Om Chowdhury was one of the supervisors in the Fire and Safety (F&S) department of Maqsood Textile Mills. He was a distant cousin to Mr. Bhiwani, General Manager (Personnel & Administration). Personnel & Administration department was given the responsibility of all personnel related decisions. It was often rumoured that Om had obtained the job due to his cousin's influence. However, Om was meticulous in the performance of his duties and didn't give anyone a reason for complaint. It was known that Om was not much given to talking and kept to himself and to his duties. All F&S supervisors reported to Mr. Rabindra, the shopfloor manager. The mill operated on a three-shift basis and Rabindra allocated the supervisors to different shifts. They were required to be present at all times during the shift operation and carry out scheduled checks of machinery and fire fighting equipments. For some reasons, Om was allotted the night shift more often than other supervisors. Om accepted these allocations without any objection, while it was known that other supervisors would often plead and bargain with Rabindra to be allocated the day shifts. During the night shift keeping awake and remaining mentally alert were some of the major challengesfaced by the supervisors. Of late, Rabindra observed signs of indifference from Om. On two occasions he found Om absent from his cabin. Rabindra heard from others that Om was often found in different parts of the shop floor talking to employees.Rabindra called him to his office and reminded Om of his responsibilities. Om did not counter Rabindra. He promised that he would not be lax in his duties again. Rabindra also broached the subject with Mr. Bhiwani. Mr. Bhiwani called Om to his office and talked on a very personal basis. He reminded Om that their family relations made it uncomfortable to all concerned. Om nodded and agreed to do better. Soon his performance became that of a model supervisor. It was often found he went beyond his official duties to sort out the problems of employees. About three months later, Rabindra happened to visit the plant during the night. As he looked into F&S office, he found Om playing solitaire on the office computer. Mr. Rabindra immediately fired Om. The next morning Mr. Bhiwani called Mr. Rabindra and asked how he can fire an employee. He suggested that Mr. Rabindra reconsider Om's dismissal. "This decision has already been made. There will be no turning back" replied Rabindra.
1. Out of the options below, which one best summarizes the learning from solitaire incident?
A. Managers often do not take any responsibility towards training juniors.
B. People tend to become relaxed during night shift and require surprise checks to keep them on their toes.
C. Certain roles would have different ways of carrying out their duties.
D. Having relatives in the same organisation can be a source of potential problems.
E. Managers tend to allocated silent people to difficult positions.
2.The details of the entire episode have become common knowledge among all the employees of the company. Out of the options below, which one presents the best way for the top management to resolve the issue so as to benefit the organization as a whole?
A. Revoke Rabindra's order. It can be communicated to others that firing was too severe a punishment for such a small incident of indiscipline.
B. Ask Om for clarification. It can be communicated that since Om had clarified regarding his duties, the order has been taken back.
C. Declare Rabindra's order as void. Reiterate officially the disciplinary processes that need to be followed by mangers along with their scope of authority.
D. Ask feedback from other employees on the shop-floor regarding Om's performance. This can be used to revoke Rabindra's order.
E. Take the feedback of other F&S supervisors as to the work involved during night shift. This would better explain Om's behaviour.