A Report On

OUTSOURCED
The Story
Organizational Behavior

Working Group : AC1

Name
Divya Nayak
Harshit Pandey
Mnadar Bothara
Raviteja Reddy
Varun Subramnian

Introduction:
Through its research, teaching, and course development, the Organizational Behaviour unit
creates and disseminates knowledge that advances the understanding of how to lead and
manage with the aim of increasing personal and organizational effectiveness. Although
specific research interests span a wide range of subjects, but the interdisciplinary, multimethod approach that has led to significant impact on theory and practice.
Our current intellectual agenda builds on the rich history of OB and focuses squarely on the
organizational changes and challenges arising from today's increasingly global and more
competitive economy.
About the story:
Given that feature series can enhance the teaching of intercultural communication, this report
describes in detail how the series - Outsourced, can be integrated into a course.
Outsourced can help create an intercultural experience for students, serve as the basis for a
case analysis of cross- cultural adjustment, give meaning to cultural concepts, and create
powerful metaphorical images.
The Outsourced manager
The story revolves around a person who is a resident of America. He has a steady income job
and is about to settle down. He is the manager of a department that handles call for direct
sales of the company. There has been a steady decline in the market and the sales have been
declining.
Personal life: Todd Dempsey
Todd is in his mid twenties. He has grown in a typical American culture and has been
working his way out in the fast life of the west. In a very short span of time, he has grown in
his post from beings a salesman to a manager. But his skill remained naive due to lack of
experience in handling sudden changes.
The organization: American Novelty Company
The organization is basically involved in sales of merchandise. It uses several channels in
order to sell the merchandise, direct sales being one. It has independent teams handling the
operations and managers for each team.
The economic Conditions:
Due to economic slowdown the market condition has been deteriorating. There are several
companies going in for cost cutting measures. The company also had an impact on its sales.
Under this circumstance, Todd is transferred to India to manage call centre. The report is all
about how an individual faces different behavioural instances and makes his way through it.

The Plot:

Todd Anderson arrives in India (Bombay and later Gharapuri) to take over as a manager of
the call centre. Initially he is flabbergasted by the difference in the culture and the
environment. One should realize that depending on the environment they are located in, their
behaviour varies. Culture, surroundings and the people in our life influence our behaviour. So
there is a large variation of behaviour as well as understanding between Todd and his
employees. Since he would be working in India, he decides to learn Indian culture, learn their
customs, tradition the way they think etc. he tries his best to get to know his employees. He
goes personally and introduces himself to all his employees. But Rajeev feels that his position
is under threat and the new manager may fire him. So he is always on a lookout to make
Todd look worse and tries to get him fired. Rajeev is very insecure about his job and it is very
important for Todd as a manager to make him feel secure else it would hamper his
productivity. At the same time he might remove his frustration on his subordinates.
This is a situation which explains the concepts of Team
Development and first stage of team formation. This is a
time taking process. In this stage, there's lots of exploration
as group members get to know one another. There's a focus
on similarities and differences and first impressions are key
as people try to figure out the similarities and differences.
Because everything is new there is a fair amount of
confusion and anxiety as people try to put their best foot
forward. As a result, productivity will be lower.
Todd realizes its importance and from time to him he asks for, and implements, suggestions
for improving the work environment. This helps build employee confidence and team
cohesiveness. Once in a fun-filled work session at the call centre, Todd good-naturedly
obliges a request from a worker to do a dance from an Indian movie.
This is the stage of team building process. This is where the
team members develop an ownership and accountability for
their actions in the team. This helps to build camaraderie
between the colleagues. The employees must feel
comfortable enough to share their views and opinion with
their manager and so the manager must be open to receive
suggestion from his employees.
As the team passes through the various stages of team formation, there are certain habits and
rules that the team develops in the process. There is a cohesive team formed because of the
work that binds them. Here, Todd is the undisputed leader owing to his position. The team
that works under him is well diversified. We also find cultural implications in the team
building process.

No matter how talented individuals on a staff may be, unless they can function together
efficiently and with excellence, the practice will not achieve the level of performance
required in coming years to be successful or perhaps even survive.
This scenario explains attributes of cohesiveness and
cultural implications in a team. During this process, the
team members start gelling, collaborating and adjusting to
achieve the optimal performance.
The team building effort in this case is not governed by series of steps, but initiated as a
process by the leader. This shows the impact of power in a team.
Over the time a team develops some rules that are followed by every member of the team.
While team norms may touch on any aspect of team behaviour the following are most
commonly included:
Meetings will start on time. But in this context we see that the Indian employees
consider time as least important.
Decision making is by consensus. Consensus hopes for unanimous support. Individual
team members may not fully agree with a team decision, but will fully support it. In
the case of holiday allocation for festivals, the team is against the management all
together.
Silence means consent. Since all team members are expected to contribute their views
on issues and concerns, when the team achieves consensus, those remaining silent are
understood to be supporters of the decision. Absence may also mean consent when the
team agrees that absent members will be given notice of team decisions and the
opportunity to express concerns prior to the decision becoming final.
Team members agree to hold themselves and each other accountable for commitments
made to one another.
These are the team norms. These are the unspoken and often
unwritten set of informal rules that govern individual
behaviours in a group. Group norms vary based on the
group and issues important to the group. Without group
norms, individuals would have no understanding of how
to act in social situations.
The American work culture has been thought of as being free and straight forward, while
Indians have the habit have adhering to rules, following orders and having a hierarchical
structure. The kind of work that a company does is affected by the type of network that they
use; whether it is centralized or decentralized network.
Implications of Centralised and Decentralises Networks.

