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Human Resource Management
(i) There are three Sections A and B and C.
(ii) Attempt any three questions each from Section A and B. All questions carry 10 marks each.
(iii) Section C is compulsory for all and carries 40 marks.
SECTION A
1. Define and differentiate between Job Analysis, Job Description and Job Evaluation. Select an appropriate job evaluation method and create a plan for evaluating jobs of scientists in different grades.
2. Discuss the role of indoctrination in organizations. How can Performance Appraisal, and Training and Development be made an integral part of Human Resource Planning? Discuss.
3. Discuss the scope of Human Resource Audit. While auditing Reward systems for employees in a manufacturing organization, which factors should be taken into account and why? Explain with suitable examples.
4. Define and discuss the need for Human Resource Planning in an organization. Briefly discuss various approaches to HRP
5. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Training methods
(b) Value determinants of HRP
(c) Human Resource accounting
(d) Labour Market Behavior
(e) Promotion and Reward Policies
SECTION B
1. Define and discuss the objectives of Human Resource Planning at organizational level. How does it help in determining and evaluating future organizational capabilities, needs and anticipated problems? Explain with suitable examples.
2. Define and describe Job Analysis. Briefly discuss several methods in which information about a job is collected and evaluated.
3. What is the purpose and process of recruitment function? Discuss various methods of sourcing manpower.
4. How is monetary value assigned to different dimensions of Human Resources costs, investments, and worth of the employees? Briefly explain Cost and Economic value approaches of measurement.
5. Write short notes on any three of the following :
(a) MBO
(b) Succession Planning
(c) Competency Mapping
(d) Job Evaluation
(e) H.R. Inventory
SECTION C
1. Quality control Department
Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end.
Mr. Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali were working in a scooter manufacturing public sector industry as Senior Quality Control Engineers in 1988. One post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller has fallen vacant due to the retirement of the incumbent and the management decided to recruit a qualified, knowledgeable and experienced professional from outside so that the present quality standard may be improved thus ensuring better marketability of their scooters in the face of stiff competition. Mr. Kapil Kumar, who was a mechanical engineer with about 15 years experience in the Quality Control Department dealing with mopeds and scooters, could have been promoted to fill the post on the basis of seniority. However, the management was looking for a graduate in statistics with experience in latest Quality Control (QC) techniques like statistical quality control, quality assurance and other related areas rather than a mechanical or automobile engineer with the routine experience in quality control. As such instead of promoting Kapil Kumar, the management advertised for the post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller - since as per company rules it was DR (Direct Recruitment) vacancy also.
Selection of Outsider
Out of the applications received in response to the advertisement, six candidates were called for interview including the two internal candidates, Mr. Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali. The person selected was an outsider, one Mr. Ratnam, who had over 12 years experience SQC, quality assurance etc., in the two-wheeler private manufacturing industry. Mr. Ratnam joined within 2 months time expecting that in his new position he would be the main controller for quality. However, after joining the organization he came to know that he would be the second senior most person in the hierarchy for controlling the quality and would be reporting to one, Kirpal Sing,. The Chief for Quality Controls. Mr. Kirpal Singh had come up to this post by seniority and was basically a diploma holder in automobile engineering. He had to his credit about 28 years of industrial experience, out of which 20 years were spent in Quality Control Department of two industries. He joined the present organization in its Quality Control Department and had 17 years experience in the organization and was due for retirement within the next 2 or 3 years. On learning about the retirement time of Mr. Kirpal Singh, Mt. Ratnam had the consolation that he would be able to take up the position of 'Chief Controller of Quality' very soon.
Interference from Top
Ratnam could not put forth many good suggestions (for quality control) because of the interference and direct supervision of Kirpal Singh. He, however, could pick up a good deal of knowledge about the working of the company, the nature-and tendency of different production department heads particularly with regard to care for quality, organization for 'QC' in the company, the various components required for assembly of the company's two-wheeler scooter and the expected quality standards, drawback in the present system of quality controls. etc.
Right from the time the advertisement for the selection of Deputy Chief Quality Controller appeared, the O.A. (Officers Association) of the organization had been pressing the management to consider the case of Kapil Kumar for promotion to the above post based on his seniority in the organization.
Meanwhile, the management obtained a license in 1989 for producing Three-Wheeler Autos. As a result of this and the pressure from O.A., Ratnam was transferred to look after the Quality Control Department at the company's new Three-Wheeler plant, whereas Kapil Kumar was promoted as Deputy Chief Quality Controller in the present two-wheeler scooter plant in 1990 (after creating one additional post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller for the new Project).
In 1991, the State Government, which controlled the company in question, changed the Managing Director. During the regime of this new Managing Director, Kapil Kumar was promoted as Chief (Quality Controls) next year, when Kirpal Singh retired. This decision was based on the recommendations of Kirpal Singh and partly attributed to pressure from O.A., for further promotion of Kapil Kumar based on his vast experience in the Quality Control function of this industry. Abbas Ali rose to the position held earlier by Kapil Kumar.
Allotment of Company Quarters
The Company had its own township near the factory. Its quarter allotment scheme was based on the length of service, i.e., date of joining. Ratnam had asked for a suitable quarter at the time of interview and was thus allotted a tile quarter meant for the Senior Engineer's cadre. He learnt about this, after occupying the quarter. Ratnam asked for a change of Quarter - preferably a RCC-roof quarter, - but his request was turned down, since he had put in only few months of service whereas many others senior to him, on the beds of their longer length of service in the Company (having over 10 years service), were staying in tiled-roof quarters and were awaiting a chance for a RCC-roof quarter. Kapil Kumar and Abbas Ali were residing in RCC-roof quarters. Soon after Kapil Kumar's promotion to the post of Chief (Quality Controls), he was allotted a bungalow.
The management's decision in this case must be viewed in the context of the downtrend in the demand for scooters and three-wheeler autos during 1993 following complaints from dealers about the deteriorating quality of components as also their short life. Notably the complaints had risen ten-fold in that year as compared to that in 1988.
Questions
(a) Was the management justified in taking a decision to recruit a qualified and experienced person from outside as Deputy Chief Quality Controller?
(b) Was it in the interest of the organization to transfer Ratnam to the new auto-wheeler plant and promote Kapil Kumar? What could have prompted the management to take this decision?
(c) How do you view the role of O.A.s in supporting only the local and internal candidates and overlooking the interests of direct recruits even when they were family members of the Association, particularly at a time, when the industry needed professionally qualified persons to fill key technical posts?
(d) How would you react to the management's scheme for quarter allotment and why?
2. Pearl Engineering
Pearl Engineering Company was a large heavy-engineering unit. It attached great importance to the recruitment and training of its senior supervisors. Apart from selecting them from within the organization, the company recruited, every. Alternate year, about ten young engineering graduates and offered them training for a period of two years, before they were appointed as senior supervisors. Such appointments were made to about 40 per cent of the vacancies of senior supervisors that occurred in the organization. This was considered necessary by management as a planned programme of imparting vitality to the organization. Besides, many of the old-timers, who had risen from the ranks, did not possess the necessary academic background with the result that they could not keep pace with the technological changes. Management also believed that in the rapidly changing conditions of industry, a bank of technically competent supervisors played a pivotal role, besides serving as a pool from which to select future departmental managers.
Engineering Graduates were selected from amongst those who applied in response to an all-India advertisement. For the selection of one engineer, on an average, eight applicants were called for interview. A selection committee consisting of the General Manager, the Production Manager, the Personnel Manager and the Training Officer interviewed and selected the candidates. The selection interview was preceded by a written test and only those who secured 40 per cent marks qualified for interview.
The engineers thus selected had to undergo a two year intensive theoretical and practical training. A well-staffed and equipped Training Institute was directly responsible for the training of the graduate engineers, besides training trade apprentices and operatives required by the company. Lectures on theoretical subjects were given at the Training Institute and practical training was imparted in all the works departments under the guidance of qualified and experienced instructors. A few lectures by senior officers of the company were also arranged to acquaint them with the company policies on different matters. During the last quarter of their two-year training programme they were deputed to work fulltime to familiarize themselves with the conditions in departments where they were to be absorbed eventually.
On successful completion of training, the graduate engineers were offered appointments, depending on their performance and aptitude as revealed during training. On placement in the work departments, however, most of them faced some difficulty or the other.
According to management, some of the heads of departments, who were themselves not qualified engineers, did not have sufficient confidence in these younger men. They preferred the subordinates who came up from the ranks to hold positions of responsibility. A few discredited them saying that it would take years before these youngsters could pick up the job. Besides, some of the employees, whose promotional opportunities were adversely affected by the placement of graduate engineers, tried their best to run down the latter as a class, sometimes working on the group feelings of the workers. Some of the supervisors who were not graduate engineers also spoke derisively of them as "the blue-eyed boys" of the organization. Management knew that many of the graduate engineers were not utilized according to their capacity or training, nor was any attempt made to test or develop their potentialities. They also knew that many of the graduate engineers were, therefore, dissatisfied with their work life. Some of them who did not get equal promotional opportunities as their colleagues placed in other departments, were looking for better jobs elsewhere.
On the other hand, according to management, the young graduate engineers were themselves partly responsible for the hostile attitude of others in the organization. Some of them failed to appreciate that a newcomer invited hostility in the beginning and it took time before he was accepted as a member of the work-group. They did not realize that they would be fully productive only after gaining about five to seven years experience in the organization. A few thought that they belonged to a superior cadre and threw their weight around. They did not bother to understand and appreciate the problems of the rank-and-file of employees who worked under them.
In spite of these drawback, the General Manager of the company felt that these men were a set of disciplined supervisors. They had a sense of pride in their profession, and with the extensive training they had received, they would be able to take up any responsible position in the organization in course of time.
The General Manager could not allow the situation to continue especially when it was a difficult and costly process to recruit and train young engineering graduates of the requisite type and caliber. He knew that the prosperity of the company, to a large extent, depended on these young men. In addition, a large number of lucrative employment opportunities were available to these young engineers elsewhere and there was a systematic raid on them, He, therefore, called a meeting of all heads of departments to review the situation.
Questions:
(i) Identify the issues related to manpower planning as evident in the case.
(ii) Discuss the strategies to tackle the percentage of internal promotion at the organizational level.
(iii)What type of additional training programmes should be imparted for direct entrants?
