Page 292 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Unit 13: Communication and Leadership

Notes

Case Study Sushma's Quandary as a Leader

ushma Gupta worked as the Assistant Manager (AM) of Operations for Mega
Shopping Arena (MSA). MSA, a popular store, sold everything from food, clothes,
Sand shoes to stationery, furniture, household items, electronics, and toys. The store
advertised itself as a one-stop shop where the customer could find everything he or she
needed. Sushma was happy that she was working with such a reputed, well-established
store.

Sushma loved her job and had worked hard to get to the position of AM.
Her life revolved around her work, so much so that she had to be forced to take leave or
a vacation. Her seniors were happy with her work, and Sushma was looking forward to
the performance appraisals in March.
She was sure that she would be promoted. She had excelled at her work in the four years
she had been at the store, and she felt that she definitely deserved to become Manager.
In March, as she had expected, Sushma was promoted and made Manager. Her job profile
now was different - she was no longer required to do the day-to-day administrative tasks
that she had been doing till then.
Neither was she required to deal with customers. Her new role involved managing the
supply chain, and taking care of the advertising and marketing plans of the store.
In her new role, Sushma had a team of four AMs, who were each required to present a
daily report to her at the end of each day. The AMs were required to handle the
administrative duties, including dealing with counter staff, as well as to handle customer
complaints.
However, Sushma being the perfectionist that she was, insisted on taking all the decisions
herself, even when they had to be made at the AM level. She did not understand of CI, GI
or DI types of participation theory. Because of this, the AMs did not have a sense of
ownership. They shied away from taking decisions, leaving them to Sushma, besides
asking for her guidance even on small issues.
One day, Sonal Kapoor, a regular customer, came to return a pair of wrinkle-free trousers
that she had bought a week earlier. Mrs. Kapoor, a member of the store's loyalty program,
was quite upset because the trousers had shrunk in just one wash, and she wished to return
them.
She produced the original bill, and asked for a full refund, pointing to the notice hung on
the wall which clearly stated the store's return policy of giving full refund if the customer
returned the product within a week along with the original bill.

At this point, Sushma was not in office, as she was attending an off-site meeting. Rajeev,
the AM handling the matter, refused to take a decision as he was not sure how to ascertain
the number of days from the day of purchase - whether he should include the day of
purchase or not! He asked Mrs. Kapoor to come back the next day to meet Sushma. Mrs.
Kapoor first tried to argue and then said she would agree to an exchange.
However, Rajeev refused to commit himself and kept asking her to meet Sushma. An
irritated Mrs. Kapoor then raised her voice, drawing the attention of other shoppers.

Contd...

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