BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ISMS BBA ONGOING EXAM ANSWER SHEETS PROVIDED WHATSAPP 91 9924764558
CONTACT:
DR. PRASANTH MBA PH.D. DME MOBILE / WHATSAPP: +91 9924764558 OR +91 9447965521 EMAIL: prasanththampi1975@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.casestudyandprojectreports.com
Bachelors Program in Business Management (BBA) Year-III
Specialization: - Business Administration
Note :-
(i) Attempt any four Cases
(ii) All Cases carry equal marks.
Case 1 :-
“ Left or Right?”
Rajinder Kumar was a production worker at Competent Motors Limited (CML), which made components and accessories for the automotive industry. He had worked at CML for almost seven years as a welder, along with fifteen other men in the plant. All had received training in welding, both on the job and through company-sponsored external programmes. They had friendly relations and got along very well with one another. They played volleyball in the playground regularly before retiring to the quarters allotted by the company. They ate together in the company canteen, cutting jokes on each other and making fun of anyone who dared to peep into their privacy during lunch hour. Most of the fellows had been there for quite some time, except for two men who had joined the ranks only two months back.
Rajinder was generally considered to be the leader of the group, so it was no surprise that when the foreman of the department was transferred and his vacancy was announced, Rajinder applied for the job and got it.
There were only four other applicants for the job, two from mechanical section and two from outside. When there was a formal announcement of the appointment on a Friday afternoon, everyone in the group congratulated Rajinder. They literally carried him snacks and celebrated the event enthusiastically.
On Monday morning, Rajinder joined duty as Foreman. It was company practice for all foremen to wear blue jacket and a white shirt. Each man’s coat had his name badge sewn onto the left side pocket. The company had given two pairs to Raijnder. He was proud to wear the coat to work on Monday.
People who saw him from a distance went upto him and admired the new blue coat. There was a lot of kidding around calling Rajinder as ‘Hero’, ‘Raja Babu’ and ‘Officer’ etc. One of the guys went back to his locker and returned with a long brush and acted as though he were removing dust particles on the new coat. After about five minutes of horseplay, all of the men went back to work.
Rajinder went back to his office to get more familiar with his new job and environment there.
At noon, all the men broke for lunch and went to the canteen to eat and enjoy fun as usual. Rajinder was busy when they left but followed after them a few minutes, later. He bought the food coupon, took the snacks and tea and turned to face the open canteen. Back in the left side corner of the room was his old work group; on the right hand side of the canteen sat all the other foremen in the plant all observed in their blue coats.
At that point of time, silence descended on the canteen. Suddenly both groups looked at Rajinder anxiously, waiting to see which group he would eat with.
QUESTIONS:
1. Whom do you think Rajinder will eat with? Why?
2. If you were one of the other foremen, what could you do to make Rajinder’s transition easier?
3. What would you have done if you were in Rajinder’s shoes? Why?
Case 2 :-
“Naughty Rule”
Dr. Reddy Instruments is a medium-sized the Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The company is basically involved with manufacturing surgical instruments and supplies for medical professionals and hospitals.
About a year ago, Madhuri, aged 23, niece of the firm’s founder, Dr. Raja Reddy, was hired to replace Ranga Rao quality control inspector, who had reached the age of retirement. Madhuri had recently graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering where she had majored in Industrial Engineering.
Balraj Gupta, aged 52, is the production manager of the prosthesis dept., where artificial devices designed to replace missing parts of the human body are manufactured. Gupta has worked for Dr. Reddy Instruments for 20 years, having previously been a production line supervisor and, prior to that, a worker on the production line. Gupta, being the eldest in his family, has taken up the job quite early in life and completed his education mostly through correspondence courses.
From their first meeting, it looked as though Gupta and Madhuri could not get along together. There seemed to be an underlying animosity between them, but it was never too clear what the problem was.
