Reference no: EM133256100

INCREASING TROUBLES OF THE MUMBAI TIRE COMPANY

The Mumbai Tire Company (MTC) was incorporated, as a partnership firm in 1986 to fill what one of its partners, Mr. Rajesh, called a void that existed in India. According to Mr. Rajesh, who had worked for a foreign tire company for nearly 15 years, there was no company that really had for its major aim the production of tires at the minimum cost and their sale to customers at an affordable price. "Four-wheelvehicle owners pay through their nose for tires, petrol, and repairs.Anybody who owns a car owns a care spends at least 35 to 40 percent of his salary on its maintenance and that is not how it should be", Rajesh was often heard to say. Mr. Rajesh started the MTC in partnership with two close friends of his who had also extensive experience in the tire business, working for other companies. Mr. Rajesh was very actively involved in the business and was at work every day at the crack of dawn and never left the place before 8:00 pm. Sometimes when work was heavy, Rajesh would stay as late as 10:00 pm at the shop. One of the other two partners owned another business as well and was, for all practical purposes, a sleeping partner in this firm, and the third partner was much less involved in the dayto-day operations of the company than Mr. Rajesh.MTC, though a small partnership firm, had enormous backing from the business community becauseof their appreciation of the goals of the company and the extreme dedication of Mr. Rajesh. Thus, MTC was off to a good start. Being very cost conscious, MTC set up a small Cost Analysis department. As business began to expand, more customer services were added, and the company attained an excellent reputation for its wheel balancing service. As a result, the company was given sole dealership for helmets as well. In 1988, just two years after its incorporation, the company had to expand its premises, operations, and personnel. With the expansion came the growing pains and Mr. Rajesh and the two partners must encounter many small hurdles. Even as they were trying to solve one problem, several others seemed to crop up. Mr. Rajesh highlighted some of the more serious ones described as follows:"Sometimes I wish we had never expanded our business. When we were merely selling tires, we could comfortably handle the operations and the workmen, and we the partners were all happy. At first, it was exciting to expand the business and services to our customers. The smile on the customer's faces as they drive their cars away is still very gratifying. But because of our increased staff size, we are beginning to lose control. Often, the customers are not served as effectively as they could be. The personal touch that we had established with our customers seems to be slowly slipping away. I have been telling the employeesthat they should be more customer oriented, but they seem to be more concerned about their own interdepartmental problems and fights. For instance, last week, while a customer was waitingpatiently, the mechanic who was to have changed the oil and filter in his car, was arguing for more than half an hour with the purchase clerk about some trivial matter. I almost lost my patience and was about to give the mechanic a bit of my mind when my partner took the mechanic aside and talked to him. The fact that customers are not serviced without delays bothers me. I wonder if it bothers my partners as well. I have not discussed these kinds of issues with them since I don't want them to think that I am getting unduly worried about small matters.""Another potential problem lies in the way some of the employees come across to the others in the company. For instance, we have a rather brash young engineer. He is thoroughly knowledgeable about his work and is extremely productive, but he always wears a serious look on his face and talks in a very abrupt, and sometimes, abrasive manner. Some of his mechanics have told me that they fear him. I have a set of capable workmen and don't want to lose any of them. I am at a loss to know-how to handle this situation. I guess if I happened to work for this engineer, I would also fear him; but he is really a nice person, you know. The only problemis that he is too intense and comes across to others as a grouch. We have a few others who are just the opposite, laughing and joking all the time, and I sometimes wonder if their workers take them seriously at all!""Something else is also engaging my thoughts. Ultimately, I would like to see each of the service departments as individual profit centers and share the additional profits with the workers. That, of course, is down the road; perhaps three to five years from now. I am thinking that if the employees have a stake in the profits they will work harder, and I shall not have to put in so much time supervising them. But then, they should all learn to work well together so that there is more collaboration and joint problem solving rather than competition and dysfunctional conflicts. I would like them all to see themselves as one big family where everybody works together harmoniously to reap the full benefits. If, somehow, we can develop that spirit of friendliness and cooperation, it would be great! Maybe, I am rambling too much, but these and similar issues keep engaging my thoughts and I was wondering if you have any advice for me on how I should handle some of these issues."

If diagnostic survey does indeed confirm Mr. Rajesh's statements, as an OD practitioner you are required to:

Question 1. Clearly identify the problem in the case;

Question 2. Recommend appropriate OD intervention strategies to resolve each of the issues; and

Question 3. Explain in detail why you make the recommendation and how it would resolve the problem.