human resource mgmt-enrich - copy

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MARKS: 80 COURSE: MBA 1 ST SEM SUB : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT N. B. : 1) Attempt any Four cases 2) All cases carries equal marks. NO. – 1 ENRICHING JOBS AT STANDARD DECOY Standard Decoy in Witchell, has been making traditional wooden hunting decoys since 1927. Cyrus Witchell began the business by carving a couple of ducks a day by hand. Demand and competition have long since driven the company to use modern machinery and assembly-line techniques, and they now turn out two hundred ducks daily even on the slowest days. When Steward Alcorn, Cyrus Witchell’s grandson, took over the business, he knew things needed to change. Output had not fallen, and the company was AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL

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Page 1: Human Resource Mgmt-Enrich - Copy

MARKS: 80 COURSE: MBA 1ST SEM

SUB : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

N. B. : 1) Attempt any Four cases2) All cases carries equal marks.

NO. – 1

ENRICHING JOBS AT STANDARD DECOY

Standard Decoy in Witchell, has been making traditional wooden

hunting decoys since 1927. Cyrus Witchell began the business

by carving a couple of ducks a day by hand. Demand and

competition have long since driven the company to use modern

machinery and assembly-line techniques, and they now turn out

two hundred ducks daily even on the slowest days.

When Steward Alcorn, Cyrus Witchell’s grandson, took over

the business, he knew things needed to change. Output had not

fallen, and the company was surviving financially despite

competition from what he called “plastic ducks” from the Far

East. But Alcorn noticed that the productivity per worker had

stayed the same for ten years, even during the period since the

company had bought the latest equipment. While touring the

AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL

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plant, he noticed many employees yawning, and he found

himself doing the same. No one quit. No one complained, They

all gave him a smile when he walked by. But no one seemed

excited with the work.

Alcorn decided to undertake a survey. He appointed a

respected worker at each step in the production process to ask

each of his or her co-workers questions and to fill in response

sheets. One conclusion emerged from the survey : The “fine-

tuners”, as Alcorn thought of them, were the most content ones.

That is, those who used fine tools and brushes to get the ducks’

heads, expressions, and feathers just right seemed to enjoy

their work most. In contrast, the people who planed and cut the

wood into blocks, rough – cut the body shapes, spray – painted

the body colour, and applied the varnish were all pretty bored.

Alcorn had heard about a technique called “job rotation”

and decided to try it out. He gave all workers a taste of the

“fun” jobs. He asked for volunteers to exchange jobs for one

morning a week. The fine-tuners were skeptical, and the other

workers were only slightly more enthusiastic. The whole

programme turned out to be a disaster. Even with guidance, the

planers and the spray – painters could not master the higher –

precision techniques, and the fine-tuners seemed to give them

only limited assistance. After one trial week, Alcorn gave up.

During a lunch break that Friday, Alcorn was wandering

outside around the plant bemoaning his failure. Then he noticed

one of the rough-cutters, Al Price, whittling at something with an

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ordinary pocket knife. It turned out to be a block of wood that

he had cut incorrectly and normally would have thrown in the

scrap heap. But as Price said, “It kind of looked like a duck, in

an odd way,” and he had started whittling on it in spare

moments.

Alcorn liked what he saw and asked Price if he would be

willing to sell him the duck when he got through with it. Price

looked surprised, but he agreed. The following week, Alcorn

noticed that Price had finished the whittling and was getting one

of the fine-tuners to help him paint the duck in a way that made

it look even odder. When it was finished, Alcorn offered it to one

of his regular customers, who took a look at it and said, “You’ve

got this hand made ?” and asked if he could order a gross.

By the middle of the next month, Alcorn’s “Odd Ducks”

programme was in full swing. Workers were still responsible for

producing the usual number of conventional ducks, but they

were allowed to use company tools and materials any time they

wanted to work on their own projects. There were no quotas or

expectations for the Odd Ducks. Some employees worked on for

weeks. Others collaborated and produced one or two a day.

Some wouldn’t sell their ducks but crafted them to practice

their skills and brought them home to display on their mantels.

Those who would sell them kept half the selling price. That price

usually did not amount to more than their regular hourly wage,

but no one seemed to care about the precise amount of income.

