#Air India network rejig

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Four Airports, Two banks - Air India rejigs its hub

Air India is making changes to its international widebody network starting early next year. This comes after a month of Vistara’s merger with Air India, which added 7 Dreamliners to the combined fleet but with it got along with challenges like overlapping flights, especially to Frankfurt, Paris and partially to London Heathrow. This also is the first major rejig to the international network that…

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Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Air India strengthens presence at Delhi for flights to Bangkok and Singapore

Subsidiary Air India Express launches flights to Bangkok from Tier II cities Air India Express to connect Mangalore to Singapore Air India – the Tata group enterprise, is undergoing a major rejig to its operations on the international sector. This comes within weeks of Vistara’s merger into Air India. The airline has simultaneously rejigged it’s international widebody network along with short…

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Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost Are there no alternative strategies

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place Here are some mistakes and learnings

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why

Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets

Project Report and Thesis - Contact

aravind.banakar@gmail.com

www.mbacasestudyanswers.com

ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224

 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew Why

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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What should she do

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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What should he do

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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What problems might each individual encounter in the position

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                  Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                 Louis Gallois

Employees:                                        57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):       7187

Delivered:                                          4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                           16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                  Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                  Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

  Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets

Project Report and Thesis - Contact

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ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224

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Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers,

Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets

Project Report and Thesis - Contact

aravind.banakar@gmail.com

www.mbacasestudyanswers.com

ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224

 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports.

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 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places

Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do

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 Human Resource Management                                                                                

 Attempt Any Four Case Study

 CASE 1: It is Good News Everywhere for Coca Cola

 After fumbling in India for over a decade and losing the top slot to Pepsi, the humbled cola giant is dreaming big again and rejigging its strategy with a fresh and sharper focus.

 Why did Cola giant fumble in the first place? Here are some mistakes and learnings that Coca Cola has undergone in the past:

 Globalization Holds the Key

 Coca Cola was among the bluest of blue MNCs to have entered India in the 1990s. It was and still remains among the top five most powerful brands and the largest beverage company in the world. A lot of that MNC arrogance had a rub-off effect in the way it laid out its India strategy. Snapping up the locally popular brands like Thums Up, Limca, Maaza to competition, its brand-building exercise for the mother-brand was often at the cost of the local ones. It was costly and often didn’t work. Thumps Up remains a very strong brand in southern states like Andhra Pradesh and in fact in the Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands listing, it ranks 34—much higher than Coca Cola’s 42nd ranking. As the company redraws its India plans it promises to be far more rooted to the realities like having more local insights, promoting local drinks like Aam Panna and localised variants like Sprite—Jal Jeera.

 Delegate, Empower and Be Patient

 Five CEOs in a decade, a high employee turnover of 30%, Coca Cola India was in a chaos as constant churn at the top took its toll. “Every time a new CEO took over, he drew out a new strategy and a fresh game plan to win the market”, recalls a Delhi-based ex-employee. Lack of confidence and patience from the headquarters only made matters worse. “The short-term approach to show quick results was talking its toll,” recalls a Bangalore-based ex-employee who was involved in operations.

 Worse, with $1 billion of investments and having written off $450 million assets in 2000, penny conscious Coca Cola headquarters began micromanaging issues like hikes. Recalls a senior HR executive who worked in the eastern region: “No hikes above 10% at any level—we got the message from the US headquarter.” Everything was in a flux—not just in people leaving, in roles too changing frequently. There wasn’t much flexibility that the HR department had in managing people.

 Slowly, Mr. Singh (CEO, Coca Cola, India) and his team are helping win back the staff confidence here and getting some freedom from the Atlanta headquarters. “When I came, there were complains of low salaries. We undertook a transparent benchmarking study to fix that,” he says. Multiple channels of dialogues have been opened up. Every month now, there is an open house meeting where all employees at the headquarters can air their concerns and issues. “We are trying to bring down the decision-making process,” says Mr. Singh.

 Soften that MNC Arrogance

 Being the world’s most powerful brand had its flipside. Every time there was a problem, the company pointed a finger elsewhere. “We were in denial mode,” says a senior company executive. “Earlier, we spent more time defending ourselves,” says a candid Mr. Singh. Despite aggressive efforts it realised that in a sensitive business of food and drinks, scientific data matter, but perceptions matter more. “No matter what you did, it (pesticide issue) was a losing proposition,” says a senior ad industry executive. “You could only side-step it to minimise the damage,” he adds. The company too seems to have figured that out. “Let’s focus on solutions instead of debating if we are part of the issue or not,” says Singh. Coca Cola is trying to move beyond the blame game and has learnt to be more constructive.

