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 the
support of Vikas Pawar, Aparna Damle, Jaideep Chatterjee, Amitava Pramanik as
Research Scientists. Suresh Jayaraman & Punam Bandyopadhyay were Research
Associates.
Vikas Pawar came up with an idea of pet shampoos during brainstorming with the team.
Hey, why dont 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
thats 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 couldnt
gather consensus.
After the discussion, Jaideep & Amitava being friends to Vikas, consoled him & showed
confidence in his plan & thoughts. We understand what you are going through. The idea
was yours & Aparna took all your credit. Dont 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 Vikas
observed him most of the times in the recreation room, so he asked him Hi, so whats
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 whats 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.
Answer 1:
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 the
general negative attitude among the members and on a whole a lack of clear cut
camaraderie among the whole members that really takes away a good bit of performance
among the members.

Some observations:

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.

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 and
narrow 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 doesnt seem to be having a regard for her colleagues as it was apparent
that almost stole the vikass 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.

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 Amitava Pramanik 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, jaideep
and 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 pretty lethargically;
as is seen by the fact that Punam didnt 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 groups 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.

Answer 2:

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 do 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 that the
team leader Mr. Suranjan circar doesnt seem to have the same commitment
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
doesnt 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 quickly otherwise the group results will
continue to be bad.

In a job like this where the team effort is more important and people concentrate
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 co workers 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.

PERCEPTION CASE STUDY

Mr. K.P Bakophaid,69, a high profile investor who during his lifetime
had accumulated millions in investments, particularly in the Microsoft
shares in the 80s and then in a repeat of his talent to spot the gold
brought Google shares cheap at $1 a share with now the shares
quoting $563\share and his long time friend Mr. j k sinha,65 just retired
CEO of the famed PELIANCE group had been for a while contemplating
for a move to establish a start up in IT sector as both the gentlemen
were very bullish about the sector in the Indian space.
Their thoughts were put down to work as with favorable developments
at the macro economic level both pledged their funds together to start
a IT start up MACROHARD INDIA LTD, a BPO firm having primary
applications in the back office jobs of banking and investment banking
sector of the US and EUROPE.
With this they appointed Mr. Rajiv Negad, 39 an IIM-A pass out. He had
till that time established himself as an expert in system analysis with a
prime acumen of business networks having earlier worked with
Goldman sacs in its Hong Kong division. He jumped at the opportunity
to be the CEO of the start up.
I YEAR LATER
MACROHARD had notched up a reasonable success in its limited space
and were looking like they were heading in the right directions.
In the mean time they hired Ms Neha Kakkar , an attractive 25 year old
who was also like the CEO, a pass out of IIM-A .She was a hard working
employee and a really bright prospect who had the right ideas and
confidence. Also her most important asset was her ability to gel with
her colleges well.
Over time there developed good professional repot between Mr. Rajiv
and neha as it was evident with the fact that Mr. Rajiv was really
impressed with the work ethics of his new employee. In the company
there also worked adebayour, a hard working employee. Originally
from Nigeria he also was a good disciplined worker who did his job well.
Neha kakkar was really rising through the ranks of her job fast.
Once neha had this really bright idea of taking the company to the
next level with her idea of venturing into the credit card processing in
the US and also she was quick to spot a potential threat in the form of
a competitor taking away their business and for that she wanted to

