This is a case of poor people management skills and the top management not delegating authority to the team leader down the line, which ultimately leads to conflict between the team members and the team leader, and misunderstanding between the top management and middle-level management in a typical KPO Indian subsidiary. The impact left a deep impression as productivity came down drastically and even a few highly efficient employees planned to leave the organization. The situation got aggravated so much that first one employee was fired and then, finally, the team leader's services were also terminated. This case unfolds a situation which might be faced by many Indian subsidiaries in the BPO/KPO/ITES sector.

A leading American company started its India operations in the first quarter of 2006 for its new process of providing Web-based support to companies across the world. Initially, the company recruited eight people and one team manager. The job profiles were very challenging and the company also recruited people with five+years of experience in the BPO/KPO sector with similar work experience. It offered attractive pay packages to woo the best people. Once the first batch joined the company, it started one month orientation and technical training for the employees. Trainers came from the US and the training program was organized in a star hotel. In the induction level itself the team manager was fired as he was not up to the expectation level of the company. It is quite uncommon that the person selected as the manager be fired in the training period itself. The company wanted to make sure to start Indian subsidiary hassle-free. This did not send a good signal to the other employees.

However, after one month of hectic induction program, all eight employees started working on the new process. It was, indeed,, a great start! All started performing exceptionally well. As the manager was fired in the induction program itself, the director from the US managed the work. It started with one process and slowly new processes also started coming in from the US. Subsequently, it became difficult for the director to manage all the processes from abroad. After few months, the company felt the need for a team manager. This time, it did not recruit from outside, but promoted one of the eight existing emplot with the director. A few of them did not like it as other employees had also been in very good positions in their previous companies with 9-10 years of experience to show. This created some bitterness and misunderstanding among the team myees as a team manager to take care of the processes. Selection was not purely on the basis of performance; rather, it was because of the good rapporembers.

MBA Review Magazine, Managerial Competency, Management Skills, Indian Subsidiary, Assistant Support Group, ASG, Information Technology Enabled Services, ITES, Business Process Outsourcing, BPO, Knowledge Process Outsourcing, KPO.