(Leadership) http://lead-max.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com
(Lean Enterprise) http://lean-organization.blogspot.com/
(Learning Organization) http://learning-organization-profile.blogspot.com/
(Life Management- Latest HSoftware Model) http://life-effectiveness.blogspot.in/
(Life Management- I Am Liberated; Freedom from Shackles and Burdens) http://i-am-liberated.blogspot.in/
(Life Management: Success in Life) http://success-complete.blogspot.in/
(Life Management: My Exotic Dream: World Peace and Other Good Things of Life)

http://exotic-dreaming.blogspot.in/

True Leader Helps Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things

(The case study presented below deals with “leadership”. It emphasizes one particular aspect of leadership and that is: “leadership means making ordinary people do extraordinary things”. Refer: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2010/02/03/leadership-means-making-ordinary-people-do-extraordinary-things/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/2010/02/leadership-means-making-ordinary-people.html. This case study reflects similar sentiments).

For many other management case studies/management anecdotes, read at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/)

Shaan Bhatkar had truly earned the reputation of being the fastest and also, most promoted manager. First, his first employer “Universal High Tech Products Ltd” and now his second employer, one of the top most ranked companies of India, “Prestige Motor Company Ltd” had recognized his learned as well as innate leadership qualities.

While he had broken all the management conventions by becoming “manager” at a very young age of 27 in his first company, all and sundry used to go to visit his cabin in his second employment with some excuse or the other to peep and have a look at the person who had joined them from outside and was promoted just within one year to the position of “senior manager” at the age of 29 or so, overriding company’s guidelines on promotions and salary raise. He had turned into an enigma. This was perhaps the first such incident in Prestige Motor Company Ltd.

Within a very short time of joining his second employer, Shaan Bhatkar expanded his work and inducted more than 20 new people taking the strength of employees in his department to 26. He formed a formidable team whose presence was being felt throughout the organization. Shaan was head of “systems department”. It was a new concept introduced by him. Systems department would work as a very strong interface between the various line departments of the organization and the computer programming department (these days we call it “information technology” or I T department).

It was found earlier that in absence of creation of “systems department”, the user departments used to directly interact with the computer programming department. Though computer programming department was manned by brilliant programmers who were highly educated engineers of various engineering disciplines with excellent grip on programming, their very nature of programming work would not allow them adequate time and inclination to understand the exact requirements and intricacies of the user departments. They dismally lacked the appreciation of the various domain areas or the functional aspects of the organization. The result was invariably a half cooked; user unfriendly, computer system full of problems as far as the user departments were concerned. It had a significant negative impact on the promotion of computerization in the company. Management of the company got concerned about it.

Around this time, Shaan Bhatkar proposed creation of the new “systems department”. Management liked the idea of this department being responsible to define the system requirements, carry out the system design work, get it programmed by the computer programming department and also assist in implementing the system in user locations. The persons to man this department would have in-depth knowledge of the domain areas or functional areas for which they would define the systems and additionally, they would also have a decent grip on the computer programming requirements, the hard core technical aspects of computerization.

His team was mix of two kinds of people- at the higher end, he had functional experts with impressive, high end, formal qualifications and with long experience in various domains and at the lower end, he had implementers with just about any low end formal degree in any discipline who would iron out all the kinks that would be faced by the user departments in implementing the computer systems so designed, programmed and implemented. The persons of this section had flair for the hands on field work and had great service orientation and they were very user friendly. They would hand hold the users in implementing the computerized systems. However, due to the nature of their work, they were placed at the lower rungs of the hierarchy.

Shaan Bhatkar had augmented this second section of implementers by one young boy Anant Joshpura who had just become eligible at an age of 18 (minimum age criterion for employment) to be able to join a corporate organization. Shaan had reasons to recruit Anant. He had seen in him the qualities like enthusiasm, sincerity, service orientation, analytical capabilities, eye for details and hunger to learn though Anant was just about a commerce graduate with a poor second class- academically not much to talk about.

Shaan’s assessment of Anant Joshpura proved to be correct.

Then among the routine, there came a day of excitement. The first PC (personal computer) of the country was bought by Prestige Motor Company Ltd and it was installed in Shaan’s department for exploring its capabilities etc. For computer programming department which was manned by highly qualified professionals and who were used to work on the main frame computer systems of that era, the PC was thought to be a toy and that’s how it was bypassed to Shaan Bhatkar.

Shaan had no particular man to work on the PC. In his free time he himself used to fiddle with it and he soon realized the potential of a PC. He wanted to put it to real use in the organization. He pulled out Anant Joshpura for this purpose.

He called Anant and asked, “Do you know COBOL language?”

Anant Joshoura got scared, sheepishly he answered in his broken English mixed with his mother tongue Marathi, “Sir, I know only two languages, Marathi and a bit of English. I have not heard about COBOL language.”