(iv) Suppose you are the head of the personnel division. What would be your suggestions in the meeting - Which has been called by the General Manager?
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
N. B.: 1) Attempt any four cases 2) All cases carries equal marks.
No: 1
BPO – BANE OR BOON ?
Several MNCs are increasingly unbundling or vertical disintegrating their activities. Put in simple language, they have begun outsourcing (also called business process outsourcing) activities formerly performed in-house and concentrating their energies on a few functions. Outsourcing involves withdrawing from certain stages/activities and relaying on outside vendors to supply the needed products, support services, or functional activities.
Take Infosys, its 250 engineers develop IT applications for BO/FA (Bank of America). Elsewhere, Infosys staffers process home loans for green point mortgage of Novato, California. At Wipro, five radiologists interpret 30 CT scans a day for Massachusetts General Hospital.
2500 college educated men and women are buzzing at midnight at Wipro Spectramind at Delhi. They are busy processing claims for a major US insurance company and providing help-desk support for a big US Internet service provider-all at a cost upto 60 percent lower than in the US. Seven Wipro Spectramind staff with Ph.Ds in molecular biology sift through scientific research for western pharmaceutical companies.
Another activist in BOP is Evalueserve, headquarterd in Bermuda and having main operations near Delhi. It also has a US subsidiary based in New York and a marketing office in Australia to cover the European market. As Alok Aggarwal (co-founder and chairman) says, his company supplies a range of value-added services to clients that include a dozen Fortune 500 companies and seven global consulting firms, besides market research and venture capital firms. Much of its work involves dealing with CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, CIOs, and other so called C-level executives.
Evaluserve provides services like patent writing, evaluation and assessment of their commercialization potential for law firms and entrepreneurs. Its market research services are aimed at top-rung financial service firms, to which it provides analysis of investment opportunities and business plans. Another major offering is multilingual services. Evalueserve trains and qualifies employees to communicate in Chinese, Spanish, German, Japanese and Italian, among other languages. That skill set has opened market opportunities in Europe and elsewhere, especially with global corporations.
ICICI infotech Services in Edison, New Jersey, is another BOP services provider that is offering marketing software products and diversifying into markets outside the US. The firm has been promoted by $2-billion ICICI Bank, a large financial institution in Mumbai that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In its first year after setting up shop in March 1999, ICICI infotech spent $33 million acquiring two information technology services firms in New Jersy-Object Experts and ivory Consulting – and command Systems in Connecticut. These acquisitions were to help ICICI Infotech hit the ground in the US with a ready book of contracts. But it soon found US companies increasingly outsourcing their requirements to offshore locations, instead of hiring foreign employees to work onsite at their offices. The company found other native modes for growth. It has started marketing its products in banking, insurance and enterprise resource planning among others. It has earmarket $10 million for its next US market offensive, which would go towards R & D and back-end infrastructure support, and creating new versions of its products to comply with US market requirements. It also has a joint venture – Semantik Solutions GmbH in Berlin, Germany with the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, which is based in Berlin and Dortmund, Germany – Fraunhofer is a leading institute in applied research and development with 200 experts in software engineering and evolutionary information.
A relatively late entrant to the US market , ICICI Infotech started out with plain vanilla IT services, including operating call centeres. As the market for traditional IT services started wakening around mid-2000, ICICI Infotech repositioned itself as a “Solutions” firm offering both products and services. Today , it offers bundied packages of products and services in corporate and retail banking and include data center and disaster recovery management and value chain management services.
ICICI Infotech’s expansion into new overseas markets has paid off. Its $50 million revenue for its latest financial year ending March 2003 has the US operations generating some $15 million, while the Middle East and Far East markets brought in another $9 million. It new boasts more than 700 customers in 30 countries, including Dow Jones, Glazo-Smithkline, Panasonic and American Insurance Group.
The outsourcing industry is indeed growing form strength. Though technical support and financial services have dominated India’s outsourcing industry, newer fields are emerging which are expected to boost the industry many times over.
Outsourcing of human resource services or HR BPO is emerging as big opportunity for Indian BPOs with global market in this segment estimated at $40-60 billion per annum. HR BPO comes to about 33 percent of the outsourcing revenue and India has immense potential as more than 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies discuss offshore BOP as a way to cut costs and increase productivity.
Another potential area is ITES/BOP industry. According to A NASSCOM survey, the global ITES/BOP industry was valued at around $773 billion during 2002 and it is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of nine percent during the period 2002 – 06, NASSCOM lists the major indicators of the high growth potential of ITES/BOP industry in India as the following.
During 2003 – 04, The ITES/BPO segment is estimated to have achieved a 54 percent growth in revenues as compared to the previous year. ITES exports accounted for $3.6 billion in revenues, up form $2.5 billion in 2002 – 03. The ITES-BPO segment also proved to be a major opportunity for job seekers, creating employment for around 74,400 additional personnel in India during 2003 – 04. The number of Indians working for this sector jumped to 245,500 by March 2004. By the year 2008, the segment is expected to employ over 1.1 million Indians, according to studies conducted by NASSCOM and McKinsey & Co. Market research shows that in terms of job creation, the ITES-BOP industry is growing at over 50 per cent.
Legal outsourcing sector is another area India can look for. Legal transcription involves conversion of interviews with clients or witnesses by lawyers into documents which can be presented in courts. It is no different from any other transcription work carried out in India. The bottom-line here is again cheap service. There is a strong reason why India can prove to be a big legal outsourcing Industry.
India, like the US, is a common-law jurisdiction rooted in the British legal tradition. Indian legal training is conducted solely in English. Appellate and Supreme Court proceedings in India take place exclusively in English. Due to the time zone differences, night time in the US is daytime in India which means that clients get 24 hour attention, and some projects can be completed overnight. Small and mid – sized business offices can solve staff problems as the outsourced lawyers from India take on the time – consuming labour intensive legal research and writing projects. Large law firms also can solve problems of overstaffing by using the on – call lawyers.
Research firms such as Forrester Research, predict that by 2015 , more than 489,000 US lawyer jobs, nearly eight percent of the field, will shift abroad..
Many more new avenues are opening up for BOP services providers. Patent writing and evaluation services are markets set to boom. Some 200.000 patent applications are written in the western world annually, making for a market size of between $5 billion and $7 billion. Outsourcing patent writing service could significantly lower the cost of each patent application, now anywhere between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece-which would help expand the market.
Offshoring of equity research is another major growth area. Translation services are also becoming a big Indian plus. India produces some 3,000 graduates in German each year, which is more than that in Switzerland.
Though going is good, the Indian BPO services providers cannot afford to be complacent. Phillppines, Maxico and Hungary are emerging as potential offshore locations. Likely competitor is Russia, although the absence of English speaking people there holds the country back. But the dark horse could be South Affrica and even China
BOP is based on sound economic reasons. Outsourcing helps gain cost advantage. If an activity can be performed better or more cheaply by an outside supplier, why not outsource it ? Many PC makers, for example, have shifted from in – house assembly to utilizing contract assemblers to make their PCs. CISCO outsources all productions and assembly of its routers and witching equipment to contract manufactures that operate 37 factories, all linked via the internet.
Secondly, the activity (outsourced) is not crucial to the firm’s ability to gain sustainable competitive advantage and won’t hollow out its core competence, capabilities, or technical know how. Outsourcing of maintenance services, date processing, accounting, and other administrative support activities to companies specializing in these services has become common place. Thirdly, outsourcing reduces the company’s risk exposure to changing technology and / or changing buyer preferences.
Fourthly, BPO streamlines company operations in ways that improve organizational flexibility, cut cycle time, speedup decision making and reduce coordination costs. Finally, outsourcing allows a company to concentrate on its core business and do what it does best. Are Indian companies listening ? If they listen, BPO is a boon to them and not a bane.
Questions:
1. Which of the theories of international trade can help Indian services providers gain competitive edge over their competitors?
2. Pick up some Indian services providers. With the help of Michael Porter’s diamond, analyze their strengths and weaknesses as active players in BPO.
3. Compare this case with the case given at the beginning of this chapter. What similarities and dissimilarities do you notice? Your analysis should be based on the theories explained.
No: 2
PERU
Peru is located on the west coast of South America. It is the third largest nation of the continent (after Brazil and Argentina) , and covers almost 500.000 square miles (about 14 per cent of the size of the United States). The land has enormous contrasts, with a desert (drier than the Sahara), the towering snow – capped Andes mountains, sparkling grass – covered plateaus, and thick rain forests. Peru has approximately 27 million people, of which about 20 per cent live in Lima, the capital. More Indians (one half of the population) live in Peru than in any other country in the western hemisphere. The ancestors of Peru’s Indians were the famous incas, who built a great empire. The rest of the population is mixed and a small percentage is white. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, fishing , mining, and services, GDP is approximately $15 billion and per capita income in recent years has been around $4,3000. In recent years the economy has gained some relative strength and multinationals are now beginning to consider investing in the country.
One of these potential investors is a large New York based bank that is considering a $25 million loan to the owner of a Peruvian fishing fleet. The owner wants to refurbish the fleet and add one more ship.
During the 1970s, the Peruvian government nationalized a number of industries and factories and began running them for the profit of the state in most cases, these state – run ventures became disasters. In the late 1970s the fishing fleet owner was given back his ships and allowed to operate his business as before. Since then, he has managed to remain profitable, but the biggest problem is that his ships are getting old and he needs an influx of capital of make repairs and add new technology. As he explained it to the new York banker. “Fishing is no longer just an art. There is a great deal of technology involved. And to keep costs low and be competitive on the world market, you have to have the latest equipment for both locating as well as catching and then loading and unloading the fish”
Having reviewed the fleet owner’s operation, the large multinational bank believes that the loan is justified. The financial institution is concerned, however, that the Peruvian government might step in during the next couple of years and again take over the business. If this were to happen, it might take an additional decade for the loan to be repaid. If the government were to allow the fleet owner to operate the fleet the way he has over the last decade, the fleet the way he has over the last decade, the loan could be repaid within seven years.
Right now, the bank is deciding on the specific terms of the agreement. Once theses have been worked out, either a loan officer will fly down to Lima and close the deal or the owner will be asked to come to New York for the signing. Whichever approach is used, the bank realizes that final adjustments in the agreement will have to be made on the spot. Therefore, if the bank sends a representative to Lima, the individual will have to have the authority to commit the bank to specific terms. These final matters should be worked out within the next ten days.
