United Trading Company of India: Case Study
Case Facts
· United Trading Company, one oldest foreign companies in India operates in the toilet goods manufacturing category
· Has operations in India in: Mumbai (HO), Calcutta, Delhi & Madras
· The protagonist, Mr. Kailash Kapoor is a qualified accountant, working in the Calcutta office
· For the first 3 years of his career, worked as a salesman & was found to be a misfit; job profile involved extensive travelling when he wanted a settled life with family
· Coaxing his manager, Mr. Kapoor got a shift in the Accounts Dept., working as Asst. to the factory Accountant at Calcutta
· As work grew, Mr. Kapoor was given greater responsibilities; he performed exceedingly well however was taken as ‘Dictator’ by his subordinates
· When the post of ‘Asst. factory Accountant’ for the Calcutta office was decided upon, Mr. Kapoor was the unanimous choice for the post
· However, the HO conducted pan-India intra-organizational selection for the post, wherein Mr. Sundaram (who was Mr. Kapoor’s junior) scored over Mr. Kapoor & got the post
Complications
· Mr. Kapoor’s discomfort to work under Mr. Sundaram, who was Kapoor’s junior
· Demoralized Mr. Kailash Kapoor
· Factory not keen on loosing Mr. Kapoor to retain a person of high efficiency
· Replacement for Mr. Sundaram’s previous post in Calcutta office
Analysis
From the case, we understand that United Trading Company is a well to do organization who has established a sizable market share over the years of its existence. Ideally, an organization of such kind should have compensation & appraisal policies to maintain in grown talent so as to enhance the business & at the same time should appreciate work exp. with the firm so as to preserve the expertise for the current business strategy. Understanding the case, Mr. Sundaram was recognized as the talent & appraisal boosted his career plans with United Trading Company. However, Mr. Kapoor was caught at the wrong end of the policy. This actually calls for a re-visit into the company’s compensation/rewards & appraisal policies. For a well established company such as United Trading Company, they should follow an ‘Individual equity’ approach for their appraisals & competency based pay system. To elucidate further, every employee should have their performance review sessions with their seniors to look into their performance for the year gone by, which includes reviewing the skill set desirable & skill set exhibited & doing a gap analysis for the same. An ‘individual equity’ approach gets the senior (on behalf of the organization) & the employee on common grounds with respect to the employee’s expectations & the organization’s report of the individual. Coming to Mr. Kapoor’s situation, Mr. Kapoor is in the middle stages of his career & been deprived of a promotion which he was expecting. He essentially belongs to the ‘Fair & square traditionalists’ category of employees, who are reliable & loyal family people desiring traditional rewards. He also lacks interest in risky compensations & stimulating work. To top it all, his approach to his subordinates is very dictatorial. All summed up, Mr. Kapoor makes a very non enterprising, laid back employee who essentially doesn’t fit in the shoes of a leader. Also, in mid-career employees prefer training & education. Thus, I suggest Mr. Kapoor be sent to such institutional training for him to feel of some value addition & then be soaked in a new job responsibility, wherein he could utilize the new acquired skill set along with his forte in accounting.
The crux of the entire case remains a poor career management approach at the individual level & in a way at the organizational level as well. To start with, at the commencement of Mr. Kapoor’s career he was put in the wrong setup, like a square peg in round hole; thus unable to utilize individual’s full potential as he/she never will find the work meaningful. United Trading Co. needs to understand that their major investment (i.e. human resource) needs to be groomed & molded so as to fit the bill & simultaneously feel content for low attrition rates. This necessitates career planning, development & management at the individual & organizational level. When we try to fit in Mr. Kapoor’s career stage, it clearly comes in the second stage i.e. ‘Advancement’. At such a stage of career, the individual feels the need to increase the competence & advance in the career. However, as it’s projected in the case, Mr. Kapoor lacks the instinct owing to poor career management right from the start. Mr. Kapoor seems to be satisfied with dispensing work amongst his subordinates; however he’s in need of career training to understand the approach to people management & effective working.
