Why has the Lexus model been very successful in the U.S. but has not been marketed in Japan (Suggestion Review the frequenc
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Principles and Practice of Management
Case Studies
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Two of the leading manufacturers of
high end mobile phones, Motorola, Inc. (Motorola) and Research in Motion Ltd.
(RIM), had entered into an agreement in February 2008, whereby the two
companies had agreed not to poach each other's employees. In September 2008,
Motorola sued RIM and claimed for damages accusing the latter of poaching 40 of
its employees in Florida. In December, RIM countersued Motorola accusing the
company of illegally preventing it from hiring employees who had been fired from
Motorola though the original agreement between the two companies had expired in
August 2008. While experts are still divided on whether talent poaching is
ethical, there has been a steep increase in employee poaching lawsuits across
all sectors as employers are concerned with protecting their trade secrets . In
December 2008, Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) sued Motorola Inc. (Motorola) for,
what it called, illegally preventing it from hiring employees that Motorola had
laid off. According to RIM, the two companies had entered into an agreement in
February 2008 on not hiring each other's employees or the newly separated ex employees.
When Motorola announced layoffs in large numbers, RIM, attempted to hire and
gain some engineers at a lower cost. RIM considered that the agreement had
expired in August 2008 and prayed to the Chicago court for damages. RIM
contended that despite the agreement having expired, Motorola had unlawfully
extended the contract and prevented RIM from offering jobs to the fired
Motorola employees.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Give an overview of the case.
Q2.
Discuss talent poaching and give reasons why talent poaching is illegal
CASE STUDY (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 onetime. 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 STUDY (20 Marks)
Safety of aero planes has been a major
issue with airlines. The human life in itself is priceless and any accident
evens a minor one is a setback to the accountability and reputation of the
airline. Apart from this loss, accidents destroy assets worth in crores of
rupees including aircrafts, crew and pilots. The magnitude of an air accident
is large and thus all the airlines have to constantly maintain and improve upon
safety standards. One critical factor in these accidents is human error. The
fact about accidents is that majority of them occur at taking off or landing or
within ten minutes of any start or end of journey. These operations are done by
pilots and administered by the ground control authorities, thus the human
factor becomes important. Considering this, International Airways, a private
airline, has recently taken up the issues at major level. The top management
has decided to compare and study the best available monitoring systems and
adopt the one which is most suitable for their process. The top management
decided that one of the actions taken in this direction will be to provide the
best training to their pilots and crew. It decided to approach one of the best
and most advanced airlines. Eska which is a multinational leader in equipment
and quality to train their employees. The deal was finalized and a team of
twelve senior trainers and pilots came to International Airways. After initial
introductions, twenty pilots and twelve senior crew managers were to start
their training under these foreign trainers. The top management also took keen
interest in their system developed in house and training schedules. Generally
the people at International Airways have been very positive about this
training. The Group Chief training Anil has served many national and
international airlines and is considered an icon in the industry. He had
cultural differences in the company and its counterpart, Eska. He also felt
that the cultural difference is even more apparent in the area of development
and training. The trainers have a task oriented style and very upright about
it. During training, the trainers used the class room teaching and flight
simulators to achieve maximum benefits. The group of trainees for around ten days
was fully captivated by the teaching style and the techniques displayed. The
concept advocated strongly by the trainers were the ones they never encouraged
for in their company. The trainers on the other hand emphasized that the
ultimate aim to the pilot and the crew is to avoid a crisis.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
What is the case all about? Give brief.
Q2. Compare
the cultural aspects of the International Airways with those of their trainers.
Global Car Industry (20 Marks)
How the Lexus Was Born and Continued
Its Success in the United States, but will Lexus Succeed in Japan? One of the
best examples of global competition is in the car industry. As the Japanese
gained market share in America, U.S. car makers required the Japanese to self impose
quotas on cars exported to the United States. This encouraged Japanese firms
not only to establish their plants in the United States but also to build
bigger and more luxurious cars to compete against the higher priced U.S. cars and
the expensive European cars such as the Mercedes and the BMW. One such Japanese
car is the Lexus, by Toyota. This car is aimed at customers who would like to
buy a Mercedes or BMW but cannot afford either. With a sticker price of
$35,000, the Lexus is substantially less expensive than comparable European
imports. In 1983, Toyota set out to develop the best car in the world measured
against the Mercedes and the BMW. The aim was to produce a quiet, comfortable,
and safe car that could travel at 150 miles per hour and still avoid the gas
guzzler tax imposed on cars getting less than 22.5 miles per gallon. This
seemed to be an idea of conflicting goals: cars being fast seemed
irreconcilable with cars being at the same time fuel efficient. To meet these
conflicting goals, each subsystem of the car had to be carefully scrutinized,
improved whenever possible, and integrated with the total design. The first
version of the 32valve V8 engine did not meet the fuel economy requirement. The
engineers applied a problem solving technique called "thoroughgoing
countermeasures at the source." This means an attempt to improve every
component until the design objectives are achieved. Not only the engine but
also the transmission and other parts underwent close scrutiny to make the car
meet U.S. fuel requirements. Toyota's approach to achieving quality is
different from that of German car manufacturers. The latter use relatively
labor intensive production processes. In contrast, Toyota's advanced
manufacturing technology aims at high quality through automation requiring only
a fraction of the work force used by German car makers.Indeed, this strategy,
if successful, may be the secret weapon to gain market share in the luxury car
market.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Prepare a profile of the potential buyer of the Lexus.
Q2.
What should Mercedes and BMW do to counteract the Japanese threat in the United
States and Europe?
Q3.
Why has the Lexus model been very successful in the U.S. but has not been
marketed in Japan? (Suggestion: Review the frequency of repair records of
luxury cars. Also talk to Lexus dealers or Lexus owners).
Q4.
Do you think Lexus will succeed in Japan? Why or why not?
Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224
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