Shaan realized his mistake. He then explained to Anant about the new PC and also explained that the programs on that PC were to be written a computer language called COBOL.

Shaan then said, “Anant, I want you to learn to work on this PC under my guidance. You have excellent analytical capabilities and therefore, you will be able to learn computer programming quite easily and fast. I am deputing you to learn programming and COBOL with an outside training institution for a period of two to three months. Our company will foot the bill.”

Anant was very apprehensive initially. He was scared that if he did not come up to the expectations of Shaan in learning programming and COBOL; he might lose his job from the company. He sounded his concerns to Shaan.

Shaan assured him, “If you fail in this, you will revert to your earlier assignment of system implementer. But I am sure that you will succeed. Every day I read in the magazines that the PC is the future of the computers and if you get a grip on it early on, that much better for you. You will retire at a junior position if you continue as the system implementer but as an expert on PC, only the sky will be the limit for you.”

With this assurance from his leader, Anant plunged into an entirely new territory. And he was smart enough to pick up everything that was expected of him. By the end of three months of training, he started writing programs in COBOL quite proficiently.

On Shaan’s recommendations, the company decided to induct more and more PCs in the organization in the planned and phased manner. Shaan proposed an awareness training for the future PC users of the organization. He assigned Anant the new responsibility of training the people at various managerial levels in the working of PCs. Anant hesitated a lot to start with. How could he face the seasoned managers who were much experienced and older than him and were at the hierarchical level far higher than him?

Shaan advised him, “They do not know a naught about PCs. You are the most educated person on PCs right now. So….”

Soon, Anant Joshpura was not only knowing most about the PC, he was even recognized as a good COBOL programmer even by the highly educated and experienced programmers of the hard core computer programming department who were writing the programs on the main frame computers. Anant started mingling with them pretty freely and learnt lots more about computers and programming. He learnt a few more computer programming languages.

One day he approached Shaan and requested, “While I am formally assigned to working on PC, I would love to work with the main frame too. Can you formally assign me to do that?”

Shaan was convinced that Anant must make his future career in hard core “information technology (I T)”. He recommended Anant’s transfer to the computer programming department through the chief of company’s HR department. The chief of HR declined saying that the company rules did not permit an ordinary commerce graduate to be a part of highly technical computer programming department. As per company rules, only engineering graduates or postgraduate with first class could work in that department. Anant was not eligible.

Shaan wished to recognize the contribution of Anant and since the doors to computer programming department were closed to him, all Shaan could do was to promote Anant by one grade. But that would still put him in a junior hierarchical level. Shaan believed that Anant’s caliber deserved much higher position in the organization. But company’s red tape would not allow this.

Anant sought advice from Shaan, “Now that my future here is almost sealed, what do you suggest?”

Shaan said, “The IT (information technology) area is going to explode in the entire world like nobody’s business. IT is the future. Keep an eye on the prospects in other companies. They may need a person like you as an IT specialist. If you had any chance of faster progress in our own company here, I would not have suggested you to look out for a job. But now it makes sense. You are just about 20 and you have more than 40 to 45 years ahead of you. Yet must build up your computer software skills at the best possible levels while you are here. I will allow you to work with computer programming department informally though you will be at same junior level getting same salary.”

It seems that Anant took the guidance of Shaan to his heart. He went on improving his IT capabilities.

And the Y2K fever attacked the world. As compared to other countries, United States of America needed the maximum number of computer professionals, literally thousands of professionals who could go through each and every computer code that was mostly written in COBOL and fix up the Y2K bug.

Who else were the better people for such a job than those in India- the ones who had a deadly combination of knowing two most important languages: COBOL and English?

Anant Joshpura was not to be left behind. He soon shifted to USA along with one of the many Indian companies who got contracts from companies in USA to fix up their Y2K problem.

Then onwards no one could stop the progress of Anant Joshpura. He went up from strength to strength and the last news from him to Shaan Bhatkar was that he had just taken over as Vice President (Global Software Delivery) of a startup.

Related Book

"Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" (available from Amazon, get it online)

Other Related Reading

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Also, refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Read other blogs of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com

Then, Dave Ingle Lived Happily with His Wife Ever After

Dave Ingle mentioned pretty matter-of-factly, “Please do not mistake me when I say that I have been literally forced by my bosses to attend your training seminar. Pardon me to say that these training programs are a waste of time. I have attended several of such seminars and I have not been benefited by them at all. And yours is a six day long program with a much fancier title “personal and professional excellence” and so, that much more waste of time. So, right away I am declaring that I will be physically in your seminar hall but for all practical purposes, my mind will be somewhere else. Do not expect me to take down any notes or ask any questions or participate in any activities here. Just leave me alone- that’s my simple request”.

