Shahrul had been with the organization for a fortnight now and was due to meet Razali. He opened the door and walked in.

Razali asked him to be seated and said, ‘So doctor, what is the diagnosis?’

Shahrul had been recently hired as the company counsellor at MJS United Sdn Bhd, as Razali, the CEO, felt that he was fed up with his team of non-performers. He had hand-picked the Band II decision makers from the most prestigious and growing enterprises. Each one came with a proven track record of strategic turnarounds they had managed in their respective roles. So why this inertia at MJS United Sdn Bhd? The salaries and perks were competitive, reasonable autonomy was permitted in decision-making and yet nothing was moving.

There had been two major mergers and the responsibilities had increased somewhat. When Shahrul went to meet Samad Mamat, the bright star who had joined six months back, he was reported absent and seemed to be suffering from hypertension and angina pain. His colleague in the next cabin was not aware that Samad had not come for the past four days. As he was talking to Razali’s secretary, he could hear Kamal Baharu, the HR head, yelling at the top of her voice at a new recruit, who after six weeks of joining had come to ask her about her job role.

The Band III executives had been with the company for a tenure of 5–15 years and yet had not been able to make it to the Band II position (except two lady employees). They were laid back, extremely critical and yet surprisingly were not moving.

Razali also seemed a peculiar guy, he had hired him as the counsellor and was also making some structural changes as suggested by a spiritual expert, to nullify the effect of ‘evil spirits’. He had a history of hiring the best brains, and then trying to fit them into some role in the organization. And in case someone did not fit in, firing him without any remorse. He had changed his nature of business thrice and on the personal front, he was on the verge of his second divorce.

The company had a great infrastructure, attractive compensation packages and yet the place reeked of apathy. It was like a stagnant pool of the best talent. Was it possible to undertakeoperation clean up?

QUESTIONS

1. What is the management decision problem that Shahrul is likely to narrate to Razali?
2. Convert and formulate it into a research problem and state the objectives of your study.Can you suggest a theoretical framework about what you propose to study?
3. Develop the working hypothesis for your study.