discuss with Rajiv, her boss, for which he asked her to come to the
canteen to discuss this issue over a cup of coffee.
Apparently this discussion now happened quite frequently and because
the issue was a bit negative with the news of falling profits and
competitors, Rajiv asked neha not to discuss it now with her coworkers
as he felt it might have negative repercussions.3 weeks into this
discussion neha was again promoted as there was an urgent need to
do it .
This wasnt taken well by her co workers who thought that she was
rather using her good looks in making Rajiv do as she wished. This was
apparently being discussed and spread around as rumors by 3 people
in particular nitin, venkat, and karan who were spreading all sorts of
rumors around. There was this further issue that adebayor an equally
hard working candidate wasnt promoted when neha was. In this
regard adebayour was apparently miffed and sought an explanation
from rajiv who responded that he didnt had that charisma and
forward looking skills and therefore he will have to wait a little bit more
time for his promotion. But in this regard an argument ensured
between the two, the news of which spread around the workplace.
There was now an open talk that Rajiv was showing favoritism toward
neha and everyone wasnt being treated well. Initially Rajiv ignored this
talk. Being a proud manager who thought that since he was not
actually doing anything wrong, that should be enoughpeople will
recognize it. Or since he wasnt actually guilty, he believed that he just
doesnt need to defend himself further. Lastly, he also thought that
since he was the boss people will anyway come to respect his
decisions.
But then in the mean time situations worsened. There was a gradual
loss of productivity. Resentment built quickly with favoritism being
suspected. Resentment quickly become bitterness and bitterness lead
to all sorts of behavior which created problems for company.
Rajiv now really disturbed with the recent developments in the
company, quickly sought advice from his HR manager Mr. Sachin
tendulkar to get the situation back to normal as quickly as possible as
In the highly competitive IT industry he didnt want his company to
miss out on potential opportunities just because of a simple perception
problem.
As a HR manager what advice and steps will you follow to solve
this problem? Whats a manager to do to avoid the
PERCEPTION of favoritism, which can be just as damaging as
actual favoritism?

Answer
To begin with this is the common problem of Workplace Favoritism. It's
a major topic in HR circles. But regardless of how little formal attention
it gets, this is an important issue that exists in nearly every workplace,
large and small. While it's not something that gets addressed in
management meetings, it can have as much effect on a company as
most "high profile" management topics.
Favoritism is part of human nature. No two people interact similarly to
any other two, so it's impossible for all workplace relationships to be
"equal". It's only natural to gravitate to people that you share common
interests with, and with whom you have an easy rapport. And of
course, there's nothing wrong with any of this, on the surface. The
problems surface when one of three distinct things occurs:
1. When a good rapport and shared interests lead to a PERCEPTION
that an employee is getting favored treatment from a manager
2. When a manager ACTUALLY PROVIDES unfair preferential treatment
for one employee at the expense of others
3. Nepotism.

To begin with, Mr. Rajiv, through there isnt any logical fault on his side;
He commits some silly errors that you would probably expect with a
computer engineer who hasnt exactly probed into the human side of
the business.

Even though neha is in fact a very bright employee and to be

frank a front runner among her colleagues still Rajiv committed
the silly error in being too close to her and apparently not giving
enough consideration of its impact on the psyche of the other
employees.

He was also a bit too rude to deal with adebayor, an employee

who was quite popular in the circles as one of the hardest
working employees. Even though rajiv was quite right in
assessing the personality of adebayor that he wasnt a very
daring employee and that there was still time for him to develop
fully into the leadership mode that is required in the highly
competitive IT sector .Instead Rajiv should have commented on

the positives and presented the whole thing in an amicable

manner.

He also ignored the issue in the beginning allowing the rift to

develop.

Clearly there has been a serious perception problem on the part of the
employees in that they had started to wrongly deduce that neha is
getting promoted due to favoritism. This is a big problem but not that
big also if the management decides to follow some simple steps and
understand some basic things about this wrong perception thing.

There are many people in the workplace who are extremely

sensitive, and are looking around every corner for perceived
slights and injustices.

There are also many under-performers who look at other's

relationships, in an attempt to convince themselves that it's
something other than their own shortcomings that is preventing
them from getting ahead. Like in this example the clique of nitin,
valsat, and karan shows a lot of characteristics of this behavior.

People who perform well should be rewarded. And a single

management style doesn't work equally well with all employees. Some
people need more attention to fulfill their potential, while others excel
with less attention and more autonomy. Also it is the PERCEPTION of
favoritism that does the damage. If there is actual favoritism, you can
argue that management is just getting what they deserve.
Here are some steps to avoid the problem to tackle the
problem initially:

An open door policy is the right beginning. Further,

communication channels have to be well-established and twoway flow of information is to be encouraged and maintained.
A further step in the right direction would be to convey the
reasoning of various managerial decisions through formal and
more informal communication systems for persons at the ground
level to appreciate the managerial constraints and thinking
process. That would help employees strive for right perception
even when decisions are unexplained.