The call centre is a closed space with machines placed right besides each other. The teams are
always in contact with each other and grapevine communication will have impact on group
cohesion.
This is the concept of Proxemics. This includes two
categories: Personal Space and Territory. Personal space
describes the immediate space surrounding a person, while
territory refers to the area which a person may "lay claim to"
and defend against others.
Till here we see coming up of a system of Team
Communication. It is essential for a healthy and thriving
team. When team members appear to be at odds with one
another and lacking direction, it is due to the fact that
effective communication is absent. Good communication
creates an environment where all team members are inspired
to reach a common goal. Effective communication within a
team keeps everyone on the same page and allows for open
expression and direct feedback.
The state of affairs shows that the Indian culture is inclined towards hierarchical structure.
While Todd wants a horizontal flow of communication, the team is reluctant to adjust
through change.
Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is a framework
for cross-cultural communication. It explains high power
distance as the way in which power is distributed and the
extent to which the less powerful accept that power is
distributed unequally. Put simply, people in some cultures
accept a higher degree of unequally distributed power than
do people in other cultures.
Gupta, one of the employees, has shown anger management issues. Even after several
warnings there is no sign of changes shown by him. It is only after deep investigation Todd
finds out that there are role conflict issues.
Role Conflict is a situation in which a person is expected to
play
two
incompatible roles.
We
experience role
conflict when we find ourselves pulled in various directions
as we try to respond to the many statuses we hold.
In another situation, Todd is not aware of the seasonal festival of India. The company decides
that there would be no leave given for Diwali. But under the pressure from the team even the
leader has to change the rules that the company had followed.

This is known as group norm. These norms are established

through interaction of individuals and the levelling-off of
extreme opinions. The result is a consensus agreement that
tends to be a compromise, even if it is wrong.
Another time, Todd calls his boss and learns that he was supposed to give a sexual
harassment seminar to his group at his arrival. The next morning, Todd learns that someone
already filed a complaint and he tries to make things right but only ends up making them
worse.
Here, it is diverse culture that makes it difficult to judge grounds on morality. Madhuri
considers casual touching as negative haptical expression, while for Todd it is general gesture
to make the employees comfortable. A sexual harassment complaint is lodged against Todd.
The ground rules of ethics are the fundamentals. These are
the bases by which we make ethical decisions. Because they
are "rules," rather than norms or principles, they must be
practical in character, easily able to be put into action. The
fact that they are "ground" rules means that they are not
themselves actionable, but they inform action.
The employees of the all centre are not aware of the product that is given to them for selling.
The goal of the centre is to remain profitable. But without proper guidance, the goal seems to
be incompatible. In such an environment, group conflict, or hostilities between different
groups, is a feature common to all forms of social organization.
Group conflict is some form of friction, disagreement, or
discord arising within a group when the beliefs or actions of
one or more members of the group are either resisted by or
unacceptable to one or more members of another group. The
two kinds: Intergroup and Intragroup conflict.
In the beginning when Todd is introduced in the office for the first time; a guy walks out of
room. The person thinks of Todd as a non Indian and shows his disagreement by walking out.
Heuristics are simple, efficient rules which people often use
to form judgments and make decisions. They are mental
shortcuts that usually involve focusing on one aspect of a
complex problem and ignoring others.[1][2][3] These rules
work well under most circumstances, but they can lead to
systematic deviations from logic, probability or rational
choice theory. The resulting errors are called "cognitive
biases."