In our hundreds of seminars where more than 150,000 people have participated from around 250 organizations, it was not a strange or new experience for my wife and me who conduct many of such training programs jointly. We do come across a few participants in our seminars who express such opinions for several reasons. So, like mature people, we listened to Dave Ingle and allowed him his way in our class room. Interestingly, he was sitting around the very first table in the seminar hall, pretty close to us and exactly facing us. We could not fathom this aspect of his behavior; rather we had expected him to be the backbencher.

We started our sessions. My wife and I kept a watch on Dave Ingle though. Dave Ingle was sticking to his promises to us to the letter. He was seated with blank face and did not utter a single word nor lifted his pencil even once to jot down any notes.

Our seminars are normally very participative with short lecturettes and many management games, individual and group exercises, case studies, role plays, discussions, peer group learning, videos, questions and answers etc. Almost every participant except Dave Ingle started enjoying our sessions. The seminar hall was warming up with lots of rich learning experience.

Towards evening of the first day of the seminar, we noticed one small change in Dave Ingle. He had started listening to our lecturettes and discussions etc.

Next day after a session or two, we noticed one more change in Ingle. He was writing something on his note pad. We concluded that he might be doodling to kill time. He had brought a highlighter pen and intermittently, he was using it too, on the paper.

Two more days passed. The seminar was progressing famously. Dave Ingle’s activity level increased. He started solving the individual exercises and started taking part in group activities though always pretending that he was not much serious about them and was involving himself just for the heck of it.

Fifth day’s sessions brought about a marked sobering effect on Ingle, his countenance was displaying a quiet satisfaction and his entire body language was screaming as if to tell us that he was in terms with himself- my wife and I discussed it a bit during our seminar review conference between two of us.

Surprisingly, Dave Ingle met us privately during the lunch break. He requested for an appointment with us at the end of the day if we could squeeze in some time for him. We readily agreed.

Dave Ingle, my wife and I met up in the evening. We waited for him to speak out, “I have been going through a very critical period in my personal and professional life. But I must quickly admit that your seminar has been an eye opener for me. Yours is a very different seminar than what I have attended so far. You do not use the hopeless jargon and your messages are forthright and really beneficial. I have started finding many answers to my various dilemmas. Many of these things that you were telling in your training program are the very things my wife keeps telling me. I never heeded to her, rather I never understood her- I had even serious fights with her on those ideologies. Your explanations have brought home the meaning of all that. I am going to put these things now in practice in my personal as well as professional life. Hope, things work out well for me.”

He then shared with us a list of points he had picked up from our training program and had highlighted them with the highlighter pen he was carrying with him. We are reproducing the points as written by Dave Ingle below:

Make yourself capable of managing things independently by imbibing and practicing correct values, knowledge, paradigms and will power to execute. And so, shun the need to be dependent on any kind of crutches.
Yet, despite this, one should remember that human beings at home, society and profession live interdependent of each other. So, better take cognizance of it and maintain appropriate relations with others.
Every person is a bundle of strengths and weaknesses. It is easy to spot the weaknesses in others. But if one starts seeing and appreciating the good points of others, things become that much easier for self and others. Every human being has some definite strong points.
Therefore, one should always communicate with everyone else and that too, respectfully. Communication without due respect is no communication.
Listening with empathy is the core of any communication.
One should not be reactive. There is always space and time available to everyone subsequent to receiving a stimulus. Using that, one can appropriately respond to a stimulus without need to give a thoughtless reaction.
Win-win approach is always beneficial in the long run as compared to win-lose approach.
Therefore, you can always sort out any kind of conflict with others by using the process of collaboration.

Dave Ingle told us that these were the golden guidelines he got from our training program and he had decided to follow them in all the aspects of his life. We wished him good luck.
Later on, from some other quarters, we came to know more about the family life of Dave Ingle. Around the time he was attending our training program, he was almost on the brink of taking divorce from his wife who was a lawyer by profession and was a sophisticated lady in her own right. Dave Ingle himself was a post graduate in engineering from a reputed institute. But Dave Ingle carried pretty wrong notions on how to lead personal, family and professional life. And so he was quite a misfit.
After an year or so of this incident, we met Mr and Mrs Ingle in a social party at a common friend’s house. From the looks of them, they seemed very happy together. The person who had given us the news of their divorce also confirmed to us that Mr and Mrs Ingle did not proceed with divorce and had sorted out all of their marital discords. They were an ideally happy couple now.

