MS-21    June, 2008

MS-21 : SOCIAL PROCESSES AND  BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES

1. Review  and  describe  Herzberg's  work  motivation  theory and discuss  its relevance  for  organizational  processes.

2.  Describe  the  importance  of  counselling  process  in organisations  and  discuss  the  ethical  issues  involved  in counselling.  Discuss  how  an organization  can handle them.

3. Identify  and  deliberate on  group  processes.  Discuss the measures  ons  could adapt  to  improve  group  productivity.

4. Describe  different types of  organisational  culture and  their significance  in  the  Indian  context.

5. Write short notes on  any  three  of  the  following  :

(a)  Interpersonal  Perception

(b)  Importance of  persuasion

(c)  Sociometry

(d)  Leadership  effectiveness

(e)  Barriers to  communication

6. Read the  following  case  carefully  and answer the  questions given at  the  end  :

Hari  Iyer;  the  Vice  President (Marketing) of  Victor Computer  Systems  Ltd.,  was immersed  in  thoughts, about the  happenings,  taking  him  few  years  (1999)  down  the

memory  lane.  This  was  when  George  (the  Marketing Manager)  had  proudly  walked  down  the  aisle  to  shake hands  with  the  founder and chairman  Victor  at the  latter's residence in  England  and  all  the  company's  employees and  special  invitees  standing  and  cheering  him.  There were  another  49  employees along with  George, to  have dinner with  the  founder chairman at his home  in  England. This  dinner  was  a  part  of  the  'Quality  performance  circle programme'  in  which  the  chairman rewards  quality  top performers,  who  are  exceeding their  quarterly  targets  by more  than  15  per  cent  for  the  entire  year.  All  winners were  given  a  cash award, a  certificate  and  also had  their pictures  taken  with  the  chairman  and  printed  and published  in  the  company's inhouse magazine.

Victor  Computer  Systems  Ltd.  is  a  20  year  old  global company,  having  set  up  base in  I99I  and  has  a  sound product  range  of  computer  peripherals.  Right  from  the beginning,  the  company  has  been  able  to  build  up  a goodwill  for  its  quality products. Very  soon,  it  was  selling its  products at  a  higher  price  in  the  market.  George had   joined  the  company  in  1997  and  his  immediate  boss Gaurav  Patei  was  thoroughly  satisfied  with  him  an,C  also liked  him.  Because  of  his  excellent  track  record  and performance,  George was  not  only  liked  by  his  superior but  also enjoyed many  company  benefits.

George had earned  the  reputation  of  a go-getter,  who enjoyed  working  on  challenging  customers  (or  clients) though  he  doesn't believe  in  wasting much time  on  trying to  please very  hard  to  please customers. He  was  very focussed on  the  targets  set  for  the  month  for  all  his teams.  He  tries  to  instill  in  his  teams  (executives  and managers)  the  idea  of  always  being ahead in  the  race  of hard  core  selling and  also put  it  into  practice  by  working hard himself. He  was also  very smart at  closing  sales  with institutional  buyers  thereby bring in  a  lot  of  sales  in  terms of  volume  for  the  firm.  Seeing  George's  potential, Gaurav  always tried  to  provide  enough  scope  to  explore the  potential of  bis  customers  on  his  own. Inspite  of  all  this,  Gaurav was  a  little  worried  about George's  attitude  towards  those  Area  and  Regional Managers  who  made  efforts  to  sell  to  small  customers. Even  though  he  had  heard  rumours  about  George's belittling attitude towards  few  of  such Regional Managers, he  had  ignored  them  because  of  George's performance.

    However, from  2000  onwards,  the  recession  world over  was  having  its  impact  on the  Indian  IT  industry.  This slack  also  affected  Victor Computer  Systems  in  business with a  noticeable  dip in  corporate  customers  demand  for its  products.  The  company  also  had  redesigned  its marketing  strategies  and  reallocated  its  targets  to  its marketing  teams.  But keeping  in mind  George's  obsession for  big  customers  and  a  person  of  strong  likes  and dislikes,  Gaurav  thought  it  right to  bring up  this  matter with the Vice President,  Hari lyer.  After hearing  Gaurav, Hari  was  in  a  dilemma  because  he  knew  people  like George  were  always in  demand  and  chased by  head hunters.

Questions  :

(a)  Which  aspects  of  goal  setting model  have  gone wrong  in  George's  case  ?

(b)  What strategy  should  be  adopted  by Gaurav  and  Hari to  motivate  George  ?

(c)  Suggest  how  you  would  chann  elize  the  social processes  to  avoid  attitude  problems.