Venkat Kumar, age 44, is the plant manager of Dr. Reddy instruments. He has occasionally observed disagreements between Madhuri and Gupta on the production line, Absenteeism has risen in Gupta’s department since Madhuri was hired as quality control inspector. Venkat secretly decided to issue a circular calling for a meeting of all supervisory personnel in the production and twelve quality control departments. The circular was worked thus:
Attention: All Supervisors Production Quality Control Departments
A meeting is schedule on Monday, Feb 20, at 10 a.m. in room 18. The purpose is to sort out misunderstanding and differences that seem to exist between production and QC personnel.
Sd. Venkat Kumar
Plant Manager
Venkat starred the meeting by explaining why he had called it and then asked Gupta for his opinion of the problem. The conversation took the following shape:
Gupta: That Delhi girl you recruited is a ‘fault finding machine’ in our dept. Until she was hired, we hardly even stopped production. And when we did, it was only because of a mechanical defect. But Madhuri has been stopping everything even if ‘one’ defective part comes down the line.
Madhuri: That’s not true. You have fabricated the story well.
Gupta: Venkat, our quality has not undergone any change in recent times. It’s still the same, consistently good quality it was before she came but all she wants to do is to trouble us.
Madhuri: May I clarify my position at this stage? Mr. Gupta, you have never relished my presence in the company. I still remember some of the derisive remarks you used to make behind my back. I did take note of them quite clearly!
Suresh (another quality control supervisor): I agree with Madhuri Venkat. I think that everyone knows that the rules permit quality control to stop production if rejections exceed three an hour. This is all Madhuri has been doing.
Gupta: Now listen to me. Madhuri starts counting the hour from the moment she gets the first reject. Ranga Rao never really worried about absolute reject rule when he was here. She wants to paint my department in black. Is not that true Riaz Ahmed?
Ahmed (another production supervisor): It sure is Gupta. Every time Maduri stops production, she is virtually putting the company on fire. The production losses would affect our bonuses as well. How long can we allow this ‘nuisance’ to continue?
Thirty minutes later Madhuri and Gupta were still lashing out at each other. Venkat decided that ending the meeting might be appropriate under the circumstances. He promised to clarify the issue, after discussion with management, sometime next weel.
QUESTIONS:
1. Should Venkat have called a meeting to sort out this problem? Why or Why not?
2. What do you say about the rule calling for production to halt if there are more than three rejects in an hour? Should it have been enforced? Explain.
3. What do you feel is the major problem in this case? The solution?
Case 3 :-
ABC LIMITED
M/s. ABC Ltd. is a medium – sized engineering company production a large-range of product lines according to customer requirements. It has earned a good reputation as a quick and reliable supplier to its customers because off which its volume of business kept on increasing. However, over the past one year, the managing director of the company has been receiving customer complaints due to delays in dispatch of products and at times, the company has to pay substantial penalty for not meeting the schedule in time.
The managing director convened an urgent meeting of various functional managers to discuss the issue. The Marketing Manager questioned the arbitrary manner of giving priority to products in manufacturing line, causing delays in products that are in great demand and over-stocking of products which are not required immediately. Production control manager complained that he does not have adequate staff to plan and control the production function; and whatever little planning he does, is generally overlooked by shop floor manager. Shop floor manager complained of unrealistic planning, excessive machine breakdowns, power failure, shortage of materials for schedule. Maintenance manager, say that he does not get important spares required for equipment maintenance because of which he cannot repair machines at a faster rate. Inventory control manager says that on the one hand the company often access him of carrying too much stock and on the other hand people are grumbling over shortages.
Fed up by mutual mud-slinging, the managing director decided to appoint you, a bright management consultant with training in business management to suggest way and means to put his “house in order”.
