DIGITAL CV

Tortoise vs Rabbit Race

(Learning for Managers)

There were two rival groups in the forest- Rabbit and Tortoise. Once they decided to participate in a competition. The winner will prove the superiority of 1 team over another. Each team chose a leader and decide to compete. Lion, the king of jungle decided that there will be a race from one corner of the jungle to another. Tortoise group became upset because they knew they move very slowly and rabbits move very fast. But they could not say no to the king and reluctantly decided to compete with rabbit.

Competition 1:

Tortoise and Rabbit both started together. Tortoise was having a very slow pace and rabbit was having a very high pace of moving towards the finish line. When almost half done with the race, rabbit became very hungry. He ate some radish on the way and felt drowsy. He thought that tortoise would be lacking far behind. He thought of taking rest and went for a nap. While he was sleeping tortoise who was consistent throughout kept on moving without break, crossed rabbit on the way and reached the finish line earlier than rabbit. So Tortoise slowly and steadily won the race.

Rabbit team became very angry and dissatisfied. They told the king that it was not fair. They complained that tortoise took advantage of weak health of their leader. They lied that he had become sick during the race.

King agreed and planned for another race. This time it will be a race in water. They have to cross a river. And any number of participants can participate as 1 single team.

Competition 2:

A large boat was hired by both teams. Rabbit team leader took 30 rabbit in his team which were 10 more than actually needed. Tortoise leader took 25 which were 5 more than the requirement. The course of race was very long. It would take almost a day to go and return back. Both teams started. In the beginning rabbit team took lead again. But Tortoise team had better knowledge of short cuts in water as they live in it. When the rabbit leader saw tortoise ship approaching he started pressurizing his team. He was a theory X manager. He started showing distrust in his team. He started shouting at all. Also since the food item the team was given was with respect to 20 people but he had 30 rabbit in his team. So food stock started depleting fast. He started laying off people. He though since he has excess members, it doesn’t make any difference. But this had a wrong psychological effect in the minds of team worker. They thought they would be laid off anytime. The insecurity reduced their efficiency. The leader forgot the importance of ‘Fayol’s principle of Espirit de corpse’ which emphasised the importance of amicable relation between worker and manager. He did not plan which rabbit is best suited for rowing at front end and which rabbit is suited for rowing at rear end of the boat. He also did not give them required break and defied all working hours. Thus he failed again in job design and Scientific management.  After some time due to misuse of his power and ruthless behaviour, some rabbit formed a union and told that they don’t want to work under him anymore. Many more joined in. Rabbit could not tackle the union problem and the worker left the race. He was left alone and so he couldn’t even complete the race.

On the other hand Tortoise team leader was Theory Y manager. He motivated them  throughout the way. He carefully designed job as to who should row where. He had taken 5 extra so that those who become tired can go for job rotation with these 5 and do some light work like serving water and food to the team. He made sure that oar to row boat was of right weight and length and scientifically found 1 best method to do the job which was ergonomically sound. Naturally they won the race.

Though Tortoise are slow worker but they proved once again that a good manager can make better utilization of available resources with his managerial skills and vice versa a bad manager can fail the entire organization even though the workers are very skilled and have high potential and competency.

MODERN MANAGEMENT THEORIES

I will discuss two modern management theories which are very important for any manager entrusted with critical decision- making responsibilities. They are- System Theory and Contingency theory. Let us take them one by one:

1) System Theory:

Systems theory assumes that views the organization as unified purposeful systems composed of interrelated parts. It believes that any activity taken up by any single department will affect other departments in varying degree of proportions.

Some key concepts:

    a)Subsystem- The department is a subsystem of plant, plant is a subsystem of company, company is        subsystem of conglomerate  or industry , industry is subsystem of national economy and national economy is   subsystem of world economy.

         

      b)  Synergy- It means that each department working  separate and independently will be less efficient that all     departments working in coordination towards goal.

     

       c)  Open and closed subsystem- If a subsystem interacts with the environment , it is called open subsystem  and those subsystems which do not interacts with the environment are called closed system.

     

      d)  System Boundary- Closed system boundary is rigid and less subjected to change. On the other hand    Open Systems are more flexible.

     

      e)    Feedback: In order to control systems, feedback is very important. It can be related to product,                 process, market, demand and changing trends and needs of the customer. It helps company evolve and          pass the test of time.

2) Contingency Theory:

This theory believes that no particular method is best fit for all situations. It depends on many factors which will vary from condition to condition. A contingency manager is expected to see which method to use in that particular case after analysing it thoroughly.

Example:  Suppose a situation where a manager has to decide what is to be done to encourage worker to increase productivity. A classical theorist will say that work methods needs to be changed to simplify the process for worker. A behavioral scientist may say to incorporate job enrichment to allow for greater autonomy and break the monotony by giving more responsibility. In such case it is the responsibility of the manager to decide what to be used. If the labour is unskilled and training cost is high or unfeasible, he should go for work simplification method.  And if worker is skilled driven by pride in their ability, job enrichment will be a better option.

These two theories always need to be kept in mind before taking any decision as it affects the whole company.