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The response to the Odd Duck programme was so great

that Alcorn put up a bulletin board he called “Odd Letters, as a

place to post appreciative notes from customers. Most of the

customers, it seemed, had no interest in hunting but just liked to

have the ducks around. And when Alcorn learned that some of

his customers were in turn selling the ducks as “Cyrus Witchell’s

Olde Time Odd Ducks,” he did not complain.

Questions :

1. How did the “Odd Ducks” programme enrich the jobs

at Standard Decoy ?

2. What motivated workers to participate in marking

the Odd Ducks ?

NO. 2

DETERMINING PAY RAISE

The Scientific Equipment Manufacturing company is a small

manufacturing unit located in Peenya, Bangalore. The company

is non-unionised and manufactures analytical equipment for

hospital laboratories.

Approximately one year ago, the manager of the

Component Assembly Department established three production

goals for the department. The goals were : (i) reduce raw

material storage costs by 10 per cent ; (ii) reduce variable

labour costs (i.e. overtime) by 12 per cent; and (iii) decrease the

number of quality rejects by 15 per cent. The manager told the

six unit supervisors that the degree to which each supervisor or

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exceeded these goals would be one of the major inputs for their

merit – pay increases for the year. In previous years, merit

increases were based on seniority and an informal evaluation by

the department manager.

The six supervisors worked on separate but similar

production lines. A profile of each supervisor is as follows :

Amitha Aged 28, single; three years with the company after

receiving her degree from the Bangalore University. Has a job

offer from another company for a similar job that provides a

substantial pay increase over her present salary. The scientific

Equipment does not want to lose Amitha because her overall

performance has been excellent.

Shindhe Aged 32, married with three children; three years with

the company, high school education. One of the most stable

and steady supervisors. However, he supervise a group of

workers who are known to be unfriendly and uncooperative with

him and other employees.

Anandan Aged 34, married with four children; high school

equivalent learning; one year with the company. Came to

Karnataka six years ago from Tamil Nadu. A steady worker,

well-liked by his co-workers, but has difficulty in learning the

local language. He has, therefore, problems of communication

within his group and with others.

Hemalatha Aged 29, divorcee with three children, two years with

the company ; high school education. Since her divorce one

year ago, her performance has begun to improve. Prior to that,

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her performance was very erratic; with frequent absences. She

is the sole support for her three children.

Eshwar Murthy Aged 27, single ; two years with the company,

college graduate. One of the best liked employees at Scientific

Equipment. However, he has shown a lack of initiative and

ambition on the job. Appears to be preoccupied with his social

life, particularly around his recently purchased house.

Cheriyan Aged 24, married with no children ; one year with the

company after graduating from a local college. First full – time

job since graduation from college. He is liked by all employees

and has exhibited a high level of enthusiasm for his work.

Exhibit 11.3 presents summary of the performance of the six

supervisors’ during the past year. The data include the current

annual salary, the performance level on the three goals, and an

overall evaluation by the department manager.

The new budget for the upcoming year has allocated a total

of Rs. 1,40,000 for supervisory salaries in the Component

Assembly Department, Rs. 40,000, increase from last year. The

management has indicated that salary increases should range

from five per cent to 12 per cent of the supervisors’ current

salaries and should be tied, as closely as possible, to their

performance.

In making the merit-pay increase decisions, the following

points should be considered.

1. The decisions will likely set a precedent for future salary

and merit increases.

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2. Salary increases should not be excessive, but should be

representative of the supervisor’s performance during the

past year. It is hoped that the supervisors develop a clear

perception that performance will lead to monetary rewards

and that this will serve to motivate them to even better

performance.

3. The decisions should be concerned with equity, that is, they

ought to be consistent and comparable with each other.

4. The company does not want to lose these experienced supervisors to other firms. The management

of this company not only wants the supervisors to be satisfied with their salary increases, but also to

further develop the feeling that Scientific Equipment Manufacturing is a good company for

advancement, growth and career development.

Exhibit 11.3Supervis

orCurre

nt Salary (Rs.)