QUESTIONS:
1. How would you examine if there is any merit in the remarks of various functional managers?
2. What, in your opinion, could be the reasons for different managerial thoughts in this case?
3. How would you design a system of getting correct information about job status to identify delays quickly?
4. List some scientific decision aids that you may prescribe to improve the situation.
Case 4 :-
In Search of Greener Pastures
Rohit joined ABC Ltd., a heavy engineering unit, having a turnover of about Rs. 20 crores, in the junior management cadre as a direct recruit. During his tenure with the company, Rohit proved to be a dedicated and sincere worker which earned him quick promotions in the organization. He had made a mark in whichever department he had worked and his departmental heads were happy with his work. After serving the company for a period of ten years, Rohit felt that there was no scope for further improvement in his position and started applying for better jobs commensurate with his experience. He finally succeeded in getting a job but his new employer wanted him to join within one month. To this, Rohit pleaded inability, as he was required to give three month’s notice to his present employer, as per company rules. However, he said he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try to reduce the period to one month by paying two month’s salary in lieu of the required notice. Rohit accordingly, submitted his resignation to the present employer and requested the departmental head to recommend his case to the personnel manager for relieving him after one month. The departmental head, said that he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try his best to help him. However, the latter turned down Rohit’s request stating that the rules require him to give three month’s notice and that the alternative suggested by Rohit was not acceptable.
When Rohit learnt about the personnel manager’s response, he approached his prospective employer to explain his difficulty, which was beyond his control, and requested them to extend his joining period to three months. This was acceptable by them, as a special case.
The departmental head took up Rohit’s case with the management and suggested that in future, the officers who resigned may be permitted to give one month’s notice and two month’s salary in lieu of a further two month’s notice, if required, so as to ensure against any unnecessary delay in the work of the department. But, the management refused to accept this proposal, stating clearly that the company’s policy cannot be changed.
QUESTIONS:
1. Did the management take a correct decision in Rohit’s case under the circumstances?
2. What steps should the departmental head take to do not adopt an indifferent attitude towards their work during the three month’s notice period?
3. If you were in the position of the management, how would you have handled the situation?
Case 5 :-
Ramesh Publishing Company
Mr. Ramesh was the founder of a publishing company specializing in accounting books. Within a short span of time, the company prospered and grew very fast. Its sales rose from Rs 60,000 the first year to Rs 6lakhs three years later. The editing, production and sales staff grew almost as fast.
But the company was having problems, and of late uncertainly and confused grew in the company. New people were making decisions to the best of their ability but many of them did not fit together. One of Mr. Ramesh’s key associates suggested that the company ought to have better planning and certainly needed clear policies to guide decisions making, but Mr. Ramesh was unimpressed. His response was that if he took time off to plan and develop policies today, he might not have a company tomorrow, and that he had no choice but to spend his time meeting today’s problems as they came up.
QUESTIONS:
1. If you were one of the newer managers in the company and had taken a course in the basics of management, what would you say to Mr. Ramesh?
2. Outline exactly how would you show him that planning and policy making are important to the company if it has to grow effectively.
Case 6 :-
THE Marquee Garment Retailer
I knew we were right, Neil Simon thought himself as the steward brought him a glass of Cardhu single malt. The Whisky felt good after week when he was allowed to drink nothing but champagne by his hosts in India. Ah, but then they had reason to celebrate. Simon signaled to the steward that he’d like a refill - he planned to take his time over the second one – and thought about the week that had been.
Simon, the director-in-charge of international franchise operations at Smith & Robin, a $8-billion marquee garment retailer, had arrived in India exactly seven days back, with mixed feelings. He’d been at S&R Less the eight months-he had been hired when the company decided to abandon its twenty-year old strategy of expanding geographically through owned outlets as against franchised ones-but he knew the India trip was one of those things that could make or break his career.
This wasn’t his first visit to India. He’d visited it as a backpacker in his second year at collage, then as a middle-level executive of a cola company, and then again, soon after he joined S&R. It was during the last visit that he noticed the kind of brand equity the company enjoyed in India. S&R was a know name and there was huge demand for its offerings. The grey market did a thriving business in both real S&R products, smuggled into the country, and ersatz ones. So, he had gone back and made case for India.
