The Blow That Shook The Bank

Authors

  •   Mohan Gopinath Registrar and Professor - Department of HR and Alliance Business School, Bangalore 562106
  •   Srividya Iyengar Department of HR respectively, Alliance Business School, Bangalore 562106

Keywords:

Accelerated Negotiation, Confrontation, Crisis Management, Unions

Abstract

The incidents narrated below are typical of what happens in a large organization which has unionized employees. The case tries to show the importance of having in place executives who are culturally sensitive and who realize that unions have to be carefully handled. Peripherally, it also examines the importance of being able to perform quick negotiations and come to grips with crises management, and how sometimes it could be beneficial to concede a minor point, than stick (without applying the mind) to the rules which are laid down. The incidents are based on a real life incident which happened a few years ago. They also reveal the Importance of sensitizing cross posted international officers to the realities of the workplace in the different countries in which they are based. What is applicable In Singapore will not apply in India; here unions are very powerful and they have to be handled correctly if the organization wants to avoid crises in day to day operations. Very often, unions can also make or mar the careers of officers. But above all, the incidents in the case go to prove that people management skills are perhaps at the top of the pyramid in terms of getting work to flow smoothly in an organization.

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Published

2011-01-04

Issue

Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2011

Section

Case Study

License

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References

Crisis in Organizations II, Barton, L., Cincinnati, South-Western College Publishing - 2001, p287.

Crisis Management, Master the Skills to Prevent Disasters, Barton, L.,Boston, Harvard Business School Press-2004, p147.

Crisis Management Planning and Execution, Devlin, E. S.,Boca Raton, Auerbach Publications 2007, p504.

Harvard Business Review on Crisis Management, Augustine, N. R., G. Brenneman, et al., Boston, Harvard Business School Press - 2000, p252.

Leading Through a Crisis, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation - 2009, p256.

Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding, Second Edition Coombs, W. T., California, Sage Publications Inc., 2007, p209.