By experience, everyone is aware of the perception people have

when a male boss frequently appreciates a particular female
staff. One is keen in such cases to modify behavior and language
suitably to avoid wrong perceptions.

After that the management must take the following measures to

ensure that no such perception problems arise in the future.
1. The management should do everything within their power
to insure that advancement, perks, and compensation are
based strictly upon objective performance measures
2. they must Strive to treat everyone fairly, if not necessarily
the same
3. .they must Create an environment where any employee
feels comfortable discussing a perceived injustice with
managementthis
enables
managers
to
nip
misconceptions in the bud
4. they should Practice an open door policythis also
contributes to a culture of trust, which can sooth ruffled
feathers before hurt feelings can fester and turn a situation
far sourer
5. .the top management should also learn to Manage
potential perceptions of favoritism proactivelyit's much
easier to prevent the perception up front, than it is to "put
out the fire" once it's raging
While a HR manager need not get bogged down with all possible and
imaginative perceptions of people, his focus should be to establish an
open work environment and exercise control over the information
system mechanics. A well-established and trusted system would
induce people to ask for reasons behind an action or a decision, than to
jump to wrong perceptions.

Case study
Rashid kapoor, 26 was born to Mr. Saurab kapoor, a distinguished lawyer and Mrs.
Savina kapoor, senior bank executive at HDFC. Throughout his childhood Rashid was
trained and brought up by his parents in a manner that would ensure that Rashid gets
groomed to be a successful man. He had a great academic record, was good at public
speaking and a district level tennis player. He came from a demanding background where
unconditional approval was withheld. Getting 90%, for example did not meet with
admiration from parents. The achievement was typically up with the message you can
do better.
He followed up his good work to get himself enrolled into the prestigious IIT, Delhi and
then after a two year work experience got selected into the prestigious Harvard business
school. After graduating from there with highest honors he rapidly moved up the
corporate ladder at a large advertising firm, raking up promotions and responsibilities all
along the way. He was recognized by everyone in the firm as one of the talented and
gifted employees. His boss reacted accordingly and paid him a generous pay package.
Here he pushed himself to the limits to ensure that his task has been completed in the best
possible way. He was fiercely ambitious, wildly capable, and intelligent.
However 2 years into the job the performance levels of Rashid had come down. It was
not a drastic change in quality but it was there for his boss Mr. Ravikant shukla to see.
Despite his veneer of self satisfaction, smugness and even bluster he was starting to feel a
lack of confidence.
He was thus a concerned man and knew something must be done quickly to restore the
performance of his star employee. Also there were also rumors of Rashids tiffs with his
same level colleges. Also Rashid have secretly started to look for another job.
Rashids performance of late and his apparent lack of team spirit had got people talking
that he is going to be fired.
Mr. Ravikant shukla thus was in a big dilemma now. Already in a highly competitive
advertising industry there was an obvious crunch of talented skilled people and to lose an

employee of the caliber of Rashid to the competitors was not at all a situation he wanted
to face.
What was he supposed to do with Rashid to ensure that he remains with his
company and perform to his best of abilities for the success of the firm?