“Let us go in now and seed the market and leverage our equity there “He’d told the board. Convincing the board hadn’t made his job any easier. Then, there were tales of poor infrastructure, horror stories about how foreign investors were treated, and wholly inappropriate real estate options. Worse, some members of the board weren’t fully convinced about the ‘franchise strategy’, S&R had moved to. “I see that we are shutting three of our profitable shops in London, “one of the board members Barbara Rutherford had shifted. Fortunately for Simon, the chairperson lucy Walters had to come to his rescue. “we decide that franchising was the best way to grow last year Barbara; this meeting isn’t about that.
Finally, a compromise had been reached. S&R would enter the country through one or two pilot outlets’. To Simon went the task of finding a suitable franchise. That had been easy. The Kathuria family that ran S&R Malaysia franchise had business interests in India, and it hadn’t taken Simon much to convince them to take on the India franchise.
The two Kathuria-owned franchise store had opened in upmarket malls, Delhi and Mumbai, the previous week and Simon had winged it down to be there at the opening. The Mumbai outlet 7,000 square feet large; the Delhi one, 3,000 square feet. And both sold a range of garments for men and women, lingeries, and toiletries-all imported , and all under the S&R brand name, in keeping with the company’s policy of only selling the best quality products sourced at the least possible cost at all its outlets.
The tariff regime in India made some prices look Ludicrous-a women’s shirt cost over Rs2, 500; men’s jeans, Rs3,200-and made S&R, which was perceived to be a high-end value-for-money brand into a premium one with aspirational trimmings. Indeed, the only other stores that stocked merchandise of compatable prices were boutiques devoted to designer wear.
S&R’S Long–term Prospects
Best-case Scenario Worst-case Scenario
• Indian customers continue treating S&R as
an aspirational brand.
• The company is able to sustain its premium pricing in India.
• S&R repeats the Delhi-and Mumbai-model in other metros.
• The scalability across centers makes S&R’s local franchise profitable. • The novelty factors surrounding S&R’s launch wears off.
• Customers start asking questions about the super-premium positioning.
• Sales plateau in the Delhi and Mumbai stores.
• The franchise shows no interest in expanding a loss-making operation.
The India –strategy’s detractors at HQ had raised objections over the size of the Delhi outlet (“S&R isn’t associated with cramped buying spaces”) and the price-tags (“Indians aren’t dumb, you know). But Simon managed to steer clear of the flak. The fact that leading consulting firms estimated India’s organized retail business to zoom from Rs 5,500 crore in 2000, to Rs 35,000 crore in 2005, helped his cause.
Then, he had landed in India; the Kathurias had welcomed him like he was royality; he had been allowed to drink nothing but champagne (“Here’s to the stop reopening”; “ Here’s to our first sale”, “Here’s to our first individual sale over Rs 100,000”….); and things had gone like a dream.
The launches had coincided with India’s equivalent of the Christmas season-the festival of lights, they called it, Diwali. The two stores’ initial stock had been sold out in three days flat. And the fact that some of the products still carried their dollar prices-an oversight by the stores and a full 40 per cent lower than their prices in Indian rupees, thanks to the duties- hadn’t deterred shoppers. True, there appeared to be more demand for lingerie and cosmetics, but the other products had takers too.
Simon was surprised by the reaction. He knew that he would have to wait a few months to understand the real demand for S&R products in India. Only once the initial novelty had worn off, would the company have better idea of what Indian customers bought, and what they did not. He was also aware that while the mere fact S&R products were available in the country could have encouraged customers to overlook the 40 percent mark-up (thanks to import duties), they’d soon move to the ‘value’ buying behaviour Indians were famous for.
Simon had raised these issues at his last meeting with the Kathurias, but they were still celebrating the phenomenal success of their opening gambit and their only response had been to ply Simon with, what else, more champagne. Still, he had to admit, it had been a good beginning.
Simon signaled the steward for another refill. What the heck.. he’d earned it.
QUESTION:
1. Has Smith & Robin (S&R) chosen the right entry strategy for the Indian market?
2. “S&R has taken a risk in entering a market that is large, but offers little flexibility in terms of price and business environment” Discuss.
3. What kind of advance planning and strategic thinking should go into S&R’s corporate planning efforts so that the Indian consumer gets ‘value for money’?