Questions:
1. What are some current issues facing Peru? What is the climate for doing business in Peru today?
2. What type of political risks does this fishing company need to evaluate? Identify and describe them.
3. What types of integrative and protective and defensive techniques can the bank use?
4. Would the bank be better off negotiating the loan in New York or in Lima ? Why
MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS
Marks: 80
Note: Attempt any five questions. All questions carry equal marks.
1. Explain the various components of control systems.
2. Explain the following models and highlight their usefulness in formulating business unit strategies:
(a) The BCG Model
(b) General Electric (GE) Planning Model
3. Explain the boundary conditions in the context of profit centre. Also explain the process of performance measurement of profit centers.
4. What do you understand by Investment Centres? Explain the methods used for measuring investment centre performance.
5. What do you mean by budgetary control system? Explain the process of budgetary control in an organization.
6. Describe the criteria on which the incentives of business unit managers are decided.
7. What are the various special control issues faced by Multi National Corporations?
8. What are the characteristics of a project organization? Explain how these characteristics affect the control system design of a project.
Marketing Management
N. B. : 1) Attempt all Four Case studies
2) All questions carry equal marks.
Case study 1
Case Study on Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning
Profiles Group is a leading interior decorator and designer in the country. Mr. Neerav Gupta, one of the partners in the group has invested a good amount of money in the business. The other two partners namely Mr. Pratham Gupta who is a distant cousin of Neerav and Mr. Dev Suri are mainly into managing the firm’s country wide operations. Mr. Stanley Pereira, who is more of a sleeping partner, looks after the administrative and financial aspects of the firm.
Profiles Group has around 44 service centers in the country including state capitals and several developing cities. Since the firm’s inception in 1998, its progress has been unstoppable. The clients include many reputed companies, hotel chains, popular celebrities and even hospitals and commercial banks.
A brief background of the Partners:
Neerav Gupta had a family owned business that was into manufacturing wooden furniture but Neerav‟s interest was more into decorating. So, after completing a Master’s course in interior designing from a reputed college abroad, he decided to start his own interior design services. Meanwhile, the furniture manufacturing business was handed over to Pratham Gupta due to property and family settlement issues. But, Pratham decided to join Neerav and they both started a partnership firm.
Dev Suri, a friend of Neerav who had been living abroad, sold out his real estate business and had decided to settle on the Indian soil itself. He offered help by providing additional capital and his knowledge of real estates did help the firm although in a small way. Stanley Pereira, an experienced teacher and consultant, had worked previously in leading interior designing colleges and was instrumental in making required changes in syllabus structure and interior designing courses. He has also written many books and articles on the topic. He had retired early due to family commitments but landed up in Profiles Group as a Partner through mutual contacts.
The conversation:
All the four partners are comfortably sitting face to face on a peach colored cushioned sofa which is situated near the window corner inside Neerav’s well-structured office.
Pratham Gupta feels that since their firm has invested large funds, they must enter into more market segments especially the smaller ones. And, regarding this issue, a professional conversation takes place among the partners. The talks are as follows:
Pratham: “So, what do you think about expanding our market segments to smaller more ordinary markets?”
Stanley: “What are you exactly trying to say, Pratham? Will you explain it?”
Pratham: “Listen guys, right now, we have 44 centers and competent people to work under us, but when we see our customer base, it looks small and limited. What I mean to say is that we also need to have those individual household customers who are looking for service expertise in this field. Most household customers don’t get the necessary information as to how to go about the interiors or how to decorate their home/offices etc.”
Neerav: “I agree with your points Pratham, but don‟t you think if we have to reach the smaller segments of the market, we need a different approach to cater to their needs. We would have to advertise and communicate to these segments in a customised way. This will increase the promotion budget and our focus on the existing customers may be compromised.” Dev: “I think we need to get a balance here. Pratham‟s points are valid enough and it will make Profiles group more productive. If need be, we may have to take help of a service consultancy in order to penetrate deeper markets.”
Stanley: “Okay... so, even if we allocate these segments, we need to target them in a way where we will know the immediate impact of these segments. We have to position in such manner that we get this customer base to keep moving towards us... however, the problem lies in the demand for our product in these segments!”
Pratham: “What is that problem you are talking about, Stanley?”
Stanley: “I will tell the problem, we know our product... but these individual customer segments will see our product as a one time purchase... Interiors and designing is done by a household customer at one point... very rarely, he will seek for a change or improvement. So, is it acceptable that we cater to their one time need and then let go?”
Neerav: “I do understand that point... But, that’s always the case in our business. Interior decorations and designs are usually considered one-time expenditure by household customers.... and as a matter of fact, that has not affected the way we do our business or on our returns.”
Pratham: “See, even otherwise it should not affect our firm because individual customer segments are willing to pay or spend on interiors. If they need a good, comfortable home along with a neat set of furniture then why don’t we cater to that need, even if it’s a one time demand from a particular customer? This is exactly what I meant earlier when I said, given the expertise we have, why don’t we use it to expand our customer base? Of course, we may have to develop suitable pricing strategies, promotion strategies for these market segments which is according to me, not a big thing to do.”
Dev: “Let’s first consult with our marketing hero and ask their opinion or suggestions as well”
Dev takes out his cell phone to dial Mr. Sunil’s number and he immediately gets the connection. Sunil is the head of the marketing section and he is very efficient in his job. He also has an acceptable humour quotient. Dev asks Sunil to come over to Neerav’s office.
Sunil enters the office:
Sunil: “What’s up, Bosses?”
Dev gives a brief explanation to Sunil about the potential market.
Sunil: “that’s a welcome sign actually... we have the necessary resources and we are available to any customer at any given point... So, I think it‟s a good idea that we update our customer profiles also... Only thing is we have to make sure we are targeting and positioning our customer segment in the way they feel comfortable to approach us...”
Pratham: “Nicely said Sunil... You are our man in this task.... We rely on you to make our markets bigger and customer segments broader...”
Sunil: “Always thinking in the interests of Profiles Group, Mr. Gupta... Not to worry... You tell me the confirmed plans and leave the execution on me...”
Neerav: “Well, what can I say? If we are sure about managing the newer segments which is existing out there, then our work is just to target them and position our product as per the given requirements”
Dev: “There is one important suggestion I would like to present here.... We need to ensure that we properly differentiate our existing customers from the newer ones so that we are not overriding one another or our customers don’t feel compromised at any point.”
Stanley: “That’s a really valuable suggestion, Dev... I completely agree with this point”
Sunil: “Me too... Mr. Suri has stated an absolute theory... But, it’s not that we can’t take the benefits from the two and use it for our purpose... Somewhere, we can link the newer segments with the existing ones and gradually Profiles Group will mean the same to every one. That is however applicable in the long term... For now, we need to attend our customer base on a one-to-one basis... So, we do it slow and steady”
Neerav: “Sunil, I don’t understand, but whenever you speak you visualize the big picture as well... I admire your quality and also that you are very loyal to Profiles Group”
Sunil: “Anytime Mr. Gupta, I am at your service....Just give the command and it will be done”
All of them laugh at that comment and decide to have an official meeting regarding the Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning strategies for the potential market. Within a month, the scheduled meeting is done with the involvement of key people and various points are noted down for implementation.
The marketing team after a brainstorming session also comes up with a collective idea about introducing Re-decorating and re-designing to be offered as a part of Profile’s group’s services. This meant that clients or customers can think about re-designing or re-decorating their homes/offices with the already available possessions and existing furniture. This also meant less cost to the clients. This idea was taken up seriously and plans to implement such services were already underway.
The Progress:
The next six months in the Profiles Group has made everyone busy with different tasks and agendas to be accomplished. Sunil is the busiest person around and he is actively engaged in marketing activities related to the targeting and positioning of their product to the new customer base.
Very soon, the results are noticeable in the Profiles Group. After a considerable amount of planning and hard work, the subsequent months showed positive results as given below:
The markets are segmented based on the income level of the household customers
Their needs, wants and demands are analyzed
These markets are targeted based on their desire, willingness and capabilities to attain the required interiors and furnishings.
Sunil headed a separate section namely Re-designing and Re-decorating Services at the firm’s main office. Sunil was immediately involved in making special centers for Re-designing and re-decorating services in different parts of the country.
Marketing section was taken over by a competent person - Ms. Sneha Agarwal who has over 8 years of experience in interior designing. She was chosen on the recommendation of Stanley Pereira as Sneha had been a merit student previously and Stanley had been her teacher.
Neerav had even managed to get some MNC‟s as the firm’s clients.
Positioning of Profiles Group’s product and services was done in three ways –
For the already existing customer base which include the corporate and business houses, film industry and celebrities and other big units who spend huge amounts on the interior decorations.
For the newer segments also termed as the individual household segments who have limited spending abilities but have a desire for elegant interiors at reasonable rates.
For the collective market – re-design and re-decor services were offered.
The structure of the firm’s web-site was made more user-friendly and included several videos showing how proper layout and interiors increased efficiency, easy movement, allowed more lighting and ventilation and created a feeling of well-being and comfort.
A CD was also launched which included these videos and the necessary information of the Profile’s firm with the contact addresses and numbers. The CD also included interview with certain well-known clients who were highly satisfied with the firm’s services. This established trust and good communication in the market.
Soon enough, the firm launches into environmental friendly interiors and develops „Go Green‟ initiatives that uses more re-cycled and renewable substances.
There was a plan to begin annual contests and games which involved household customer segments to give their ideas or suggestions for a well laid out interiors using eco-friendly materials and “Go-Green‟ initiatives.
The Partners and the interview:
It’s been two years now since Profile’s Group had moved into individual household segments.
All four partners are seated on the sofa inside Neerav‟s office except this time the sofa is of cream shade and a press reporter namely Namitha Goel is sitting on a single sofa across them. Namitha Goel had scheduled this interview and later will be published in the “Living Designs”, a new monthly magazine that deals with interiors. She begins with a direct question to Neerav –
Namitha: “Mr. Neerav Gupta, do you think the reason for the substantial increase in your customer base is due to the Redesign and re-decoration services?