 Engage Beyond Business

 For both Pepsi and Coca Cola the world was small and their attention very focused on each other. Just then CSE, an NGO, expanded and complicated their business playfield in India. Suddenly their MNC tag became a noose as the cola glitz and glamour gave way to pesticide, pollution, groundwater depletion controversies. Having learnt lessons the hard way, Coca Cola is now opening up channels of dialogue and engagement with the community it is operating in. it is setting up a Coca Cola Foundation that will engage in a variety of developmental work. To help create employable talent, it is setting up Coca Cola Retail University that will train sales staff. It organises rural games with a consortium of Indian farmers in the South. Water conservation and recycling have become its pet projects even as it aspires to become a net zero water user by 2009 in India. “We want to build a sustainable business model in India,” says Singh.

Perhaps, the highs of the past may never return. India and Indians’ fascination for the West and MNC brands like Coca Cola today may have more earthy—rather than heady—appeal. Of course, the brand itself has come down from its pedestal. “Coca Cola was an insignificant product delivered spectacularly,” says an ad industry veteran. The celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and their cricket-connect made them glitzy and desirable. “Soon, they came to be seen as frivolous without being pleasurable,” he adds, just when “cooler” brands like Google and Nokia overtook it. From such lows, a company can only go up. Coca Cola India is already beginning to. Hopefully, Atlanta’s confidence in India's growth story will be strong and long-term. And that the global beverage leader – after a slew of bad publicity and poor business track record—has gained a humble confidence to chalk up a successful business in India. For a company with a such a difficult past in India, this may yet be early days.

 But the management is upbeat. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, said its India arm registered a double-digit growth in the first quarter this year after a series of negative growth. Earlier in Atlanta it announced that India will be the No.3 market for the company. The company will invest close to $250 million in the next three years—and this is just the beginning. Today things are working for the company. For the CEO, it is good news everywhere.

This could well be the third awakening in India for the world’s largest beverage company. (Forced out of India in the 1970s, Coca Cola re-entered in 1993 sinking $1 billion in over a decade. It began losing its fizz since 2003 when pesticide allegations first surfaced). But finally, after negative sales growth on the back of public backlash, surging attrition (around 30%) and internal chaos, the company seems to be steadying its feet in the Indian market.

  Question:

 As HR manager, what role do you carve for yourself in making Coca Cola a number one cola company in India?

CASE 2: Prejudices in Workplace: Real or Perceived?

 Manjula Srivastav had been head of marketing for the last four years at Blue Chips, a computer product firm. The company’s turnover had increased by two-and-a-half times during the period and its market share in a number of products had also moved up marginally. What was creditable was that all this had happened in an environment in which computer prices had been crashing.

 Although she had a talent for striking an instant rapport with people—particularly with the company’s dealers—Srivastav often found herself battling against odds, as she perceived it, as far as her relationships with her subordinates and peers in the company were concerned. Srivastav had to fight male prejudice all the way. She found it unfair that she had prove herself regularly at work and she used to make her displeasure on that score quite obvious to everyone.

 Six months ago, Blue Chips had been taken over by an industrial group of business interests and was, more importantly, flush with funds. The change of ownership had led to a replacement of the managing director, had his priorities clear. “Blue Chips will go international,” he had declared in the first executive committee meeting, “and exports will be our first concern.”

 Prakash had also brought in Harish Naik as his executive assistant with special responsibility for exports. Naik had been seconded to Srivastav for five weeks as a part of a familiarisation programme. Much of her surprise, he had been appointed, within two months, as the vice president (exports), with compensation and perks higher than her own. Srivastav had made a formal protest to Prakash who had assured her that he was aware of her good work in the company and that she would have an appropriate role once the restructuring plan he was already working on would be put into effect.

 One morning, as she entered the office and switched on her workstation, a message flashed on her screen. It was from Prakash. “Want to see you sometime today regarding  restructuring. Will 2.30 be convenient?” It went.

 Later at his office, Prakash had come straight to the point. He wanted to create a new post called general manager (public affairs) in the company. “With your excellent background in customer relations and connections with the dealer network, you are the ideal material for the job,” he said, “and I am offering it to you.” Srivastav was quick to react. “There is very little I can contribute in that kind of job,” she said. “I was in fact expecting to be promoted as vice president (home marketing).” Prakash said that the entire gamut of marketing functions would be looked after by Naik who would have boardroom responsibility for both domestic and export sales. “If you continue in marketing , you will have to be reporting to Naik which I thought  may not be fair to you. In any case, we need someone who is strong in marketing to handle public affairs. Let me assure you that the new post I am offering will in no way diminish your importance in the company. You will in fact be reporting to me directly.”

