SECTION C: ANALYTICAL REASONING AND DECISION MAKING

Read the following caselet and choose the best alternative (Question 97 – 100):

Om Chowdary was one of the supervisors in the Fire and Safety (F&S) department of Maqsood Textile Mills. He was a distant cousin to Mr. Bhiwani, General Manager (personal & Administration). Personnel & Administration department was given the responsibility of all personnel related decisions. It was often rumoured that Om had obtained the job due to his cousin's influence. However, Om was meticulous in the performance of his duties and didn't give anyone a reason for complaint. It was known that Om was not much given to talking and kept to himself and to his duties.

All F&S supervisors reported to Mr.Rabindra, the shop-floor manager. The mill operated on a three-shift basis and Rabindra allocated the supervisors to different shifts. They were required to be present at all times during the shift operation and carry out scheduled checks of machinery and fire fighting equipments. For some reasons, Om was allotted the night shift more often than other supervisors. Om accepted these allocations without any objection, while it was known that other supervisors would often plead and bargain with Rabindra to be allocated the day shifts. During the night shift, keeping awake and remaining mentally alert were some of the major challenges faced by the supervisors.

Of late, Rabindra observed signs of indifference from Om. On two occasions he found Om absent from his cabin. Rabindra heard from others that Om was often found in different parts of the shop floor talking to employees. Rabindra called him to his office and reminded Om of his responsibilities. Om did not counter Rabindra. He promised that he would not be lax in his duties again. Rabindra also braoched the subject with Mr.Bhiwani. Mr.Bhiwani called Om to his office and talked on a very personal basis. He reminded Om that their family relations made it uncomfortable to all concerned. Om nodded and agreed to do better. Soon his performance became that of a model supervisor. It was often found he went beyond his official duties to sort out problems of employees.

About three months later, Rabindra happened to visit the plant during night. As he looked into F&S office, he found Om playing solitaire on the office computer. Mr. Rabindra immediately fired Om.

The next morning Mr. Bhivani called Mr.Rabindra and asked how he can fire an employee. He suggested that Mr. Rabindra reconsider Om's dismissal. "This decision has already been made. There will be no turning back" replied Rabindra.

97. The options below give combinations of possible root cause of the problem and the justifications thereof. Given the details in the case, which one can be inferred to be the best option?

A. Hiring of Om. Reason: that ensured Om was perpetually casual towards his duties.

B. Om favrouring to work during the night shift. Reason: Absence of Rabindra ensured that Om could relax.

C. Rabindra's bias against Om. Reason: Rabindra had been assigning too many night shifts to Om while for other supervisors he was lenient.

D. Rabindra jumping to conclusions. Reason: He should have investigated whether Om had carried out his duties.

E. Rabindra's firing of Om. Reason: It led to clash between Rabindra and Mr.Bhiwani.

Solution:

Choice (A): The passage gives a positive picture regarding Om’s attitude towards the duty. Hence, this option contradicts the passage.

Choice (B) Mr.Om has accepted whatever is allotted to him. He did not favour to work in night shifts.

Choice (C): The problem is not just one instance. From the passage it is clear that Mr.Rabindra is not allotting right shift’s equally to all the supervisor. Hence, this is the root cause.

Choice (D): Rabindra, jumping to conclusion is just one incidence.

Choice (E): This is the end result. Choice (C)

98. The details of the entire episode have become common knowledge among all the employees of the company. Out of the options below, which one presents the best way for the top management to resolve the issue so as to benefit the organisation as a whole?

A. Revoke Rabindra's order. It can be communicated to others that firing was too severe a punishment for such a small incident of indiscipline.

B. Ask Om for clarification. It can be communicated that since Om had clarified regarding his duties, the order has been taken back.

C. Declare Rabindra's order as void. Reiterate officially the disciplinary processes that need to be followed by managers along with their scope of authority.

D. Ask feedback from other employees on the shop-floor regarding Om's performance. This can be used to revoke Rabindra's order.

E. Take the feedback of other F&S supervisors as to the work involved during night shift. This would better explain Om's behaviour.

Solution:

In view of the positive feed back about the work attitude of Mr. Om Chowdhary, he should be given an opportunity to clarify. This is true in case of any employee. As, Rabindra has not taken the decision in a proper manner, it should be declared void and let Rabindra know the right process. Choice (C)

99. Out of the options below, which one best summarizes the learning from solitaire incident?

A. Managers often do not take any responsibility towards training juniors.

B. People tend to become relaxed during night shift and require surprise checks to keep them on their toes.

C. Certain roles would have different ways of carrying out their duties.

D. Having relatives in the same organisation can be a source of potential problems.

E. Managers tend to allocate silent people to difficult positions.

Solution:

The question is referring to just one incidence given in the entire passage, i.e. Om playing solitaire.

Choice (A) has no relavence to the context.

Choice (B) Since a supervisor is expected to keep awake and mentally alert, playing solitaire does not necessarily indicate that one is relaxing or neglected his duty.

Choice (D) is not the right option because no where it is proved that Om is taking advantage of presence of his relative in the organisation.

Though Om was absent from his cabin on some occasions and found playing solitaire, keeping in view that there is a good feed back regarding his functioning, it may be that he functions in a different way. Choice (C)

100. Of the options below, which could have been a better response from Mr. Rabindra when he saw Om playing?

A. He should have clarified about his authority to fire employees.

B. He should have informed Mr.Bhiwani about the incident and asked him to take necessary action.

C. He should have asked the employees of the shift regarding Om's performance of his duties.

D. He should have checked if Om had done his duties or not.

E. He should have checked the production levels in the shift to see if it was required.

Solution:

According to the passage Mr. Raindra fired Mr. Om without seeking any explaination from him and without checking whether he has done his duty or not. Though Mr. Rabindra is vested with the responsibility of all personnel related decisions it should be used judiciously. Hence Mr. Rabindra should have checked whether Mr. Om has done his duty or not before taking a decision. Choice (D)