Answer
The problem faced by Mr. Ravikant shukla is not a isolated problem but rather a problem
that affects most of the companies in all the sectors.
The good news for bosses coping with complicated a players is that managing superstars
is not that difficult.thebiggest challenge is simply recognizing that these driven stars have
these hidden vulnerabilities. Once youve understood their unexpected wasknesses
andneeds you can apply some straight forward guidelines and techniques to help them
pvercome their limitations.
Here are certain facts and steps Mr. Ravikant shukla can look into to solve his problem
and turn his high performers into even more effective stars.
These high performers mostly come from very demanding childhood like in the case of
Rashid. These individuals end up with extra ordinarily punishing superegos. At first the
pressure comes from outside authority figures; later A players impose it on themselves
and on others. They end up pushing themselves to the extremes producing more and
better work in every endeavor they undertake. They also become highly attentive to the
language of the person judging them precisely because they spent their childhoods
looking intently for clues about whether or not they had fulfilled parental expectations.
Thus they even make a distinction between A+ and A++ evaluation.
It is thus the duty of the senior to see that he identifies this trait in his high performing
employees and thus reward and communicate the same to them in a manner befitting the
situation. Only when the boss starts to help his stars address their inflated senses of
superiority can they begin to deal with underlying issues of poor self worth. As a manager
the onus falls on the boss to personalize the praise if it is to be effective.i.e the boss must
know not only when but what to honor when considering the stars spectacular
performance. You must celebrate the unique competence and aspirations that the a player
values in himself and you must admire him in away that he can appreciate.
Their career trajectory is such that they are constantly put in business settings that
demand social skills that they may not be prepared to handle. If they are not able to cope
with that for long then they may get frustrated, as such A players like Rashid should be
his bosss second chair whenever he meets with customers or clients. That will allow him

to observe the manner in which professional deals are taken place and thus he stands to
gain invaluable skills and also develops strong loyalty towards his boss.
These a players also suffer from burnout born of midcareer boredom. It is because they
are used to that rapid rise in thefirm ,pay going up increased incentives that when it all
reaches a slowdown they get frustrated.for a players accustomed to action,andrewards
this long backstretch is fraught with danger .the only answer to this dilemma is to provide
these individuals with challenges.they will approach such growth opportunities with
passion.
One of the biggest problems of a plauers is their inavility to set boundaries for
themselves.these insecure over achievers typically exceed expectations because they are
prepared to operate outside their comfort zones in their effort to attain perfection and win
recognition.
Thus it is the responsibility of the boss to understand this inability of their star performers
and council them. A good way to set boundaries is to allow youre a players to help you
build work groups,structure a project or tailor a business plan.and then ask them how
they would like to be rewarded for completing those subtasks.
Bosses must create an environment where top performers have to cooperate with others
to achieve their goals. That will certainly mean building the notion of shared effort into
an a players performance measures.for these individuals the more effective means of
getting them to play alongmay be to repeatedly highlight the failures of other superstars
who failed to understand the power of team efforts.
Then there is also the method of co-opting followed mostly in football.
Here the boss can ask these A players to mentor the other less successful employees,in a
careful and controlled manner so that there is no ego clashes among them. The rationale
behind this idea is that when the a players are asked to perform these steps they take it as
a signal that they are being groomed to take up a higher position in the future. This alone
acts as a major ego boost to them and they become more loyal as well as more supportive
to the team goals, further this also offers a opportunity to the lesser employees to devolep
themselves and thus this leds to all round gain to the organization.

CARCOM: THE TQM INITIATIVE

'Carcom' is a supplier of automotive safety components employing around 700 staff
which is located on two sites in Northern Ireland. The company was originally American
owned but after a joint venture with Japanese partner in the late 1980s, it was eventually
bought out by the latter.
The quality initiative began in 1988-89 with a five-year plan based on the Kaizen
philosophy, this concept having been picked up from the Japanese partner. This was
driven by senior management in response to what they saw as increasing customer
demand and operating considerations. The achievement of ISO 9001 registration in 1990
brought together processes carried out by departments which had previously been
undertaken in isolation. The company is now focusing on Kaizen with the principles of
improvement, customer delight, systems focus and participation. A range of quality
management tools and techniques are used. A TQM steering committee is responsible for
overall direction but there is also a further steering committee to oversee implementation
of the Quality Improvement Teams (QITs) as well as a full time coordinator. There are
teams of shop floor operators based on natural workgroups, and these tend to focus on
product problems and environmental issues (such as working conditions). In contrast,
Kaizen teams focus on process improvements (for example, die change) and problemsolving workgroups are established in response to specific customer concerns (for
example, warranty claims).
Senior managers stress that a long-term approach is now being taken which is in contrast
to some of the programmers in the early 1980s. These former piecemeal initiatives
included quality circles which had been characterized by considerable changes in
personnel , with a number of champions having moved on leaving behind a flagging
initiative in contrast, the company is now taking time to get the processes right and
providing a central focus through quality for change. Cultural change is the aim but it is
recognized that only incremental progress can be achieved and that a supportive attitude
is required from management Thus, QIT members are given extensive training and are
encouraged to tackle problems which give early success and build teamwork, rather than
put pressure on teams to deliver immediately on big issues.
The Impact of the TQM Initiative

