Group Assignment on Perspectives of Individual Dimension

Chandan Rathi | Deepak Gupta | Sreejith Sreekumar| Shekar Pushakran | Vishu Gupta
The Situation:
An educational institution in Bangalore was being run by a lady for the past 20 years. It had
made a name for quality and value based education in the locality. However, being setup in a
small space, it had little opportunities to grow further. Unfortunately, the founder passed away
due to an illness and the school found itself without anybody to lead it.

The son of the founder decided to take over as the leader. But he was very young and had no
knowledge or skill to lead the school.

The different stakeholders in the environment are:

Employees – Staff & Teachers

1. They were apprehensive of the future. They were worried about the school’s and their future.

2. There was anxiety about being accepted by the new manager.

3. There were a group of senior teachers who where close to the previous founder and had
worked hand in hand with her in building the organization. Suddenly they felt that their
importance and need might dwindle in the new setup.

4. Some of the young staff had lot of passion and energy. They were ambitious and aimed for
growth within the organization. But presently, they had very limited opportunities and were
looking for any opportunities outside which can lead to their personal development.

5. Most of the staff thought that the new leader being young and inexperienced lacked motivation
or seriousness in his work

6. Some of them where not ready to work under a young manager as they felt they were very
experienced and senior.

New Manager

1. He too had apprehension of being accepted by the existing team.

2. He had his own personal values, beliefs and some of them conflicted with the organizational
values and beliefs.

3. The new manager had not earned the position but inherited it. His esteem was low and was
keen on achieving results. Otherwise, he would be seen as a person who got position by
influence rather than achievement.

4. He needs to understand his roles and responsibilities as a manager

6. He wanted to help teachers build skill and empower them.

7. He wanted to understand the needs and requirements of child & parent (Customer). Also the
psychology of both children and parents were diverse as their age groups. It required him to
appreciate and approach in a suitable manner

8. He was not an expert in education sector and had limited knowledge about schooling. He
joined a part time six month course related to education which helped him develop a working
knowledge and skills that is required to manage teachers and their work.

Parents (Customers)

1. They are anxious about the future of their children and believe the school might not be able to
deliver the same quality since the founder is no more.

At the same time, they expect further development and growth for their children and are not
hesitant to look at other schools as options too

Few Situations that the new manager faced in his first month of the new role :

a. Conflict with the Chairman of school who happens to be the father of manager too
"In a family run organisation, inevitably, there are conflicts among family members over
professional issues and decisions. After his mother’s demise, his father, who was the
chairman of the school, and he often had professional differences over the managing of
school.
"His working style was more conservative. On the other hand the new manager wanted to
be more aggressive in expansion and also bring in changes quicker. In one instance,
things went out of hand and he almost decided to not continue as the manager.
Fortunately, they had a family friend whose counsel helped resolve the difference.
But ultimately, the issue was resolved because both were willing to set aside their
differences and make the compromises necessary to achieve the bigger goal - growth of
the school. Both the chairman and manager were immensely passionate about the school,
but their contrasting styles of working led to these clashes.

b. Parents were apprehensive in continuing in the school after the demise of the
founder. They felt that there is an inexperienced leader and the quality that was
being delivered before may not continue."

There was trust deficit in parents. To reduce this trust deficit and also improve confidence
in them about school:
1. Made sure to document every program, activity and event in school and send them
the document with videos, photos of activity.
 2. Started a mentoring program where teachers would visit the houses of children,
sometimes accompanied by principal. They would discuss about the new initiatives
taken in school, changes in teaching methodology due to constant trainings and also
discuss general information about child. These visits helped in creating a bond and
trust in parents as they felt happy that their children’s teachers are visiting to enquire
in general.

c. After the demise of the founder, (who happened to be the principal of the institution
too), the vice principal anticipated and expected that she would be promoted to the
role of principal. Immediately, she was made the principal in charge but the position
was not confirmed. She developed feelings of insecurity and her insecurity showed
up in different ways such as:

a. Blowing a small problem out of proportion (and showing that it is a big problem) and
subsequently solving the issue.
b. Not allowing teacher’s grievances reach the management and trying to create a barrier
and zone of no communication between teachers and management

The Solution:

The most pressing challenge was for the manager to earn confidence of his own team,
made up of veteran teachers and administrators. He did so by breaking ice, as well as
bread with them over impromptu, informal meetings where they would come together to
voice the aspirations for the school, and submit our frank analyses of its strengths and
weaknesses.
From a single meeting they graduated to entire weekends where time flew and ideas
soared, as they identified new opportunities and created goals.
He told them that he respected them & their experience and wanted their support. He was
not only able to convince them but also inspire them to change their teaching to a more
child centric approach, equip themselves with the latest pedagogical style & make
learning more enjoyable in class.

