In a public sector company, the workers are very lazy and do not do their allotted jobs in the stipulated time. The vice-president calls the manager and questions him about the situation. The manger says that the workers are bored with their jobs and their salary is not adequate. He is not willing to take a decision. What should the V.P. do? Who is at fault? Devise a solution.
A software company was entering a new area of MIS. This company had a good reputation in the software areas. The company won a contract for MIS for a pharmaceutical company. The project was scheduled for completion in one year. But after 8 months a large part of the project was incomplete. Not completing the project on schedule will bring loss of face and litigation for the company. What should be the company do?
Mr. A works in a multinational firm where he is Senior Manager (Production). Recently, Ms. B was appointed Vice President of the company, with Mr. A reporting to Ms. B. Due to some problem in the production line, Ms. B requests a late evening meeting with Mr. A. When Mr. A goes for the meeting, Ms. B makes some inappropriate advances on him. Mr. A promptly reports the matter to company HR manager. The HR manager finds it hard to believe Mr. A's story and along with Ms. B, accuses him of inappropriate conduct. The matter has leaked to the press and is causing bad publicity for the company. What should the company do?
A person with software skills gets a job in a hardware firm, on a temporary basis. He is not doing well and is feared to be sacked within one year. His boss gives him letters of recommendation to apply elsewhere. At the end of the year, when is to be thrown out, he files a case against the firm, showing the recommendation letters. How will the company come out of this mess?
Mr. X has a distinguished academic record and excels in sports and other extra-curricular activities since childhood. He joined ABC as salesman. In the company it was noticed he was conceited and his interaction with other people was not exactly cordial. He was indifferent to suggestions from superiors and subordinates. However, he was a star performer as salesmen and always crossed targets, in the time he had spent with the company. The company needs a new regional sales manager to improve the performance of a loss-making region, should they appoint him?
The M.D.'s driver had been with the company for 25 years. He was very good at his job. One day he took the car home after dropping the M.D. late at night. While driving him, he accidentally kills a girl crossing the road. Although it was not his mistake, the court punishes him. The personnel officer in the company recommends dismissal. What should the company do? Retain him or fire him?
A restaurant owner is currently setting up a new restaurant. For the restroom, he has three options: paper towels, roller towels and hot air dryers. Dryers have an initial cost of Rs. 500 each and monthly service charges of Rs. 100. Paper towels cost 5 paisa and the number of paper towels used varies directly with the number of customers. Toweling rolls cost Rs. 5 per roll and will be changed daily. Which option should the owner go for considering this is going to be a posh restaurant?
Mr. A buys a two-storied house which already has two tenants residing in it. The tenants refuse to vacate the premises even after notices and reminders. On court's order, the ground floor is vacated to enable Mr. A to shift to his new house. However, the tenants on upper floor have made life a living hell for Mr. A. The upper floor tenants have secured a stay order in the case. Mr. A's lawyers, in connivance with the tenants, have suggested him to reach for a out-of-court settlement by paying hefty amount to the tenants. Mr. A is unable to pay such a huge amount. What should Mr. A do?
John was the personnel executive of a reputed bank and had been working there for 15 years. During this period he had developed a good rapport with the subordinates. The subordinates commonly sought his help for their personal problems. Frank was a clerk and had been working with the bank for the past 20 years. One day, Frank went to John and confessed to him an event of his past. He said that when he was a teenager, he was caught stealing and had been sentenced to prison for 2 years. But he escaped from the prison, when 6 months were left. This had been a secret since, but he often had nightmares and he asked John to help him. John expelled Frank from the bank and handed him over the police. When the Vice-President came to know about John's actions, he sacked John on the grounds that he had breached the faith of the employee. John wrote a letter to the President explaining that he was not a priest and so cannot be expected to remain confidential. Since Frank was a runaway convict he had done his social duty by handing him over to the police. Moreover, it was company's policy not to employ any ex-convicts. Since all his actions were justified, he should be reinstated. What should the president do?
Illingworth is a engineer in forging division of BAB, an engineering company. He has been working in the organization for the last 6 years and has been consistently rated as one of the most innovative employees of the organization. Illingworth came out with a proposal to import 2 forges from Germany which could save a lot of money and increase productivity of the organization. The management gives an in principle approval. Illingworth goes ahead and orders for the import. At the close of financial year, Mr. Rarely the chairman gets to know that the financial position of the company is not sound and that he has to curtail unnecessary expenditure. Mr. Rarely calls Illingworth and says that the management is not supporting his project which is going to cost the company 4.5 Cr. Illingworth is held responsible for the decision to import the forges. What happens to the project initiated by Illingworth?
Litson, a textile company is relocated from Murray to Fairley due to high labour costs. It Advertises for posts at the new location and gets around 500 applications out which 260 were selected. Three other companies in the same region lose their competent employees to Litson. They accuse Litson of foul practices. One of the three companies which have lost its employees to Litson is a customer of Litson and accounts for 18% of the market share of Litson's products. This company threatens to cancel all its orders to Litson, if he doesn't restrain from poaching people from the company. What should Litson do?
Co. A is the manufacturer of large jet engines in the U.S. with a 40% market share. The major purchasers of jet engines are the commercial airlines. There is one major U.S. competitor and a potential Japanese competitor who will not be able to enter the industry for another 10 years. The. U.S competitor's prices are below Co. A's but it delivers the engines in 3 months while Co. A does it in 2 months. Co. A is going into losses. What should the higher management do?
