A Project Report On

“ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR”

Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Mr. Neeraj Kataria Pranshu Mishra
Asst. Professor Sap ID: 500106843

UPES University
Knowledge Acres, Kandoli – 248007 (Dehradun)
 CASE ASSIGNMENT – 3
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Rohit Narang joined Apex Computers (Apex) in November after a successful stint at Zen
Computers (Zen), where he had worked as an assistant programmer. Rohit felt that Apex offered
better career prospects, as it was growing much faster than Zen, which was a relatively small
company. Although Rohit had enjoyed working there, he realized that to grow further in his
field, he would have to join a bigger company, and preferable one that handled international
projects. He was sure he would excel in his position at Apex, just as he had done in his old job at
Zen. Rohit joined as a Senior Programmer at Apex, with a handsome pay hike. Apex had
international operations and there was more than a slim chance that he would be sent to USA or
the UK on a project. Knowing that this would give him a lot of exposure, besides looking good
on his resume, Rohit was quite excited about his new job. Rohit joined Aparna Mehta’s five-
member team at Apex. He had met Aparna during the orientation sessions, and was looking
forward to working under her. His team members seemed warm and friendly, and comfortable
with their work. He introduced himself to the team members and got to know more about each of
them. Wanting to know more about his boss, he casually asked Dipti, one of the team members,
about Aparna. Dipti said, “Aparna does not interfere with our work. In fact, you could even say
that she tries to ignore us as much as she can.” Rohit was surprised by the comment but decided
that Aparna was probably leaving them alone to do their work without any guidance, in order to
allow them to realize their full potential. At Zen, Rohit had worked under Suresh Reddy and had
looked up to him as a guide and mentor – always guiding, but never interfering. Suresh had let
Rohit make his own mistakes and learn from them. He had always encouraged individual ideas,
and let the team discover the flaws, if any, through discussion and experience. He rarely held an
individual member of his team responsible if the team as a whole failed to deliver – for him the
responsibility for any failure was collective. Rohit remembered telling his colleagues at Zen that
the ideal boss would be someone who did not interfere with his/her subordinate’s work.

Rohit wanted to believe that Aparna too was the non-interfering type. It that was the case, surely
her non-interference would only help him to grow. In his first week at work, Rohit found the
atmosphere at the office a bit dull. However, he was quite excited. His team had been assigned a
new project and was facing a few glitches with the new software. He had thought about the
problem till late in the night and had come up with several possible solutions. He could not wait
to discuss them with his team and Aparna. He smiled to himself when he thought of how Aparna
would react when he told her that he had come up with several possible solutions to the problem.
He was sure she would be happy with his having put in so much effort into the project, right
from day one. He was daydreaming about all the praise that he was going to get when Aparna
walked into the office. Rohit waited for her to go into her cabin, and after five minutes, called
her up, asking to see her. She asked him to come in after 10 minutes. When he went in, she
looked at him blankly and asked, “Yes?” Not sure whether she had recognized him, Rohit
introduced himself. She said, “Ok, but why did you want to meet me?” Rohit started to tell her
about the problems they were having with the software. But before he could even finish, she told
him that she was busy with other things, and that she would send an email with the solution to all
the members of the team by the end of the day, and that they could then implement it
immediately. Rohit was somewhat taken aback. However, ever the optimist, he thought that she
had perhaps already discussed the matter with the team. Rohit came out of Aparna’s cabin and
went straight to where his team members sat. he thought it would still be nice to bounce ideas off
them and also to see what solutions others might come up with. He told them of all the solution
she had in mind. He waited for the others to come up with their suggestions but not one of them
spoke up. He was surprised and asked them point-blank why they were so disinterested. Sanjay,
one of the team members, said, “What is the point in our discussing these things? Aparna is not
going to have time to listen to us on discuss anything. She will just give us the solution she
thinks is best, and we will just do what she tells us to do; why waste everyone’s time?”

