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Note: Solve any 4 Cases Study’s
CASE: I Conceptualise and Get Sacked
HSS Ltd. is a leader in high-end textiles having headquarters in Bangalore .
The company records a turnover of Rs 1,000 cr. Plus a year. A year
back, HSS set up a unit at Hassan (250 km away from Bangalore ) to spin home textiles. The firm
hired Maniyam as GM-HR and asked him to operationalise the Hassan unit.
Maniyam has a vision. Being a firm believer
in affirmative actions, he plans to reach out to the rural areas and tap the
potentials of teenaged girls with plus two educational background. Having
completed their 12th standard, these girls are sitting at homes, idling their
time, watching TV serials endlessly and probably dreaming about their
marriages. Junior colleges are located in their respective villages and it is
easy for these girls to get enrolled in them. But degree colleges are not
nearby. The nearest degree college is minimum 10 km and no parents dare send
their daughters on such long distances and that too for obtaining degrees,
which would not guarantee them jobs but could make searching for suitable boys
highly difficult.
These are the girls to whom Maniyam wants to
reach out. How to go about hiring 1500 people from a large number who can be
hired? And Karnataka is a big state with 27 districts. The GM-HR studies the
geography of all the 27 districts and zeroes in on nine of them known for
backwardness and industriousness.
Maniyam then thinks of the principals of
Junior Colleges in all the nine districts as contact persons to identify
potential candidates. This route is sure to ensure desirability and
authenticity of the candidates. The girls are raw hands. Except the little
educational background, they know nothing else. They need to be trained.
Maniyam plans to set up a training centre at Hassan with hostel facilities for
new hires. He even hires Anil, an MBA from UK , to head the training centre.
All is set. It is bright day in October 2006.
MD and the newly hired VP-HR came to Hassan from Bangalore . 50 principals from different parts
of the nine districts also came on invitation from Maniyam and Anil.
Discussions, involving all, go on upto 2 PM. At that time, MD and VP-HR ask
Maniyam to meet them at the guest house to discuss some confidential matter.
In this meeting, Maniyam is told that his
style of functioning does not jell with the culture of HSS. He gets the shock
of life. He responds on expected by submitting his papers.
Back in his room, Maniyam wonders what has
gone wrong. Probably, the VP-HR being the same age as he is, is feeling jealous
and insecure since the MD has all appreciation for the concept and the way
things are happening. Maniyam does not have regrets. On the contrary he is
happy that his concept is being followed though he has been sacked. After all, HSS
has already hired 500 girls. With Rs 3,000 plus a month each, these girls and
their parents now find it easy to find suitable boys.
Question:
1.
What mad
the MD change his mind and go against Maniyam? What role might the VP-HR have
played in the episode?
2.
If you
were Maniyam, what would you do?
CASE: II A Tale of Twists and Turns
Rudely shaken, Vijay came home in the evening. He was not in a mood to
talk to his wife. Bolted inside, he sat in his room, lit a cigarette, and
brooded over his experience with a company he loved most.
Vijay, an M.Com and an ICWA, joined the
finance department of a Bangalore-based electric company (Unit 1), which boasts
of an annual turnover of Rs. 400 crores. He is smart, intelligent, but
conscientious. He introduced several new systems in record-keeping and was
responsible for cost reduction in several areas. Being a loner, Vijay developed
few friends in and outside the organization. He also missed promotions four
times though he richly deserved them.
G.M. Finance saw to it that Vijay was shifted
to Unit 2 where he was posted in purchasing. Though purchasing was not his cup
of tea, Vijay went into it whole hog, streamlined the purchasing function, and
introduced new systems, particularly in vendor development. Being honest himself,
Vijay ensured that nobody else made money through questionable means.
After two years in purchasing, Vijay was
shifted to stores. From finance to purchasing to stores was too much for Vijay
to swallow.
He burst out before the unit head, and unable
to control his anger, Vijay put in his papers too. The unit head was aghast at
this development but did nothing to console Vijay. He forwarded the papers to
the V.P. Finance, Unit 1.
The V.P. Finance called in Vijay, heard him
for a couple of hours, advised him not to lose heart, assured him that his
interests would be taken care of and requested him to resume duties in
purchasing Unit 2. Vijay was also assured that no action would be taken on the
papers he had put in.
