Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Work-Integrated Learning Programmes Division

First Semester 2020-2021

Comprehensive Examination
(EC-3 Regular)

Course No. : MBA ZG514

Course Title : LEADERSHIP AND MANAGING CHANGE
Nature of Exam : Open Book
Weightage : 50% No. of Pages =5
Duration : 2 Hours No. of Questions = 4
Date of Exam : Sunday, 29/11/2020 (AN)
Note:
1. Please follow all the Instructions to Candidates given on the cover page of the answer book.
2. All parts of a question should be answered consecutively. Each answer should start from a fresh page.
3. Assumptions made, if any, should be stated clearly at the beginning of your answer.

Dev Memorial School had been a prominent place of learning at Ghaziabad, a town of around a
million people in Delhi's outskirts. Mr. Om Prakash Sharma, a successful local builder, had started the
school in his son's memory, who had died in a road accident. Mr. Vinay Tiwari had been the Principal
of the school for the past twenty years. He was a soft-spoken man who was now in his late fifties.

So it was with an uneasy and expectant air with which the school teachers trooped into the conference
hall when they were informed that Mr. Chandra Prakash Sharma, Mr. Om Prakash Sharma's son and
the present owner of the school, would address them on that hot July afternoon. Some of the teachers
exchange WhatsApp messages that probably Mr. Sharma would announce the Principal's
superannuation from the school

"I don't get to see you people that much." Mr. Sharma began his address. He greeted some of the older
teachers. "Mostly, when we meet, generally on happier occasions like the Annual Day of the school,
we normally don't get to interact much."

Many in the room understood that it was not going to be a usual meeting. The word "happier" was a
precursor. Mr. Tiwary, the Principal, was sitting on the dais with a gloomy face. The atmosphere in
the room turned grim.

Mr. Sharma's voice echoed from the walls amid the pin-drop silence, which had descended over the
conference room. People avoided eye contact with each other preferring to focus their attention on the
words on Mr. Sharma.

"What I want you to know is, at this school, we have always been mindful of your expectation. We
have always paid your salaries on time. We have never asked any teacher to leave this organization.
My father built this school in the memory of my brother, and we have done our best to keep up its
traditions for empathy and concern." Mr. Sharma continued.

"Today, I have come to you with a request. As some of you would have noticed, we have lost students
for the last three years in a row. New admissions have dried up; despite our best efforts, we are unable
to get fresh students. It is becoming hard on our part to keep the school running. We need to do
something to reverse this. Otherwise, we cannot survive."

"As teachers, all of you would be aware of the Darwinian principle of the survival of the fittest. It is a
jungle out there, and ultimately, the most competent and adaptable person would survive. The
principle is equally applicable to academics or business. If we want to survive, we must be fitter and
out-compete others."
MBA ZG514 (EC-3 Regular) First Semester 2020-2021 Page 2

"The point is that we cannot carry on much further like this. We need to learn to work on tighter
budgets. We have started with some hard decisions. We are closing the swimming pool. It is
expensive to maintain, and while I am personally convinced that everyone must learn to swim, we
cannot, at the present moment, continue with it. We are also closing the girl's hostel. We don't' have
many students there, and the infrastructure is difficult to maintain."

The assembled teachers looked at each other. Some of them, who lived nearby, used the swimming
pool along with their family members. The warden of the girl's hostel looked distraught though she
already knew about the development. She was a teacher at the school, and her job was not on the line.
But over the years, she had developed affections for the girls who lived there, and the thought of
separating from them was emotionally painful.

Mr. Sharma's voice had a faraway quality as if he was talking from some distant land. As the school
owner, he was a respected and feared person by most of the school's employees. He rarely visited the
school, and on the few days he came, all teachers were on their toes, alert and at times tense.

"I had a long discussion with our Principal on this matter. We also weighed the option of reducing
staff to trim our budget. We concluded that staff retrenchment would be restricted to some of the
temporary employees only. We shall be careful and fair in our treatment of all employees, including
the ones we would ask to leave. Principal Sir was adamant that all full-time and permanent employees
must get an opportunity to upgrade themselves before such painful decisions are contemplated. I
agreed with him."