Storage

Costs (10%)

Goal Labo

ur Costs (12%)

Attainment

Quality Rejects (15%)

Effort Manager’s Cooperativen

ess

Cherian 23,000 12% 12% 17% Excellent

Excellent

Amitha 24,000 12% 13% 16% Excellent

Excellent

Shindhe 24,000 6% 2% 3% Good ExcellentAnandan 22,000 4% 4% 12% Excellen

tGood

Hemalatha

23,000 11% 10% 10% Fair Fair

Eshwar Murthy

24,000 8% 10% 3% Fair Fair

Instructions for the exercise

1. Each person in the class should individually determine the

Rupee amount and percentage increase in salary for each of

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the six supervisors, Individual decisions should be justified

by a rationale or decision rule.

2. After each individual has reached a decision, the group will

convene and make the same decision as noted in (1) above.

3. After each group has reached a decision, a spokesperson for

each group will present the following information to the full

class:

a) The group’s decision concerning merit pay increase for each

supervisor (rupee and percentage)

b) The high, low and average individual decisions in the group.

c) A rationale for the group’s decision.

NO. 3

TRAVAILS OF A TRAINING MANAGER

Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined System, as a training

manager, was feeling

uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the

managing director of the company.

Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It

had a turnover of Rs. 25 crore the previous year. The company

traded in several products – both domestic and imported.

Nearly 80 percent of its turnover came from selling electronic

component products which were assembled locally from imports

of semi knocked – down kits. The landed cost of its imports was

about Rs. 10 crore last year. The products had an assured

demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and

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Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The

company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and,

as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather

than market oriented.

Early during the current financial year, the Government of

India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalization

strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier.

All imports had to be financed by exports – there were

restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working

capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its

account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing

SKD kits.

The company management had three option before it. First,

to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly ; second, to

assemble at least a few of the component products from raw

materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service

aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to

establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in

the long run.

Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems

depended on how quickly it could train its people – beginning

from a handful of sales engineers – to become market – centred

and customer – friendly in their approach to business.

“ The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff

had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been

an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before

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signing up with Systems. “ We have to compete now in the

marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times

are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you

come in. It will be your responsibility, as the training manager,

to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said,

adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman

is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical

training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training

manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get

more sales.”

That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he

decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy

evolving specific training packages for workers, shop – floor

supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional

executives and an intensive module for field salesman.

Deciding to start with the salesman first, he met the sales

manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training

session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only

half – heartedly consented to release people for the two – day

training.

The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in

the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him

during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of

time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as

simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the

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future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been

delivered.

The attendance for the second day session was thin. This

lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers

next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the

idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the

training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no

attempts to hide his feeling that to him to whole thing was a big

joke.

Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company

where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training

capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs

were universal for all companies and so were the training

techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of

working conditions to another and from one industry to another.

He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a

professional trainer.

But Kumar began to realize that he had made a few tactical

errors in his particular case. He should have perhaps asked

Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the

whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of

authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for

senior executives first.

“I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round.

There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever

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damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,”

he said to himself.

1) What should he do?

NO. 4

“ WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, ANYWAY ?”

It was past 4 pm and Purushottam Kshirsagar was still at his

shopfloor office. The small but elegant office was a perk he was

entitled to after he had been nominated to the board of Horizon

Industries (P) Ltd., as workman – director six months ago. His

shift generally ended at 3 pm and he would be home by late

evening. But that day, he still had long hours ahead of him.

Kshirsagar had been with Horizon for over twenty years.

Starting off as a substitute mill-hand in the paint shop at one of

the company’s manufacturing facilities, he had been made

permanent on the job five years later. He had to formal

education. He felt this was a handicap, but he made up for it

with a willingness to learn and a certain enthusiasm on the job.

He was soon marked by the works manager as someone to

watch out for. Simultaneously, Kshirsagar also came to the

attention of the president of the Horizon Employees’ Union who

drafted him into union activities.

Even while he got promoted twice during the period to

become the head colour mixer last year, Kshirsagar had

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gradually moved up the union hierarchy and had been thrice

elected secretary of the union.

Labour-management relations at Horizon were not always

cordial. This was largely because the company had not been

recording a consistently good performance. There were

frequent cuts in production every year because of go-slows and

strikes by workmen – most of them related to wager hikes and

bonus payments.