He focused on
a. Building relationship, cordiality and confidence with the team
b. Motivating them to achieve higher level of work and goals.
c. Create an environment of trust and fairness
 He was ready to learn more about the education sector and enrolled himself in a course to
understand the nuances. This helped him interact better with the teachers and they too
could relate to him.

Some measures he took upon were:

a. Dedicated Staff room fully furnished which helped them maintain their personal
space and privacy
b. Increasing the Refreshments offered to them in a day
c. Continuous Professional Development & Trainings being year round (periodically)
than being a customary three day training at beginning of year.
d. Bring a hierarchical structure and promote teachers irrespective of age if they are
found to be of good attitude and imbibe the learning of training in class.
e. Payment structure revised and Implemented Provident Fund and Health Insurance.

Analysis of the Situation, Solution and

Points to ponder
The key factors to study in the organisation (School) would be:

1. Productivity :
Understand the present productivity of staff. Also devise policies to ensure increase in
productivity through reinforcement (positive and negative).
"Positive reinforcement methods like incentives, rewards and recognition to be
employed. Also, understand factors that are causing productivity to dip and take
steps to remove them."

2. Job Satisfaction:
a. Understand the needs, goals and ambitions of the teachers.
b. Senior teachers need recognition, acknowledgement and moral support. The
Junior teachers expect challenges, scope of growth within organisation, etc
c. Meeting these needs ensures that job satisfaction is at a satisfactorily level
d. Ensure hygiene factors are met immediately.

3. Organisational Citizenship behavior

Work on changing the various independent variables and explore how to bring the
culture of going above and beyond the job role
 4. Deviant Workplace Behaviour
All Staff meet the rules, regulations and ensure learning happens in the class and the
needs of every child are met. Most important and high priority

5. Turnover/Attrition
Ensure Attrition is at a low level and understand the reasons of attrition

The new manager displayed

a. Conscientiousness: He was not an expert in education sector and had limited knowledge
about schooling. He joined a part time six month course related to education which helped him
develop a working knowledge and skills that is required to manage teachers and their work.

b. Agreeableness: He informed the teachers that he trusts them and also supplemented that with
action by giving them responsibility and empowering them.

c. He had to display high level of agreeableness to manage diverse age groups and diverse people

1. Teachers : Senior teachers , Fresher and Support Staff

2. Parents : Parents of Pre-Primary and younger age, Parents of Adolescents, etc

d. Also he had to be assertive too but without crossing the aggressive demarcation in order to
ensure that teachers stick to the vision, values of organization and attitude that a teacher ought to
display

Application of McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y

The new manager could have opted for the Theory X factor & treat the staff as lazy or choosing
to avoid work. But he chose to go with Theory Y factor as he believed that employees can view
work as being as natural as play or rest. He believed that people will exercise self direction and
self control if they are committed to their work. He focused on giving them opportunity and thus
was able to overcome the acceptance issue.

He told them that he respected them & their experience and wanted their support.Thus
motivating them for self direction and control

Application of Expectancy theory

Since the vice principal was second senior most position, according to expectancy theory she
was expecting this position as return for service for these many years as well as being the senior
most in the organization.
Application of McClelland’s Theory

The manager displayed

a. The need for achievement and drive to excel. It was the strongest trait of the three
needs and he wanted to achieve a standard of excellence.
b. He also displayed the need for affliction. This was necessary for getting accepted
among the employees. The better relations he has with his co-workers, the better his
position as a leader would be.

As a new leader, he should have developed the need for power too so that he could
ensure no deviant behavior was exhibited by the staff.

Goal Setting Theory

During their initial meetings, they developed a roadmap for the school and each one of them.
Although explicitly goals weren’t mentioned, an attempt was made to set a roadmap to improve
the persistence of efforts of teachers and make them clear of their roles.

Self Efficacy Theory

The new manager could have employed the self efficacy theory to improve his belief of doing
the job at hand.