Six months passed by. Then came the time to
effect promotions. The list of promotees was announced and to his dismay, Vijay
found that his name was missing. Angered, Vijay met the unit head who coolly
told Vijay that he could collect his dues and pack off to his house for good.
It was great betrayal for Vijay.
Question:
1.
What
should Vijay do?
CASE: III Mechanist’s Indisciplined Behaviour
Dinesh, a machine operator, worked as a mechanist for Ganesh, the
supervisor. Ganesh told Dinesh to pick up some trash that had fallen from
Dinesh’s work area, and Dinesh replied, “I won’t do the janitor’s work.”
Ganesh replied, “when you drop it, you pick
it up”. Dinesh became angry and abusive, calling Ganesh a number of names in a
loud voice and refusing to pick up the trash. All employees in the department
heard Dinesh’s comments.
Ganesh had been trying for two weeks to get
his employees to pick up trash in order to have cleaner workplace and prevent
accidents. He talked to all employees in a weekly departmental meeting and to
each employee individually at least once. He stated that he was following the
instructions of the general manager. The only objection came from Dinesh.
Dinesh has been with the company for five
years, and in this department for six months. Ganesh had spoken to him twice
about excessive alcoholism, but otherwise his record was good. He was known to
have quick temper.
This outburst by Dinesh hurt Ganesh badly,
Ganesh told Dinesh to come to the office and suspended him for one day for
insubordination and abusive language to a supervisor. The decision was within
company policy, and similar behaviours had been punished in other departments.
After Dinesh left Ganesh’s office, Ganesh
phoned the HR manager, reported what he had done, and said that he was sending
a copy of the suspension order for Dinesh’s file.
Question:
1.
How
would you rate Dinesh’s behaviour? What method of appraisal would you use? Why?
2.
Do you
assess any training needs of employees? If yes, what inputs should be embodied
in the training programme?
CASE: IV A Case of Misunderstood Message
Indane Biscuits is located in an industrial area. The biscuit factory
employs labour on a daily basis. The management does not follow statutory
regulations, and are able to get away with violations by keeping the concerned
inspectors in good books.
The factory has a designated room to which
employees are periodically called either to hire or to fire.
On the National Safety Day, the Industries
Association, of which Indane Biscuits is a member, decided to celebrate
collectively at a central place. Each of the member was given a specific task.
The Personnel Manager, Indane Biscuits, desired to consult his supervisors and
to inform everybody through them about the safety day celebrations. He sent a
memo requesting them to be present in the room meant for hiring and firing. As
soon as the supervisors read the memo, they all got panicky thinking that now
it was their turn to get fired. They started having ‘hush-hush’ consultations.
The workers also learnt about it, and since they had a lot of scores to settle
with the management they extended their sympathy and support to the
supervisors. As a consequence, everybody struck work and the factory came to a
grinding halt.
In the meantime, the personnel manager was unaware
of the developments and when he came to know of it he went immediately and
tried to convince the supervisors about the purpose of inviting them and the
reason why that particular room was chosen. To be fair to the Personnel
Manager, he selected the room because no other room was available. But the
supervisors and the workers were in no mood to listen.
The Managing Director, who rushed to the
factory on hearing about the strike, also couldn’t convince the workers.
The matter was referred to the labour
department. The enquiry that followed resulted in all irregularities of the
factory getting exposed and imposition of heavy penalties. The Personnel
Manager was sacked. The factory opened
after prolonged negotiations and settlements.
Question:
1.
In the case
of the Indane Biscuits, bring out the importance of ‘context’ and ‘credibility’
in communication.
2.
List the
direct and indirect causes for the escalation of tension at Indane Biscuits.
3.
If you
were the Personnel Manager what would you do?
CASE: V Rise and Fall
Jagannath (Jaggu to his friends) is an over ambitious young man. For
him ends justify means.
With a diploma in engineering. Jaggu joined,
in 1977, a Bangalore-based company as a Technical Assistant. He got himself
enrolled as a student in a evening college and obtained his degree in
engineering in 1982. Recognising his improved qualification, Jaggu was promoted
as Engineer-Sales in 1984.