Neerav: “Well, to a considerable extent, I believe it is so. Re-design is not about my taste or your taste. It’s about working with what the client owns and making them happy. Most people are good in re-arranging their stuff but they don’t have time or energy to do it. So, we offer them this assistance.”
Namitha: “How come you got this thought about making these household segments as your customers? I mean, your firm is associated with the influential clientele base and considering that, why did you feel that these household segments would prove to be a lucrative market for you?”
Neerav: “The entire credit for making individual household segments as our customers goes to my business partners here, my workforce and their efforts. Around two and a half years back, we had just got into a conversation in this very same office and Pratham suggested about tapping these markets with our available resources. Let me clarify that we decided to target this segment not for profits but we felt they too would benefit from our expertise in this field.”
Namitha: “According to the market survey, it seems that there is no close competitor for you in this business. So, your firm stands at the top like it’s been from a long time. What do you say in this matter?”
Neerav is about to answer but his cell phone rings and he attends to it quickly.
Neerav: “Excuse me, Ms. Namitha.., I have urgent business call that can’t wait..., Carry on with your questions and my team mates will answer. I have to go now.” He addresses his partners and leaves the office in a hurry.
The interview proceeds and remaining partners contribute their views. The interview takes another 45 minutes and Namitha Goel is satisfied with her work as a press reporter. She leaves the Profile’s Group office with a sense of achievement.
The next month’s issue of “Living Designs” carries the cover story of the Profiles Group with the partners‟ exclusive interview placed in the shaded column of the magazine pages.
Questions: 1 Examine the progress of Profile’s Group as a leading interior designer and decorator.
Questions: 2 What kind of change was observed in the STP strategy of the firm and how was it useful?
Questions: 3 Evaluate the working of Profile’s group with respect to the Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning of markets. Do you have any suggestions for the firm?
Case study 2
Determining the Marketing 4 P’s
Any business organization in order to be successful needs to have a clear picture about the 4 P’s of marketing. This forms the basis on which business functioning takes place. What are these 4 P’s and why are they important? Let’s assume that we are interested to start up a small business enterprise and for that we have the necessary capital, skills and people. And now, since we are in the initial stage of enterprise formation, we need to answer the previous question.
Marketing mix comprises of the four basic elements or components which are termed together as 4 P’s of marketing. They are:
Product: what is it that we have to offer to the market? What can it include? In what ways can it be modified, changed, expanded, diversified etc.? Will our products be accepted in the market? If not, how do we create a market for our products?
Price: at what value should the products be offered in the market? What should be the returns? Will it be worth to the buyers? What variations, differences and strategies can we adopt in order to earn a fair margin and also gain customer satisfaction?
Place: where must be our products available? How soon it’s demanded in the market? How quick we can deliver it to the consumption points? Who do we need to involve in the distribution of our products? How much will they charge for their services?
Promotion: why do we need to promote our products? Will people be aware of our products if we don’t do any promotion? If we need to promote our products, what kind of message we should convey to the market? In what ways and methods we can carry out the promotion?
Unless we know the answers to the above questions, we cannot make our business function. Therefore, after considering the strengths and weakness of our likely enterprise and studying the market opportunities, we decide to manufacture wax crayons.
The main reason behind this decision is –
1. We can come up with an effective 4 P’s either by marketing the crayons ourselves and if not, we can take orders by being the suppliers to our clients.
2. We know that our market mainly comprises of educational institutions, drawing and painting classes/centers, artistes, even big companies use crayons extensively.
3. We realize the potential of wax crayons as we can offer variety in sizes, quality, colors, price ranges, wholesale and retail prices etc. We can even venture into related areas such as wax artic rafts, wax candles, oil colors, paint etc.
4. We can have direct contact with our clients and in the long term we can even engage an agency to market the crayons.
5. We know that promotion strategies can be based on the type of our customer segment and we could easily do it through advertising on Television, newspapers, children’s comics, notebooks, school notice boards, etc. We can even sponsor or conduct drawing competitions, art exhibitions or we can have contractual agreements with the stationery outlets, art schools etc. However, we are still apprehensive about our marketing mix. We are yet to confirm about our marketing mix and until then we are unable to finalize on our decisions or start with the implementation process.
Question 1.How will you determine the marketing mix for our enterprise?
Question 2.Do you have any ideas to make our enterprise successful particularly by enhancing or improving the marketing mix?
Question 3.What do you think will be the challenges in making an effective marketing mix since our enterprise is a new one?
Marketing Management
Max. Marks : 80
Instructions :
(1) Attempt any five questions.
(2) All questions carry equal marks.
Q.1) Define Marketing Management. Discuss its importance and scope in today's
dynamic Competitive Environment.
Q.2) What is 'Product Life Cycle' ? How Marketing Mix Decisions have to
be adjusted at different stages of PLC (Product Life Cycle) ?
Q.3) Explain various pricing strategies a firm can adopt.
Q.4) What is Product Mix ? Explain various Product Mix Strategies with suitable
examples.
Q.5) Discuss various cultural issues involved in International Marketing.
Q.6)
(A) What is Consumer Buying Behaviour ?
(B) Explain various steps involved in Buying Consumer Goods.
Q.7) Write short notes : (Any Two)
(a) Promotion through International Exhibitions and Trade Fares
(b) Use of Internet as a Marketing Tool
(c) Channel Conflicts
Principles and Practice of Management
Communicating in a Crisis
Overview Valley High School, situated in Kodaikanal, was established in 1980 and is owned by a well respected charitable trust. It overlooks a lake and is a modern building equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The total student enrolment is 2000, out of which more than 50% are girls and the rest boys. The students are all from affluent, educated families. The school has established a good reputation for itself, thanks to the consistently good performance of students in the public examinations. The school is headed by a lady Principal and also has a couple of Supervisors and a team of 25 teachers. The teachers have had extensive experience, are well qualified and are known for their commitment to imparting quality education to students. Due to the recent heavy monsoons, the school was faced with the problem of flooding, with water entering the rooms on the ground floor and water seepage on the terrace. Since repair work had to be done, the school had to be closed for a couple of weeks. The work was carried out by reputed contractors, but the building still looks a little run down.
The crisis the school had just reopened after this two week break. The same morning, a fire suddenly broke out on the third floor and spread to other floors, blocking the stairways. There was widespread panic, as the children started jumping off the balconies, injuring themselves in the process. The Principal and staff had a tough time trying to calm down the children and take control of the situation. Fire engines were called and several of them arrived and began their fire fighting operations. In the meanwhile, many parents also arrived and tried to enter the building to speak to the Principal. The phones were ringing continuously. There was total chaos.
Question 1 :- How communication crises arise?
Question 2 :- What Principal should do to calm down the angry parents?
Question 3 :- How school will regain its reputation? What services school should provide in order to maintain its reputation?
Case Study 2
Case Study on The power of Non-Verbal Communication
The Power of Nonverbal Communication Soon after I graduated from engineering college, I accepted a position with the Sundaram Foundry, a medium-sized firm located in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was a good position, since I was the assistant to Mr. Vishwanath, the General Manager and president of this family owned company, although there were many technical problems, the work was extremely interesting and I soon learnt all about the foundry business. The foundry workers were mostly older men and were a closely knit team. Many of them were related and had been in the foundry for several years. Therefore, they felt that they knew the business in and out and that a technical education had no value. In fact, Mr. Vishwanath had mentioned to me even at the time of my joining, that I was the only engineer ever to be employed in the foundry. He also let me know that the foundry workers, although a good group, were very clannish, since they had been working together for several years. Therefore, it would probably take them some time to accept me. I introduced myself to the group of foundry workers, a few days after my joining. As I went around in turn, I felt them eyeing me coldly. As I went down the main aisle of the foundry, I heard them talking to each other in low voices and laughing. I found their behavior to be very childish and felt that it was best to ignore these signs of hostility. I thought that if I ignored them, they would automatically stop these antics. A few weeks after this incident, I happened to visit the enamel shop. As I entered, I noticed a worker cleaning the floor with a hose, from which water flowed at high pressure. I was aware that it was the practice to clean the shop at least once a week. I turned my back on the worker and was busy near a dipping tank, when I suddenly felt the force of a stream of water hitting me. I was almost knocked down by the pressure and slipped on the wet floor. When I turned around, the worker looked away in the other direction, as if he had not noticed this happening. However, I was pretty sure that he had intentionally turned the hose on me.
Question 1 - What message did the foundry workers and the new engineer convey to each other through their non-verbal behavior?
Question 2 - Mr. Vishwanath, the General Manager and President, was not often present at the foundry. What could this non-verbal behavior mean to the workers and the new engineer?
Question 3. How could the engineer, the foundry workers and Mr. Vishwanath be more effective, both verbally and nonverbally?
Question 4. What do you suggest that the engineer should do, after the hosing incident?
Quantitative Techniques
Please attempt any one question out of section A and any 10 questions out of Section B. The section A is for 20 Marks and Section B is for 80 Marks (8 Marks X 10 Questions)
Total Marks - 100
Section A
1. Distinguish between decision making under certainty and decision making under uncertainty. Mention certain methods for solving decision problems under uncertainty. Discuss how these methods can be applied to solve decision problems.
2. Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling. Elucidate the reasons for the use of non-probability sampling in many situations in spite of its theoretical weaknesses.
3. What are models? Discuss the role of models in decision-making. How can you classify models on the basis of behavior characteristics?
4. What are matrices? How are determinants different from matrices? Discuss few applications of matrices in business.
Section B
Write short notes on any ten of the following:
(a) Concept of Maxima and Minima
(b) Types of classification of data
(c) Pascal Distribution
(d) Multi-stage sampling & Multi-phase sampling
(e) Box-Jenkins Models for Time Series
(f) Determinant of a Square Matrix
(g) Primary and Secondary Data
(h) Bernoulli Process
(i) The Student's t Distribution
(j) Use of Auto-correlations in identifying Time Series
(K) Absolute value function
(l) Quantiles
(m) Criteria of pessimism in decision theory
(n) Cluster vs. Stratum
(o) Moving average models
(p) Step function
(q) More than type ogive
(r) Subjectivist's criterion in decision making
(s) Double sampling
(t) Auto regressive models
CONTACT:
DR. PRASANTH MBA PH.D. DME MOBILE / WHATSAPP: +91 9924764558 OR +91 9447965521 EMAIL: prasanththampi1975@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.casestudyandprojectreports.com
Human Resource Management
(i) There are three Sections A and B and C.
