CASE I

Question 1

Discuss the long-term relevance of motivational techniques used by Baheti in the light of prevailing

environment in the organization.

Answer

Some of the most successful managers and executives have achieved their objectives by aligning the aims

of their employees with those of their organization. Once an employee is able to understand, and

empathize with the overall aims of the organization, they are generally more motivated towards achieving

them. Having ensured that the organization and the employees are working towards the same objectives,

managers can then focus on exactly which motivational techniques can be implemented to facilitate the

achievement of these goals.

It is clear that there are both positive and negative motivational factors which can lead to the achievement

of objectives. These can be summarized as either fear or reward factors. This fear factor can indeed lead

to good results in the short-term but, in the long-term; the employees are likely to be more focused upon

whether or not they will be keeping their jobs, rather than upon fulfilling overall business objectives.

Positive motivational factors are also many and varied and, although these may lead to long-term gains,

they too can have negative aspects to them. Offering rewards and incentives is indeed motivational, but it

is important to make sure that these are deserved and that recognition is given to the right person at the

right time. Also, although some healthy competition is advantageous, it is not necessarily advisable to use

rewards to encourage employees to work against each other.

In the light of the above discussion, motivational techniques that Baheti used; those being appreciating

the operators’ good work, listening to their problems and explaining them the importance of their jobs

seems to be effective for quite a long time. Again, making the operators understand that BSNL is into a

tough competition will also help the operators to work with more sincerity.

Rewarding the operators with the honorable mentions, appreciation letters and prizes of their own choice

are indeed motivational; but Baheti has to keep in mind the negative impacts of these steps. These

rewards may create a competition among the operators. A healthy competition is always a good sign for

the company, but one has to observe very closely so that the competition may not encourage operators to

work against each other.

Finally, we can say that the motivational techniques used by Baheti are quite long term as long as some

specific issues are looked after.

Question 2

Had you been Baheti, what other techniques you would have used to improve the special services

provided by the organization?

Answer

Baheti used some techniques, mostly motivational, to improve the special services provided by the

organization. Some more techniques which could have been used are given below:

A strict leave policy may have been introduced for the operators to stop them from taking the

frequent short leaves, extended breaks and uninformed leaves. A limit may have been set for the

number of short leaves for a month or for a year. Similar limitations may have been set for the

uninformed leaves. The extended breaks needed to be managed strictly by the supervisor. Just

making the policy will not help unless the policy is maintained strictly.

Keeping a good relationship with the union would have helped to improve the special services.

As most of the operators are connected to the various unions that were active in the organization,

a good relationship with the union would mean a good relationship with the operators which in

turn would have helped BSNL to improve the special services.

The process of taking complains from the customers is not very effective as well. Previously,

complaints were either directly forwarded to the district office by customers or raised during

Telephone Adalats or pointed out by correspondents during press conferences, which were

conducted quarterly. There should be a process where the complaints can come directly to BSNL.

This can be done by creating another service. That is, a number may be fixed for this. Whenever a

customer feels that a complain needs to be raised, he/she would dial the specific number where

he/she would find an agent who would register a complaint. Then the complaint should be sent to

the superiority for action. If the details of that call can be found, then the operator responsible for

that call may be found out and marked.

It was stated in the case that The Indore division of BSNL faced competition in basic telecom

services from 1998. I would try to find out the reason which caused this competition. If those

reasons could be found out, then we may have found some more solutions to improve the

services.

CASE II

Question 1

Had you been in place of Alok Trivedi, what additional measures would you have taken?

Answer

If I had been in the place of Alok Trivedi, I would have taken the following additional steps:

I would have declared that a reward would be given to the persons who will attend all his/her

shifts for a whole year. This should motivate the workers and help the company to lower the

absenteeism rate which was 18% at the time of the research.

To reduce the lethargy among the workers, a reward can be declared for the best worker of the

month. That can be an honorable recognition. Combining all the recognitions of a year, a

monetary prize can be given to the best worker of the year.