While it is still early days, the initiative is already felt to have had a major impact. The
management structure has been reduced by one layer, shop floor layout has been
improved, and scrap rates, stock, work-in-progress and inspection times have been
reduced, so too have the numbers of inspectors, whose role is now seen as one of
analysts. Employee response to these changes has generally been positive, and the
company as spent considerable effort in relating 'quality' directly to employees' work,
particularly through the use of measures which are displayed adjacent to the workstation
and maintained by staff themselves. The unions were assured that there would not be job
losses as a result of Kaizen, although they continue to have concerns about this and also
raise the issue of payment for changes in job roles - particulate in relation to SpC. The
company has adopted an open information policy to foster greater trust at the workplace,
and business-related issues are given greater prominence at the joint works committee
meetings. Management also believe that the quality initiative has led to a reduction in
union influences although this was not an original objective.
The Strategic Nature of the Human Resource Function
The human resource function has emerged from a welfare to a more strategic role in
recent years. This has been assisted by an MD who is regarded as a 'people' s person'
claiming that 'you can't divorce people from quality,' and by the appointment of a
personnel director to the boated together with a new industrial relations manager. This
has broadened the role of human resources and enhanced its status The appointment of a
training manager was significant, since under the previous regime little off-the-job
training was conducted. Training budgets have actually increased in volume and
monetary terms despite the company's recently recorded trading losses. Recruitment and
selection are becoming more sophisticated as the company wish to identify team workers.
The links between human resources and quality were made explicitly by the MD : "We
cannot separate HR from TQM, and without HR the QIP will not work effectively." In
addition to the issues mentioned above, the function was also seen as being important in
building the people aspect into the strategic quality planning process. Addressing the
problem of absenteeism, and supporting line management by helping to change employee
attitudes/organizational culture. In addition, the function has provided appropriate
training programmers for quality, in which there has been considerable investment in
time and resources, it has counseled the mentors to the QIT, and ensured that managers
communicate with staff by providing advice on the best means of doing this. Quality
principles are also being developed in relation to the human resource function, with
specific targets being set (for example, for absenteeism) as well as more general aims (for
example, on training).

Questions:
(a) Analyze the links between TQM and HRM with reference both to this case study and
more generally.
(b) What does the case study demonstrate about the contribution a personnel/HRM
function can make to the development of TQM in an organization?

(c) How might the principles of TQM be applied to a personnel function?

(d) What general implications does TQM have for industrial relation?
Question # 01
Analyze the links between TQM and HRM with reference both to this case study and
more generally.

Answer.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is now widely recognised as one of the major
innovations in management practice over the last decade. For the most part, however, the
principal contributions to the analysis of TQM and its operation have come from people
in the Operations Management area (for example, Oakland, 1989, Dale & Plunkett, 1990,
Dale, 1994). Arguably, this has led to a preoccupation with the so-called hard
production-orientated aspects of TQM as opposed to its softer Human Resource
Management (HRM) characteristics. This means that less attention has been focused on
people-management issues such as appropriate supervisory styles, compensation/payment
systems, teamwork, industrial relations and the implications for different managerial
functions.
The Economist Intelligence. Furthermore many of the problems arising appear to have
been those relating to Human Resource (HR) issues such as management style, attitudes
and culture. One possible explanation for this is that TQM has developed from a quality
assurance ideology and consequently focuses on the hard measurable aspects such as
costs and production/operation performance to the relative neglect of the so- called soft
aspects. Thus the limitations of TQM can be at least partially attributed to the neglect of
human resource policies in the organisation and a failure to align the HR policies with
TQM to ensure integration. These critical soft issues are apparent from most reports
and research yet remain relatively unexplored in comparison with the use of quality
management tools and techniques and quality systems.
TQM has been taken up by a number of HR writers who have seen it as an opportunity
for the function to play a strategic role. Until recently the personnel profession appears to
have been slow to see the implications for the function. This may have been because they
saw it as refashioned quality circles (with which they had negative experience) or more
likely because it was seen as essentially quality control/assurance and consequently
regarded as a job for operations managers (Wilkinson, Marchington, Ackers &
Goodman).
The past few years has seen both a shift in emphasis to human resource issues within the
quality area and the growing interest of personnel specialists. The former reflects two