(ii) Attempt any three questions each from Section A and B. All questions carry 10 marks each.
(iii) Section C is compulsory for all and carries 40 marks.
SECTION A
1. Define and differentiate between Job Analysis, Job Description and Job Evaluation. Select an appropriate job evaluation method and create a plan for evaluating jobs of scientists in different grades.
2. Discuss the role of indoctrination in organizations. How can Performance Appraisal, and Training and Development be made an integral part of Human Resource Planning? Discuss.
3. Discuss the scope of Human Resource Audit. While auditing Reward systems for employees in a manufacturing organization, which factors should be taken into account and why? Explain with suitable examples.
4. Define and discuss the need for Human Resource Planning in an organization. Briefly discuss various approaches to HRP
5. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Training methods
(b) Value determinants of HRP
(c) Human Resource accounting
(d) Labour Market Behavior
(e) Promotion and Reward Policies
SECTION B
1. Define and discuss the objectives of Human Resource Planning at organizational level. How does it help in determining and evaluating future organizational capabilities, needs and anticipated problems? Explain with suitable examples.
2. Define and describe Job Analysis. Briefly discuss several methods in which information about a job is collected and evaluated.
3. What is the purpose and process of recruitment function? Discuss various methods of sourcing manpower.
4. How is monetary value assigned to different dimensions of Human Resources costs, investments, and worth of the employees? Briefly explain Cost and Economic value approaches of measurement.
5. Write short notes on any three of the following :
(a) MBO
(b) Succession Planning
(c) Competency Mapping
(d) Job Evaluation
(e) H.R. Inventory
SECTION C
1. Quality control Department
Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end.
Mr. Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali were working in a scooter manufacturing public sector industry as Senior Quality Control Engineers in 1988. One post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller has fallen vacant due to the retirement of the incumbent and the management decided to recruit a qualified, knowledgeable and experienced professional from outside so that the present quality standard may be improved thus ensuring better marketability of their scooters in the face of stiff competition. Mr. Kapil Kumar, who was a mechanical engineer with about 15 years experience in the Quality Control Department dealing with mopeds and scooters, could have been promoted to fill the post on the basis of seniority. However, the management was looking for a graduate in statistics with experience in latest Quality Control (QC) techniques like statistical quality control, quality assurance and other related areas rather than a mechanical or automobile engineer with the routine experience in quality control. As such instead of promoting Kapil Kumar, the management advertised for the post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller - since as per company rules it was DR (Direct Recruitment) vacancy also.
Selection of Outsider
Out of the applications received in response to the advertisement, six candidates were called for interview including the two internal candidates, Mr. Kapil Kumar and Mr. Abbas Ali. The person selected was an outsider, one Mr. Ratnam, who had over 12 years experience SQC, quality assurance etc., in the two-wheeler private manufacturing industry. Mr. Ratnam joined within 2 months time expecting that in his new position he would be the main controller for quality. However, after joining the organization he came to know that he would be the second senior most person in the hierarchy for controlling the quality and would be reporting to one, Kirpal Sing,. The Chief for Quality Controls. Mr. Kirpal Singh had come up to this post by seniority and was basically a diploma holder in automobile engineering. He had to his credit about 28 years of industrial experience, out of which 20 years were spent in Quality Control Department of two industries. He joined the present organization in its Quality Control Department and had 17 years experience in the organization and was due for retirement within the next 2 or 3 years. On learning about the retirement time of Mr. Kirpal Singh, Mt. Ratnam had the consolation that he would be able to take up the position of 'Chief Controller of Quality' very soon.
Interference from Top
Ratnam could not put forth many good suggestions (for quality control) because of the interference and direct supervision of Kirpal Singh. He, however, could pick up a good deal of knowledge about the working of the company, the nature-and tendency of different production department heads particularly with regard to care for quality, organization for 'QC' in the company, the various components required for assembly of the company's two-wheeler scooter and the expected quality standards, drawback in the present system of quality controls. etc.
Right from the time the advertisement for the selection of Deputy Chief Quality Controller appeared, the O.A. (Officers Association) of the organization had been pressing the management to consider the case of Kapil Kumar for promotion to the above post based on his seniority in the organization.
Meanwhile, the management obtained a license in 1989 for producing Three-Wheeler Autos. As a result of this and the pressure from O.A., Ratnam was transferred to look after the Quality Control Department at the company's new Three-Wheeler plant, whereas Kapil Kumar was promoted as Deputy Chief Quality Controller in the present two-wheeler scooter plant in 1990 (after creating one additional post of Deputy Chief Quality Controller for the new Project).
In 1991, the State Government, which controlled the company in question, changed the Managing Director. During the regime of this new Managing Director, Kapil Kumar was promoted as Chief (Quality Controls) next year, when Kirpal Singh retired. This decision was based on the recommendations of Kirpal Singh and partly attributed to pressure from O.A., for further promotion of Kapil Kumar based on his vast experience in the Quality Control function of this industry. Abbas Ali rose to the position held earlier by Kapil Kumar.
Allotment of Company Quarters
The Company had its own township near the factory. Its quarter allotment scheme was based on the length of service, i.e., date of joining. Ratnam had asked for a suitable quarter at the time of interview and was thus allotted a tile quarter meant for the Senior Engineer's cadre. He learnt about this, after occupying the quarter. Ratnam asked for a change of Quarter - preferably a RCC-roof quarter, - but his request was turned down, since he had put in only few months of service whereas many others senior to him, on the beds of their longer length of service in the Company (having over 10 years service), were staying in tiled-roof quarters and were awaiting a chance for a RCC-roof quarter. Kapil Kumar and Abbas Ali were residing in RCC-roof quarters. Soon after Kapil Kumar's promotion to the post of Chief (Quality Controls), he was allotted a bungalow.
The management's decision in this case must be viewed in the context of the downtrend in the demand for scooters and three-wheeler autos during 1993 following complaints from dealers about the deteriorating quality of components as also their short life. Notably the complaints had risen ten-fold in that year as compared to that in 1988.
Questions
(a) Was the management justified in taking a decision to recruit a qualified and experienced person from outside as Deputy Chief Quality Controller?
(b) Was it in the interest of the organization to transfer Ratnam to the new auto-wheeler plant and promote Kapil Kumar? What could have prompted the management to take this decision?
(c) How do you view the role of O.A.s in supporting only the local and internal candidates and overlooking the interests of direct recruits even when they were family members of the Association, particularly at a time, when the industry needed professionally qualified persons to fill key technical posts?
(d) How would you react to the management's scheme for quarter allotment and why?
2. Pearl Engineering
Pearl Engineering Company was a large heavy-engineering unit. It attached great importance to the recruitment and training of its senior supervisors. Apart from selecting them from within the organization, the company recruited, every. Alternate year, about ten young engineering graduates and offered them training for a period of two years, before they were appointed as senior supervisors. Such appointments were made to about 40 per cent of the vacancies of senior supervisors that occurred in the organization. This was considered necessary by management as a planned programme of imparting vitality to the organization. Besides, many of the old-timers, who had risen from the ranks, did not possess the necessary academic background with the result that they could not keep pace with the technological changes. Management also believed that in the rapidly changing conditions of industry, a bank of technically competent supervisors played a pivotal role, besides serving as a pool from which to select future departmental managers.
Engineering Graduates were selected from amongst those who applied in response to an all-India advertisement. For the selection of one engineer, on an average, eight applicants were called for interview. A selection committee consisting of the General Manager, the Production Manager, the Personnel Manager and the Training Officer interviewed and selected the candidates. The selection interview was preceded by a written test and only those who secured 40 per cent marks qualified for interview.
The engineers thus selected had to undergo a two year intensive theoretical and practical training. A well-staffed and equipped Training Institute was directly responsible for the training of the graduate engineers, besides training trade apprentices and operatives required by the company. Lectures on theoretical subjects were given at the Training Institute and practical training was imparted in all the works departments under the guidance of qualified and experienced instructors. A few lectures by senior officers of the company were also arranged to acquaint them with the company policies on different matters. During the last quarter of their two-year training programme they were deputed to work fulltime to familiarize themselves with the conditions in departments where they were to be absorbed eventually.
On successful completion of training, the graduate engineers were offered appointments, depending on their performance and aptitude as revealed during training. On placement in the work departments, however, most of them faced some difficulty or the other.
According to management, some of the heads of departments, who were themselves not qualified engineers, did not have sufficient confidence in these younger men. They preferred the subordinates who came up from the ranks to hold positions of responsibility. A few discredited them saying that it would take years before these youngsters could pick up the job. Besides, some of the employees, whose promotional opportunities were adversely affected by the placement of graduate engineers, tried their best to run down the latter as a class, sometimes working on the group feelings of the workers. Some of the supervisors who were not graduate engineers also spoke derisively of them as "the blue-eyed boys" of the organization. Management knew that many of the graduate engineers were not utilized according to their capacity or training, nor was any attempt made to test or develop their potentialities. They also knew that many of the graduate engineers were, therefore, dissatisfied with their work life. Some of them who did not get equal promotional opportunities as their colleagues placed in other departments, were looking for better jobs elsewhere.
On the other hand, according to management, the young graduate engineers were themselves partly responsible for the hostile attitude of others in the organization. Some of them failed to appreciate that a newcomer invited hostility in the beginning and it took time before he was accepted as a member of the work-group. They did not realize that they would be fully productive only after gaining about five to seven years experience in the organization. A few thought that they belonged to a superior cadre and threw their weight around. They did not bother to understand and appreciate the problems of the rank-and-file of employees who worked under them.
In spite of these drawback, the General Manager of the company felt that these men were a set of disciplined supervisors. They had a sense of pride in their profession, and with the extensive training they had received, they would be able to take up any responsible position in the organization in course of time.
The General Manager could not allow the situation to continue especially when it was a difficult and costly process to recruit and train young engineering graduates of the requisite type and caliber. He knew that the prosperity of the company, to a large extent, depended on these young men. In addition, a large number of lucrative employment opportunities were available to these young engineers elsewhere and there was a systematic raid on them, He, therefore, called a meeting of all heads of departments to review the situation.
Questions:
(i) Identify the issues related to manpower planning as evident in the case.