Jaggu excelled himself in the new role and
became the blue-eyed boy of the management. Promotions came to him in quick
succession. He was made Manager-Sales in 1986 and Senior Manager-Marketing in
1988.
Jaggu did not forget his academic pursuits.
After being promoted as Engineer-Sales, he joined an MBA (part-time) programme.
After completing MBA, Jaggu became a Ph.D. scholar and obtained his doctoral
degree in 1989.
Functioning as Senior Manager-Marketing,
Jaggu eyed on things beyond his jurisdiction. He started complaining Suresh—the
Section Head and Phahalad the Unit Chief (both production) with Ravi , the EVP (Executive-Vice President). The complaints
included delay in executing orders, poor quality and customer rejections. Most
of the complaints were concocted.
Jaggu started spreading wings. He prevailed
upon Ravi and got sales and quality under his
control, in addition to production. Suresh, an equal in status, was now subordinated
to Jaggu. Success had gone to Jaggu’s head. He had everything going in his
favour—position, power, money and qualification. He divided workers and used
them as pawns. He ignored Prahalad and established direct link with Ravi . Unable to bear the humiliation, Prahalad quit the
company. Jaggu was promoted as General Manager. He became a megalomaniac.
Things had to end at some point. It happened
in Jaggu’s life too. There were complaints against him. He had inducted his
brother-in-law, Ganesh, as an engineer. Ganesh was by nature corrupt. He stole
copper worth Rs.5 lakh and was suspended. Jaggu tried to defend Ganesh but
failed in his effort. Corruption charges were also leveled against Jaggu who
was reported to have made nearly Rs.20 lakh himself.
On the new-year day of 1993, Jaggu was
reverted to his old position—sales. Suresh was promoted and was asked to head
production. Roles got reversed. Suresh became the boss to Jaggu.
Unable to swallow the insult, Jaggu put in
his papers.
From 1977 to 1993, Jaggu’s career graph has a
steep rise and sudden fall. Whether there would be another hump in the curve is
a big question.
Question:
1.
Bring
out the principles of promotion that were employed in promoting Jaggu.
2.
What
would you do if you were (i) Suresh, (ii) Prahalad or (iii) Ravi ?
3.
Bring
out the ethical issues involved in Jaggu’s behaviour.
CASE: VI Chairman and CEO Seeking a Solution and
Finding It
Sitting on 50-plus year old ION Tyres, the Kolkata-based tyres and
tubes manufacturing company with a turnover of more than Rs.1,000 crore, both
A.K. Mathur, and Raman Kumar, the CEO are searching for solutions to problems
which their company started unfolding.
Financial performance of ION Tyres, is poor
as reflected in its falling PBT. Performance gap between the top performer in
tyres and tubes and ION Tyres ranges from 4 per cent to 5 per cent. The company
has aging managerial people and equally old plant and equipment. High cost of
production keeps the company in a disadvantaged position. “Boss is always
right” culture has permeated everywhere. Common thread binding all the
departments is missing. Each department is a stand alone entity.
There are positives nevertheless. ION Tyres
and tubes are famous world-wide for durability, and superior quality. The
company offers a wide range of bias tyres and tubes catering to all users
segments like heavy and light commercial vehicles, motorbikes, scooters, and
autos. The firm has state-of-the-art radial plant. The client list of ION
comprises several big guns in Indian corporate sector. Tata Motors, Hero Honda,
TVS Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, L&T, Eicher, Swaraj Mazda, Maruti Udyog
and Bajaj are the regularly buying ION’s tyres and tubes.
ION seems to have everything going in its
favour. It is the market leader in the Indian market enjoying 19 per cent of
the market share; manufactures 5.6 m tyres per year, has a network of 50
regional offices with over 4,000 dealers and 180 C&F agents.
Suddenly both Chairman and CEO have realised
that there are too many road blocks ahead of them and the journey to be rough
and bumpy.
Realisation dawned on Mathur and Raman Kumar
way back in 2001 when they both attended a two-day seminar on “Enhancing
Organisational Capability through Balanced Scorecard” organised by CII at Kolkotta.
The duo had personal talk with Sanjeev Kumar, the then Chairman of CII. They
are now convinced that Balanced Score card is ideal performance assessment tool
that could be used in ION with greater benefits.
