Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Dealing with rumour
You are working with Reliance Fresh as regional head manager for Maharashtra. There are over 200 outlets under your responsibility. You get an inside information that employees from various outlets are influenced by the local communities, which are providing vegetables to Reliance. These local communities are being organized by NGOs. The predominant mood is that Reliance may reduce the price of products after few years, and therefore local communities need to organize for collective bargaining. This influence the morale of your employees, who is affected by this propaganda for collective action.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
31 comments:
The collective behaviour exhibited on the part of farmers follow convergence theory while that on the part of employees follow contagium theory. How rumour affects the employees depends upon how they perceive it i.e. if they find the information unfavorable to them it would create panic.Being the regional head I would see the seriousness of this rumour and assess its impact. If it is a true threat to the morale of employees then counter propaganda to neutralize this rumor will be done. If this rumor does not have widespread impact it may be overlooked.
The case basically displays a situation where rumour has spread and this may lead to a situation where the employees may press the panic button. In case of the employees the contagion theory seems applicable as a small rumour can spread like wild fire and disrupt the entire working progress. Moreover in the case of the local communities the convergence theory seems applicable, as they are assumed to be uniting to form a collective. A solution to this may be to investigate the matter at the ground level to verify the truthfulness of the rumour, and take necessary action.
As a manager, I will first make it a point to break the collective action of the employees by defining the rumour to be misleading. Proper and timely information regarding the prices of products needs to be disseminated among the employees such that no space for rumour arises. I will probe for facts and verifiable data by simply asking the workers about the source of this rumour, this will tend to squash irresponsible gossip and rumour spreading. Asking leadership to comment on the same will also counteract it.
Here rumour is the communication channel as no verifiable source exists.Rumour can act as a source of good decision making tool, if proved correct.So the managers of reliance Fresh should first try to pose questions with which the truth of the situation can be verified and then act accordingly.As the local communities are acting crowd working towards a goal of managing collective bargin, appears rational enough, So manager should try convincing them.
Rumour acts in the same direction along which it is perceived. If someone is uncomfortable with the rumour, a panic is created. In this situation, the panic is widespread and has affected both the farmers and the employees. What can be done is a declaration can be made and thus killing the rumour or a representative from the people can be assured about the price of products. A lower cut off for price can be kept so as to gain people’s confidence. Another way can be to spread another rumour to end the previous one.
Rumor is basically one of the channels of communication which is not institutionalised. As a manager first of all I will try to break the collective of local communities asking that this is rumor and no such price reduction plan is there for near future.I will try to bring the facts behind this rumor with the help of some community leaders. Further I will discuss the matter with the team leaders of each clusters quoating that this was the unverified information so need not to get affected, company is working in the interest of every stakeholders.
A rumour without a leg to stand on will get around some other way-John Tudor.
The local communities’ exhibit convergence theory and they are reacting to a precipitating agent which in this case is a rumour. It’s quite clear from the description that this rumour will only have a negative impact on Reliance fresh’s future operations and therefore it is imperative that it is nipped in the bud by (a) clearly laying out the future plans, and (b)creating a mechanism whereby the community can get periodic updates. Consequently the chances of a new rumour cropping up would be minimised.
The fear of collective bad is very much motivating, So although just a rumour but it has prompted the farmers for a collective action. The morale of the employees is down and they are not able to stand up to the pressure of non conformity to the larger group of farmers. As a manager I should talk to my employees and the farmers and assure them that these are just rumours and they should not react to such rumours. I would assure them that whatever will be done will be done in the best interest of everyone.
Uncertainty is high in a situation where rumor is in action. The rumor regarding lowering of prices by Reliance would influence the actions undertaken by local communities, one of the possibilities being organising for collective bargaining. On the part of Reliance it is necessary to be proactive rather than reactive. Getting to the root of the rumour is NOT a solution in this situation, as it is close to impossible and would be of no use otherwise. Killing the rumor should be the priority.
As regional manager it becomes essential for me to make sure that correct information is provided to your employees as soon as possible. It is necessary that this rumour does not create panic and it remains what it is, a rumour.
Secondly we can change things on our front as well, we can make sure the future plans are known in advance and some of the information is spread to the NGO's and farmer community so that there is no scope of such rumours being generated.
Rumour in general can have two kinds of effects one where it reinforces the original system and other where it brings about a radical change in the system. Here, the community is trying to bring about a change. A very important factor when rumour is on hand is the authority which can exercise control over the group. Here, its evident that the NGO is using the rumour to create a collective action. As a reliance fresh manager, there is a need to build trust among the people of the community thereby causing a shift of authority. There is also a need to infuse confidence and belief in the organization among the employees.
Under this situation, morale of employees is low because of the information. And authenticity of the information is not known. So, irrespective of the truthfulness of the information, the challenge is to get the work done from the employees with the same spirit as before. So some affordable incentive for employees should be announced to offset the effect of that information. Like spreading the word like-“in future the volume of operation would be so large that profit will not go down”.
