CASE STUDY ON GROUP BEHAVIOUR
Hindustan Lever Research Centre (HLRC) was set up in the year 1967 at Mumbai. At that time the primary challenge was to find suitable alternatives to the edible oils and fats that were being used as raw materials for soaps. Later, import substitution and export obligations directed the focus towards non-edible oil seeds, infant foods, perfumery chemicals, fine chemicals, polymers and nickel catalyst. This facilitated creation of new brands which helped build new businesses.HUL believes in meritocracy and has a comprehensive performance management system, which ensures that people are rewarded according to their performance and abilities. Almost 47% of the entire managerial cadres are people who have joined us through lateral recruitment. Over the years many break through innovations have taken place. Hindustan Lever Research gained eminence within Unilever Global R&D and became recognized as one of the six global R&D Centers of Unilever with the creation of Unilever Research India in Bangalore in 1997.At Bangalore R&D center, a team of 10 scientists were appointed for a project on ‘shampoo’ line. Suranjan Sircar heading the team as Principal Research Scientist with thesupport of Vikas Pawar, Aparna Damle, Jaideep Chatterjee, Amitava Pramanik asResearch Scientists. Suresh Jayaraman & Punam Bandyopadhyay were ResearchAssociates.Vikas Pawar came up with an idea of pet shampoos during brainstorming with the team.“Hey, why don’t we target the pet care segment because in India, pet industry is being seriously looked at as a growing industry. I had been working on this concept for a few weeks & have done some initial research as well”, said Vikas. “I think we should just focus on the dog segment & bring out a range of shampoos that are breed specific”, contributed by Aparna Damle, who was a new unmarried scientist in the company. “Oh that’s a really great idea, a breakthrough” said Jaideep & Amitava appreciating Aparna.The idea given by Aparna got support from both colleagues & head. Vikas was although not comfortable with his credit being taken away. He also felt that creating brand specific shampoos would not be a profitable innovation thus, no point concentrating efforts on that. With this in mind he put his point forward but couldn’t gather consensus. After the discussion, Jaideep & Amitava being friends to Vikas, consoled him & showedconfidence in his plan & thoughts. “We understand what you are going through. The idea was yours & Aparna took all your credit. Don’t worry we are with you & be careful from next time.”
Nevertheless, in the meeting Aparna presented her proposal for the idea mentioning requirements & chemical details. The meeting began with motivational speech & plan of action by the head of the team. A lot was discussed in detail & tasks were allotted along with deadlines. Immediately after the presentation Jaideep & Amitava approached Aparna & eulogized her research & proposal reiterating the importance of breed specific range of shampoos. Vikas lay aside his ego & went ahead with full dedication & commitment, however during the tenure of the research he noticed poor attitude of team members. Punam was not regular with deadlines; she submitted her research on breeds four days after deadline. Suresh was asked to coordinate with members looking into chemical research but Vikasobserved him most of the times in the recreation room, so he asked him “Hi, so what’s the progress in chemical research so far?” Suresh replied that he had done whatever he was asked to do by senior scientist. He reported this lack of commitment & proactive attitude to Suranjan Sircir & asked for an action against them. “Hmm… I know what’s happening in the team. I have worked for 20 years in this industry & from my experience I know what to do & when to do”, he retorted back. Finally the project got completed 4 months after deadline. Vikas went back to the lab; sitting & wondering at the flaws in the group.
Q1 Analyze group behavior of the team. Study the informal & formal groups In this case.Q2 Point out flaws in the group & recommend solutions to overcome them.
Group Behavior Case Study Analysis
The general picture that emerges out of the aforementioned case is that of confusion, a clear lack of leadership and one that is filled with group politics. It is worsened by thegeneral negative attitude among the members and on a whole a lack of clear cutcamaraderie among the whole members that really takes away a good bit of performance among the members.
Some observations:
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With the given information, vikas as a person deserves special mention for he is the one who seems to have a holistic personality and a right kind of employee to guide the organization to the next level of success. He is the one employee who in my opinion seems to have the kind of constructive thinking for the sake of the organization as well as doing full justice to his job. He is honest, hardworking and apparently one who is on the lookout for new ideas as he was the one who came up with one during the brainstorming session and also he had done some research on his own behalf regarding the same.
