Roopali Deshmukh followed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while setting goals for team members.
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Principles and Practice of Management
Case Studies
Case (20 Marks)
In a shipping department of a company,
there were two supervisory staff namely one foreman of stores and one Senior
Store Keeper. They were assisted by two Assistant store Keepers and 10 workers.
The shipping department was responsible for clearance of all the inward stores
against the various purchases made and dispatches of the stores to all the
demanding units without any delay. It was observed that there was no delay in
unloading the inward trucks bringing the stores but there was always a delay in
loading the trucks going outwards for delivery of stores. It was generally
delayed and loading was being completed during overtime only. This caused loss
to the company due to the payment of overtime allowances to the staff. It also
caused delay in compliance of demands.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Discuss the likely causes of the delay in loading the outbound trucks.
Q2.
What corrective steps you propose to be taken by the Foreman?
Q3.
If you were the in charge of shipping department how will you motivate the
industrial staff to minimize the overtime payment?
Q4.
Give an overview of the case.
Case (20 Marks)
The Marketing manager of AMK
Enterprises, Roopali Deshmukh (Deshmukh) stepped out of the conference hall in
a pensive mood after an important meeting called by the CEO. The meeting was
attended by the heads of various departments in the company and was convened to
discuss the targets for the coming assessment year. Deshmukh had a formidable
sales target to achieve and wondered how she would be able to meet those
seemingly impossible goals. This fear was further aggravated by the fact that
the productivity levels of employees in the company had been falling. Deshmukh
was under tremendous pressure from the management to improve the performance of
her team. She also had to deal with the decreasing levels of employees’ morale
in her 24member team. As a first step, Deshmukh informed her team members about
a meeting that she planned to hold the next day. She then drafted a plan of
action that she intended to discuss with her team. The next day, Deshmukh began
the meeting by informing her team members about the corporate meeting she had
attended. She then said, “We have a difficult task ahead for this year, and
your participation and involvement is essential to achieve the goals”. She then
invited suggestions from her team members regarding the role to be played by
each of them. The meeting then progressed on to setting of individual targets
for by each team member as, it was felt that this would help in accomplishing
the organizational goals. Specific goals were, therefore, set and agreed upon by
all the team members. The team aimed to increase the organizational profits by
18% over the next six months. They sketched out a plan of action to achieve the
targets set for the team and decided that they would meet once every two months
to monitor their progress. Two months later, the team met again and received
their progress. Deshmukh also gave a feedback on the performance of every
member of the team. The team then collectively identified the areas of
improvement and decided upon the measures they would take to overcome their
deficiencies. This continued for the rest of the year. The final review meeting
was held just before the yearly corporate meeting attended by the top
management. The team was surprised to see that they had achieved their targets.
Thus, effective planning and control mechanisms helped the team achieve their
short term goals, and this in turn, helped in the achievement of the
organizational objectives. Besides, the employees were also motivated as the
management gave adequate recognition to their involvement and participation in
achieving team goals. The target to be achieved by the team was highly challenging.
This further motivated the team members as they had better opportunities to
prove their problems solving skills. Thus, the outstanding performance of the
sales team helped the organization achieve in the long term.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Roopali Deshmukh followed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while
setting goals for team members. Discuss the various phases of the MBO process
that helped her team achieve its goals.
Q2.
Explain briefly the process of MBO and the various advantages of implementing
MBO in organizations
Case (20 Marks)
In August 2008, WalMart Stores
announced that its profit rose 17 percent in the second quarter and that it is
raising its full year forecast. In a challenging economy, the world’s largest
retailer benefited from low prices and its moves to cut costs. WalMart’s President
and Chief Executive Lee Scott said that, "While inflation and higher fuel
costs are pressuring suppliers, retailers and customers worldwide, we’re
confident that WalMart is well positioned for this economy.” Chief Financial
Officer Tom Schoewe attributed the better second quarter profits to tighter
inventory controls, which led to fewer markdowns on merchandise. One of
WalMart’s goals – which it successfully met – was keeping inventory growth at
half the rate of its sales growth which it successfully met. In contrast, sales
at department stores and specialty retailers were lagging behind. What is the
key to such good results? WalMart overhauled its strategy. Instead of
announcing any price increases to cope with the tough economy, the company
slashed its expansion plans. It refocused on lower prices, improved the mix of
merchandise offered, cleaned up its stores and provided friendlier and faster
customer service. But there is more to WalMart’s success over the years than
just tighter inventory controls and lower prices. WalMart is truly a great
company. A strong organizational culture is the foundation for making a good
company a great one. The secret to WalMart’s success has long been attributed
to its strong culture. Analysts like Jim Collins believe that WalMart had the
kind of ‘cultlike’ culture that is shared by all great companies. WalMart employees
are referred to as ‘Walmartians’ which is a sign of a unique culture shared by
them. This culture is responsible for a company of this magnitude to be able to
sustain its entrepreneurial spirit decade after decade. Since its early days,
WalMart achieved remarkable growth rates and was the first trillion dollar
company in the world. In 1999, WalMart became the largest private employer in
the US with 1,140,000 Associates. But with amazing success also came criticism.
WalMart was sued many times and even held the record for being sued the maximum
at one time. Its practices and culture were held responsible for killing small
local retailers. It was also criticized for gender based discrimination, its
overtime policies and using sweatshop products.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
What does the reference of WalMart employees as ‘Wlalmartians’ indicate?
Q2.
Discuss why WalMart was criticized and often sued.
Q3.
Give the reasons for great success of WalMart, the retailer company.
Q4.
Debate the importance of organizational culture in making the company great.
Case (20 Marks)
The case highlights the leadership
development initiatives at Infosys Technologies (Infosys), one of the most
reputed information technology (IT) companies in India. Infosys Leadership
Institute (ILI) established in 2001 was fully dedicated to this initiative and every
year over 100 potential leaders were groomed. There was a systematic selection
process to shortlist candidates for the three year leadership development
program at ILI. The interventions and leadership development program was based
on the 'ninepillar' model and formulated incorporating the best practices in
leadership development followed by successful global companies. According to a
study in 2002, it was estimated that by 2006 most global organizations would
lose 40% of their top executives. The case also discusses the leadership
development initiatives undertaken by many global and Indian companies. On 20
August 2006, NR Narayana Murthy, the Cofounder of Infosys, who turned 60, the
retirement age at Infosys, stepped down from the post of Chairman. How
successful would the leadership development initiatives at Infosys be in
grooming future leaders who could fit into the shoes of its founders?
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Give an overview of the case.
Q2.
Discuss the leadership development initiatives taken by Infosys and its long
term Consequences.
Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
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