How rumour affects the organisation functioning and how to tackle it? The case throws light on to this aspect. First, the manager should maintain his composure as he is the one who has to control the entire show. He should address his employees and make them understand there is no reason to panic. Then a team from Reliance Fresh needs to address the NGOs who organise the communities and take them into confidence by ensuring that there are no plans for price reduction. If required a MOU can be signed to take them into confidence
How rumour affects the organisation functioning and how to tackle it? The case throws light on to this aspect. First, the manager should maintain his composure as he is the one who has to control the entire show. He should address his employees and make them understand there is no reason to panic. Then a team from Reliance Fresh needs to address the NGOs who organise the communities and take them into confidence by ensuring that there are no plans for price reduction. If required a MOU can be signed to take them into confidence
the issue of the actual source and the truth that lies behind the rumour spread needs to be addressed first. As a manager it is required to maintain the morale of the employees as well as deal with the rumour situation without making any assumptions about the situation. The rumour may help the Manager in many ways also in knowing the issues of the local community creating this situation. Addressing their issues in an efficient manner may actually benefit in long run.
Rumours float until information is not provided, clearly here it is case on information disparity which might happen in future according to local communities. Effect of this is directly visible on employee morale. The collective action exhibited by farmers is clearly adopted from convergence theory. As regional head manager i would try to kill the rumour asap and will try that no such condition emerges in future. For this purpose we can create a periodic system for information delivery to local communities regarding prices and any matter. This will minimise any future problem related to such information gap.
the rumour is the rational behind this collective action. convergence theory make the community for collective action. First i have to clarify that this is the rumour.
make it clear to the NGO and community that if their will be any such type of thing then they will be informed formally. For the employee of reliance fresh this clarification will increase their morale.
With the support of NGO, the rumor has gained the credibility and importance in the community. As a leader firstly i would clear the matter with employees as it could act as a demoralising factor for employees thereby affecting their commitment and performance in the organisation. Crowd is engaging in collective action as it is only going to benefit them without incurring any cost. So, to counter the rumor i would interact with NGO and would try to gain their support.
Here the inside information has no substantial proof of its being true and so might just be a rumour. As a manager my first step would be to ensure that the employee’s morale is maintained and at the same time also ensuring that such kinds of rumours are put to for the time being. I will also make sure that no such indication is given to the employees from the management side that further enhances these rumours. Any collective action that is being taken from the employee’s side needs to be nullified.
As a manager, I would first like to check the authenticity of the rumour. If, it is correct then I have to break the collective action of the local communities.Also, I would try to lift the morale of my employees, persuading them not to get influenced by such issues, and also instructing them that if any such things are encountered by them in the near future, they should immediately report it to me.
Rumour has it's own legitimacy in bringing about a collective action, the strength of the collective depending on the subject of rumour. The nature of rumour in this case is against the interest of Reliance Fresh. Convergent Theory is aptly observed in case of the suppliers and their collective emotion has great influence on the employees, which can be explained by the Contagion Theory. One way to counteract the upheaval is to form a collective of suppliers under the umbrella of Reliance Fresh, in which price of products will be decided by consent of both parties.
This is an instance of convergence theory where the local communities, backed by the NGO, are planning to organize for collective bargaining with a clear objective. Rumours about the reduction in prices are creating a panic for the local community as well as the employees. This rumour can create a wide division between the local communities and Reliance Fresh. Being the regional head manager I would make a formal declaration to end the rumour.
Before taking any step I would first like to investigate the rumour. In case the rumour is found to be true then necessary steps to neutralize it should be taken. In case the rumour is false no immediate action is necessary. In any case the morale of the employees should be increased. Also the management should issue statement to the employees keeping them informed with the investigation.
Yes the rumour is making rounds, but no reason to hit the panic button yet. First thing I would do is come out in the open and make things clear that there are no plans to reduce prices. If necessary I would take some aggressive step which would compel the communities believe that there is no need for collective bargaining.
The upsurge of farmers is fueled by Rumor which brings a sense of low morale as well as insecurity. As a manager I will try to verify the authenticity of the rumor and act accordingly which will be in the line of maintaining stability in the organization.
A rule of power tactics says that one should never go outside the experience of the people as it would result in confusion and discontent. This is what is happening in this case as the rumor of increase in prices has created a situation where individual’s believes are subordinated to a group belief. Giving a declaration regarding the rumor being false to the employees as well as the local community would restore their morale and would dissolve the purpose of the collective action undertaken by communities for bargaining.
First of all, we can’t stop the emergence of rumours. As per contagion theory these rumours are accepted without any criticism. We need to train our employees in advance, where all kinds of possible information should be provided to them, i.e. let the employees understand the position of the organisation. We can only act in post-rumour phase, i.e. try to clear the air once we feel that the current matter is serious enough. We need to communicate our employees very clearly that we have no such intentions.
As a head manager I will try to reduce the effect of this type of rumour spreading. For this the best way is to identify the reasons behind this rumour and finding ways for reducing the ill effects of this type of rumour in future. By making employees feel better will mitigate the ill effects to an extent.
In this context ,the Regional head manager should stay calm and act according to the situation .As it is aptly said no smoke without the fire,he should not discard the inside information completely rather ensure the validity of that rumor.If the information is right,then he should engage with the local communities and assure them of not reducing the price of product.
Post a Comment