Yes, he tried to build mastery by enrolling for a course on education. Along with that he could
have taken the help of a mentor in the education sector.

Organisational Justice Theory

Since he was new to the job, he should have followed the justice theory. Distributive, Interactive
and Procedural justices, thereby creating a higher fairness in the workplace and setting up a new
framework.

Interactional Justice: Employee is given full explanation; concerns are treated with respect,
Give employee a “voice” and allow him to express his concern and perspective on the issue.
(This was achieved when he said “From a single meeting they graduated to entire weekends
where time flew and ideas soared, as they identified new opportunities and created goals.”

Four Drive theory would have worked better

He could have employed the four drive theory like :
  Drive to Acquire – Creating a Reward system. He could have instituted a monthly “Best
Teacher” to identify and reward the good performing teachers, thereby motivating them
and others.
 Drive to Bond and Drive to Comprehend (Job Design) – Restructured the hierarchy to
ensure more co-operation among teachers by identifying department heads, co-ordinators,
etc. This would have also satisfied the senior as well as the young and ambitious group.
Also it would then need for the two groups to co-operate and work and gel as a team.
 Drive to defend – Ensured that the values and beliefs the organizations stood for was
continued and all stakeholders (parents, children & staff) have confidence in the new
change and are comfortable with it.

Hertzberg’s Theory
By increasing refreshments and improving the staff room, the hygiene factors were
addressed. This ensured removal of some dissatisfaction.

Equity Theory
There was Expectations/Suspicion in minds of employee of not being treated fairly like
before.
Equity theory serves as the foundation to understand the perceived fairness among
various dimensions of justice.

Maslov’s Theory of needs

I. The staff was apprehensive of their future. They were worried about the basic
needs being met – their pay and their job security
Here the staff displayed Maslow’s first need (Physiological) and second need (Job
Security)

II. The new leader was to be accepted by the team and vice versa. Hence there was
anxiety in both the groups about each other being accepted

Here the staff and employee displayed Maslow’s Third Need (Acceptance)

III. The Vice-Principal displayed Maslow’s Fourth Need of esteem, status,

recognition and attention.
Biases
1. “Most of the staff thought that the new leader being young, inexperienced lacked
motivation or seriousness in his work”

“Some of them where not ready to work under a young manager as they felt they were very
experienced and senior ( Bias)”

This is a case of Stereotyping bias.

2. Also, when teachers and parents opined that the new manager was young and would
likely deviate from the organization goals and not be sincere about his job.

Golem/ Pygmalion Effect

3. Vice-Principal: “Not allowing teacher’s grievances reach the management and trying to
create a barrier and zone of no communication between teachers and management”

The vice-principal was guilty of self serving bias

4. "His working style was more conservative. On the other hand the new manager wanted
to be more aggressive in expansion and also bring in changes quicker.”

The chairman displayed risk aversion bias as he was more conservative.

In the instance between the chairman and new manager, both were working from their frame of
reference and carried biases.

But importantly, it was an instance where both overcame their bias and engaged in a fruitful
manner by being open to feedback, questioning assumptions and checking inference (devil’s
advocate) and adopting multiple perspectives.

It also highlights the importance of having common goals and values. This ultimately helped
them sort the issue.

a. The new principal displayed a high Expressed control with her staff when she did not
allow teacher’s grievances reach the management and tried to create a barrier and zone of
no communication between teachers and management

The new manager displayed a high Expressed affection and high Expressed Inclusion.
This can be said because he involved all the staff to develop a goal and roadmap and
expressed that he trusted them and their experience.
Emotional Intelligence

The new manager used Emotional Intelligence and

I. Displayed empathy towards teachers when he wanted to build their skill and ensure
that he retains them.
II. During interaction with parents, he made a point to listen to them and understand
their specific needs
III. He was transparent with them in their first meeting about his expectations and also
that he was adaptable.
IV. He employed strategies to motivate the staff

Applying Mintzberg's managerial roles theory

Key roles the new manager needs to focus:

1. Leader : Provides motivation and Direction to employees;
2. Liason : Monitor Maintains a network of outside contacts who provide favours and
information. This was especially necessary as he was new to the industry.
3. Entrepreneur : Searches organisation and environment for opportunities & initiates
projects to bring about change
4. Disturbance Handler : Corrective action especially because the organisation was
facing important and unexpected disturbances