Part - I

It’s a fast world, it really is, and competition is fierce. Further, competition is not always fair; forget the rest of the world - the best managers forget their B-school lessons on ethics and morality. To put it bluntly, the real world is tough, nasty and manipulative. So how to cross the minefield without stepping on the mines??

Mr. X is a HR manager in a reputed MNC. He wants to manage the performance of the employees to ensure better results. Is there a surefire formula that Mr. X could employ - just plug in the values of the variables and get the optimal result? Well the answer is obviously, no. Still I have worked out some principles that work in today’s context - I make it a point to follow these tenets. Mr. X can put down these principles as guidelines for his subordinates - these guidelines should help each of his subordinates improve his/her performance. I have no pretensions; my theories are natural and provide responses to real-life situations where ethics and morality often boil down to a naught.

THE FRACTION THEORY

Often we do not get to do what we want to do. In such a situation we feel frustrated because the payoffs are less than what we deserved (expected payoff). As a result of this frustration one might give depleted efforts. Now due to depletion in effort the person will get a further reduced payoff.

Let expected payoff = p
            actual payoff = y*p (0<= y <1)
Let effort under normal conditions = e
                                    depleted effort = x*e (0<= x <1)
                     Further reduced payoff = x*y*p

So by getting demotivated and giving in less than his/her best the person is adding to his woes. Practically, according to the above model, he is multiplying a proper fraction (y) by another proper fraction (x) - whenever one multiplies two proper fractions the result is a smaller fraction. So, I say "never multiply a fraction (proper) by a fraction (proper) - the result is always a smaller fraction". In other words, by putting in lesser efforts the person is getting further reduced payoffs.

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* Contributed by -
Anupam Dasgupta,
Second Year (MBA),
IIM Indore.