"What we would never do is cut and run. We are not quitters. We shall fight to regain our students. In
the last ten years, many schools have come up in the vicinity, and we have been losing students to
them. Most of these schools have invested in new technology and gadgetry to improve the learning
experience. I think they have not been able to do anything great on that. But we shall not stay behind.
We shall aggressively update our technology. We are talking to software vendors who would
incorporate digital classes. The investment would be considerable. Then we shall adopt ERP, which
stands for Enterprise-wide Resources Planning. Again, it is a software to automate all our processes,
starting from taking attendance to uploading class schedule, marks, exam timesheet; virtually
everything."

"All I want," Mr. Sharma's voice boomed across the room, "is for all of you to upgrade the quality of
your teachings. The digital system would help you in that direction. I do not want whiners, naysayers,
or idle talkers. Please work hard. The Principal would support you fully."

"The level of staff discipline must be better. All teachers must come on time. If you don't come on
time, the new system will catch, and you will lose half a day's leave. If you don't take your classes on
time, the software will catch you. And finally, the digital software has a feature where the students
and their parents can give their feedback about individual teachers. That feedback would form an
important input for your appraisals."

The meeting came to an end. However, before leaving the room, Mr. Sharma said, " We have to
enhance teacher accountability. We cannot have the old system any longer. Based on the feedback we
get from the software, we shall reward the teachers who serve this institute well with higher salaries.
We may not retain the weak performers."
MBA ZG514 (EC-3 Regular) First Semester 2020-2021 Page 3

The teachers filed out of the room in silence. The school cafeteria had served tea and snacks during
the meeting, most of which was left untouched. Mrs. Kapoor, who had been working in the school for
many years, quietly commented to Ms. Pooja that the times had changed significantly.

"This is the first time in my thirty years with the school I have seen something like this. The previous
owner of the school, Mr. Sharma's father, was an absolute gem of a gentleman. I have never heard
him say anything like this." Mrs. Kapoor lamented.

'What the school has come to?" Ms. Bhattacharya seconded Mrs. Kapoor's opinions.

After the meeting, both Mrs. Kapoor and Mrs. Bhattacharys got calls from Mr. Gupta for an
appointment at a nearby mall. Mr. Gupta said it was urgent.

At the mall, Mrs. Kapoor and Mrs. Bhattacharya were surprised to see that Mr. Gupta had invited all
the school's old teachers. They were teachers who had been with the school for at least twenty years.
"I think this is a ploy by the Principal to remove some of us from employment. He has failed as a
leader for the school. He has only two years to go with the school, and I won't be surprised if he has
tied up with this software vendor to make some quick money. We must stick together, and if need be,
take the matter to Mr. Sharma. I see a carefully planned conspiracy here." Mr. Gupta made a short
speech.

Mr. Gupta was a competent Math teacher who was appreciated by other students. He had the
reputation of being a little rude too. He was often at loggerheads with the Principal. There were
rumors that he was running for the Principal's post and had always resented the fact that the
management did not side with him. Most people thought he was still gunning for the Principal's seat.
Mr. Gupta never realized that his rude behavior was one reason the management did not consider him
for the Principal's position.

But on that afternoon, especially after the meeting with Mr. Sharma, the teachers were in an agitated
state of mind and were willing to lend ears to Mr. Gupta's suggestions.

It was later learned that a group of old teachers without Mr. Gupta had met the Principal and had
voiced their opposition to the new system. They were especially worried about the feedback system.
They had argued that such a system would significantly undercut their positions as teachers.
"Most of the students are young and immature. Most parents know little about what we are teaching.
If their feedback is used for our appraisal, we really cannot be effective in our jobs. For example, we
need to challenge the students and be aggressive with them to make them perform. Now we would be
worried if that would not impact our so-called feedback."

The Principal had tried to assuage the teachers' hurt feelings. While maintaining that he would
consider all sides at the time of appraisal, he also said that Mr. Sharma was keen on the feedback
point, which somewhat limited his influence on the matter.

Things at the school never looked the same again after that meeting with Mr. Sharma. The teachers
now stayed buried in their books most of the time when they were not taking classes. Many of them
were found fumbling with the digital set up.