(ii) Discuss the strategies to tackle the percentage of internal promotion at the organizational level.
(iii)What type of additional training programmes should be imparted for direct entrants?
(iv) Suppose you are the head of the personnel division. What would be your suggestions in the meeting - Which has been called by the General Manager?
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
N. B.: 1) Attempt any four cases 2) All cases carries equal marks.
No: 1
BPO – BANE OR BOON ?
Several MNCs are increasingly unbundling or vertical disintegrating their activities. Put in simple language, they have begun outsourcing (also called business process outsourcing) activities formerly performed in-house and concentrating their energies on a few functions. Outsourcing involves withdrawing from certain stages/activities and relaying on outside vendors to supply the needed products, support services, or functional activities.
Take Infosys, its 250 engineers develop IT applications for BO/FA (Bank of America). Elsewhere, Infosys staffers process home loans for green point mortgage of Novato, California. At Wipro, five radiologists interpret 30 CT scans a day for Massachusetts General Hospital.
2500 college educated men and women are buzzing at midnight at Wipro Spectramind at Delhi. They are busy processing claims for a major US insurance company and providing help-desk support for a big US Internet service provider-all at a cost upto 60 percent lower than in the US. Seven Wipro Spectramind staff with Ph.Ds in molecular biology sift through scientific research for western pharmaceutical companies.
Another activist in BOP is Evalueserve, headquarterd in Bermuda and having main operations near Delhi. It also has a US subsidiary based in New York and a marketing office in Australia to cover the European market. As Alok Aggarwal (co-founder and chairman) says, his company supplies a range of value-added services to clients that include a dozen Fortune 500 companies and seven global consulting firms, besides market research and venture capital firms. Much of its work involves dealing with CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, CIOs, and other so called C-level executives.
Evaluserve provides services like patent writing, evaluation and assessment of their commercialization potential for law firms and entrepreneurs. Its market research services are aimed at top-rung financial service firms, to which it provides analysis of investment opportunities and business plans. Another major offering is multilingual services. Evalueserve trains and qualifies employees to communicate in Chinese, Spanish, German, Japanese and Italian, among other languages. That skill set has opened market opportunities in Europe and elsewhere, especially with global corporations.
ICICI infotech Services in Edison, New Jersey, is another BOP services provider that is offering marketing software products and diversifying into markets outside the US. The firm has been promoted by $2-billion ICICI Bank, a large financial institution in Mumbai that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In its first year after setting up shop in March 1999, ICICI infotech spent $33 million acquiring two information technology services firms in New Jersy-Object Experts and ivory Consulting – and command Systems in Connecticut. These acquisitions were to help ICICI Infotech hit the ground in the US with a ready book of contracts. But it soon found US companies increasingly outsourcing their requirements to offshore locations, instead of hiring foreign employees to work onsite at their offices. The company found other native modes for growth. It has started marketing its products in banking, insurance and enterprise resource planning among others. It has earmarket $10 million for its next US market offensive, which would go towards R & D and back-end infrastructure support, and creating new versions of its products to comply with US market requirements. It also has a joint venture – Semantik Solutions GmbH in Berlin, Germany with the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, which is based in Berlin and Dortmund, Germany – Fraunhofer is a leading institute in applied research and development with 200 experts in software engineering and evolutionary information.
A relatively late entrant to the US market , ICICI Infotech started out with plain vanilla IT services, including operating call centeres. As the market for traditional IT services started wakening around mid-2000, ICICI Infotech repositioned itself as a “Solutions” firm offering both products and services. Today , it offers bundied packages of products and services in corporate and retail banking and include data center and disaster recovery management and value chain management services.
ICICI Infotech’s expansion into new overseas markets has paid off. Its $50 million revenue for its latest financial year ending March 2003 has the US operations generating some $15 million, while the Middle East and Far East markets brought in another $9 million. It new boasts more than 700 customers in 30 countries, including Dow Jones, Glazo-Smithkline, Panasonic and American Insurance Group.
The outsourcing industry is indeed growing form strength. Though technical support and financial services have dominated India’s outsourcing industry, newer fields are emerging which are expected to boost the industry many times over.
Outsourcing of human resource services or HR BPO is emerging as big opportunity for Indian BPOs with global market in this segment estimated at $40-60 billion per annum. HR BPO comes to about 33 percent of the outsourcing revenue and India has immense potential as more than 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies discuss offshore BOP as a way to cut costs and increase productivity.
Another potential area is ITES/BOP industry. According to A NASSCOM survey, the global ITES/BOP industry was valued at around $773 billion during 2002 and it is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of nine percent during the period 2002 – 06, NASSCOM lists the major indicators of the high growth potential of ITES/BOP industry in India as the following.
During 2003 – 04, The ITES/BPO segment is estimated to have achieved a 54 percent growth in revenues as compared to the previous year. ITES exports accounted for $3.6 billion in revenues, up form $2.5 billion in 2002 – 03. The ITES-BPO segment also proved to be a major opportunity for job seekers, creating employment for around 74,400 additional personnel in India during 2003 – 04. The number of Indians working for this sector jumped to 245,500 by March 2004. By the year 2008, the segment is expected to employ over 1.1 million Indians, according to studies conducted by NASSCOM and McKinsey & Co. Market research shows that in terms of job creation, the ITES-BOP industry is growing at over 50 per cent.
Legal outsourcing sector is another area India can look for. Legal transcription involves conversion of interviews with clients or witnesses by lawyers into documents which can be presented in courts. It is no different from any other transcription work carried out in India. The bottom-line here is again cheap service. There is a strong reason why India can prove to be a big legal outsourcing Industry.
India, like the US, is a common-law jurisdiction rooted in the British legal tradition. Indian legal training is conducted solely in English. Appellate and Supreme Court proceedings in India take place exclusively in English. Due to the time zone differences, night time in the US is daytime in India which means that clients get 24 hour attention, and some projects can be completed overnight. Small and mid – sized business offices can solve staff problems as the outsourced lawyers from India take on the time – consuming labour intensive legal research and writing projects. Large law firms also can solve problems of overstaffing by using the on – call lawyers.
Research firms such as Forrester Research, predict that by 2015 , more than 489,000 US lawyer jobs, nearly eight percent of the field, will shift abroad..
Many more new avenues are opening up for BOP services providers. Patent writing and evaluation services are markets set to boom. Some 200.000 patent applications are written in the western world annually, making for a market size of between $5 billion and $7 billion. Outsourcing patent writing service could significantly lower the cost of each patent application, now anywhere between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece-which would help expand the market.
Offshoring of equity research is another major growth area. Translation services are also becoming a big Indian plus. India produces some 3,000 graduates in German each year, which is more than that in Switzerland.
Though going is good, the Indian BPO services providers cannot afford to be complacent. Phillppines, Maxico and Hungary are emerging as potential offshore locations. Likely competitor is Russia, although the absence of English speaking people there holds the country back. But the dark horse could be South Affrica and even China
BOP is based on sound economic reasons. Outsourcing helps gain cost advantage. If an activity can be performed better or more cheaply by an outside supplier, why not outsource it ? Many PC makers, for example, have shifted from in – house assembly to utilizing contract assemblers to make their PCs. CISCO outsources all productions and assembly of its routers and witching equipment to contract manufactures that operate 37 factories, all linked via the internet.
Secondly, the activity (outsourced) is not crucial to the firm’s ability to gain sustainable competitive advantage and won’t hollow out its core competence, capabilities, or technical know how. Outsourcing of maintenance services, date processing, accounting, and other administrative support activities to companies specializing in these services has become common place. Thirdly, outsourcing reduces the company’s risk exposure to changing technology and / or changing buyer preferences.
Fourthly, BPO streamlines company operations in ways that improve organizational flexibility, cut cycle time, speedup decision making and reduce coordination costs. Finally, outsourcing allows a company to concentrate on its core business and do what it does best. Are Indian companies listening ? If they listen, BPO is a boon to them and not a bane.
Questions:
1. Which of the theories of international trade can help Indian services providers gain competitive edge over their competitors?
2. Pick up some Indian services providers. With the help of Michael Porter’s diamond, analyze their strengths and weaknesses as active players in BPO.
3. Compare this case with the case given at the beginning of this chapter. What similarities and dissimilarities do you notice? Your analysis should be based on the theories explained.
No: 2
PERU
Peru is located on the west coast of South America. It is the third largest nation of the continent (after Brazil and Argentina) , and covers almost 500.000 square miles (about 14 per cent of the size of the United States). The land has enormous contrasts, with a desert (drier than the Sahara), the towering snow – capped Andes mountains, sparkling grass – covered plateaus, and thick rain forests. Peru has approximately 27 million people, of which about 20 per cent live in Lima, the capital. More Indians (one half of the population) live in Peru than in any other country in the western hemisphere. The ancestors of Peru’s Indians were the famous incas, who built a great empire. The rest of the population is mixed and a small percentage is white. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, fishing , mining, and services, GDP is approximately $15 billion and per capita income in recent years has been around $4,3000. In recent years the economy has gained some relative strength and multinationals are now beginning to consider investing in the country.
One of these potential investors is a large New York based bank that is considering a $25 million loan to the owner of a Peruvian fishing fleet. The owner wants to refurbish the fleet and add one more ship.
During the 1970s, the Peruvian government nationalized a number of industries and factories and began running them for the profit of the state in most cases, these state – run ventures became disasters. In the late 1970s the fishing fleet owner was given back his ships and allowed to operate his business as before. Since then, he has managed to remain profitable, but the biggest problem is that his ships are getting old and he needs an influx of capital of make repairs and add new technology. As he explained it to the new York banker. “Fishing is no longer just an art. There is a great deal of technology involved. And to keep costs low and be competitive on the world market, you have to have the latest equipment for both locating as well as catching and then loading and unloading the fish”
Having reviewed the fleet owner’s operation, the large multinational bank believes that the loan is justified. The financial institution is concerned, however, that the Peruvian government might step in during the next couple of years and again take over the business. If this were to happen, it might take an additional decade for the loan to be repaid. If the government were to allow the fleet owner to operate the fleet the way he has over the last decade, the fleet the way he has over the last decade, the loan could be repaid within seven years.
