B.N.

Foray
A Case Study

This case study presents a number of issues in the fictional organisation B.N. Foray.

You should read through these materials and write a report of 1,500 words with the title

A Business Report to optimise the delivery of HR Processes at B.N. Foray.

You can make reasonable assumptions about B.N. Foray and the HR function.

There are further instructions in the coursework brief.

1
Introduction

B.N.Foray is a global organisation in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods)

sector. It has approximately 9,000 employees and a mission of providing healthy
nutrition at a fair price. It has a presence in every region globally.

Primary products are:-

• Soft drinks
• Cereal based snacks and breakfast products
• Confectionary
• Dairy products
• Processed food products such as ready meals.

B.N. Foray Values and Mission

• Nourishment and Enjoyment

– Real food at a realistic price
– Fresh
– Quality accessible
– Sustainable

B.N. Foray has a strong HR team at its regional headquarters in India. However,
the Chief People Officer (HR Director) Jess Fielding has just returned from a long
period of illness. The HR team is in some disarray and needs to take a step back
and consider how they can develop and engage the human resources in the
organisation.

The team has focused on centralised processes and has had less of a presence in
the regional centres. In particular, local production centres and also local sales and
marketing organisations have been somewhat neglected. This has led to a lack of
integration of HR policies across the organisation and a reduction in engagement
and development as a result.

2
B.N. Foray Structure

Fran K. Lee
CEO

Mo Hassan
CLO
learning
Foray Institute for Product research

Chad Price Jess Fielding Jarka Cuperova Nick Adisa

COO CPO CMO CFO
operations People marketing finance

Regional Heads

Country Managers
Own P&L
Each country manager has their own
structure typically containing Sales &
marketing, IT, finance, HR, logistics, etc.

3
E-Mail – To Jess Fielding

From Fran K Lee

Hi Jess,

Welcome back. Below is an excerpt from a paper around introducing robotics. We

are very concerned that this may falter. It is part of our focus on costs and it is
essential that the pilot introduction of robotics goes well. Could I please ask you to
make this one of your priorities.

Best,

Fran.

Introducing Robotics

B.N.Foray has a large dairy factory in Svidnik, Slovakia. The factory produces
cheese, yoghurt and curds. Curds are a local speciality which are traditionally
produced by hand. The production of the curds has a strong local brand which is
built on a historical, natural and fresh brand. With the advent of Brexit the costs
being carried by BN Foray are increasing. In order to futureproof the factory the
CEO Fran K. Lee has started the process of introducing robots into factories and the
Svidnik factory will be the test bed. Robots will take on 50% of the factory tasks. It
is intended that after a 6 month trial period robots will be introduced into the
whole of the warehousing system.

Warehousing Issues

B.N.Foray has carried out a recent benchmarking exercise and has found that its
costs of production are significantly higher than immediate competitors. This has
led to higher prices on the shelves for its leading products a breakfast cereal and a
breakfast cereal bar. The decision has therefore been made to move to a more
efficient approach based on lean production methods. This requires the
warehousing employees to work more flexibly and requires the introduction of zero
hours contracts in order to reduce costs

An additional question has been raised about the change in contracts and working
practice. There is a concern among some managers that current employees may be
impacted in different ways according to different elements in their lives e.g. those
with disabilities or with caring responsibilities. This may impact engagement across
the organisation as a whole as it does not fit with the stated values but is a financial
and competitive necessity.

4
The organisation is considering introducing just in time production and zero hours
contracts. These are under investigation by the top team who have a concern about
ensuing that there is a consistent message across the whole organisation that is
horizontally integrated with other people processes. They are particularly interested
to understand any specific legal and cultural implications as well as
recommendations for engaging the local warehouse workforce.