The call centre had a very informal group with their problems and Todd was on a friendly
terms with everyone, especially Manmeet. He would ask Manmeet frequently for suggestions
and also about Indian culture. Todd wanted to understand his employees better. Also Todd
was interested in dating asha, so manmeet used to give advice to go about it. Everyone could
approach Todd anytime they want. The work environment had a very flat structure. So here
since the call centre is not very large in size, this kind of structure suits the work
environment. Here each employee has no superior to them other than Todd who is the
manager and Rajeev, assistant manager.
A Flat Organizational Structure is where managers needs to
build an adaptive, innovation-friendly organization,
establishing an inspiring culture and empowering employees,
flat structures empower employees to take charge, help make
decisions and feel responsible for the companys success.
Flat structure facilitates a greater level of communication
between employees and management. Communication is
usually faster, more reliable and more effective.
Todd meets each staff member to evaluate them. Madhuri asks him to pronounce her name
correctly. He says it exactly like she does. This shows that the employees are comfortable
enough to give their suggestions/feedback to their employer. Gupta is informed that he talks
customers ears off. So, Todd thinks that the right thing to do is provide feedback to Gupta.
When it comes to Team Performance Evaluation, the role of
the manager is to provide timely feedback to his employees
so that they can increase their skills and their performance.
Organizations must continually assess their employees'
strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, employers are better
able to match employee qualification to job assignments.
Employee evaluations provide an assessment of the strengths
and weaknesses for individual employees as well as the
collective talents of employees by department or team
In a situation, we see that Madhuri had several relative at home whom she wanted to avoid.
So she said that, she would spend her night in office rather than at homes the same day while
working in the office, she creates a diversion and snags Rajivs keys to office. That night, she
lets herself into the call centre and finds Rajiv staying there. His fathers AC is broken, so
hes sleeping at work. He yells at her for wanting to do the same thing. Her house is full of
visitors. She outsmarts him when she agrees to confess everything to Todd. He lets her sleep
on a chair. He yells at Madhuri for not completing paper work and makes her read the
employee manual. Taped inside is his key to the call center.So here it shows the importance
of negotiation even though it is not the right way to do. Madhuri showed good negotiation
skills which helped her in her situation

Negotiation is everywhere it and can't be avoided. Like math

is to science, negotiation is to society. It's the basic process
that supports everything else .So its very important to
develop negotiation skills. From time-management struggles
to managing employees, work/life balances issues and even
parenthood, opportunities to hone negotiation skills are
everywhere. Improving your negotiation skills can mean
greater peace of mind, increased harmony among the team,
and the chance to advance personal and business
relationships toward future success it is inevitable that, from
time-to-time, conflict and disagreement will arise as the
differing needs, wants, aims and beliefs of people are brought
together. Without negotiation, such conflicts may lead to
argument and resentment resulting in one or all of the parties
feeling dissatisfied. The point of negotiation is to try to reach
agreements
without
causing
future
barriers
to
communications.

In their office, there are two call centres. One is the general centre and the other serving
bigger clienteles. So there is sense of superiority about them and they consider Todds
employees as inferior to them. So one day Manmeet, Madhuri and Gupta have decided to sit
at the A Teams lunch table and theyre not very happy about it. They attack Gupta, Manmeet
and Madhuri with an onslaught of American vernacular.
This is a dysfunctional conflict and must be tried to be
rectified. Intergroup relations between two or more groups
and their respective members often occur in business. Many
times, groups inter-relate to accomplish the organization's
goals and objectives, and conflict can occur. Some conflict,
called functional conflict, is considered positive, because it
enhances performance and identifies weaknesses. Any given
group embodies various qualities, values, or unique traits
that are created, followed, and even defended. Members who
violate important aspects of the group, and especially
outsiders, who offend these ideals in some way, normally
receive some type of corrective or defensive response.
Todd is working as a manger and there is also an assistant manager for this department. There
is always a power tussle between the two the assistant has a control over the staff. This is
because of the dependency that has been created by cultural difference between Todd and the
employee. Also, the assistant manager is in charge of recruitment which shifts the ball into
his court.

Power is often characterized as zero-sum. That is, power is

something that A has over B, such that, if A gains in power B
correspondingly loses. However, the notion of power
dependence suggests that power is also a relational concept,
such that the power of A is dependent on B. The exercise of
power is an exchange of resources and so A needs B - is
dependent on B - in order to exercise power.
Although Todd began as a rookie manager who is incapable of handling the extreme cultural
shocks, he has shown several aspects of a good leader. He always tried to induce confidence
amongst his employees and tried to bend in with the environment given to him. He has shown
several characteristics of a persistent leader. There are instances where he has motivated
people when the environment looked not so friendly.
Team leadership is the management of a group of people
brought together to work to achieve a common goal. In order
to get everyone to work as one functioning team, the leader
must motivate and inspire his or her followers. Leadership of
a team involves assigning followers to tasks, supporting
members, and overseeing projects.
Conclusion:
This study helped us learn the underlying working of principals of an organization. We saw
team dynamics, power and politics, idea generation, organizational structure, leadership,
power, conflicts and negotiation, cultural dimensions and many other such attributes that play
an essential role in the development and growth of any organization. These are not just
supporting but the building principals of any team performance.
The current business and political environment is giving a lot of focus and attention towards
treating the importance of team management as an essential part of their process.
This study stimulated out minds to think of organizational attributes in a rational and logical
way. In the words of Alexander the Great - "Remember upon the conduct of each depends the
fate of all."

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