Prashant Lakhera: Senior Analyst

Submitted By:
Group No: 3 Sec: B

Group Members:
2012066: Ankit Jhunjhunwala 2012071: Anshul Chaudhary 2012077: Ashish Dhar 2012083: Avisha Shukla 2012090: Anubha Bhatnagar 2012097: Chakradhar Shah 2012108: Dhilon Priyadarshi Dash

Submitted To:
Dr. Saleena Khan

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Group-3, Sec-B

Introduction
Prashant Lakhera, a senior analyst at the Credit Rating Agency Limited (CRA), works with Deepak Ghosh who is the project manager at the Construction Development Board (CDB). Gagan Vedi was an analyst in the CRA along with Prashant Lakhera. They, together as a team have to submit the grading report of one of the leading construction companies in India, Continent Construction Limited (CCL), in the next few days. However, issues ensue when Ghoshs erratic and unacceptable behaviour starts hampering the work environment. His last minute walk out from the report submission leave both Lakhera and Vedi shocked.

Case Objectives:

Dealing with personality conflicts. Developing interpersonal relationships. Resolving conflicts and managing people. Handling workplace crisis in an effective manner.

CASE ANALYSIS:
Problem background Deepak Ghoshs problem: Ghosh seems to have a personality problem regarding that due to his inferior educational background, he probably felt out of place working with Lakhera who was an MBA and Vedi who had also studied from Indias premier institutes. In order to compete with his colleagues, Ghosh became secretive and was not ready to share information regarding the current project with them. He made individual site visits, provided the bosses with his own feedbacks without involving Lakhera and Vedi. In all, Ghosh was not a team player. Lakhera and Vedis problem: During the initial days of the CCL project, less time was spent by the team members in knowing each other. They usually never talked openly with Ghosh during the site visits and rather acted as passive analysts. When Ghosh used native language with the workers, they did not ask him about the detailed information and left him to himself. Thus, it is seen that both of them failed to adjust themselves according to his personality and working habits. Both the analysts did not exchange notes with him regularly and no particular project deadline was decided by the team.

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Group-3, Sec-B

Solutions:
1) An informal settlement with Deepak Ghosh: The two analysts can try to talk on an informal note with Ghosh and thus switch to a more open and a friendly way of working with him. They can sort out their unspoken differences and hence work towards the successful completion of the current project.

Pros:
1. Peace within the team can be restored in this manner and the deadline can be possibly met. 2. The overall team spirit might be realized by the members.

Cons:
1. The erratic and non cooperative behavior of Ghosh may take some time to change. 2. Both the analysts being more educated than Deepak may not want to put up with his nature at all. 2) Teamwork on the part of Deepak Ghosh: In order to face and resolve the current crisis, it is advisable that Ghosh should talk to the analysts frequently, value and respect their presence and give regular reports to them about the construction site. This will help in obtaining better team work.

Pros:
1. A healthy work environment can be achieved. 2. Conflicts prevailing within the team can be resolved easily.

Cons:
1. Forced teaming up may further complicate the things as it might be that the analysts do not want to work with Ghosh in the first place. 2. Further delay in the project is possible.

3) Providing Ghosh with his own working space: It was seen that the analysts tried to interfere with Deepaks work on a regular basis at the construction site where they didnt have much to do. They should restrict themselves from regular checks on the construction site.

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Pros:
1. It will enable Ghosh to work with a free mind. 2. His problem of inferiority complex might be solved to a certain extent.

Cons:
1. Giving space to Ghosh may lead to wrong inputs from his part. Although he has experience there is always a need for some professional touch in large scale construction(data analysis, efficiency of workforce) 2. His false ego may be aired more due to this. 4) Intervention by the Boss: If the softer measures dont work out and in the case of such a crisis, Lakhera and Vedi can inform Amol Phadnis and sought help from him regarding the matter. The entire background should be briefed to him thereby using his experience and power.

Pros:
1. Amol Phadnis may assist the team to get together and devise a strategy for conflict resolution. 2. Intervention by higher authority would result in lesser possibilities of ego clashes among the colleagues.

Cons:
1. Pulling in Amol Phadnis might cause Deepaks ego to get hurt causing a decrease in his overall work performance. 2. This will give rise to resentment among the team members.

The Best Solution:

After discussions the group has concluded that an informal way of settling issues has always great advantages (especially with someone rising above the ranks without formal education). However due to the time constraints and the last minute walk off on Deepaks part, restoring peace through this approach might not be feasible and may take a lot of time. Thus, the next best solution would be to apprise the boss about the matter and ask for his valuable opinions and work towards the successful completion of the credit rating report and eventually safeguarding the companys reputation.

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Relation with the theoretical concepts:

The Big Five Personality Model encompasses the aspects of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. Human beings are most likely to showcase a varied degree of all these factors. An individuals personality is hence a mixture of these traits. In this case, Deepak Ghosh shows a low degree agreeableness to his colleagues and is thus cold and antagonistic. His conscientiousness levels are also low indicating that he is disorganized and unreliable. He somewhat deep down has an inferiority complex regarding his education which he tries to hide through his erratic behaviour as well as by not cooperating with his team members. Positive core self evaluation: excessive of positive core self evaluation has made Deepak Ghosh overconfident about his capabilities. Their perceived infallibility is causing him to take bad decisions. He is thinking himself to be in complete control of his work environment. Narcissist: Deepak seems to have a grandiose sense of self importance, is arrogant and has a sense of entitlement. He thus emerges out to be a worse leader and a team player, both.

CASE CONCLUSION 1) The aim of Conflict management is not only to resolve the unwanted issues within the team but also to enhance learning and the group outcomes. With the growing globalization, this is something the mangers need to understand and deal with. In this case, in order to meet their project deadline, Deepak, Lakhera and Vedi have to reconcile their differences as soon as possible. 2) The managers need to be more in tune with the perception of their workers so as to avoid a crisis at the workplace. Conflict significantly affects an employees morale. A proper crisis management plan should be laid down by the managers. In the wake of a crisis, organizational decision makers adopt a learning orientation and use prior experience to develop new routines and behaviours that ultimately change the way the organization operates. The best leaders recognize this and are purposeful and skilful in finding the learning opportunities inherent in every crisis situation. 3) Dealing with personality conflicts at workplace becomes highly essential because clashes in personality may cause the work environment to turn sour and a constant sense of tension prevails among the workforce. This may lead to an overall decrease in the work outputs on the part of the employees and in the longer run may also result in their turnover. Adjustments need to be made by both the conflicting parties so as to regain the work and personal relationship balance at work. 4) Analyzing, breaking down and understanding other peoples needs and desires will help develop interpersonal relationships at work. Using the right communication
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techniques and conveying a positive and helpful attitude will establish the much needed interpersonal relationships at the workplace.

Managerial Learning:
1. The importance of building interpersonal relations and team work thereby creating an agreeable work atmosphere. 2. Understanding the basics of human personalities and adjusting according to people to ensure maximum team output and hence organizational success. 3. Taking up the challenges of workplace crises and gearing up to minimize or avoid them. 4. Managing last minute or existing conflicts within the group using a balanced thought process and experience.

References:
Wikipedia: Conflict management, building interpersonal relationships, personality conflicts. Robbins, Judge and Vohra; Organizational Behaviour, 14th edition; Personality and values; pg. 129- 32.

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Group-3, Sec-B