factors. First, a shift from quality assurance to TQM with a consequent greater emphasis
being placed on issues such as employee involvement. Second, growing evidence which
suggests that TQM has major problems in the so-called soft areas and in particular
culture, involvement and communication. According to Cruise OBrien and Voss:
Quality depends on broad based employee involvement and commitment. New and
innovative human resource policies were reported by managers in a number of
organisations, but these were not often related to quality. . . . Divorce of human
resources from quality, except in name, could seriously retard the spread of quality
through the firm.
This would appear to present the personnel function with a window of opportunity, even
if it has little involvement from the start of TQM. In this sense, the shift of focus to
human resource issues may not have come about at the behest of the personnel people but
because others have recognised a need for their involvement, albeit at a late stage. Thus, a
number of writers have begun to identify the opportunities which TQM might offer for
the function. Giles and Williams argue that Quality has a high personnel content. It gives
strategic importance to policies and processes that personnel managers have traditionally
considered to be their own patch and thus quality management is pure strategy on a
plate waiting for some personnel input.
In this case we generalized it as, The achievement of ISO 9001 registration in 1990
brought together processes carried out by departments which had previously been
undertaken in isolation. The company is now focusing on Kaizen with the principles of
improvement, customer delight, systems focus and participation. A range of quality
management tools and techniques are used. A TQM steering committee is responsible for
overall direction but there is also a further steering committee to oversee implementation
of the Quality Improvement Teams (QITs) as well as a full time coordinator. There are
teams of shopfloor operators based on natural workgroups, and these tend to focus on
product problems and environmental issues (such as working conditions). In contrast,
Kaizen teams focus on process improvements and problem-solving workgroups are
established in response to specific customer concerns. The links between human
resources and quality were made explicitly by tbe MD Training budgets have actually
increased in volume and monetary terms despite the company's recently recorded trading
losses. Recruitment and selection are becoming more sophisticated as the company wish
to idenfify teamworkers.
We cannot separate HR from TQM, and without HR the QIP will not work effectively.

Question # 02
What does the case study demonstrate about the contribution a personnel/HRM function
can make to the development of TQM in an organization ?

Answer.

The case studies demonstrate about the contribution a personnel/HRM function makes
development of TQM in an organization or different sectors, size bands of employer and
regions throughout the world. These organizations were chosen so as to provide a diverse
mix of experiences, and not just those cases which were known as exemplars in the
quality field.
A variety of research methods were employed in order to obtain data from each
organization. This included the collection of documentary information both from
published and internal reports, and interviews with a range of staff from different
functions, including the Chief Executive/General Manager in most cases, as well as line
managers, personnel practitioners and (as appropriate) trade union representatives. We
interviewed around ten people in each organization of whom the vast majority were not
personnel practitioners. In the next section we draw upon the research findings from three
cases to illustrate the issues relating to TQM and the management of human resources.
These cases are drawn from manufacturing which is appropriate since this is seen both as
the best tested for TQM initiatives and also in so far as manufacturing companies are
usually regarded as the mainstream companies for HRM. Hence manufacturing provides
a good basis to examine the interrelationship between TQM and HRM and our three
cases are chosen to reflect quite different patterns of existing HRM within manufacturing
namely those of the automotive components supplier industry, electronics and
chemical industries. This therefore provides quite different starting points and contexts
for the development of TQM. A visit by the MD to a number of suppliers convinced him
that TQM was required as a vehicle for organizational change. From an early stage, HR
aspects were identified as central to the development of TQM experienced over the years
a number of short-lived initiatives (including quality circles) introduced by a number of
different managers. To show his commitment the MD interviewed all staff (then over
300) on a one-to-one basis, with meetings ranging from half an hour to over two hours. It
was at this stage that the MD decided to appoint the HR Director to champion TQM. This
was for three main reasons. First, given that the company was stressing communication, it
made sense to place responsibility within the HR function. Second, it was necessary that
TQM should be seen as a much broader issue than simply quality assurance, and it was
felt that the wrong message would be given if the Quality Department was given the
responsibility for introduction. Third, given some conflict and friction between different
departments, it was important to have Quality steered by what was perceived to be a
neutral body Human Resources.

