Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
www.mbacasestudyanswers.com
ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224
Principles
and Practice of Management
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
The ancient skills
Training Company was started by Abu Ibrahim as a major house dealing in silken
upholstery and carpets. He sold most of the products directly through the
retail chains and also through his own boutiques in metro cities. Two years
ago, he entered into a partnership with an old friend, running a direct
marketing company to form Ancient skills Pvt Ltd, a small order business. His partner
had good exposure to this line and they used one of his old factories at Delhi
as head office cum warehouse. The business took off reasonably well but it was
slower than what Ibrahim had expected. It also required considerable capital to
set up the stocks, computer systems for enquires and follow ups, etc. Recently
Ibrahim received an offer from his old agent, a buying house in Mumbai for
large quantity of hand woven rugs. The transportation costs were very high and
also their profit was dependent on how well the agent sold the rugs. The risk
was that if the rugs didn’t sell in high volume, the margin would be very low
and also disposing off these unsold rugs would be difficult. They would need to
either sell these through their own store in Mumbai or include these in mail
order category. Both will require large advertising expenses, thus reducing the
profit margin. Still the offer was big enough to give a second thought with 50%
chances making a good deal.
Answer the following
question.
Q1. Should Ibrahim
accept the offer? Give reason for your choice of answer.
Q2. If the rugs failed
to succeed in this sale deal, what options should Ibrahim exercise for selling
the unsold rugs?
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
You are the head of a
large department and several supervisors report to you. Recently you were
confronted with a knotty problem. It seems that one of the supervisors had
gotten into a loud and disagreeable argument with an employee. You called the
supervisor to your office to hear his story. The supervisor admitted losing his
temper and shouting at the employee, but he believed it was justified. He had
been observing the employee over the year the man had been with the company.
During this period the employee had been frequently late, and his absentee rate
was above average. In addition, the supervisor went on to say that the employee
was a socializer on the job, frequently leaving his work to talk to other
employees and to use the telephone for personal calls. The supervisor then said
that the proverbial last straw caused his outburst. The employee had come in
late, and after about an hour of work he made a telephone call which the
supervisor had timed as lasting 14 minutes. The supervisor then started his
tirade. The employee denied being on the telephone that long, the supervisor
called him a liar, and they continued the vituperative exchange which ended
when you called the supervisor to your office. After listening to the
supervisor, you asked him if he had disciplined the employee before, since
apparently he had a poor record. You also asked if the employee had been placed
on probation or had been warned. The supervisor looked at you sheepishly and
seemed reluctant to answer. You pressed him, for an answer, and he finally blurted
out that he was afraid to discipline the employee because he was black. He
stated that the impression he had from you and higher management was that black
employees should be given special treatment so that they would feel welcome and
not discriminated against. He felt the company wanted to impress the public
with its forward looking employment practices and didn’t want any trouble with
the black community. As a result, he was lax in discipline and had kept a hands
off approach with all black employees until his outburst. He said he couldn’t
stand it anymore, and the 14mintue telephone call caused him to lose his
temper.
Answer the following
question.
Q1. Why would a
supervisor find it difficult to communicate with a black employee?
Q2. Could the company
have done anything to offset the misunderstanding the supervisor apparently had
about the treatment of black employees?
Q3. To what extent did
the supervisor’s lack of communication encourage the employee to think his
behavior was satisfactory? Explain.
Q4. What would you now
tell the supervisor?
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Mary Roberts had been
with the company three years when she was promoted to manager of the tax
department which was part of the controller’s division. Roberts started with
the company when she graduated from college as an accounting major. She entered
the organization as a management trainee, and during the one year program she
demonstrated considerable leadership ability as an informal leader her peers.
Mary also impressed many senior managers in the company with her sense of
responsibility and her willingness to work hard. All of her training assignments
were completed on time with considerable skill for an inexperienced person.
Since she was very interested in tax accounting, Roberts was assigned to the
tax department to be developed further as staff
accountant. Within four
months she became a supervisor of ten staff as staff accountants to fill a
vacancy created by an unexpected early retirement. Her superior believed her to
be the most qualified individual to fill the position even though others in the
department had more experience in tax accounting. None, however, demonstrated
leadership ability or the commitment to work that Mary possessed. The tax
department manager was promoted to fill a vacancy in the financial planning
department eight months later, and he recommended to the controller that Mary
Roberts be promoted to fill the position he was leaving. He mentioned that her
work was excellent and that she was a very effective supervisor. The tax
department had 45 employees including 3 supervisors, 10 clerical employees, and
3 typists. Several people in the department were senior personnel with 10 to 30
years of experience in tax work. Some of these were more technically
knowledgeable in taxation than Mary. There was some resentment in this group
that so young a person was made a department head, and three of these people
were particularly upset because they desired the promotion and felt they
deserved it. What made them even more upset was the fact that the tax manager
did not discuss the promotion with them.
Answer the following
question.
Q1. What can Mary
Roberts do about the resentful senior employees?
Q2. Can higher
management do anything to help Roberts make the transitions to greater
responsibility? Explain.
Q3. Will her lack of
technical knowledge hinder Mary’s managerial effectiveness? Justify.
Q4. Should Mary’s
superior have discussed the promotion with the senior employees before
announcing it? Explain
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
After surviving from an
attack on her life from Taliban, Malala intensified her efforts to fight for the
Children’s rights and girls’ education. In her endeavor to achieve the
objectives, she had been awarded the Nobel peace prize award for the year 2014.
This case therefore focuses on the life and work of Malala and provides a
discussion point on the management concepts of motivation and leadership. On
December 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai (Malala) became the youngest person and the
first Pakistani to receive the Nobel Peace Award. She received the award along
with Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi . Speaking at the event,
Malala described herself as a committed and stubborn person aiming to look at a
world where every child would have access to quality education, every woman
would have equal rights, and where there would be peace in every corner of the
world. She also spoke about the passion young girls had for education in her region.
She said in a simple yet strong message: “We had a thirst for education,
because our future was right there in that class room, we would sit and learn and
read together.” Malala had a lot of dedication and motivation towards education
and believed it was a boon to all human beings, especially children.
Answer the following
question.
Q1. Explain the
leadership qualities in Malala.
Q2. Discuss the life and
work of Malala.
Q3. Explain the
motivation behind Malala’s activities.
Q4. Discuss the reasons
for awarding the Nobel peace prize to Malala.
Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224
No comments:
Post a Comment