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Mr. Mehta's Dilemma: A Case of Performan...

Chandwani, Rajesh,...

Case

Mr. Mehta's Dilemma: A Case of Performance Appraisal Politics

Chandwani, Rajesh; Varkkey, Biju

IIMA-PIR0229 | Published June 23, 2015 | 10 pages Case

Collection: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

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Learning Objectives

The case describes the dilemma of Mr Mehta, Regional Head HR of AXZ, a large IT company in India. Mr Mehta had received an appeal from an employee Mr Rajesh Kumar who alleged that he was wrongly appraised by his manager Mr Yogesh Desai. Both Desai and Kumar have presented their perspectives to Mr Mehta. While Mr Mehta understands Mr Desai’s challenges in performance appraisal process, he also is concerned about Rajesh, who is a talented employee with rare skill sets. Apart from the case specific issues related to the two employees, Mr Mehta is also concerned about the problems arising from the current performance appraisal system, especially after AXZ acquired UTVC, which had a very different performance appraisal system. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges associated with bell curve implementation and discrimination in performance appraisal processes in organizations.

The case highlights several dilemmas that occur in the process of performance assessment. The case serves several objectives. First, it illustrates the perspectives of diverse stakeholders about the performance assessment process. Second the case highlights several biases that influence the performance appraisal. Third, the case explicates how the implementation of different HR systems creates tension within the organization. Thus, the case provides an opportunity in the class to discuss a highly debatable topic in HRM, that of managing performance appraisal process. By highlighting that a poorly managed performance appraisal process can lead to issues at multiple levels, the case signifies the role of HR functions in playing a role of a ‘moderator’ or a ‘negotiator’ in case of grievance redressal.