The primary regional centres which are experiencing low levels of employee
engagement and may be impacted further are:-

Frankfurt

Tokyo

Chicago

Medellin

Lagos

Nairobi

5
E-mail

From: Jess Fielding

To: you

Logistics issues

We have been having an increasing number of issues around workplace conflicts

Below are the details of a recent conflict that has emerged. What do you think are
the issues underlying it and how can we as a function support the business with
these types of conflict?

Introduction.

The logistics team in B.N. Foray is a core function that is central to the smooth
running of the organisation as a whole. Any issues with logistics rapidly impact
product quality as fresh goods are left waiting. It is not unusual for large quantities
of products to need to be destroyed if logistical issues are not resolved at pace.

A line manager has contacted their regional HR Manager asking them to resolve an
internal conflict that is threatening to interfere with supplier relationships. It is a
health and safety issue that needs to be managed through appropriate leadership.

Jo, a team leader has accused Miles a health and safety executive of leaving her
team in a dangerous situation. Miles has responded that she is impossible to work
with and he is not willing to support her team anymore. This is an urgent issue
which you need to start to address today.

Jo has been working at B.N. Foray in logistics for 15 years. She is a team leader and
has recently been promoted to the role. She takes pride in her work and is keen to
look after her team and offer them the safe working environment that she has not
always received herself. She has a strong concern for health and safety, having seen
a colleague become seriously injured by a faulty electrical cable when she first
joined the organisation. While it remains strong in her memory, it is not an issue
that is remembered in the wider organisation.

Jo has been having some difficulties in persuading her team about following
appropriate health and safety and has tried to model what she wants them to do by
picking up each and every point and reporting it to health and safety. She has been
surprised to be called in to see her manager who has pulled her up and described
her as ‘nagging’ miles, the H&S executive for their team. She discussed this
thoroughly with her line manager who seemed to understand her point of view. She
therefore put the whole sorry episode behind her.

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She is responsible for importing vodka for some of the evening cocktail snack
products. These products have been flying off the shelf and she has been importing
surprisingly large quantities of vodka. Yesterday she was upset to have been
approached by the vendor with a bribe to leave some of the product on dock for
two days instead of one. She has no idea why this is the case and does not want to
engage with it at all. The correct process is to report this through health and safety.
Given the recent difficulties she is keen to rebuild the relationship and so has tried
to contact Miles, her health and safety executive but he has refused her calls. She
became quite agitated and went round to see him to discuss it, but he just walked
away from her and she lost her temper. She is now fuming as she has a very
difficult situation to deal with, her line manager has impressed upon her that she
must deal with Miles but he won’t talk to her – what should she do?

Miles

Miles is a recent graduate and has completed his training in health and safety. It
was a complex and difficult course and he is proud to have achieved high marks. He
understands health and safety and is certain that he can offer best advice. He has
been surprised therefore to be harangued by a team leader in one of the offices. He
does not know why she insists on calling him at least three times a day and
following up to check he has carried out the work without even giving him a chance
to do it. He has started ignoring her and has to admit to screening her calls.

He has spoken to her manager who has assured him that Jo is just a pencil pusher
who follows the rules with no real thought. He has spoken to Jo and assures Miles
that there will be no problems from now on. Yesterday there was an accident on
the stairs with a senior manager and some wiring that had got loose. Miles had to
rush to the scene to sort it all out and to make sure that he found out why wiring
was left out and to set up appropriate remedial training. Whilst he was on his way,
Jo accosted him with some other issue. He admits he was a bit firm with her but he
had to manage this urgent issue and told her she would just have to wait and sort it
out herself. She started screaming at him and he will absolutely not respond to that
kind of behaviour.

7
Investigation about international redundancy planning

B.N. Foray is proposing a strategic change which would involve relocating part of its
value chain to low cost countries. As part of an initial investigation it needs to
consider the impact in different countries. There is a working party due to start
meeting soon to address the issue of redundancy as part of a wider strategic
direction to ensure cost cuts for future sustainability.

8
B.N. Foray Employee Engagement

Introduction

In common with most very large organisations B.N. Foray has a mixed record in
employee engagement and the factors of trust etc. which underlie the
psychological contract.