Related Book

"Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" (available from Amazon, get it online)

Other Related Reading

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Also, refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Read other blogs of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com

Time Management Is about Doing Important Things in Life

(The case study given below essentially deals with “time management”. You may like to read another case study on “time management” at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2010/01/15/training-works/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/2009/12/training-works.html

For many other management case studies/management anecdotes, read at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/)

Peter Gonzales was quite a frustrated soul. His organization had a funny rule that denied promotions to the designation of “manager” and upwards in each one of its technical departments to any person who was not an engineering graduate. Peter Gonzales had stopped his studies after getting a diploma in mechanical engineering. He had believed all along that his industry and hard work could take him to places despite his modest formal qualifications. He never imagined that his lack of education would come in way of his promotions to higher levels in the hierarchy of the company he was working for.

Around this time when Peter Gonzales was highly frustrated, this company contracted me for an assignment of mentorship to the employees of the company. So, he was one of my earlier subjects to mentor.

“Thrice my boss has recommended me to the position of “manager” based on my performance appraisal but every time it has been rejected. The HR department puts forth the rule book of the company and my case gets sidelined.” Peter poured out his heart to me in our first meeting. He told me that he had even contemplated leaving the organization but it was not easy to get another decent job in that region due to paucity of industrial firms in that region. Plus he had some family compulsions. His ailing old father and mother used to stay in a nearby town and he was required to be around to take care of them. So, he preferred to stay in the township of the company that was close by to the town where his parents resided.

Thus, in a way his fate was sealed if he had to continue in this organization. Did he really have a choice?

After considerable discussion with him, I proposed to him, “If your formal qualifications are coming in way of your progress, why don’t you think of getting an engineering degree by joining an evening course in a nearby engineering college or join a distance learning program that might be available somewhere. He had thought about it but there was no engineering college in that region and only distance course available was AMIE (that was considered equivalent of an engineering degree and was also recognized by his organization). However, as per Peter, AMIE was a very tough course and needed one to work very hard and without much guidance from anyone. It needed lots of spare time too- that’s most important requirement for completing AMIE. Now that he was a family man with a wife and two kids and most of his time is taken away by them, he just could not take up AMIE course.

I said, “I agree with you that for every person, time has always been a constraint. No one has unlimited time at one’s disposal. But if one can do a good “time management”, it was possible to find out time particularly for those activities that are important in one’s life. Many people spend lots of their time on unimportant activities and thus do not find time to do the important activities”.

Peter became a bit defensive, “Do you mean to say that I while away my time on unimportant activities? After coming home from office I have scores of errands to attend to. I need to do grocery, go to bank, go to post office, attend parent-teacher meetings in the kids’ schools and so on. Are they not important jobs? And we need to do a bit of socializing- after all we are living in this small township and we need to maintain relationships with our co-dwellers”.

I enquired, “But all of this cannot consume your entire evening. And why don’t you train your wife to do most of these things? She can surely handle all these jobs on her own with a little bit of hand-holding in the beginning but will become quite independent after some time. Then you will have good amount of free time on hand to concentrate on your AMIE studies”.

Hearing this, Peter did some mental calculations and said, “But we spend some family time together watching the television (TV)- only entertainment in this township”.

I asked, “How much TV do you watch every day?”

His reply shocked me, “At least 3 to 4 hours every night- that means at least one movie a day”.

I argued, “But that’s an overdose of entertainment by any standard. If you insist on watching so much of TV and indulge in so much of entertainment, you can be satisfied with the success story of entertaining yourself throughout your life but I can give you in writing that you will retire only as an “assistant manager” while all of your colleagues will climb the hierarchical ladder. You may not like that situation. More than that, your wife and kids will not like being left behind. You are still very young, just about 35 years and you have another at least 25 years of professional career. So think about cutting down on your entertainment and easily save 3 to 4 hours of you precious time. Use that for completing AMIE. It’s just a matter of 2 to 3 years. After you achieve AMIE, do spend some of your time in entertaining yourself.”

It seems that my constructive criticism of him worked positively on him. He realized that doing AMIE was by far the most important thing in his life at that juncture. For this, he felt convinced that he needed adequate time to study the various difficult courses of AMIE. He understood that he could manage this time for himself for AMIE by training his wife to do the chores like bank, post office, grocery, parent-teacher meets, socializing etc thus delegating all of this work to her. They can cut down on watching TV thus freeing all of them to divert their attention on more important things in life.

He wrote to me later on that he had finally enrolled himself for AMIE course.

After a gap of around 3 years, I got a phone call from Peter Gonzales that he completed AMIE successfully, got promoted to the position of “manager” and the company had allotted him a higher category of house in the township.

I congratulated him on his excellent demonstration of “time management” in action.

Related Book

"Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" (available from Amazon, get it online)

Other Related Reading

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

Also, refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Read other blogs of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com

http://exotic-dreaming.blogspot.in/

Management Case Studies

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Don’t be an Emotional Fool; It’s a Ruthless World

True Leader Helps Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things

Then, Dave Ingle Lived Happily with His Wife Ever After

Time Management Is about Doing Important Things in Life

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