From the case stated, we can find out that card punching system has been already introduced to

the company to maintain the timing of bus departures and arrivals. It has been working for the

drivers. I would use the electronic card identification system to keep the workers in their working

area and keep them away from the administrative building without necessity. The workers would

not have access to the administrative section. They shall only go to the administrative section

when only necessary and the process will include taking permission of the supervisor. A register

would also be maintained electronically for the persons who are going in and out of the entrances

and exits.

CCTV monitoring could have been arranged to ensure proper monitoring of the workers for the

hygiene related issues.

Question 2

Critically analyze the Employee Relations Audit in the light of its contribution to self motivation of

employees.

Answer

Self motivation is the ability to satisfy a desire, expectation, or goal without being influenced to do so by

another person. Most employers look for employees who are self-motivated and able to work

independently, with as little supervision as possible. Coupled with self-motivation is a keenness to learn –

the industry is constantly changing and more and more employers are looking for staff with aspirations to

improve their skills on the job. Basically, having a positive attitude to the work and duty is called self

motivation. The Employee Relations audit was used to self-motivate the employees. The Employee

Relations Audit is a system where everything was to be monitored, regulated and reported on regular

intervals. This audit program definitely motivated the employees.

According to the Goal Setting theory of motivation, goal setting is essentially linked to task performance.

It states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and

better task performance. In simple words, goals indicate and give direction to an employee about what

needs to be done and how much efforts are required to be put in. For the case stated, the workers were

motivated as they knew they have to score higher. The audit was reviewed and signed by H.R. department

and the higher management at times which made it clear and transparent. The employees knew that they

were monitored and scored correctly. Their work will not go in vain. Thus they were motivated to work

hard maintaining the restrictions of regulation and time.

The audit program was introduced in 1996. In 2000, the percentage score from the audit report was 65.

Then proactive approaches were taken to improve the score. It was improved to 72% in 2001. It proves

that the proactive approaches helped improve the working condition and working facilities which

increased employees’ job satisfaction. This at the end of the day leaded to self-motivation.

With all the positive sides of this self-motivating technique, there are some negative sides which did not

occur in this case. Sometimes it may happen that the motivating goal conflicts with the organizational

goal. For example, let us think of a situation like the case stated. The only difference with the stated case

being that during the efforts to score better in the audit program, employees started to put emphasis on

hygiene rather than production. Then the production would have dropped while the audit report would

have been good. That is an unwanted scenario.

CASE IV

Question 1

What role do the non-financial incentives play in motivating the workers and minimizing the rate of

absenteeism?

Answer

Incentive is an act or promise for greater action. It is also called as a stimulus to greater action. It is

something which is given in addition to wages. It means additional remuneration or benefit to an

employee in recognition of achievement or better work. Incentives are supposed to provide a spur or zeal

in the employees for better performance. Financial incentives involve money payments by the employer –

either directly or indirectly. On the other hand, Non-financial incentives do not involve money payments.

These are also important in motivating employees.

Some non-financial incentives are given below which plays important roles in motivating workers.

Job security: Nothing can motivate a worker, appointed temporarily, better than provision of job

security. Even if a temporary worker puts in greater efforts, lack of job security will always pose

a threat. If such a worker is given job security, he will be even grateful to the management and

motivated to the job.

Challenging work: Workers, who are dynamic in nature, do not show preference for routine jobs.

They are always ready to accept challenging assignments. So if a dynamic worker is given an

innovative job, he would be motivated.

Recognition: Even a word of appreciation from the manager would motivate the employees to

maintain the same level of performance or do even better. Recognition need not necessarily be in

the form of tangible benefits to employees. It may be any gesture from the employer which

should come at the right time.

Participation in decision-making: Another non-financial incentive that motivates any employee is

his involvement in certain crucial decisions.

Competition: The management can encourage healthy competition among the employees. This

would, certainly, motivate them to prove their capabilities.

Job rotation: Job rotation means that the employees will be exposed to different kinds of job.

This certainly would break the monotony of employees and motivate him/her.

Again, if absenteeism is to be reduced, the most common approaches are to

Keep a healthy relationship between manager and the workers.

Make the workplace a healthy, attractive and inviting place.

Provide a work-life balance.

Involve workers more in managerial decision making.

We can see that all of them are basically non-financial incentives which help to reduce absenteeism. So

we can say that non-financial benefits also play a very important role to reduce absenteeism.