With a view to ensuring a better understanding on the part

of labour, the problems of company management, the Horizon

Board, led by chairman and managing director Avinash

Chaturvedi, began to toy with the idea of taking on a workman

on the board. What started off as a hesitant move snowballed,

after a series of brainstorming sessions with executives and

meetings with the union leaders, into a situation in which

Kshirsagar found himself catapulted to the Horizon board as

workman-director.

It was an untested ground for the company. But the novelty

of it all excited both the management and the labour force. The

board members – all functional heads went out of their way to

make Kshirsagar comfortable and the latter also responded

quite well. He got used to the ambience of the boardroom and

the sense of power it conveyed. Significantly, he was soon at

home with the perspectives of top management and began to

see each issue from both sides.

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It was smooth going until the union presented a week

before the monthly board meeting, its charter of demands, one

of which was a 30 per cent across-the-board hike in wages. The

matter was taken up at the board meeting as part of a special

agenda.

“Look at what your people are asking for,” said Chaturvedi,

addressing Kshirsagar with a sarcasm that no one in the board

missed. “You know the precarious finances of the company.

How could you be a party to a demand that simply can’t be met?

You better explain to them how ridiculous the demands are,” he

said.

“I don’t think they can all be dismissed as ridiculous,” said

Kshirsagar. “And the board can surely consider the alternatives.

We owe at least that much to the union.” But Chaturvedi

adjourned the meeting in a huff, mentioning, once again to

Kshirsagar that he should “ advise the union properly.”

When Kshirsagar told the executive committee members of

the union that the board was simply not prepared to even

consider the demands, he immediately sensed the hostility in

the room. “You are a sell out,” one of them said. “Who do you

really represent – us or them?” asked another.

“Here comes the crunch,” thought Kshirsagar. And however

hard he tried to explain, he felt he was talking to a wall.

A victim of divided loyalties, he himself was unable to

understand whose side he was on. Perhaps the best course

would be resigned from the board. Perhaps he should resign

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both from the board and the union. Or may be resign from

Horizon itself and seek a job elsewhere. But, he felt, sitting in

his office a little later, “none of it can solve the problem.”

Question:

1. What should he do?

NO. 5

THE RESENTFUL EMPLOYEE

It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus

the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The

bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and

filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in

sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that

women in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor

came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on

the beady-eyed toy dog. I saw trouble brewing. This was the

opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to

make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr.

Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a

general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a

grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while

he shivered at the door.

“ You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my

name and address,” said the women, who had evidently

expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out-that is my order.”

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“ I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me,”

said the woman.

“Certainly not,” said her lady companion. “ You have got a

cough as it is.”

“ It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“ This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out.”

And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his

moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of

angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having

a real holiday.

The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the

army ?” “Call the police,” “ Let us all report him,” “Let us make

him give us our fares back,” “Yes, that is it, let us make him

give us our fares back.” Everybody was on the side of the lady

and the dog.

That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy

unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?”

said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible

things, “There is my number,” said the conductor

imperturbably. “Give us our fares back – you have engaged to

carry us – you can not leave us here all right.” No fares back,”

said the conductor.

Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared

into the night. The conductor took another turn on the

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pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another

bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of

the passengers to stop. “ They stick by each other, the villains,”

was the comment.

Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver

round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus ?” He said, and

paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and

resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope

in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the

door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on

him. “Well, he has got his rules you know, he said generally. “

Give your name and address,” “That is what he is being offered

and he won’t take it.” “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went

away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he

was joined by two more constables.

And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the

conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on

the quarter – deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose

vice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him

with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as

cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a

fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a

group of statuary up the steel watching the drama. Then she

came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had

sat a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed.

The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had

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demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this

thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity

to slip away.

Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every

stage of resistance to abject surrender. “ I will go on the top,”

said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will

have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man.)

Certainly not – she would die with her dog”. When she had

disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the

bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his

conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of

the party.

Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the

help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with

the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the

engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the

bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-

rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to

the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with

all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement,

the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking

at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go

on the top and finally going.

Questions :

1. Which theory of motivation do use to motivate the

bus crew ? why ?

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2. If you were the conductor what would you do ?

3. If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would

you do ?

4. Role play (a) conversation between the conductor

and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policemen

and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the

conductor and the driver.