CONTACT:
DR. PRASANTH MBA PH.D. DME MOBILE / WHATSAPP: +91 9924764558 OR +91 9447965521 EMAIL: prasanththampi1975@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.casestudyandprojectreports.com
Bachelors Program in Business Management (BBA) Year-III
Specialization: - Business Administration
Note :-
(i) Attempt any four Cases
(ii) All Cases carry equal marks.
Case 1 :-
“ Left or Right?”
Rajinder Kumar was a production worker at Competent Motors Limited (CML), which made components and accessories for the automotive industry. He had worked at CML for almost seven years as a welder, along with fifteen other men in the plant. All had received training in welding, both on the job and through company-sponsored external programmes. They had friendly relations and got along very well with one another. They played volleyball in the playground regularly before retiring to the quarters allotted by the company. They ate together in the company canteen, cutting jokes on each other and making fun of anyone who dared to peep into their privacy during lunch hour. Most of the fellows had been there for quite some time, except for two men who had joined the ranks only two months back.
Rajinder was generally considered to be the leader of the group, so it was no surprise that when the foreman of the department was transferred and his vacancy was announced, Rajinder applied for the job and got it.
There were only four other applicants for the job, two from mechanical section and two from outside. When there was a formal announcement of the appointment on a Friday afternoon, everyone in the group congratulated Rajinder. They literally carried him snacks and celebrated the event enthusiastically.
On Monday morning, Rajinder joined duty as Foreman. It was company practice for all foremen to wear blue jacket and a white shirt. Each man’s coat had his name badge sewn onto the left side pocket. The company had given two pairs to Raijnder. He was proud to wear the coat to work on Monday.
People who saw him from a distance went upto him and admired the new blue coat. There was a lot of kidding around calling Rajinder as ‘Hero’, ‘Raja Babu’ and ‘Officer’ etc. One of the guys went back to his locker and returned with a long brush and acted as though he were removing dust particles on the new coat. After about five minutes of horseplay, all of the men went back to work.
Rajinder went back to his office to get more familiar with his new job and environment there.
At noon, all the men broke for lunch and went to the canteen to eat and enjoy fun as usual. Rajinder was busy when they left but followed after them a few minutes, later. He bought the food coupon, took the snacks and tea and turned to face the open canteen. Back in the left side corner of the room was his old work group; on the right hand side of the canteen sat all the other foremen in the plant all observed in their blue coats.
At that point of time, silence descended on the canteen. Suddenly both groups looked at Rajinder anxiously, waiting to see which group he would eat with.
QUESTIONS:
1. Whom do you think Rajinder will eat with? Why?
2. If you were one of the other foremen, what could you do to make Rajinder’s transition easier?
3. What would you have done if you were in Rajinder’s shoes? Why?
Case 2 :-
“Naughty Rule”
Dr. Reddy Instruments is a medium-sized the Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The company is basically involved with manufacturing surgical instruments and supplies for medical professionals and hospitals.
About a year ago, Madhuri, aged 23, niece of the firm’s founder, Dr. Raja Reddy, was hired to replace Ranga Rao quality control inspector, who had reached the age of retirement. Madhuri had recently graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering where she had majored in Industrial Engineering.
Balraj Gupta, aged 52, is the production manager of the prosthesis dept., where artificial devices designed to replace missing parts of the human body are manufactured. Gupta has worked for Dr. Reddy Instruments for 20 years, having previously been a production line supervisor and, prior to that, a worker on the production line. Gupta, being the eldest in his family, has taken up the job quite early in life and completed his education mostly through correspondence courses.
From their first meeting, it looked as though Gupta and Madhuri could not get along together. There seemed to be an underlying animosity between them, but it was never too clear what the problem was.