Right now, the bank is deciding on the specific terms of the agreement. Once theses have been worked out, either a loan officer will fly down to Lima and close the deal or the owner will be asked to come to New York for the signing. Whichever approach is used, the bank realizes that final adjustments in the agreement will have to be made on the spot. Therefore, if the bank sends a representative to Lima, the individual will have to have the authority to commit the bank to specific terms. These final matters should be worked out within the next ten days.
Questions:
1. What are some current issues facing Peru? What is the climate for doing business in Peru today?
2. What type of political risks does this fishing company need to evaluate? Identify and describe them.
3. What types of integrative and protective and defensive techniques can the bank use?
4. Would the bank be better off negotiating the loan in New York or in Lima ? Why
MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS
Marks: 80
Note: Attempt any five questions. All questions carry equal marks.
1. Explain the various components of control systems.
2. Explain the following models and highlight their usefulness in formulating business unit strategies:
(a) The BCG Model
(b) General Electric (GE) Planning Model
3. Explain the boundary conditions in the context of profit centre. Also explain the process of performance measurement of profit centers.
4. What do you understand by Investment Centres? Explain the methods used for measuring investment centre performance.
5. What do you mean by budgetary control system? Explain the process of budgetary control in an organization.
6. Describe the criteria on which the incentives of business unit managers are decided.
7. What are the various special control issues faced by Multi National Corporations?
8. What are the characteristics of a project organization? Explain how these characteristics affect the control system design of a project.
Marketing Management
N. B. : 1) Attempt all Four Case studies
2) All questions carry equal marks.
Case study 1
Case Study on Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning
Profiles Group is a leading interior decorator and designer in the country. Mr. Neerav Gupta, one of the partners in the group has invested a good amount of money in the business. The other two partners namely Mr. Pratham Gupta who is a distant cousin of Neerav and Mr. Dev Suri are mainly into managing the firm’s country wide operations. Mr. Stanley Pereira, who is more of a sleeping partner, looks after the administrative and financial aspects of the firm.
Profiles Group has around 44 service centers in the country including state capitals and several developing cities. Since the firm’s inception in 1998, its progress has been unstoppable. The clients include many reputed companies, hotel chains, popular celebrities and even hospitals and commercial banks.
A brief background of the Partners:
Neerav Gupta had a family owned business that was into manufacturing wooden furniture but Neerav‟s interest was more into decorating. So, after completing a Master’s course in interior designing from a reputed college abroad, he decided to start his own interior design services. Meanwhile, the furniture manufacturing business was handed over to Pratham Gupta due to property and family settlement issues. But, Pratham decided to join Neerav and they both started a partnership firm.
Dev Suri, a friend of Neerav who had been living abroad, sold out his real estate business and had decided to settle on the Indian soil itself. He offered help by providing additional capital and his knowledge of real estates did help the firm although in a small way. Stanley Pereira, an experienced teacher and consultant, had worked previously in leading interior designing colleges and was instrumental in making required changes in syllabus structure and interior designing courses. He has also written many books and articles on the topic. He had retired early due to family commitments but landed up in Profiles Group as a Partner through mutual contacts.
The conversation:
All the four partners are comfortably sitting face to face on a peach colored cushioned sofa which is situated near the window corner inside Neerav’s well-structured office.
Pratham Gupta feels that since their firm has invested large funds, they must enter into more market segments especially the smaller ones. And, regarding this issue, a professional conversation takes place among the partners. The talks are as follows:
Pratham: “So, what do you think about expanding our market segments to smaller more ordinary markets?”
Stanley: “What are you exactly trying to say, Pratham? Will you explain it?”
Pratham: “Listen guys, right now, we have 44 centers and competent people to work under us, but when we see our customer base, it looks small and limited. What I mean to say is that we also need to have those individual household customers who are looking for service expertise in this field. Most household customers don’t get the necessary information as to how to go about the interiors or how to decorate their home/offices etc.”
Neerav: “I agree with your points Pratham, but don‟t you think if we have to reach the smaller segments of the market, we need a different approach to cater to their needs. We would have to advertise and communicate to these segments in a customised way. This will increase the promotion budget and our focus on the existing customers may be compromised.” Dev: “I think we need to get a balance here. Pratham‟s points are valid enough and it will make Profiles group more productive. If need be, we may have to take help of a service consultancy in order to penetrate deeper markets.”
Stanley: “Okay... so, even if we allocate these segments, we need to target them in a way where we will know the immediate impact of these segments. We have to position in such manner that we get this customer base to keep moving towards us... however, the problem lies in the demand for our product in these segments!”
Pratham: “What is that problem you are talking about, Stanley?”
Stanley: “I will tell the problem, we know our product... but these individual customer segments will see our product as a one time purchase... Interiors and designing is done by a household customer at one point... very rarely, he will seek for a change or improvement. So, is it acceptable that we cater to their one time need and then let go?”
Neerav: “I do understand that point... But, that’s always the case in our business. Interior decorations and designs are usually considered one-time expenditure by household customers.... and as a matter of fact, that has not affected the way we do our business or on our returns.”
Pratham: “See, even otherwise it should not affect our firm because individual customer segments are willing to pay or spend on interiors. If they need a good, comfortable home along with a neat set of furniture then why don’t we cater to that need, even if it’s a one time demand from a particular customer? This is exactly what I meant earlier when I said, given the expertise we have, why don’t we use it to expand our customer base? Of course, we may have to develop suitable pricing strategies, promotion strategies for these market segments which is according to me, not a big thing to do.”
Dev: “Let’s first consult with our marketing hero and ask their opinion or suggestions as well”
Dev takes out his cell phone to dial Mr. Sunil’s number and he immediately gets the connection. Sunil is the head of the marketing section and he is very efficient in his job. He also has an acceptable humour quotient. Dev asks Sunil to come over to Neerav’s office.
Sunil enters the office:
Sunil: “What’s up, Bosses?”
Dev gives a brief explanation to Sunil about the potential market.
Sunil: “that’s a welcome sign actually... we have the necessary resources and we are available to any customer at any given point... So, I think it‟s a good idea that we update our customer profiles also... Only thing is we have to make sure we are targeting and positioning our customer segment in the way they feel comfortable to approach us...”
Pratham: “Nicely said Sunil... You are our man in this task.... We rely on you to make our markets bigger and customer segments broader...”
Sunil: “Always thinking in the interests of Profiles Group, Mr. Gupta... Not to worry... You tell me the confirmed plans and leave the execution on me...”
Neerav: “Well, what can I say? If we are sure about managing the newer segments which is existing out there, then our work is just to target them and position our product as per the given requirements”
Dev: “There is one important suggestion I would like to present here.... We need to ensure that we properly differentiate our existing customers from the newer ones so that we are not overriding one another or our customers don’t feel compromised at any point.”
Stanley: “That’s a really valuable suggestion, Dev... I completely agree with this point”
Sunil: “Me too... Mr. Suri has stated an absolute theory... But, it’s not that we can’t take the benefits from the two and use it for our purpose... Somewhere, we can link the newer segments with the existing ones and gradually Profiles Group will mean the same to every one. That is however applicable in the long term... For now, we need to attend our customer base on a one-to-one basis... So, we do it slow and steady”
Neerav: “Sunil, I don’t understand, but whenever you speak you visualize the big picture as well... I admire your quality and also that you are very loyal to Profiles Group”
Sunil: “Anytime Mr. Gupta, I am at your service....Just give the command and it will be done”
All of them laugh at that comment and decide to have an official meeting regarding the Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning strategies for the potential market. Within a month, the scheduled meeting is done with the involvement of key people and various points are noted down for implementation.
The marketing team after a brainstorming session also comes up with a collective idea about introducing Re-decorating and re-designing to be offered as a part of Profile’s group’s services. This meant that clients or customers can think about re-designing or re-decorating their homes/offices with the already available possessions and existing furniture. This also meant less cost to the clients. This idea was taken up seriously and plans to implement such services were already underway.
The Progress:
The next six months in the Profiles Group has made everyone busy with different tasks and agendas to be accomplished. Sunil is the busiest person around and he is actively engaged in marketing activities related to the targeting and positioning of their product to the new customer base.
Very soon, the results are noticeable in the Profiles Group. After a considerable amount of planning and hard work, the subsequent months showed positive results as given below:
The markets are segmented based on the income level of the household customers
Their needs, wants and demands are analyzed
These markets are targeted based on their desire, willingness and capabilities to attain the required interiors and furnishings.
Sunil headed a separate section namely Re-designing and Re-decorating Services at the firm’s main office. Sunil was immediately involved in making special centers for Re-designing and re-decorating services in different parts of the country.
Marketing section was taken over by a competent person - Ms. Sneha Agarwal who has over 8 years of experience in interior designing. She was chosen on the recommendation of Stanley Pereira as Sneha had been a merit student previously and Stanley had been her teacher.
Neerav had even managed to get some MNC‟s as the firm’s clients.
Positioning of Profiles Group’s product and services was done in three ways –
For the already existing customer base which include the corporate and business houses, film industry and celebrities and other big units who spend huge amounts on the interior decorations.
For the newer segments also termed as the individual household segments who have limited spending abilities but have a desire for elegant interiors at reasonable rates.
For the collective market – re-design and re-decor services were offered.
The structure of the firm’s web-site was made more user-friendly and included several videos showing how proper layout and interiors increased efficiency, easy movement, allowed more lighting and ventilation and created a feeling of well-being and comfort.
A CD was also launched which included these videos and the necessary information of the Profile’s firm with the contact addresses and numbers. The CD also included interview with certain well-known clients who were highly satisfied with the firm’s services. This established trust and good communication in the market.
Soon enough, the firm launches into environmental friendly interiors and develops „Go Green‟ initiatives that uses more re-cycled and renewable substances.
There was a plan to begin annual contests and games which involved household customer segments to give their ideas or suggestions for a well laid out interiors using eco-friendly materials and “Go-Green‟ initiatives.
The Partners and the interview:
It’s been two years now since Profile’s Group had moved into individual household segments.
All four partners are seated on the sofa inside Neerav‟s office except this time the sofa is of cream shade and a press reporter namely Namitha Goel is sitting on a single sofa across them. Namitha Goel had scheduled this interview and later will be published in the “Living Designs”, a new monthly magazine that deals with interiors. She begins with a direct question to Neerav –
Namitha: “Mr. Neerav Gupta, do you think the reason for the substantial increase in your customer base is due to the Redesign and re-decoration services?