Attached are a series of materials which portray the current situation in B.N. Foray.

Employee engagement is an essential element of Employment Relations.

Press Release

CHEERS FOR B.N.FORAY’S EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

B.N. Foray has been recognised for its employee engagement excellence with the
Good Employer Award at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Awards.

The awards celebrate organisations across the food and drink industry that make an
extra effort to create a positive working environment for employees.

B.N. Foray was recognised for its newly-designed workplace in Hemel Hempstead,
which encourages employee interaction across all departments.

The new offices feature informal meeting spaces, which has enhanced staff social
relationships, raised the profile of charitable activity across the organisation and
increased employee engagement.

Steve Barnes, director of economic and commericial services at FDF, said: “The FDF
Awards showcase inspiring examples of food and drink organisations taking a
responsible approach to their employees, their customers and the communities in
which they operate.

“We congratulate B.N.Foray’s positive investment in its employees. Workplace

wellbeing schemes are very important for maintaining healthy and happy
employees, lowering absenteeism and increasing employee engagement.”

9
Email:

From: Chief people Officer

To: Your name

As you know, I keep an eye on our on-line employee reviews. In the past 4 months
they have been getting steadily worse. I have attached a selection I have put
together that represent most of what I have seen. They are pretty representative
geographically and I am concerned that they show some worrying trends. for you
to look at.

On-line employee reviews of B.N.Foray

Challenging place to work, good if you want to strive and climb the career ladder.
Management can be a bit demanding of working activities. Time goes very quickly

Working hours are long and priorities change very often, leading to even longer
working hours (one of their core values is 'act with pace'). There is not much time to
'think' and most things are rushed - this means you often have to re-start projects
resulting in even tighter deadlines. 'Diversity' is not really part of the company
culture.

On the plus side, salaries are fair and they do allow to work from home. Projects are
overall interesting and varied

12 hour shifts a drag. very stressful place to work. good pay but team leaders and
Managers are idiots,havent got a clue. no regard for staff well being or health.
Agency staff are treated appallingly. Totally uneccaptable. Shame on B.N.Foray.
Shame on them

Enjoyed learning many new tasks a good training attitude which help me develop
as a production operative, covering running packing machinery and bottle blowing
and juice filling to material supply. Being part of a company supplying a product to
children at the best standards of quality has been a pleasure that makes me proud
to work for B.N.Foray.working 3 rotating shift has been challenging but also gives
rewards with time off making the balance acceptable

unstable work, not enough hours, very unreliable and no on site training

only motivated by money, no consideration for their staff, very political, massive
blame culture, managers have limited skills

10
I have worked at B.N. Foray for almost 14 years and during this time have had
experience of working in many different functions. The past 10 years have been
spent working in IT, where I have had various roles from direct line management to
project management where you are leading a virtual team. I would consider myself
to be a leader, who constantly looks for ways to continuously improve and simplify
ways of working

Pros

Great benefits
Management are interested in you as a person
Cheap Pop
Some areas are good for development

Cons

Management sometimes make poor decisions

Work life balance can often be compromised
Performance Reviews are often ad-hoc and don't follow process

Advice to Management

Focus more on delivering our vision, and look to recruit sooner when there is a
clear workload vs staff level issue

Pros

Really great brands, good working environment and really great people. Really
enjoyed most of my time at B.N. Foray, particularly up until the last year or so when
things started to change. Generally, people are respected as more than just a
resource though and there is a reasonable work life balance compared to other
corporates.

Cons

Currently High levels of staff turnover and expectations from staff increasing
however lack of clear direction from management means staff can run around like
headless chickens.