Venkat Kumar, age 44, is the plant manager of Dr. Reddy instruments. He has occasionally observed disagreements between Madhuri and Gupta on the production line, Absenteeism has risen in Gupta’s department since Madhuri was hired as quality control inspector. Venkat secretly decided to issue a circular calling for a meeting of all supervisory personnel in the production and twelve quality control departments. The circular was worked thus:
Attention: All Supervisors Production Quality Control Departments
A meeting is schedule on Monday, Feb 20, at 10 a.m. in room 18. The purpose is to sort out misunderstanding and differences that seem to exist between production and QC personnel.
Sd. Venkat Kumar
Plant Manager
Venkat starred the meeting by explaining why he had called it and then asked Gupta for his opinion of the problem. The conversation took the following shape:
Gupta: That Delhi girl you recruited is a ‘fault finding machine’ in our dept. Until she was hired, we hardly even stopped production. And when we did, it was only because of a mechanical defect. But Madhuri has been stopping everything even if ‘one’ defective part comes down the line.
Madhuri: That’s not true. You have fabricated the story well.
Gupta: Venkat, our quality has not undergone any change in recent times. It’s still the same, consistently good quality it was before she came but all she wants to do is to trouble us.
Madhuri: May I clarify my position at this stage? Mr. Gupta, you have never relished my presence in the company. I still remember some of the derisive remarks you used to make behind my back. I did take note of them quite clearly!
Suresh (another quality control supervisor): I agree with Madhuri Venkat. I think that everyone knows that the rules permit quality control to stop production if rejections exceed three an hour. This is all Madhuri has been doing.
Gupta: Now listen to me. Madhuri starts counting the hour from the moment she gets the first reject. Ranga Rao never really worried about absolute reject rule when he was here. She wants to paint my department in black. Is not that true Riaz Ahmed?
Ahmed (another production supervisor): It sure is Gupta. Every time Maduri stops production, she is virtually putting the company on fire. The production losses would affect our bonuses as well. How long can we allow this ‘nuisance’ to continue?
Thirty minutes later Madhuri and Gupta were still lashing out at each other. Venkat decided that ending the meeting might be appropriate under the circumstances. He promised to clarify the issue, after discussion with management, sometime next weel.
QUESTIONS:
1. Should Venkat have called a meeting to sort out this problem? Why or Why not?
2. What do you say about the rule calling for production to halt if there are more than three rejects in an hour? Should it have been enforced? Explain.
3. What do you feel is the major problem in this case? The solution?
Case 3 :-
ABC LIMITED
M/s. ABC Ltd. is a medium – sized engineering company production a large-range of product lines according to customer requirements. It has earned a good reputation as a quick and reliable supplier to its customers because off which its volume of business kept on increasing. However, over the past one year, the managing director of the company has been receiving customer complaints due to delays in dispatch of products and at times, the company has to pay substantial penalty for not meeting the schedule in time.
The managing director convened an urgent meeting of various functional managers to discuss the issue. The Marketing Manager questioned the arbitrary manner of giving priority to products in manufacturing line, causing delays in products that are in great demand and over-stocking of products which are not required immediately. Production control manager complained that he does not have adequate staff to plan and control the production function; and whatever little planning he does, is generally overlooked by shop floor manager. Shop floor manager complained of unrealistic planning, excessive machine breakdowns, power failure, shortage of materials for schedule. Maintenance manager, say that he does not get important spares required for equipment maintenance because of which he cannot repair machines at a faster rate. Inventory control manager says that on the one hand the company often access him of carrying too much stock and on the other hand people are grumbling over shortages.
Fed up by mutual mud-slinging, the managing director decided to appoint you, a bright management consultant with training in business management to suggest way and means to put his “house in order”.