“You are being unfair and you are diminishing my importance in the company,” reported Srivastav. “You know that I am a hardcore marketing professional and you also know I am the best. Why then am I being deprived of a rightful promotion in marketing? Tell me,” she asked pointedly, “would you have done this to a male colleague?”

 “That is a hypothetical question,” said Prakash. “But I can’t thin of any other slot for you in the restructuring plan I want to implement except what I am offering.”

 “If the reason why you are asking me to handle this fancy public affairs business of yours,” said Srivastav, “is that you can’t thin of any other slot for me, then I would have second thoughts about continuing to work for this company.”

 “May I reiterate,” said Prakash, “that I value your role and it is precisely because of this that I am delegating to you the work I have been personally handling so far? May I also state that I am upgrading the job not only because it is important but also because it should match your existing stature in the organisation?”

 “I need to think about this. I will let you know tomorrow, said Srivastav and left the office.

   Question:

 What should she do?

                               CASE 3: Travails of a Training Manager

 Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined Systems, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company.

 Systems was a ten-year old unit employing 300 people. It had a turnover of Rs 25 crore the previous year. The company traded in several products—both domestic and imported. Nearly 80 per cent of its turnover came from selling electronic component products which were assembled locally from imports of semiknocked-down kits. The landed cost of its imports was about Rs 10 crore last year. The products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather than market oriented.

 Early during the current financial year, the Government of India had announced, as a part of its economic liberalisation strategy, several policy measures which made imports costlier. All imports had to be financed by exports – there were restrictions on margin money and interest rates for working capital had shot up at one stroke. With little export income in its account, Systems had no choice but to discontinue importing SKD kits.

 The company management had three option before it. First, to build up its domestic trading activity rapidly; second, to assemble at least a few of the component products from raw materials sourced locally and third, pursue after-sales service aggressively both to generate revenue in the short run and to establish an enduring client-base for the company’s products in the long run.

 Invariably, this meant that the survival of Systems depended on how quickly it could train its people—beginning from a handful of sales engineers—to become market-centred and customer-friendly in their approach to business.

 “The days of easy revenue money are over for us,” Shroff had told Kumar, who had a formal training in HRD and had been an officer in the training cell of a multinational firm before signing up with Systems. “We have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to be able to secure orders. Times are changing. We have to change too. And that is where you come in. it will be your responsibility, as the training manager, to ensure that people here acquire marketing skills,” he said, adding, as a clincher, “Frankly, have always felt that a salesman is born, not trained. I have had no belief in non-technical training. In fact, have found no need so far for a training manager at Systems. But I am prepared to do anything to get more sales.”

 That punching was what had made Kumar uneasy. But he decided to let it pass. Over the next few days, Kumar got busy evolving specific training packages for workers, shop-floor supervisors, administrative staff and senior functional executives and an intensive module for field salesmen. Deciding to start with the salesmen first, he met the sales manager to ask him to depute 10 salesmen for a training session the next day. The sales manager was skeptical and only half-heartedly consented to release people for the two-day training.

 The session was a disaster. No one showed any interest in the proceedings. In fact, one of the salesmen came up to him during the coffee break and said, “You see, all this is a waste of time. Take the client for a drink and you get the sale. It is as simple as that. It has worked in the past and it will work in the future.” Kumar laughed it off but the message had been delivered.

 The attendance of the second day session was thin. This lack of interest was again obvious at the session for workers next day. The works manager who had originally agreed to the idea was vague about the absence of so many workers at the training session. “They are sick, I believe,” he said, making no attempts to hide his feeling that to him the whole thing was a big joke.

 Kumar had encountered such resistance in the company where he had worked earlier. He also knew that his training capsule was very effective. He was aware that training needs were universal for all companies and so were the training techniques which were also easily transferable from one set of working conditions to another and from one industry to another. He also knew that he had the aptitude and interest to become a professional trainer.

 But Kumar began to realise that he had made a few tactical errors in this particular case. He should have perhaps asked Shroff to personally inaugurate the training session to give the whole exercise an air of formality and, more importantly, of authority. He should have perhaps started with the module for senior executives first.

 “I must find a way out of this and bring everyone round. There is simply no way I am going to accept failure. Whatever damage there has been must be undone. I must do something,” he said to himself.