Advice to Management

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Don't try and change too much at once. You need to learn to walk before you can
run. There are a lot of people working very hard but it's not really achieving much
as the direction is scattered

Pros

- lot of training available

- lot of brands available if you want to switch from one to another
- possibility of promotion if you work hard

Cons

- not much of a work life balance (except if you work in M&I)

- very changing environment
- no deep thinking before taking decision
- lot of shareholders management
- not a lot of resources available
- NPD process extremely long
- taking ages to get things done

Advice to Management

- need to be more top line (avoid micromanagement)

- need to be more strategic rather than tactical
- need to take in consideration employees feeling (a lot of people signed off for
stress coming back to work without the right support)

Pros

Free drinks. Pay level is OK

Cons

Long working hours. 12 hour days can become the norm.

They dont promote enough from within and whether they mean to or not manage
to cultivate a blame culture at times

Senior management in the GB division appear clique-y and could do more to be

supportive to and available to their wider teams.

12
Currently a lot of change and I hope it leads to improvements... there are good
people there but they … Show More

Advice to Management

Really try and deliver the improvements you say you want to...

Nurture the talent you have before it leaves and stop making career progression a
box ticking exercise

Pros

Nice offices. Some good people left

Cons

IT department has had any joy sucked out of it. Run by elitist senior management
team who don’t engage with employees lower down the hierarchy. Results driven at
the expense of anyone’s thoughts or feelings. Very sad how deteriorated so quickly
from a place to be proud to work for , to good people leaving in quick succession

Advice to Management

Yes results are important but not at the expense of creating a department full of
fear and blame culture

Pros

Office in Hemel - open plan, modern

Cons

Lacks diversity - bias towards white/middle class/male/English - exec

Sponsor for D&I least open minded of all so this won’t change
CFO ruining finance function- extensive redundancies, majority of jobs moving to
service Centre model, people not valued - solely focused on reducing cost
Weak finance leadership team - poor communicators

Advice to Management

13
You are making a mockery of B.N. Foray’s values currently - great companies don’t
treat employees solely as a cost to be reduced.

Pros

Pay and reward are excellent. The office environment is superb. Lots of investment
being made in Supply Chain and systems.

Cons

When I joined the place had a young and vibrant atmosphere, there was a great
team spirit and people had fun at work, over the last 2 years, profit has come
before everything else, cost cutting is impacting morale, however, it’s not applied
consistently in all functions. Not enough promotions from within, which makes the
talent development programme questionable. The fun and vibrant culture has
turned into a blame culture and there is an unhealthy level of fear that is getting in
the way. The arrival of the current CFO was the catalyst for a lot of this
change.Show Less

Advice to Management

Get closer to your teams, being back the fun. It’s not all about cost!!!

Pros

Free Soft Drinks in the office

Decent base salary

Cons

Lack of team culture

Internal politics
Lack of communication within channels / wider business
Ageing business in terminology used and branding focus
Disconnected feel - all talk, little action

Pros

- Flexibility
- Work life balance
- Gender diversity

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Cons

- No direction
- Short term focus
- Fear culture
- No empowerment

Pros

The people are mostly lovely, dedicated and helpful

Employees given lots of responsibility
Great household brands
Better placed on health than competitors

Cons

Recent senior management hires are ruthless & short sighted particularly those
from Tesco
Redundancies handled insensitively
Weak and ineffective leadership
Political culture

Advice to Management

Treat employees with more respect and give thanks occasionally

Pros

flexible, good salary, good benefits

Cons

too many politics, ruled by a few in it for themselves

Advice to Management

get rid of the negative senior management - you know who they are

Pros

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Great introduction into the FMCG world. Fairly comprehensive induction, training
and ongoing development. Exciting brand portfolio.

Cons

Low starting salary, confusing management structure, very little open lines of
communication and opportunity to discuss ideas with HQ marketing or brand
teams. Wasn't for me

Pros

My team were great and there were a fair few team building outings that were
enjoyable.

Cons

Management would not keep promises, the appraisal system was broken and didn't
reflect the work achieved, and no career progression.