QUESTIONS:
1. How would you examine if there is any merit in the remarks of various functional managers?
2. What, in your opinion, could be the reasons for different managerial thoughts in this case?
3. How would you design a system of getting correct information about job status to identify delays quickly?
4. List some scientific decision aids that you may prescribe to improve the situation.
Case 4 :-
In Search of Greener Pastures
Rohit joined ABC Ltd., a heavy engineering unit, having a turnover of about Rs. 20 crores, in the junior management cadre as a direct recruit. During his tenure with the company, Rohit proved to be a dedicated and sincere worker which earned him quick promotions in the organization. He had made a mark in whichever department he had worked and his departmental heads were happy with his work. After serving the company for a period of ten years, Rohit felt that there was no scope for further improvement in his position and started applying for better jobs commensurate with his experience. He finally succeeded in getting a job but his new employer wanted him to join within one month. To this, Rohit pleaded inability, as he was required to give three month’s notice to his present employer, as per company rules. However, he said he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try to reduce the period to one month by paying two month’s salary in lieu of the required notice. Rohit accordingly, submitted his resignation to the present employer and requested the departmental head to recommend his case to the personnel manager for relieving him after one month. The departmental head, said that he would discuss the matter with the personnel manager and try his best to help him. However, the latter turned down Rohit’s request stating that the rules require him to give three month’s notice and that the alternative suggested by Rohit was not acceptable.
When Rohit learnt about the personnel manager’s response, he approached his prospective employer to explain his difficulty, which was beyond his control, and requested them to extend his joining period to three months. This was acceptable by them, as a special case.
The departmental head took up Rohit’s case with the management and suggested that in future, the officers who resigned may be permitted to give one month’s notice and two month’s salary in lieu of a further two month’s notice, if required, so as to ensure against any unnecessary delay in the work of the department. But, the management refused to accept this proposal, stating clearly that the company’s policy cannot be changed.
QUESTIONS:
1. Did the management take a correct decision in Rohit’s case under the circumstances?
2. What steps should the departmental head take to do not adopt an indifferent attitude towards their work during the three month’s notice period?
3. If you were in the position of the management, how would you have handled the situation?
Case 5 :-
Ramesh Publishing Company
Mr. Ramesh was the founder of a publishing company specializing in accounting books. Within a short span of time, the company prospered and grew very fast. Its sales rose from Rs 60,000 the first year to Rs 6lakhs three years later. The editing, production and sales staff grew almost as fast.
But the company was having problems, and of late uncertainly and confused grew in the company. New people were making decisions to the best of their ability but many of them did not fit together. One of Mr. Ramesh’s key associates suggested that the company ought to have better planning and certainly needed clear policies to guide decisions making, but Mr. Ramesh was unimpressed. His response was that if he took time off to plan and develop policies today, he might not have a company tomorrow, and that he had no choice but to spend his time meeting today’s problems as they came up.
QUESTIONS:
1. If you were one of the newer managers in the company and had taken a course in the basics of management, what would you say to Mr. Ramesh?
2. Outline exactly how would you show him that planning and policy making are important to the company if it has to grow effectively.
Case 6 :-
THE Marquee Garment Retailer
I knew we were right, Neil Simon thought himself as the steward brought him a glass of Cardhu single malt. The Whisky felt good after week when he was allowed to drink nothing but champagne by his hosts in India. Ah, but then they had reason to celebrate. Simon signaled to the steward that he’d like a refill - he planned to take his time over the second one – and thought about the week that had been.
Simon, the director-in-charge of international franchise operations at Smith & Robin, a $8-billion marquee garment retailer, had arrived in India exactly seven days back, with mixed feelings. He’d been at S&R Less the eight months-he had been hired when the company decided to abandon its twenty-year old strategy of expanding geographically through owned outlets as against franchised ones-but he knew the India trip was one of those things that could make or break his career.
This wasn’t his first visit to India. He’d visited it as a backpacker in his second year at collage, then as a middle-level executive of a cola company, and then again, soon after he joined S&R. It was during the last visit that he noticed the kind of brand equity the company enjoyed in India. S&R was a know name and there was huge demand for its offerings. The grey market did a thriving business in both real S&R products, smuggled into the country, and ersatz ones. So, he had gone back and made case for India.
