(a)Vikas has graduated in Business Management from one of the premier institutes of India. An institute is renowned for its ability to churn out well-groomed budding managers, who are capable of putting hard labour and using latest techniques in management.
Most of the modern organizations recognize human resource as most important resource. A valuable lesson on how to manage human resources can be learnt from ****. Any firm that intends to compete in the world’ international arena will have to compete with the *** and their ability to get the utmost from their people. In the present case, Vikas might be trying to give congenial environment to workers which is conducive to satisfaction level and thus may help in increasing production. At this, his father has taken a negative stand and has criticized his son for being nice to people and also Hawthorne studies which is not justified. The Hawthorne studies were conducted by Elton Mayo, a Harvard consultant and his associates. A number of lessons were drawn from the studies.
Firstly, they alerted management for focusing on the needs and feelings of employees and workers in work setting. They highlighted the influence of psychological, social and other intangible factors on worker productivity and satisfaction. Secondly, the studies revealed the incidence of informal groups and interpersonal relations which exert more influence over workers’ behavior than formal organizational requirements. Similarly, the importance of informal group leaders, the key role of free communication, friendly and considerate supervision in improving workers’ productivity and satisfaction were brought out for the first time.
A large number of theorist and thinkers in social sciences began to exhort on the importance of humanizing the relations between management and workers. Many organizations started taking interest in the *** and happiness of workers. They initiated measures to socialize workers, to relax supervisory styles, to improve working conditions, to encourage informal and interpersonal relations, to show respect and warmth to workers, to inject feelings of importance and belongingness and so on. However, at the same time, Elton Mayo also found that the same work factors (such as working conditions, pay, etc.) can be sources of satisfaction for some workers and dissatisfaction for other workers. A humanistic philosophy is basically sound, provided it is understood and practiced properly in the context of organizations.
(b) Vikas must be in great dilemma. His father is asking him to bring *** changes in his behavior which must have been groomed by the premier management institute. He has to be very tactful and diplomatic in his approach. He should try to patiently explain that people are motivated better if treated nicely. But first, he should fully understand the view point of his father. He should understand that views of his father are conditioned by his long experience as a Government officer and entrepreneur.
He should request his father to be more patient and judge the results of his approach only after passage of some time. He can emphasise that one week is a very short ** to form an opinion about success or *** of his actions. He needs to emphasise that his behavior is directed towards increasing productivity and bring out better performance from the workers. At the same time, he should also assure his father that this will not undermine his authority or the respect in which he is held.