Mrs. Kapoor was upset when Santosh, a sanitation worker, asked her one day if he would be in the job
for long. "I am now 58 and have worked in this school for so many years. Where shall I find work
now?"
MBA ZG514 (EC-3 Regular) First Semester 2020-2021 Page 4

"I think one of us would soon have to look for another job," the two teachers who handled a particular
subject which was being offered as an optional opined to each other. "The enrolment in our optional is
less for senior classes, and one of us would suffice. I guess the Principal would decide based on
student/parent feedback."

After the midterm got over, the Principal asked for feedback from the students and parents on the
teachers. He called the poor-performing teachers individually to his room and discussed the feedback.

The Principal was surprised at the way some of the teachers reacted.

Some teachers broke down and said that they were dependent on their jobs for their family finances
and would not know where to go if they abandoned them. Others challenged the feedback and
questioned the online process and the software sourced by the school. Some asked why the Principal
had called for a midterm review as they would cast a shadow on the classes which remained for the
academic year.

As the realization dawned on him that the staff morale was low, the Principal called for a general staff
meeting. The ostensible reason was a review of the digital infrastructure the school had put in place.
The Principal asked the software vendor to provide a report on each teacher's software usage and was
unhappy to know that most had not used it. If it became known to Mr. Sharma, he would cause
mayhem. His record on the front was also poor. He, himself had barely used the system.
Mr. Gupta led the charge in the meeting. He criticized the Principal's action of instituting the feedback
mechanism. He called it a violation of the sacred guru-shishya parampara. He wondered how a
teacher was expected to train a child if he was always worrying about what the child would tell him
through the unknown feedback mechanism. He said the lack of admissions had more to do with the
school's fee structure and called the digitization move a "diversionary tactic." He offered to speak to
Mr. Sharma on behalf of all teachers and inform him about the problems being faced by the school's
teaching fraternity.

Mrs. Kapoor tried to calm down the temperature within the room. She said that digitalization was a
reality; all other schools in the vicinity had also adopted new technology and asked Mr. Gupta if he
wanted to be left behind. She, however, had reservations about how it was introduced in the school.
"It was too sudden, which has caused unnecessary stress," was her opinion.

"Let us look at the advantages of the digital system." Vikas, a recently recruited teacher from Bihar
who was preparing for the UPSC exams in his spare time, mentioned, "it might need some efforts on
our side to learn, but it saves a lot of time and makes the process more transparent. Many coaching
centers in Old Rajinder Nagar have digitized most processes, and the teachers appreciate it. I am sure
most of us would change our opinions once we get sued to the digital system."

Everyone looked up to him when Acharya Surendranath, who taught Sanskrit, spoke. No one
expected him to contribute to the discussion. He was quite popular among the students because of the
many stories he shared among them from India's ancient classical literature.

The Acharya adjusted his glasses and spoke in his rich baritone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, We must make progress. Lord Krishna had said in the Bhagavad Gita, "The
smarter individuals achieve excellence by upgrading their skills which incidentally is the motto of IIT,
Kharagpur."

MBA ZG514 (EC-3 Regular) First Semester 2020-2021 Page 5

As the assembly was pondering over the Acharya's statement, Mr. Rahi, the computer teacher, had the
last words before the Principal closed the meeting after addressing all staff members to cooperate.

Mr. Rahi said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I volunteer to offer you all kinds of help to familiarise you
with the software system. If the Principal consents, I can formally take over the role of supporting our
colleagues in their software usage. I believe the software system would add a lot of value to the
school. Secondly, I cannot avoid feeling that a lot of the negativity about the software has centered
around the feedback system. One of the system's problems is that while taking the student's or the
parent's feedback, it does not ask them to explain the reasons behind their comments. The latter could
be useful for the improvement of the teacher's performance. All of us may put our heads together to
revise the feedback system to serve as a guide in place of being an irritant.

Q.1. Define primary and secondary tasks. What are the primary and secondary functions of Dev
Memorial School? [12]

Q.2. What are the various defense mechanisms used by members of a group when faced with
change challenges? Cite an example from the case. [12]

Q.3. How would you describe the organizational culture at the school? [13]

Q.4. Explain the concept of role specialization within an organization. Illustrate them with
examples from the case. [13]

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