A South India based food retailer is looking to expand into North India. The retailer has 15% market share in South India, with three major competitors having 10-12% shares each. The rest of industry is fragmented amongst smaller players. Two of the competitors already have operations in North India. Our company has no experience of retailing n North India and a minimal knowledge of the region. Should the company open stores in North India too?
A lady by the name of Lata has been working in an insurance company for the last 5 years, joins a fast moving consumer goods company. She is a very bright prospect and does outstandingly well in her training period of one year and her colleagues during that period also vouch for that fact. After one year of training, she is given charge of a small territory in which she does very well and is again praised by her colleagues and supervisors alike. She is then given charge of a much larger territory after a few months. Her supervisor after a time complains to the senior management that Lata has not been good at her job and is finding it difficult to handle her customers. Even the person in charge of overseeing Lata's training personally, reports that she is not performing well. Lata in turn complains that her job is going on perfectly well and if there are any complaints it's because she is being victimized in the male dominated atmosphere. The matter is then reported to the head office. What should head office do?
M. Soft is a software co. established 6 years ago by PCC (a construction firm). PCC cannot give a very high salary as it would not be consistent with their other business. The ultimate aim of MSoft is to enter the export market but in 6 years they do well in the domestic market. MSoft decides to hire a firm SYSQS to start a training program and to improve their business operations. SYSQS does a good job and MSoft starts to reap the benefits in the form of several prestigious projects. MSoft employs 15 new people. Then in the middle of a crucial project, two senior executives leave for better remuneration. What should the GM of MSoft do?
A fertilizer company, Pizza and Urea, is located near a village, Payamudirsholai on the banks of river Pamba. One day, the villagers find fish dying due to fluid waste from the fertilizer plant. The community makes a representation to the Govt. through their local MLA and fishing being the main source of income for these villagers, Govt. issues an order whereby the fertilizer company is to be closed down and they also have to pay compensation to the villagers, while the fertilizer company's contention is that it is not due to their fault. The company manages to get a stay order on the govt. ruling from the High Court. While, the social activists go to Supreme Court and hope for justice, common villagers suffer due to the death of fish. Suggest a solution to the problem in the case.
Chemco is a subsidiary of an engineering company with a turnover of Rs 75 Crores and a 15% bottomline. It initiated implementation of an enterprise wide integrated software and systems solution and hired the best consultant - Dramco. The scheduled budget was Rs. 2.5 crores and time frame was 2 years. At the end of 2 yrs, a committee was formed to review the implementation part. The MD found that the project was only 40% complete and facing serious cost and time overruns. The top management blames the consultant and the plant level managers and workers for the delay. On the other hand, the consultant blames top management. Identify the problem and discuss the course of action.
A bindaas group of eight Dil Hai University students plan to go on a motorbike expedition to the nearby hill station, Smile, on a three day break. On the way to the hill station, they have to go through a village hamlet. One of the two vehicles, which were cruising ahead of the other two, runs over a village kid and flees from the spot. Meanwhile, elders in the village come to know about the incident and decide to search for the culprits. For the students this is the only route to get back to their home town. The group has four girls whose safety had to be taken care of. If you are the members of this bindaas group, what would you do?
Over the past few years, a retail bank has moved from 10 branches in one state to 100 branches in 8 states. All the branches are operated autonomously and the company as a whole is losing money. Specifically, the branches in four of the backward areas are losing money. But, government regulations state that it must have some branches in backward areas too. In the past, the bank has tried to mandate cost reductions and had formed committees with representatives from each branch, but to no avail. What should the bank do now?
There is a private rail company 'Aage Nahin Jayenge'. Its trains aren't running on time. So, there is lot of criticism in newspapers. The manager appoints a person as in-charge of a 'Punctuality Cell' and gives him all the powers and asks him to deliver the results. The person tries to coordinate everything. Drivers who don't run the train on time are asked to report to the manager. But the drivers and station masters say that it’s not their fault. The tracks are bad and motor engines used are quite old. What is the manager supposed to do?
Gwalior Rooyi is to setting up a textile plant in a Nivunakinapalli, which doesn't have too many skilled workers. When this plant starts recruiting, they end up with people already employed in the (only) 3 other existing industries. They are accused of “buying” out people and threatened with loss of market share due to losing out on present customers.
A major airline with a reservation system is thinking about working with a software developer to add a feature to its system which can track fraud by travel agents. The primary fraud perpetrated by travel agents is backdating of tickets, e.g. issuing 14 day advance purchase ticket 10 days before the actual flight. How should the airline evaluate whether they should add this feature or not?
A student gets admission to a premier engineering college securing a very high rank in the entrance test. However, his performance in the first year is very bad and he fails in two subjects. Simultaneously, a rumor starts floating around in the engineering college that this student cheated in the entrance test to secure very good marks. This loss of repute for the examination procedures is putting pressure on the Principal to quell the issue. However, some students are demanding a high level enquiry, which would lead to a high drop in institute's reputation. What should the Principal of the engineering college do?
New Media is an Internet Service Provider that has had two continuous years of high profits. However, this quarter, the profits have fallen by 50%. What can be the possible causes for this? As a group, work out an action plan to save the company based on the causes of decline in profits.