  Question:

  What should he do?

                   CASE 4: The Resentful Employee

 It was a bitterly cold night, and even at the far end of the bus the east wind that raved along the street cut like a knife. The bus stopped, and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, and carried one of those little Pekinese dogs that woman in sealskin like to carry in their laps. The conductor came and took the fare. Then his eye rested with cold malice on the beady-eyed toy dog, I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and he intended to make the most of it. I had marked him as the type of what Mr. Wells has called the Resentful Employee, the man with a general, vague grievance against everything, and in particular, a grievance against passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door.

 “You must take that dog out”, he said with sour venom.

“I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You can take my name and address”, said the woman, who had evidently expected the challenge and knew the reply.

“You must take the dog out—that is my order”.

“I won’t go on the top in such weather. It would kill me”, said the woman.

“Certainly not”, said her lady companion. “You have got a cough as it is”.

“It is nonsense”, said her male companion.

The conductor pulled the bell and the bus stopped.

“This bus does not go on until that dog is brought out”. And he stepped on the pavement and waited. It was his moment of triumph. He had the law on his side and a bus-full of angry people under his thumb. His embittered soul was having a real holiday.

 The storm inside rose high. “Shameful”, Why is not he in the army?” “Call the police”, “Let us all report him”, “Let us make him give us our fares back”, “Yes, that is it, let us make him give us our fares back”. Everybody was on the side of the lady and the dog.

 That little animal sat blinking at the dim lights in happy unconsciousness of the rumpus of which he was the cause.

 The conductor came to the door. “What is your number?” Said one taking out a pocket-book, with a gesture of terrible things, “There is my number”, said the conductor unperturbed. “Give us our fares back—you have engaged to carry us—you can not leave us here all night”. “No fares back”, said the conductor.

 Two or three of the passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. Another bus, the last on the road, sailed by, indifferent to the shouts of the passengers to stop. “They stick by each other, the villains”, was the comment.

 Some one pulled the bell violently. That brought the driver round to the door. “Who’s conductor of this bus?” He said and paused for a reply. None coming, he returned to his seat and resumed beating his arms across his chest. There was no hope in that quarter. A policeman strolled up and looked in at the door. An avalanche of indignant protests and appeals burst on him. “Well, he has got his rules you know”, he said generally. “Give your name and address”, “That is what is being offered and he won’t take it”. “Oh”, said the policeman, and he went away and took his stand a few yards down the street, where he was joined by two more constables.

 And still the little dog blinked at the lights, and the conductor walked to and from on the pavement like a captain on the quarter-deck in the hour of victory. A young woman whose voice had risen high above the gale inside, descended on him with an air of threatening and slaughter. He was immovable as cold as the night and hard as the pavement. She passed on in a fury of importance to the three policemen who stood like a group of statuary up the street watching the drama. Then she came back, imperviously beckoned her “Young man” who had a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the dashing young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would see this thing through if he sat there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away.

 Meanwhile the Pekinese party was passing through every stage of resistance to abject surrender. “I will go to the top”, said the sealskin lady at last. “You must not.” “I will”. “You will have pneumonia”. “Let me take it” (This from the man). “Certainly not—she would die with her dog”. When she had disappeared up the stairs the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus went on. He stood sourly triumphant while his conduct was savagely discussed in his face by the remnant of the party.

 Then the engine struck work, and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog stole down the stairs and re-entered the bus. When the engine was put right the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then his eye fell on the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped, and the struggle recommenced with all the original features, the conductor walking the pavement, the driver smacking his arms on the box, the little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going.

 Questions:

 1.                   Which theory of motivation do you use to motivate the bus crew? Why?

2.                  If you were the conductor what would you do?

3.                  If you were the lady with the pet dog, what would you do?

4.                  Role play (a) the conversation between the conductor and the lady with sealskin, (b) between policeman and the fellow passengers, and (c) between the conductor and the driver.

            CASE 5: Protest Over Job Losses

 Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shake up, Airbus—the European aircraft manufacturer—has thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company’ resume.

 Name:                                                Airbus

Created:                                             1970

President CEO:                                Louis Gallois

Employees:                                       57,000

Turnover (2006):                            26 bn (Euro)

Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007):      7187

Delivered:                                         4598

Headquarters:                                  Toulouse (France)

Facilities:                                          16

Rival:                                                  Boeing

 Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them—downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus’s factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers.

 Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its grounds to the arch rival, Boeing Co.

 Airbus’s Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology.

 The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus’s 55,000 employee strength.

  Questions:

 1.                   Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies?