“Let us go in now and seed the market and leverage our equity there “He’d told the board. Convincing the board hadn’t made his job any easier. Then, there were tales of poor infrastructure, horror stories about how foreign investors were treated, and wholly inappropriate real estate options. Worse, some members of the board weren’t fully convinced about the ‘franchise strategy’, S&R had moved to. “I see that we are shutting three of our profitable shops in London, “one of the board members Barbara Rutherford had shifted. Fortunately for Simon, the chairperson lucy Walters had to come to his rescue. “we decide that franchising was the best way to grow last year Barbara; this meeting isn’t about that.
Finally, a compromise had been reached. S&R would enter the country through one or two pilot outlets’. To Simon went the task of finding a suitable franchise. That had been easy. The Kathuria family that ran S&R Malaysia franchise had business interests in India, and it hadn’t taken Simon much to convince them to take on the India franchise.
The two Kathuria-owned franchise store had opened in upmarket malls, Delhi and Mumbai, the previous week and Simon had winged it down to be there at the opening. The Mumbai outlet 7,000 square feet large; the Delhi one, 3,000 square feet. And both sold a range of garments for men and women, lingeries, and toiletries-all imported , and all under the S&R brand name, in keeping with the company’s policy of only selling the best quality products sourced at the least possible cost at all its outlets.
The tariff regime in India made some prices look Ludicrous-a women’s shirt cost over Rs2, 500; men’s jeans, Rs3,200-and made S&R, which was perceived to be a high-end value-for-money brand into a premium one with aspirational trimmings. Indeed, the only other stores that stocked merchandise of compatable prices were boutiques devoted to designer wear.
S&R’S Long–term Prospects
Best-case Scenario Worst-case Scenario
• Indian customers continue treating S&R as
an aspirational brand.
• The company is able to sustain its premium pricing in India.
• S&R repeats the Delhi-and Mumbai-model in other metros.
• The scalability across centers makes S&R’s local franchise profitable. • The novelty factors surrounding S&R’s launch wears off.
• Customers start asking questions about the super-premium positioning.
• Sales plateau in the Delhi and Mumbai stores.
• The franchise shows no interest in expanding a loss-making operation.
The India –strategy’s detractors at HQ had raised objections over the size of the Delhi outlet (“S&R isn’t associated with cramped buying spaces”) and the price-tags (“Indians aren’t dumb, you know). But Simon managed to steer clear of the flak. The fact that leading consulting firms estimated India’s organized retail business to zoom from Rs 5,500 crore in 2000, to Rs 35,000 crore in 2005, helped his cause.
Then, he had landed in India; the Kathurias had welcomed him like he was royality; he had been allowed to drink nothing but champagne (“Here’s to the stop reopening”; “ Here’s to our first sale”, “Here’s to our first individual sale over Rs 100,000”….); and things had gone like a dream.
The launches had coincided with India’s equivalent of the Christmas season-the festival of lights, they called it, Diwali. The two stores’ initial stock had been sold out in three days flat. And the fact that some of the products still carried their dollar prices-an oversight by the stores and a full 40 per cent lower than their prices in Indian rupees, thanks to the duties- hadn’t deterred shoppers. True, there appeared to be more demand for lingerie and cosmetics, but the other products had takers too.
Simon was surprised by the reaction. He knew that he would have to wait a few months to understand the real demand for S&R products in India. Only once the initial novelty had worn off, would the company have better idea of what Indian customers bought, and what they did not. He was also aware that while the mere fact S&R products were available in the country could have encouraged customers to overlook the 40 percent mark-up (thanks to import duties), they’d soon move to the ‘value’ buying behaviour Indians were famous for.
Simon had raised these issues at his last meeting with the Kathurias, but they were still celebrating the phenomenal success of their opening gambit and their only response had been to ply Simon with, what else, more champagne. Still, he had to admit, it had been a good beginning.
Simon signaled the steward for another refill. What the heck.. he’d earned it.
QUESTION:
1. Has Smith & Robin (S&R) chosen the right entry strategy for the Indian market?
2. “S&R has taken a risk in entering a market that is large, but offers little flexibility in terms of price and business environment” Discuss.
3. What kind of advance planning and strategic thinking should go into S&R’s corporate planning efforts so that the Indian consumer gets ‘value for money’?
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