CASE STUDY
Honest Book House (HBH)

Background
HBH was a leading publishing house recognized world over for its quality production of fiction/non-fiction books. The publishing house had three distinct departments. The editorial team, the designer team and the sales & marketing department. Roles of each were defined. However, the editorial head was defacto the head of the organization calling the shots. Practically all leading authors were associated with HBH and even the budding writers who showed promise, were encouraged. Some of them shot into fame after their initial efforts. All this was because of the dynamism of the publishing head MrSuryakiran, and the art director Ms. Kamini. Suryakiran, a very reserved but competent man popularly called SK, would only deal with the heads of the department and go by their reports and advice and hardly spoke to the other members on professional matters. SK loved his work and his good living style. The ambience in the workplace vacillated between good to indifferent. The art director Ms. Kamini, a young petite lady, was a good designer who had a streak of jealousy from her competent juniors. She had her own set of people who, though incompetent but perfect 'yes men', were pulling on. The young designers under them would complain about pay and work but the rumblings of discontent never reached to the top. The CEO, Mr. Smith - a British, was neither an editor nor a designer but a figurative head.He was enthusiastic & peppy. He would appear once in a while, throw a party, talk to people; pat everybody's back and disappear into his own world. His privileges and perks were quite princely and he enjoyed a good life.

The set up had an unwritten hierarchy and boasted of paperless office. All communications were by emails. There were bickering and backbiting. Pay was low for the junior staff. Appraisal would take place regularly but with little outcome. Positions were given by strict hierarchy of service rather than competence. The working hours were quite good with all physiological needs being met. However there was an uneasy calm in the environment.

The Change
CEO Mr. Smith, was sacked on moral turpitude. However because of his rich experience in the field, he soon set up a separate publishing house by the name of Gooseberry and started his business. Within 2-3 months, the publishing head SK gave his resignation on personal differences with the owner, followed by art director Kamini, who requested for a long sabbatical on health grounds. Exodus of top three in such a short span destabilized the set up. It was like a ship without a rudder just bobbing around. The void seemed a wide abyss. The set up was rifled with speculations about filling up of the positions from the existing staff. Some temporary arrangements were made by apportioning responsibilities to the existing employees but the positions were kept vacant. However, the situation was far from being stable.

The New Guard
Within three months, a new CEO Mr. Collins came as replacement of Smith. Short stoutly built, his experience in publishing house was inadequate but he was a maverick in administration. However, the technical void remained. Soon a publishing head, Tejaswani breezed in and she brought along an art director Mr. Jon Haydon, a British. Ms. Tejaswani was a dynamic lady, a bundle of energy, ideas and an attitude. She carried herself with an air of pride, followed a strict diet regime and was a fitness freak. She was earlier the head of a small publishing house owned by her father and thus had some experience. Her penchant for foreigners was well known because of her training abroad. Mr. Jon - a 32 year old visiting consultant and her old friend, was suddenly promoted as the art director, a position usually given to an experienced designer. The duo seemed to be in a hurry. Surgical changes were made in the functioning procedures and the work load on the young designers almost trebled. Jon was capable but haughty and was only interested in results. His dislike for slow learners was very obvious. He considered himself straightforward and would not think twice in ticking off in public. The young art director just wanted the targets to be met. Lacking the basic cultural knowledge of the Indian authors and their themes he would just assign the work to junior designers without thinking twice. Tejaswani had her own style of functioning. While pushing everyone she would insist that all work produced by the designers to be openly discussed and displayed during weekly meetings, a practice never followed earlier. The incapable and protected got exposed. Positions were shuffled with few losing out their earlier portfolios though without effect on pay. The young designers suddenly found their work coming up in recognition but the work load was high. Targets were being achieved much before the deadlines. However, resignations from all quarters started pouring in and were being accepted. The editorial and art team suddenly started dwindling. Some editors and few designers found the pressure unbearable.

The news of SK and Kamini quitting Gooseberry came as whiff of fresh air. A number of reputed authors also withdrew their future assignments from Gooseberry, since they were in good relations with the earlier team players.

Situation as on Day
Continuous flow of resignations is making the situation difficult. An air of uncertainty prevails and the environment is a bit tense. Some young designers are undecided, whether to continue or quit. SK & Kamini have given feelers for return but on better pay and perks.

Questions
1. Analyze the various personalities, their traits and styles.
2. Comment the work environment, the culture and motivational levels.
3. How do you view the situation as of date?
4. As Collins the CEO, what option should you exercise?

Rules for Submission:
1. Answers to the above mentioned questions should be there in the PPT or PPTX
2. Submissions should be in PPT or PPTX format with maximum 25 slides
3. The file should be compressed in .zip or .rar format before uploading
4. You will not be able to change the uploaded files, once they are submitted
5. You will have to do the submissions before the deadline of the phase
6. Sources which you had referred to should be explicitly mentioned
7. Submissions should be made before the deadline