IIM-INDORE

CBN Group Project

Case Analysis

Decoding the Strike at Bajaj Auto's Chakan Plant

GROUP-1

Submitted By,
Aamod Kharb,
C S Ashwin Rajh,
Kokila Chopra,
Rosalina Maharana,
Shivani Arora.

CBN REPORT 1
 CBN
Following group submission is due in session 9:
Based on the case Decoding the Strike at Bajaj Auto's Chakan Plant
listed under session 9, answer the following question:
Question
In the article six habits, two of them are (i) Neglecting the other side's
problem and (ii) Letting position drive out interests. In your view how
management and union both committed these two mistakes as per the
information available in the case.

NEGLECTING THE OTHER SIDE’S PROBLEM

Both management and union neglected the other side’s core problem
and went about trying to ensure their demands are met.The
management has committed this mistake in the following ways:

-Did not address the union’s claims of mistreatment of its members by

the management.
-They spoke highly of the workers future but were unable to convert
them into action which caused a negative backlash from the workers.
-With over reliance on economies of scale, the management did not offer
enough benefits for the workers during the working hours within the
factory.
-The management failed to understand the union workers concerns that
they were being over-utilised as they rejected scientific studies in this
regard.
-The management adopted an anti-union stance because of its past
experiences in PantNagar plant which did not sit well with the workers
who were unhappy with their old wage agreement because of the
actions that took place in PantNagar plant.
-The management were not able to consider the prevalent socio-
economic factors that affected the workers during the period and hence
periodic wage revision triennially was not the solution.

CBN REPORT 2
-With management laying more emphasis on legal recourse than
actually dealing with the union issues, they ended up losing the trust of
the Chakan workers.

Union:
- Even though Bajaj maintained above market conditions with respect to
pay and benefits, the workers demands were too high and they did not
make an attempt to sit at the negotiating table to address their
concerns and to lend an ear to the management’s problems.
- They were abrupt in terminating the long-term contract, going on
unannounced strikes, go-slow tactics in operations and not really
bothered about the productivity concerns of the plant.
- With union workers demanding for company shares, which were not
the management’s to give away, the union workers clearly were
demanding more than what they can chew.They stretched their BATNA
too much which the management could not give which resulted in the
Ultimatum.

LETTING POSITIONS DRIVE OUT INTERESTS

-The focus should be creating shared values so that the plant runs in
harmony and the employees are happy in running it.
-But instead both the management and union didi not tap into the
opportunities available tot hem but rather they held to their point of views
refusing to budge which resulted in the Ultimatum being the “held at gun
point” solution to the problem.

Management:
They were apprehensive even before the labour union was formed
because of their experiences in the PantNagar plant.
They felt that the union cannot afford legal recourse and hence preferred
to deal with the Union through legal action rather than having a proper
dialogue with them.

CBN REPORT 3
Their rejection of scientific studies regarding the production rate of the
plant, further made it evident that some part of the blame lies on their
part, but hey refused to acknowledge it.

Union:
-The demands of the Union’s were too high in terms of pay, benefits and
the pinnacle of their greed was asking for shares which were trading at
INR 1900/- for INR 1/-.
-The Union refused to move away form their position to look for common
ground which resulted in less or no additional support from politicians,
other unions, etc and further ultimately resulted in calling the strike off.

CBN REPORT 4