 2.                  Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from Boeing?

     CASE 6: The Office Equipment Company

 Office Equipment Company (OEC) must identify a manager to help set up and run a new manufacturing facility located in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The position will have minimum duration of three years. OEC manufactures office equipment such as photo copying machines, recording machines, mail scales, and paper shredders in eight different countries. OEC’s products are distributed and sold worldwide.

 Currently, OEC has no manufacturing facility in Middle East but has been selling and servicing products in Israel since the early 1970s. OEC sells its products in Israel through independent importers, but is now convinced that it needs to have a local manufacturing facility in order to take full advantage of the new, more peaceful situation in the region. Despite occasional turmoil that interrupts new moves towards peace, OEC’s sales in Israel have been improving, with increase in profitability. OEC has recently been contacted by distributors in Jordan and Egypt about possible sales of OEC products. Incentives for foreign direct investment in Gaza Strip could help OEC develop extensive operations in the region at considerably reduced cost.

 OEC hopes to begin constructing a factory in Gaza Strip within the next six months. This factory would import products and assemble them. The construction of the assembly plant would be supervised by an US technical team and a US expatriate would be assigned to direct the production. This expatriate manager would report directly to the headquarters of OEC at US.

 The option of filling the position of managing director with someone from outside the firm is alien to OEC’s policy. Otherwise the options are fairly open. OEC uses a combination of home-country, host-country, and third-country nationals in top positions in foreign countries. It is not uncommon for managers to rotate among foreign and domestic locations (in the US). In fact, it is increasingly evident that international experience in an important factor in deciding the persons who will be appointed to top corporate positions. The sales and service operations in Israel have been controlled through OEC’s European regional office located in Podernone, Italy. A committee at the European regional office has quickly narrowed its choice to the following five candidates.

 Tom Zimmerman    Zimmerman joined the firm 30 years ago and is well-versed in all the technical aspects required for the job. Zimmerman is a specialist in start-up projects, and has supervised the construction of new manufacturing facilities in four countries. He has never been assigned to work abroad permanently. His assignments have usually been in developed countries and for periods of less than six months. He is considered to be extremely competent in the duties he has performed during the years, and will retire in about four-and-a-half years. Neither he nor his wife speaks any language other than English—their children have grown and are living in the US. Zimmerman is currently in charge of an operation about the size that the one in Gaza Strip will be after the factory begins operating. However, as that operation is being merged with another, this present position will become redundant.

 Brett Harrison      At age forty, Brett has spent 15 years with OEC. He is considered highly competent and capable of moving into upper-level management within the next few years. He has never been based abroad but has frequently travelled to Latin America. Both he and his wife speak Spanish adequately. Their two children, aged fourteen and fifteen, are just beginning to study Spanish. His wife is a professional as well, holding a responsible marketing position with a pharmaceutical company.

 Carolyn Moyer    Carolyn joined OEC after getting her BS in engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the prestigious Bond University in Australia. At the age of 37, she has already moved between staff and line positions of growing responsibility. For two years, she was the second-in-command of a manufacturing plant in Texas about the size of the new operation in Gaza Strip. Her performance in that post was considered excellent. Currently, she works as a member of a staff production planning team. When she joined OEC, she had indicated her eventual interest in international responsibilities because of a belief that it would help her advancement in career. She speaks French well and is not married.

 Francis Abhrams    Francis is currently one of the assistant managing directors in a large Mexican operation, which produces for and sells to the Mexican market. He is a Jewish New Yorker who has worked for OEC in Mexico for five years. He holds an MBA from New York University and is considered to be one of the likely candidates to head a Guatemalan operation when the present managing director retires in four years. He is 35, married with four children (ages two to seven). He speaks Hebrew adequately. His wife does not work outside the home and speaks only English.

 Leon Smith      At 30, he is assistant to the managing director at the Athens manufacturing facility, a position he assumed when he joined OEC after completing his under-graduate studies in the US seven years ago. He is considered competent, especially in production operations, but lacks in managerial experience. He was successful in increasing OEC’s production output in Athens during his tenure in Athens. Leon travelled extensively in the Middle East. He went to the college with a number of students from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. These individuals came from prominent political and business families in their countries, and Leon has visited them during his travels. He thus has the advantage of being reasonably well-connected with influential families in the region. He is not married.

 Questions:

1.                   Whom should the committee choose for the assignment and why?

 2.                  What problems might each individual encounter in the position?

 3.                  How might OEC go about minimising the problems that the chosen person would have in managing the Gaza Strip operations?

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