Neerav: “Well, to a considerable extent, I believe it is so. Re-design is not about my taste or your taste. It’s about working with what the client owns and making them happy. Most people are good in re-arranging their stuff but they don’t have time or energy to do it. So, we offer them this assistance.”
Namitha: “How come you got this thought about making these household segments as your customers? I mean, your firm is associated with the influential clientele base and considering that, why did you feel that these household segments would prove to be a lucrative market for you?”
Neerav: “The entire credit for making individual household segments as our customers goes to my business partners here, my workforce and their efforts. Around two and a half years back, we had just got into a conversation in this very same office and Pratham suggested about tapping these markets with our available resources. Let me clarify that we decided to target this segment not for profits but we felt they too would benefit from our expertise in this field.”
Namitha: “According to the market survey, it seems that there is no close competitor for you in this business. So, your firm stands at the top like it’s been from a long time. What do you say in this matter?”
Neerav is about to answer but his cell phone rings and he attends to it quickly.
Neerav: “Excuse me, Ms. Namitha.., I have urgent business call that can’t wait..., Carry on with your questions and my team mates will answer. I have to go now.” He addresses his partners and leaves the office in a hurry.
The interview proceeds and remaining partners contribute their views. The interview takes another 45 minutes and Namitha Goel is satisfied with her work as a press reporter. She leaves the Profile’s Group office with a sense of achievement.
The next month’s issue of “Living Designs” carries the cover story of the Profiles Group with the partners‟ exclusive interview placed in the shaded column of the magazine pages.
Questions: 1 Examine the progress of Profile’s Group as a leading interior designer and decorator.
Questions: 2 What kind of change was observed in the STP strategy of the firm and how was it useful?
Questions: 3 Evaluate the working of Profile’s group with respect to the Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning of markets. Do you have any suggestions for the firm?
Case study 2
Determining the Marketing 4 P’s
Any business organization in order to be successful needs to have a clear picture about the 4 P’s of marketing. This forms the basis on which business functioning takes place. What are these 4 P’s and why are they important? Let’s assume that we are interested to start up a small business enterprise and for that we have the necessary capital, skills and people. And now, since we are in the initial stage of enterprise formation, we need to answer the previous question.
Marketing mix comprises of the four basic elements or components which are termed together as 4 P’s of marketing. They are:
Product: what is it that we have to offer to the market? What can it include? In what ways can it be modified, changed, expanded, diversified etc.? Will our products be accepted in the market? If not, how do we create a market for our products?
Price: at what value should the products be offered in the market? What should be the returns? Will it be worth to the buyers? What variations, differences and strategies can we adopt in order to earn a fair margin and also gain customer satisfaction?
Place: where must be our products available? How soon it’s demanded in the market? How quick we can deliver it to the consumption points? Who do we need to involve in the distribution of our products? How much will they charge for their services?
Promotion: why do we need to promote our products? Will people be aware of our products if we don’t do any promotion? If we need to promote our products, what kind of message we should convey to the market? In what ways and methods we can carry out the promotion?
Unless we know the answers to the above questions, we cannot make our business function. Therefore, after considering the strengths and weakness of our likely enterprise and studying the market opportunities, we decide to manufacture wax crayons.
The main reason behind this decision is –
1. We can come up with an effective 4 P’s either by marketing the crayons ourselves and if not, we can take orders by being the suppliers to our clients.
2. We know that our market mainly comprises of educational institutions, drawing and painting classes/centers, artistes, even big companies use crayons extensively.
3. We realize the potential of wax crayons as we can offer variety in sizes, quality, colors, price ranges, wholesale and retail prices etc. We can even venture into related areas such as wax artic rafts, wax candles, oil colors, paint etc.
4. We can have direct contact with our clients and in the long term we can even engage an agency to market the crayons.
5. We know that promotion strategies can be based on the type of our customer segment and we could easily do it through advertising on Television, newspapers, children’s comics, notebooks, school notice boards, etc. We can even sponsor or conduct drawing competitions, art exhibitions or we can have contractual agreements with the stationery outlets, art schools etc. However, we are still apprehensive about our marketing mix. We are yet to confirm about our marketing mix and until then we are unable to finalize on our decisions or start with the implementation process.
Question 1.How will you determine the marketing mix for our enterprise?
Question 2.Do you have any ideas to make our enterprise successful particularly by enhancing or improving the marketing mix?
Question 3.What do you think will be the challenges in making an effective marketing mix since our enterprise is a new one?
Marketing Management
Max. Marks : 80
Instructions :
(1) Attempt any five questions.
(2) All questions carry equal marks.
Q.1) Define Marketing Management. Discuss its importance and scope in today's
dynamic Competitive Environment.
Q.2) What is 'Product Life Cycle' ? How Marketing Mix Decisions have to
be adjusted at different stages of PLC (Product Life Cycle) ?
Q.3) Explain various pricing strategies a firm can adopt.
Q.4) What is Product Mix ? Explain various Product Mix Strategies with suitable
examples.
Q.5) Discuss various cultural issues involved in International Marketing.
Q.6)
(A) What is Consumer Buying Behaviour ?
(B) Explain various steps involved in Buying Consumer Goods.
Q.7) Write short notes : (Any Two)
(a) Promotion through International Exhibitions and Trade Fares
(b) Use of Internet as a Marketing Tool
(c) Channel Conflicts
Principles and Practice of Management
Communicating in a Crisis
Overview Valley High School, situated in Kodaikanal, was established in 1980 and is owned by a well respected charitable trust. It overlooks a lake and is a modern building equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The total student enrolment is 2000, out of which more than 50% are girls and the rest boys. The students are all from affluent, educated families. The school has established a good reputation for itself, thanks to the consistently good performance of students in the public examinations. The school is headed by a lady Principal and also has a couple of Supervisors and a team of 25 teachers. The teachers have had extensive experience, are well qualified and are known for their commitment to imparting quality education to students. Due to the recent heavy monsoons, the school was faced with the problem of flooding, with water entering the rooms on the ground floor and water seepage on the terrace. Since repair work had to be done, the school had to be closed for a couple of weeks. The work was carried out by reputed contractors, but the building still looks a little run down.
The crisis the school had just reopened after this two week break. The same morning, a fire suddenly broke out on the third floor and spread to other floors, blocking the stairways. There was widespread panic, as the children started jumping off the balconies, injuring themselves in the process. The Principal and staff had a tough time trying to calm down the children and take control of the situation. Fire engines were called and several of them arrived and began their fire fighting operations. In the meanwhile, many parents also arrived and tried to enter the building to speak to the Principal. The phones were ringing continuously. There was total chaos.
Question 1 :- How communication crises arise?
Question 2 :- What Principal should do to calm down the angry parents?
Question 3 :- How school will regain its reputation? What services school should provide in order to maintain its reputation?
Case Study 2
Case Study on The power of Non-Verbal Communication
The Power of Nonverbal Communication Soon after I graduated from engineering college, I accepted a position with the Sundaram Foundry, a medium-sized firm located in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was a good position, since I was the assistant to Mr. Vishwanath, the General Manager and president of this family owned company, although there were many technical problems, the work was extremely interesting and I soon learnt all about the foundry business. The foundry workers were mostly older men and were a closely knit team. Many of them were related and had been in the foundry for several years. Therefore, they felt that they knew the business in and out and that a technical education had no value. In fact, Mr. Vishwanath had mentioned to me even at the time of my joining, that I was the only engineer ever to be employed in the foundry. He also let me know that the foundry workers, although a good group, were very clannish, since they had been working together for several years. Therefore, it would probably take them some time to accept me. I introduced myself to the group of foundry workers, a few days after my joining. As I went around in turn, I felt them eyeing me coldly. As I went down the main aisle of the foundry, I heard them talking to each other in low voices and laughing. I found their behavior to be very childish and felt that it was best to ignore these signs of hostility. I thought that if I ignored them, they would automatically stop these antics. A few weeks after this incident, I happened to visit the enamel shop. As I entered, I noticed a worker cleaning the floor with a hose, from which water flowed at high pressure. I was aware that it was the practice to clean the shop at least once a week. I turned my back on the worker and was busy near a dipping tank, when I suddenly felt the force of a stream of water hitting me. I was almost knocked down by the pressure and slipped on the wet floor. When I turned around, the worker looked away in the other direction, as if he had not noticed this happening. However, I was pretty sure that he had intentionally turned the hose on me.
Question 1 - What message did the foundry workers and the new engineer convey to each other through their non-verbal behavior?
Question 2 - Mr. Vishwanath, the General Manager and President, was not often present at the foundry. What could this non-verbal behavior mean to the workers and the new engineer?
Question 3. How could the engineer, the foundry workers and Mr. Vishwanath be more effective, both verbally and nonverbally?
Question 4. What do you suggest that the engineer should do, after the hosing incident?
Quantitative Techniques
Please attempt any one question out of section A and any 10 questions out of Section B. The section A is for 20 Marks and Section B is for 80 Marks (8 Marks X 10 Questions)
Total Marks - 100
Section A
1. Distinguish between decision making under certainty and decision making under uncertainty. Mention certain methods for solving decision problems under uncertainty. Discuss how these methods can be applied to solve decision problems.
2. Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling. Elucidate the reasons for the use of non-probability sampling in many situations in spite of its theoretical weaknesses.
3. What are models? Discuss the role of models in decision-making. How can you classify models on the basis of behavior characteristics?
4. What are matrices? How are determinants different from matrices? Discuss few applications of matrices in business.
Section B
Write short notes on any ten of the following:
(a) Concept of Maxima and Minima
(b) Types of classification of data
(c) Pascal Distribution
(d) Multi-stage sampling & Multi-phase sampling
(e) Box-Jenkins Models for Time Series
(f) Determinant of a Square Matrix
(g) Primary and Secondary Data
(h) Bernoulli Process
(i) The Student's t Distribution
(j) Use of Auto-correlations in identifying Time Series
(K) Absolute value function
(l) Quantiles
(m) Criteria of pessimism in decision theory
(n) Cluster vs. Stratum
(o) Moving average models
(p) Step function
(q) More than type ogive
(r) Subjectivist's criterion in decision making
(s) Double sampling
(t) Auto regressive models
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