You have just been appointed as Additional Director General of Central Public Works Department. The Chief Architect of your division, who is to retire in six months, in passionately working on a very important project, the successful completion of which would earn him a lasting reputation for the rest of his life. A new lady architect. Seema, trained at Manchester School of Architecture, UK joined as Senior Architect in your division. During the briefing about the project, Seema made some suggestions which would not only add value to the project, but would also reduce completion time. This has made the Chief Architect insecure and he is constantly worried that all the credit will go to her. Subsequently, he adopted a passive and aggressive behaviour towards her and has become disrespectful to her. Seems felt it embarrassing as the Chief Architect left no chance of humiliating her. He would very often correct her in front of other colleagues and raise his voice while speaking to her. This continuous harassment has resulted in her losing confidence and self-esteem. She felt perpetually tensed, anxious and stressed. She appeared to be in awe of him since he has had a long tenure in the office and has vast experience in the area of her work. You are aware of her outstanding academic credentials and careeer in her previous organizations. However, you fear that this harassment may result in compromising her much needed contribution in this important project and may adversely impact her emotional well-being. You have also come to know from her peers that she is contemplating tendering her resignation.(a) What are the ethical issues involved in the above case?(b) What are the option available to you in order to complete the project as well as to retain Seema in the organization?(c) What would be your response to Seema’s predicament? What measures would you institute to prevent such occurrence from happening in your organization?
What the examiner wants
In this Public Works / Tender Ethics Case case (You have just been appointed as Additional Director General of Central Public Works Department. The…), separate facts/constraints from the value conflict and resolve the explicit asks in order: What are the ethical issues involved in the above case; then What are the option available to you in order to complete the project as well as to retain…; then What would be your response to Seema’s predicament? What measures would you institute to…. Defend the preferred option against realistic alternatives.
Demand-wise check
- 1What are the ethical issues involved in the above case?≈65 words
- 2What are the option available to you in order to complete the project as well as to retain Seema in the organization?≈65 words
- 3What would be your response to Seema’s predicament? What measures would you institute to prevent such occurrence from happening in your organization?≈65 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
Where marks usually go
- Over-writing ‘What are the ethical issues involved in the above case’ while reducing ‘What are the option available to you in order to complete the project as well as to…’ to a token paragraph
- Naming values without testing each feasible option for legality, affected stakeholders, consequences, implementation risk and reversibility
Value addition
- Public Works / Tender Ethics Case: stakeholder map beside a 4-column option matrix — option | legality/ethics | consequences | mitigation
→ Draw it in the body, next to the point it supports.
Official source anchors
These are authoritative sources selected for this exact PYQ. Where a card is an official-domain anchor rather than a fact-level citation, verify the precise provision, definition or data point on the linked source before using it.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 14 minutes, then get it checked.