Mathur and Raman Kumar acted fast. They soon organised
a workshop on “Balanced Score” to educate in-house managers about the concept
and the procedural aspects of its implementation. There was initial resistance
to accept the scorecard as the managers felt that they were already burdened
since they were busy implementing other quality improvement initiatives.
Deliberations in the workshop changed them. They are now convinced and
enthusiastic about the positives of the scorecard. They are ready to implement
the system.
A two member task force was constituted
comprising Director—HRD and G.M.—Strategy and Planning. The task force
travelled to all three factories as well as zonal headquarters to unfold the
implementation of scorecard. The scorecard principles were implemented
successfully from November 2002 and completed by March 2003. Figures 1 to 4
show the scorecards adopted by ION Tyres.
|
Financial
|
||||
|
“To succeed financially how should we appear to our shareholder
|
Objectives
|
Measure
|
Target
|
Initiatives
|
|
To achieve turnover of Rs.1850 crs by FY05
|
· Sales turnover
· PBIDT
|
· To achieve turnover of Rs.1850 crs by FY05
· PBIDT of Rs.150 crs (FY05)
· Decrease in conversion cost from Rs.25 to
Rs.21/kg in
|
· Develop acceptable 1000-20 lug tyres
· Increasing number of sales offices from 180
to 220
· 7 day work week to be introduced at
· Improve fuel wastage and ensure lower power
· VP Technology and MD to initiate technology
tie-ups
|
|
Fig. 1
|
Customer
|
||||
|
“To achieve our vision, how should we appear to out customers”
|
Objectives
|
Measure
|
Target
|
Initiatives
|
|
Improvement in customer satisfaction
|
· Customer satisfaction survey (by external
agency)
|
· To improve from 65% to 70%
· Customer engagement at 30%
|
· Claim settlement to be reduced from 8 to 2
days
· Improvement of casing value of used tyres,
atleast by 15%
· Cost per Kilometer of tyre comparable to
competitors
|
|
Fig. 2
Outcomes of scorecard implementation have been very encouraging. PBT
improved and the gap between ION Tyres and the toppers in the industry reduced
by 50 per cent. A transparent and objective performance assessment system came
to be kept in place. With inertia and the ennui being broken, both Mathur and
Kumar felt galvanized and realised that the road ahead of them was no more
bumpy and rough. Thus, solutions to the problems were found.
|
Learning and Growth
|
||||
|
“To achieve our vision, how will we sustain our ability to change an
improve”
|
Objectives
|
Measure
|
Target
|
Initiatives
|
|
Identification of “high-fliers”; Talents to be identified through development
workshops
|
· Job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation
· Competency Assessment
· Potential Appraisals
|
· Career planning for the High-Fliers
(expected to be around 30 managers)
· Successions planning for all key positions
· 5 manday’s training/manager/year
|
· Move people within same functions, in the
first two years and at the year two move them to another function
· Variable pay component in the ration 1:4
for the “high-fliers”
· Non-financial rewards
· Felicitation by company chairman in
presence of family members for recognizing extraordinary contributions
|
|
Fig. 3
|
Internal Business Processes
|
||||
|
“To satisfy our shareholders and customers, what business processes
must we excel at”
|
Objectives
|
Measure
|
Target
|
Initiatives
|
|
Introduction of new products in the commercial tyre segment
Reduction of development time
Quarterly reconciliation of accounts receivables from dealers
Annual increases on-time to employees
|
· Introduction of 3-4 new products per year
in commercial tyre segment
· Reduction of development time from 18
months to 6 months
· Achieve 100% reconciliation
· Annual increases by on time by 1st
July
|
· Introduction of 3-4 new products per year
in commercial tyre segment
· Reduction of development time from 18
months to 6 months
· Achieve 100% reconciliation
· Annual increases by on time by 1st July
|
· Regular quarterly review of performance
· KRA targets to be ready by 1st April
· European certification for tyres
|
|
Fig.4
Question:
1.
Do you
agree with the conclusion drawn at the end of the case that scorecard system
has galvanised ION Tyres? In other words, does scorecard system deserve all the
credit?
2.
Will
quality improvement initiatives clash with scorecard implementation? If yes,
how to avoid the clashes?