Rohit felt his heart sink. Was this the way things worked over here? However, he refused to lose
heart and thought that maybe, he could change things a little. But as the days went by, Rohit
realized that Aparna was the complete opposite of his old boss. While she was efficient at what
she did and extremely intelligent, she had neither the time nor the inclination to groom her
subordinates. Her solutions to problem were always correct, but she was not willing to discuss or
debate the merits of any other ideas that her team might have. She did not hold the team down to
their deadlines did not do she ever interfere. In fact, she rarely said anything at all! If work did
not get finished on time, she would just blame her team, and totally disassociate herself from
them. Time and again, Rohit found himself thinking of Suresh his old boss, and of how he had
been such a positive influence. Apirana, on the other hand, even without actively doing anything,
had managed to significantly lower his motivation levels. Rohit gradually began to lose interest
in his work – it had become too mechanical for his taste. He didn’t really need to think; his boss
had all the answers. He was learning nothing new, and he felt his career was going nowhere. As
he became more and more discouraged, his performance suffered. From being someone with
immense promise and potential Rohit was now in danger of becoming just another mediocre
techie.
Questions1.
What, according to you, were the reasons for Rohit’s disillusionment? Answer the question using
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Answer.1
Rohit was disappointed since his psychological and self-fulfillment demands were not addressed.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid represents the model with the more basic needs at the
bottom and higher requirements. To actuate a particular higher-order requirement, an individual
must begin to fulfill the more essential needs within the chain of command. Rohit met his
physiological needs and safety needs that fall under the requirements and joined as a Senior
Programmer at Apex, with a handsome pay hike. Rohit joined the group of 5 at Apex in Aparna
Mehta. He was looking forward to working under her, and his team members seemed warm and
friendly, and comfortable with their work. He made an effort to get to know the crew members in
order to satisfy higher-order demands like the need for affection and a sense of community. He
also wanted to know more about his boss, but later he got to know from his colleague that His
employer Aparna tries to ignore them and doesn't get in the way of their job. As much as she can.
Belongingness and love need to include intimate relationships, friendships, the need to obtain
and give affection, and being a voting member of a specific community or society.

Then comes the esteem needs that include prestige and a feeling of accomplishment. After
fulfilling previous needs, a person strives for esteem. This appreciation stems from the
assumption that others recognize and value one's expertise. Upon assigning a new project to
Rohit's team, He had been worrying about the problem until late at night, and many potential
solutions were already planned. He couldn't wait to talk to his team and Aparna about these. He
daydreamed about all the praise that he was going to get from his boss. But after not getting the
expected appreciation from Aparna, being the optimist, he thought it would still be nice to
bounce ideas with them. He was nonetheless disappointed by their lack of attention.

After the four sets of needs are fulfilled- no natural task-a, a person can strive for a higher level
of need, self-actualization. It is a state of fulfillment in which people realize their highest
potential in their unique way. A person would get to achieve his full potential, including creative
activities. But as we can see in Rohit’s case, he did not get enough appreciation for the efforts he
put into his work from his boss and teammates. Hence, he gradually began to lose interest in his
work and felt his career was going nowhere. As a result, he became more discouraged, and his
performance suffered.

Questions2.
What should Rohit do to resolve his situation? What can a team leader do to ensure high levels of
motivation among his/her team members?

Answer.2
According to my opinion, Rohit should interact with his team members. He must make his team
realize the need for communication to participate in teamwork. Rohit should also communicate
with his boss to resolve his situation.

1. Set a dream and a goal.

From the viewpoint of a subordinate, Rohit may have to consider his alternatives before facing
Aparna, his employer. Rohit may need to reconsider his priorities because confronting Aparna
and his colleagues increases the likelihood of unwelcome altercations. Rohit may need to
concentrate on the positives, such as his high pay, Apex's rapid development in comparison to
Zen, and the fact that his employer has given him more possibilities to work on foreign projects.

Additionally, after talking about the type of team leader we want, we realized that in order to
create a culture of brainstorming and information sharing among the team members, the team
leader needs to be heavily involved in one-on-one communication. A leader must act as a
motivator and set examples by establishing short-term goals because worker morale is a crucial
component of productivity. In addition, the leader must pay attention to the concerns that the
followers raise and genuinely try to help them find solutions.