Question 2

What innovative solutions would you suggest to minimize the rate of absenteeism?

Answer

To minimize the rate of absenteeism, some suggested solutions are given below:

The company can introduce a transportation system of their own instead of the conveyances paid.

If a bus or two are introduced to pick up workers from the remote areas, it should reduce the

absenteeism rate a lot.

The company can provide quarter for those workers whose families live away. If the workers can

live with their families, they would not have to be absent from work just to be with their family.

The rental cost of the quarters can be cut from the workers’ wages in a suitable rate.

A big percentage of absenteeism is caused due to alcoholism. So counseling sessions can be

conducted for the workers so that they are discouraged from being drunk. Less drunk workers

would mean lesser rate of absenteeism due to hangover.

A health insurance plan for the family can be started from the company. It will not only cover the

worker, but also cover his family if any medical emergency occurs. This insurance plan may help

with the rate of absenteeism if it is declared that only those who are regular at work will get this

facility.

A day care center can be started near the factory. This will help the workers to attend at work

more as they can find a safe place to keep their child while they are at work. Also, it will be

suitable for them as the child will near in case of any emergency.

Conveyances for festivals can be arranged so that the workers can be motivated to work on the

festival days.

Improving the working condition is one of the most important factors for motivating the workers

to be regular. If the workplace is messy, no one would want to work there. Cleanliness, canteen

facilities should be developed at the workplace.

CASE V

Question 1

Discuss merits/demerits of the role of strike, agitation and legal approach in union¬ management

relations.

Answer

The principal engagement of Union with management is through their actions like lobbying, politics, and

affecting the community which extends to strike, agitation and legal approach. Strikes first became

important during the industrial revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines

while legal approach is the latest trend which is picking up at faster pace.

Here are some merits of actions of role of strike, agitation and legal approach on union management

relations:

One of the positive effects can be increase in productivity as apart from lower quit rates,

existence of union (thus, strike, agitation and legal approach) ensures better management

accountability. As the management always has to keep in mind the welfare of the workers so that

it can avoid strike, agitation or legal approach.

Unions can improve efficiency by putting pressure on management to tighten job production

standards and accountability in order to preserve profits in the face of higher wages.

The strike could lead to immediate realization of demands of the laborers as when the strike

begins, the owner primary focus is to discuss and settle those demands.

Management strategy to improve organization performance such as creating ‘learning

organizations’ found genuine union involvement crucial to achieving outcomes. The existence of

strong independent representation of employee interests reduced mistrust and skepticism that

could otherwise undermine management strategy.

Besides owning the advantages, the labor strike, agitation and legal approach also has disadvantage:

Unions appear to insist on promotion-from-within and the related use of internal recruiting and

nepotism. This, in turn, causes management to limit its channels of external recruiting.

The company incurs losses because it cannot produce its goods during the period of strike which

also makes the relationship between management and unions a bitter one.

A strike is never guaranteed to end positively for the employees. It can last an extended amount

of time and the union may never get what they wanted from the employer. Also, employers are

permitted by law to take the necessary steps to continue their business during the strike.

Replacement employees can be hired and once the strike is over the union employees' jobs may

not be available. A strike always has the potential to be financially devastating to the individual

employees, even if that employee was not in favor of the strike. On the other hand, the

management loses expert workers.

Question 2

What role does mutual trust play in building union-management relations?

Answer

While most organizations perceive the Union and Management relationship to be adversarial in nature,

the reality is that both have a common set of desired goals.

Mutual trust between the Union and management creates a situation where the union believes that the

management would not do anything to jeopardize the welfare of the employees and the union. Similarly,

the management of the company believes that the union would not do anything that would harm the

production or profitability of the company. It is this relationship that builds the relation between union

and management.

This trust keeps the unions from calling a strike or taking a legal action if there is a mistake in the

management. The Union hopes that the management would soon provide amendments for the mischief

done. Similarly, from the management’s point of view, if there is a problem relating to employees is

going on within the industry, management hopes that they can solve it through the union and does not

take any negative step.

As long as this trust is between the two parties, they can rely on each other and maintain a healthy

relationship which causes further investment and expansion of the business.