Question # 03
How might the principles of TQM be applied to a personnel function ?

Answer.
The principles of TQM be applied to a personnel function can take a wide variety of
forms, ranging from direct downward communication from managers to other employees

or the seeking of employee opinions V via problem-solving groups through to high-level

meetings between directors and trade union representatives on Works Councils or
Company Boards. The subject matter equally can vary from the mundane to the strategic,
focusing on social and sports items through to high-level financial and commercial
information. The differentiates between employee involvements defined as:
Education, communications, customer care, as in all the case organizations. Amended
job responsibilities, hierarchically and at the same skill level, as at Photochem. Problem
solving and the tapping of employee opinion, as at Electron.
Even though these are not radical in orientation, their successful operation depends to. A
large extent on the climate within which they are introduced, the motives and abilities of
managers to make them work, and their primacy in relation to other organizational goals
and objectives.
These former piecemeal initiatives included quality circles which had been characterized
by considerable changes in personnel , with a number of champions having moved on
leaving behind a flagging initiative in contrast, the company is now taking time to get the
processes right and providing a central focus through quality for change. Cultural change
is the aim but it is recognized that only incremental progress can be achieved and that a
supportive attitude is required from management Thus, QIT members are given extensive
training and are encouraged to tackle problems which give early success and build
teamwork, rather than put pressure on teams to deliver immediately on big issues.

Question # 04
What gereral implications does TQM have for industrial relation?

Answer.
Industrial Relations TQM seems to require wholesale organizational changes and a reexamination of production/operations methods and working practices and this has
implications for industrial relations. The literature suggests that persuading workers to
take responsibility for quality assurance and improvement and adjusting traditional job
roles requires little more than a dose of motivation and training. However, these are
issues which (certainly in the manufacturing sector) involve questions of job control and
working practices and possibly compensation as well. At Photochem, for example, a
decision was made to work with the stewards in introducing change rather than ignoring
or passing them. Industrial relations considerations may also be important where TQM is
associated with a programmed of job losses and work intensification. Furthermore, trade
unions may be concerned that TQM would marginalize the union as a communications
channel, Carom, at the same time strengthening the sense of commitment to what might
be seen as managerial objectives.
All this raises the question of the role of the Personnel Department. Recognition of the
significance of HR issues in principle is by itself inadequate. In her classic work Legged

pointed out that:

Non-specialists, while formally recognizing the importance of effectively utilizing
human resources, lacking as they did the expertise to develop a systematic view of
what this entailed in terms of personnel strategies and actions, in practice tended
to underestimate the importance of the human resource variable in decision
making on issues that were not explicitly personnel management.
Hence, a personnel contribution is crucial to all full consideration of HR issues. Thus,
Giles and Williams suggest that TQM could either be a heaven sent opportunity for the
Personnel Functions (because of the human resource implications of TQM) or
alternatively actually lead to a diminishment of the function since such issues are deemed
to be too important to be left to Personnel! Yet as they rightly point out Personnel people
have much to offer quality management. They are guardians of key processes such as
selection, appraisal, training and reward systems, which get right to the heart of achieving
strategic change. Given conflict and friction between different departments as at Electron,
Personnel. also has the advantage of being seen as a neutral function and has a better
chance of driving change forward in a less divisive way with fewer political wrangling.
The Personnel Function played a central role in all three case studies by helping to
develop and shape TQM. At Electron and Photochem the Personnel Function held most
responsibility for driving TQM, whilst at Carcom it played more of a facilitating role.