PRESIDENCY COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

(A Graduate School of Management) left the company just before the layoffs, writes the unofficial Gannett
Semester End Examination- Spring 2020 Blog. “I try to give the unvarnished truth.
Level: MBA/ First Semester Full Marks 40 I don’t think the company offers the same level of candor
Time: Pass marks 20 to employees,” he said. Gannett spokeswoman Tara
Organizational Behaviour and leadership Skills Connell replied, “We attempt to make those personal
communications happen as quickly as possible.”
Candidates are required to give their answers in their own words as far as Says blog expert Andy Sernovitz, “There are hold-out
practicable. companies that still wish there was traditional P.R. control
The figures in the margin indicate full marks. of the message, but that day is long over.”
Group A: Case Study
Compulsory Question. 2*7.5=15 Questions
1. Read the following case. 1. Do you think Tesla CEO Elon Musk did the right thing
Case 1 when he blogged about impending layoffs just before
In the recessions in the early 1990s and after the 2001 announcing them to employees? Why or why not?
terrorist attacks, layoffs were fairly private affairs. News 2. Do you think employees have a responsibility to be
often leaked out to local and national media outlets, but careful when they blog about their company? Why or
companies did their best to keep it as quiet as possible. why not?
Given the growth of the Internet in general, and of social 3. Do you think employees who blog about their companies have an
networking sites in particular, that’s no longer possible ethical responsibility to disclose their
When Starbucks laid off employees in 2008 and 2009, identities?
the Web site StarbucksGossip.com received a barrage of 4. How can a company develop a policy for handling
posts from disgruntled employees. One 10-year employee communication of sensitive issues inside, and outside,
wrote, “This company is going to lose every great partner the company?
that it has. I am sick and tired of being blamed for not
meeting my budget when the economy is in a recession I used to be Case 2. Read the following case
proud of my company . . . now I am embarrassed and feel physically ill PERSONALITY AND ATTITUDE
every time I have to go to Most people think of wealthy, successful entrepreneurs as elderly,
work.” conservative, quiet and serious. Ram Krishna Chandra, chairman of Chandra
Some companies are taking a proactive approach. Group (owner of over fifty businesses), certainly does not fit this stereotype.
When Tesla Motors laid off employees, its CEO Elon Musk He is young (42), dressed casually, runs his business from his homes,
posted a blog entry about it just before announcing the unorthodox in his image, he has even been known to give interviews with his
layoffs internally. “We had to say something to prevent feet propped up on the furniture and pillows under his head.
articles being written that were not accurate,” he said. Despite his laid-back style, Ram Chandra is a driven man. He is compelled
“Today, whatever you say inside a company will end up by his desire to overcome challenges- a desire he claims to have learned from
in a blog,” says Rusy Rueff, a former executive at PepsiCo. his mother. Ram Chandra has a history of entrepreneurial ventures. He
“So, you have a choice as a company—you can either be dropped out of high school to begin a music magazine that quickly found
proactive and say, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’ or you can success, earning Rs. 1 million within the first year.
allow someone else to write the story for you.” In discussing his success, Ram Chandra is emphatic that people are the most
Illustrating the perils of ignoring the blogosphere, when important element. “The most important aspect of running a company is
newspaper giant Gannett announced it was laying off motivating your staff and caring,” he says. “You may have no end to
10 percent of its employees, it posted no blog entries and important business meetings, your diary might be getting full up but you’ve
made no statement. Jim Hopkins, a 20-year veteran who got to clear the time and space to go out with your staff as often as possible.”
When starting his businesses, he deliberately selected friends to work with 2. Does Ram Chandra demonstrate the high or low self-efficacy or self-
him, figuring that if you are working with people you like, you can trust them esteem? What experiences might have led to the development of his
to be good with their staff and inspire morale in others and confidence in self-efficacy and self-esteem?
customers.
3. Success of Ram Chandra is the personality what he possesses.
Ram Chandra believes in giving his employees lots of freedom to develop
Critically justify your opinion.
their own best work styles and patterns. He accomplishes this by letting
employees wear whatever clothing they choose and by carefully selecting
Group B: (Long Answer Type Questions)
desirable work sites. In this way, groups of employees who work in different
locations are encouraged to develop their own personalized ways of Any Two Question 1*10 =10
completing their tasks. And, Ram Chandra is a big believer in the value of 2. Define OB. Discuss the issues confronted by managers is managing
praise. people.
In addition to his faith in people, Ram Chandra values fun. This conviction
permeates both his business and personal philosophies. Says Ram Chandra,” 3. What are the various discipline contributing to the development of
If you do something for fun and create the best possible product, and then OB? Explain with a neat chart.
profit will come.” He seeks fun not only as a means of profit but as a means
of recreation. Ram Chandra has gained much publicity for himself with his
pranks. Group C: (Short answer type Questions)
Ram Chandra consciously tries to create a non-traditional climate in his
companies. He encourages his employees to take risks. He writes to all Answer Five questions (Q. 10 is Compulsory) 2*5 + (5*1)=15
employees every few months and requests written replies. He also learns the 4. What is the specifics application of perception in organization
first names of all his employees- currently about 500 at one business site only setting? Explain attribution theory
His creativity in management also extends to business decisions and 5. Define personality. What are the determinants of Personality?
innovations. Explain big five personality Model.
Although, Ram Chandra’s success can clearly be credited to his energy,
talent, inspiration and luck, the one trail of which he has taken greatest 6. Discuss expectancy theory and equity theory of motivation. Evaluate
advantage is his knowledge of his own strengths and weakness and his high the managerial implication of both the theory.
self-esteem. Ram Chandra admits,” What I think I’m good at is having the
7. Give one sentence answer:
energy to get something up and running and finding good people. That’s
what I enjoy the most creating new things.” He clearly recognizes his limits a. Assumption of OB
and gladly delegates the operational details of management to others.
b. Determinants of Individual Behaviour
Similarly, he knows that he is driven by challenge, fun and some risk. Ram
Chandra views risk, not as a necessary evil with which to reach the greatest c. Workforce Diversity
returns, but rather as an opportunity for failure from which he can learn. He d. Attitude
says,” I think, by definition, a failure is somebody that doesn’t give
something a try, and I think that they haven’t failed, they’ve learned lessons e. MBTI Personality Dimensions
which hopefully the next time around that they’ll be able to put to good use
and be successful.
QUESTIONS
1. How would you characterize Ram Chandra with respect to the “big-
five model” personality dimensions? Do you think Ram Chandra is a
Type A or Type B personality?