Question

Caselet (Questions 97-100): Om Chowdhury was one of the supervisors in the Fire and Safety (F&S) department of Maqsood Textile Mills. He was a distant cousin of Mr. Bhiwani, the General Manager (Personnel & Administration), and the Personnel and Administration department handled all personnel-related decisions. It was often rumored that Om had gotten the job because of his cousin's influence. Om, however, was careful in his work and never gave anyone a reason to complain. He was known to be a quiet man who kept to himself and his duties.

All F&S supervisors reported to Mr. Rabindra, the shop-floor manager. The mill ran on a three-shift basis, and Rabindra allotted supervisors to the different shifts. Supervisors had to stay present through the whole shift and run scheduled checks on the machinery and firefighting equipment. For some reason, Rabindra kept assigning Om to the night shift more often than the other supervisors. Om never objected to this, while the other supervisors often pleaded with Rabindra to be given day shifts instead. Staying awake and alert through the night shift was one of the hardest parts of the job.

After a while, Rabindra noticed that Om seemed indifferent to his work. Twice he found Om missing from his cabin, and others told him Om had been seen wandering different parts of the shop floor. Rabindra called Om in and reminded him of his responsibilities. Om did not argue and promised not to be careless again. Rabindra also raised the matter with Mr. Bhiwani, who called Om in for a personal talk and reminded him that their family tie made the situation awkward for everyone. Om agreed to improve, and soon he became a model supervisor, even going out of his way to help employees with their problems.

Three months later, Rabindra visited the plant at night and, looking into the F&S office, found Om playing solitaire on the office computer. Rabindra fired Om on the spot.

The next morning, Mr. Bhiwani called Rabindra and asked how he could fire an employee like that, and suggested he reconsider the dismissal. Rabindra replied, "This decision has already been made. There will be no turning back."

Question: The options below give combinations of a possible root cause of the problem and its justification. Given the details in the case, which one can be inferred to be the best option?

• A. Hiring of Om. Reason: That ensured Om was perpetually casual towards his duties.
• B. Om favouring to work during the night shift. Reason: Absence of Rabindra ensured that Om could relax.
• C. Rabindra's bias against Om. Reason: Rabindra had been assigning too many night shifts to Om while being lenient with other supervisors.
• D. Rabindra jumping to conclusions. Reason: He should have investigated whether Om had carried out his duties.

Hint:

Look for the option where the "reason" genuinely explains the "root cause," not just a fact from the story.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We have to find the true root cause of the firing episode, along with a reason that actually justifies calling it the root cause, not just a fact about the case.

Step 2: Key Approach:
A good root cause must explain the actual trigger of the decision (firing Om) and hold up as a fair inference from the facts given, not just repeat a detail from the story.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Om had been a model supervisor for three months before the incident, going out of his way to help employees, so a single sighting of him playing solitaire during a night shift is thin evidence of habitual carelessness. Rabindra fired him on the spot without asking whether the scheduled machinery and firefighting checks had actually been completed that night. That is the real problem: Rabindra jumped to a conclusion from one snapshot instead of first checking whether Om's duties were done. Option A blames the hiring itself, but Om's record shows he was careful, not "perpetually casual," so hiring is not the root cause. Option B assumes Om was deliberately relaxing because Rabindra was away, which the case never supports. Option C blames Rabindra's bias in shift allocation, but that explains the shift pattern, not why Om was fired on this specific night. Option E treats the clash with Bhiwani as the root cause, but that clash is a consequence of the firing, not its cause.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Rabindra fired Om by jumping to a conclusion instead of first checking whether Om had actually done his duties that night.
\[ \boxed{\text{D. Rabindra jumping to conclusions}} \]