Name: Bibhu Prakash Panda

Roll: 2020PGP097
Section: G

Situation Analysis:
Nisha, Ben, and Mark are three employees of Ness Entertainment, a company that develops
video games, from different departments, and they were tasked with developing
recommendations for line extensions and new titles for the company. The assignment had
many eyes, especially those of the executive committee, pointed towards it, and Nisha wanted
it to succeed. They were working on a possible timeline to release a sequel to one of Ness's
hottest games, Sokontia. Although Nisha and Mark have been doing their part, Ben has been
slacking off. When it was time to prepare the final presentation for the executive committee,
Ben asks Nisha to help him with his slides as she is her friend and has been covering for him
lately.
A big part of the company's review policy for employees is the peer review system.
Employees have to rate their co-workers on a scale of 0-5 based on work that they have done
together. Mark is not happy with Ben's lackadaisical attitude and intends to give him a rating
of 3. Nisha is yet to decide what rating she should award to Ben.

Problem Statement:
Considering Ben's lackadaisical attitude and that Ben is a friend of hers, what rating should
Nisha give to Ben in the peer review system. 

Options:
The first option is to give Ben straight-away a rating of 2. Ben has not been the best team
member and probably deserves a rating of 2.
Another option is to be lenient and give Ben the rating of 5 that he wants.

Criteria for Evaluation:

Ben and Nisha are friends, and a bad rating would burn the bridges between the two has to be
considered. Ben wants a rating of 5, whereas he probably deserves a rating of 2.
Ben was consistently not prepared for the work given to him or for their meetings. It was
almost as if Ben didn't take the project as seriously as Nisha or Mark did. 
Nisha wants the presentation to the executive committee to go as smoothly as possible. She is
an immigrant in the country and a woman in the gaming industry in particular, which is a rare
feat. She wants the acceptance of the game development community wants to excel in the
same. She may have to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to be taken seriously in
the industry.
The peer-review system was not anonymous. Colleagues would come to know exactly what
feedback and rating someone gave them. The lack of anonymity makes the peer review
system not an excellent tool for employee evaluation.

Evaluation of Options:
The first option is of giving Ben a rating of 2, which results in Nisha not having a cognitive
dissonance in her mind. Ben has not done the work due from him in this project, and Nisha
had to carry his slack. He deserves the rating of a 2 out of 5. However, Ben is a friend of
Nisha's, and he asked specifically for a rating of 5 to Nisha, knowing Mark has already rated
him a 3. Giving him a lower rating makes Nisha a bad person in Ben's eyes, and in the future,
he might not cooperate with her. This would hamper Nisha's ambitions and her ability to
deliver on projects. This would also undermine their presentation to the executive committee,
which Nisha does not want. 
The next option is to give Ben a rating of 5, which he wants. This means Nisha will not be
sacrificing her relationship with Ben in the future. The current project presentation will also
go smoothly, and all will be well with Nisha and the executive committee. However, giving a
rating of 5 will cause cognitive dissonance in Nisha's mind. Ben does not deserve a rating of
5 as he has been very lackadaisical with the work that has been given to him. She has been
carrying his weight all along, and she wants retribution by not giving him a good review.
Nisha will have to be accommodative of Ben, and she probably would not like that. 

Recommendation:
I would recommend Nisha give Ben a rating of 5, considering they were friends and that he
specifically asked for it. However, this must come to Ben with strings attached. Nisha must
clarify that this will be only a one time favour, and he must get his act together. This option
also helps Nisha give an excellent presentation to the executive committee and be seen in a
good light, and again, it will not cause any troubles for her in future projects where she might
require Ben's help. It is hard for a woman in the gaming industry, and making enemies with
her co-workers will not help her ambitions in the industry.

Action Plan:
Nisha, although will give a rating of 5 in the peer review system, she has to clarify her
position to Ben as well. She must tell him this is just for this once as he is a friend. She
should also explain to him that he owes her for all his slack she's been carrying for him on the
project and giving him a good rating.