NO. 6

WHEN AN EMPLOYEE SAYS HE IS HIV POSITIVE

Chemtech was a chemical firm employing nearly 1,500 people.

Since the company

was operating in a sheltered economic environment, the

organizational focus for

many years was on technology and manufacturing. There was

little accent on marketing. But a liberal import regime heralded

by the Government of India galvanized the management into

sprucing up its sales and marketing team. A number of people

were being hired from outside the company in a long overdue

exercise of giving a customer – oriented focus to the company’s

operations. a few employees were also being promoted from

within. In a professional career spanning over two decades in

personnel function in different companies, Aparojit Das, Vice-

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president (HRD), was closely involved with the hiring interviews.

And he had always chosen well even while most of his

contemporaries had been expressing disillusionment with the

interview as a medium of getting the right candidate for the

right job.

The secret of his success lay in a technique he had worked

to perfection. As a candidate walked in for an interview, Das

would quickly size him up for a first impression. Subsequently,

the whole tenor of his questioning over the period of the

interview would be aimed at destroying that impression. If the

first impression was favourable and if it persisted till the end of

an interview or if an unfavourable impression turned otherwise

by the end, Das had an intuitive feeling that he had a good

candidate on his hands. Of course, the assessment already

made by the concerned divisional head regarding specific job

requirements would be a major benchmark in the final selection

of a candidate.

Das knew, however, that if he had chosen people well, it

was not because of any particular skill but because he was

simply lucky.

That morning, as he looked at the folder lying in his desk,

Das wondered whether he was finally running out of luck. The

folder contained dossiers of two candidates who have been

interviewed at various levels over the previous month. As a part

of the final assessment, Das himself had met them individually

an hour ago. Both were internal candidates, presently working

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as sales executives and seeking promotion to the post of the

sales manager to be based at the head office of the company.

Both were highly recommended by the company’s vice –

president (sales) for the post.

The first dossier was of Prem Sagar who had been with

Chemtech for five years. Sagar had worked his way up and

understood the company’s product and their markets. He was

very keen to take on new responsibilities. The second was of

Arvind Vardhan who had joined the company only the previous

year. He seemed confident, sensitive to others points of view, a

self starter, and a good team player. Das’s maiden impression

was that Vardhan was a natural salesperson and it persisted,

however hard he tried to disprove himself. He was clearly in

favour of Vardhan.

It was when he was about to terminate the interview that

Vardhan said “Mr. Das, there is something that I think I must

mention in all fairness. But before I do so, I need to have your

word that what I tell you will remain between the two of us.”

You have my word,” said Das. “ I have been declared HIV

positive,” said Vardhan, “the tests came last week.

If Das panicked, he did not show it. “ I don’t see how it can

affect your chances of promotion,” he said, in a voice that, much

to his own surprise, lacked conviction. “ I think we should talk

about this separately,” he continued, trying hard to retain

composure. “ I will get back to you. In the meantime, take

care.”

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Later, alone in his cabin, Das found the burden of having to

make a decision lying heavily upon him. The company’s

standing orders stated that no physical disability or even a

chronic health problem should come in the way of a promotion

as long as it does not interfere with a performance directly. But

there were two major issues, as Das saw them. First, although

the HIV infected people were known to work productively for

years, the risk of developing active AIDS at any point of time

was real. Recovery from even a temporary about of illness such

as pneumonia for example, would be longer, reducing the pace

of work and affecting performance on the job. This was an angle

which had to be borne in the mind while giving a promotion.

Second, could the confidentiality of the information given by

Vardhan be retained at all for long ? It was important that two

other persons be informed quickly – the company’s managing

director because this was the first – ever case of its kind in the

history of the company, and the vice-president (sales) because

he was Vardhan’s functional head.

Das further thought that once it was leaked, everyone in the

company would know quickly enough. Although there was no

danger of contagion from casual contact, people would surely be

prejudiced against Vardhan which in turn would affect his ability

to deal with them. Das wondered whether in such a scenario

Vardhan could be entrusted with a responsibility which in its

very nature involved greater interaction with people and higher

pressure of work. On the other hand, Vardhan deserved the

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promotion on sheer merit. To deny what was due to him would

be unfair.

Question:

1. What should Das do?