Advice to Management

Work on real career progression, and implement an appraisal system that actually
works

Pros

Great company overall to work for! Trying to aim for there vision

Cons

Management - low morale within the office since I started here and also high
labour turnover
Long hours and lengthy processes which don't ever improve despite the work you
put in

Pros

Salaries for entry level jobs are quite competitive. But this doesnt make up for the
level of incompetence from management and age old grudges you have the put up
with.

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Cons

Senior management are incompetent. No-one knows what they are doing and are
too proud to admit it. Communication and openess is poor. The office culture
revolves around backstabbing. It's not what you know here, but who. This has led to
many people in high level positions being given jobs they are, quite frankly, not
capable of doing. Disorganisation is rife. People are miserable and senior
management couldn't care less. The people are pretentious and most quite
vacuous. Managers in my department seem to have a 'divide and conquer' attitude,
whereby they pit colleague against colleague. To what I avail, I still don't know.
There are a small few who are good hearted and are using the company to their
own advantage. It has become a place to gain some experience for your CV.Show
Less

Advice to Management

I honestly don't think I could advise them. They are running this company into the
ground. My advice to potential employees is to stay for a year to have it on your CV
and go somewhere else you are valued.

Pros

Staff shop, staff benefits , the people you work with .

Cons

No one takes ownership for anything and is too busy blaming others mainly due to
point scoring for the reward system which is intense and like a school report! Many
management do not have a clue what they are doing but are too proud to admit ,
staff turnover high due to work demand and the amount that is piled on you - with
not one word of thanks or appreciation. I've never been in a company where the
majority are fed up! Not just one department.

Pros

B.N. Foray do pay well for Asia-Pacific, i would say about 5% - 10% above average.
This compensates for the poor location, and does go someway to make the
location less of a compromise. The brands are reasonably strong, although have
not been given much love recently.

Cons

17
B.N. Foray's abrasive management style combined with agressive internal and
external culture make it sometimes an unpleasant place to work. Human resources
tend to overpromise and undeliver when it comes to career progression instead
preferring to hire externally. On the face of it B.N. Foray may look like a good career
move but in reality i would really prefer somewhere a little less down market.

18
IT Concerns

Mark is an IT specialist. He owns B.N. Foray.'s IT infrastructure and is responsible for

the efficient working of both hard and soft systems.. South African by birth. Mark
moved to Australia for this job as it had a strong IT function. When his line manager
went off on long term sick due to stress. Mark took on the role as an interim. After
9 months he was confirmed in role and has now being doing the role for 4 years.
Mark has not had any management training even though he has now been
confirmed in this global role. Mark attends many meetings outside normal working
hours. He has a team of 12 regional IT support engineers, each with their own team
(size ranging from 3 - 15) some of whom he has never met face to face. Mark has a
reputation for being efficient, detail conscious, arrogant and abrasive and has a
high turnover in his team.

This issue involves leadership and management. How could B.N. Foray improve its
leadership?

19
Issues in Marketing

Performance Management in Marketing

Introduction

Jarka Cuperova, the chief marketing officer has some concerns about the performance
levels in marketing. The marketing function is distributed with a team per product
category notionally in head office but actually located across the globe. She finds this
quite frustrating and will freely admit that she tends to prefer working with people she can
see and trust. Each region also has its own marketing team with country sales and
marketing manager reporting directly to the country manager.

This structure has meant that communication is often confused and objectives can
contradict one another. Jarka is fed up with this following a disastrous activity last month
in which a marketing research exercise on one of the core products, mouse-tastic cheese
nibbles’ was spoilt as the market research consultancy received conflicting views.

Customer survey results

•data collected from Customer satisfaction focus groups and market research
questionnaires

• 81% of those asked would choose ‘ over other brands.mouse-tastic cheese nibbles’

•Spontaneous awareness is up to 79%

•Health issues around allergies continue to increase with 4 serious cases in the past 12
months

•The sector is highly price sensitive and in some areas volume of sales has dropped

Market share of mouse-tastic cheese nibbles is unknown

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