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Aparna as a new member of the team appears to be a very ambitious, intelligent girl who is also a very opportunist. It is evident from the fact that when vikas presented before the group one idea that was at the best a path or a general view of what is to be done it was aparna who was quick to grab the opportunity andnarrow the broad idea into a more narrow and specific direction .thus she seems to convey a very positive and a strong urge to perform on the job. Yet it is also clear that she doesn’t seem to be having a regard for her colleagues as it was apparent that almost ‘stole’ the vikas’s idea and took the full credit to her name even without sharing the honors with vikas. She seems to be a very high on the Mach scale.
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Jaideep and amitava appears to share good relationship between them as a good clique. They are very positive minded people, it is clear from the fact that they really appreciated aparna, a newcomer to the organization and realizing well before that she was a very ambitious employee wasted no time in extolling her work as this will appease her desire for support and recognition among fellow workers, something that is very important.
Among the formal groups it is very clear that there is a proper structure in the organization with Suranjan Sircar heading the team as Principal Research Scientist with the support of Vikas Pawar, Aparna Damle, Jaideep Chatterjee, and AmitavaPramanik as Research Scientists. Suresh Jayaraman & Punam Bandyopadhyay are Research Associates. The formal group of research scientists appears to be a very able team as they are able to resolve and step aside their personal differences and professional competitiveness to work for the benefit of the organization. Among the informal groups there appears to be a informal group among vikas, jaideepand amitava. Though this informal group is against Aparna in taking away all the credit from Vikas, they never let their dissatisfaction come in the way of the progress of group.
In the formal group, the group members seem to be working prettylethargically; as is seen by the fact that Punam didn’t meet her deadlines and Suresh spent most of his time in recreation.
Moreover, the group leader/ head Suranjan Circar is too haughty to accept any suggestions from his subordinates.
In the informal group, there is the dissatisfaction among Vikas and his friends for Vikas’ credit being snatched away by Aparna.
However, it is highly appreciable of Vikas that he lays aside his ego and works with full dedication for the better of the group.
The team of research associates of punam and Suresh seems to lack the urge and capabilities to work at the acceptable standards.
Thus, though there clearly exists an informal group having a grudge against the formal group, it is observed that the two never really clash. As a result, the delay in the group’s task completion could not attributed to the existence of an informal group working against it but is fully because of the wrong attitude of the group members towards their work.
Flaws in the team and their solutions
Lack of seriousness -- The first flaw that one can clearly see in the group is that its members are somewhat casual towards their work. Although the work of the team started on a very serious and determined note, it lost out on them soon after; as could well be seen in the cases of Punam and Suresh. This can be rectified by having strong authority and controlling measures in the team and make it the norm to follow.
Lack of commitment -- The members does not seem to be committed enough towards their work. There could be two reasons for it: either the members are not adequately motivated or they are not serious enough, i.e., the first point itself. Here is very important that the leader follow the appropriate motivational concepts and methods to get his team to perform at their level best. May be the job at hand may not be challenging enough for some. In that case the job profile has to be divided with close care and matched with the ability and needs of the employees.
There is a clear lack of able leadership skills in the team. It is apparent thatthe team leader Mr. Suranjan circar doesn’t seem to have the samecommitment level or he is having a big ego problem. It is evident from the fact that when vikas pointed out the flaws in the team and sought an action against them, the leader circar instead got miffed and retorted angrily. This clearly was a communication to vikas that as a leader he is aware of what is to be done and he doesn’t need a lesson in that.Clearly in a marketing research agency you need to have a flexible and participative form of leadership and Mr. circar needs to change his approach quicklyotherwise the group results will continue to be bad
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In a job like this where the team effort is more important and peopleconcentrate on synergies of the team effort it is very important for the leader of the group to make sure that there is enough camaraderie among the members. Here aparna appears to be too self centered to think about her coworkers which can in the long run lead to difficulties.Thus it is job of the leader to council aparna and make sure that she understands and appreciates the advantages of being a good team member.
It is a rarity that there are loyal and hardworking employees like vikas who have a very good attitude and mindset to do the job. He is being treated rather shabbily by the management.
For employees like vikas the non monetary incentives are as important as monetary benefits. Therefore recognizing the talent the management should really appreciate and keep him happy so that they can get the optimum contribution from him.