Cases for Practice – Long

The Exotic Melons:

You are the manager (Worldwide Sales Cock and Bull Melons) in a Dubai-based company that deals
in selling exotic fruits. Cock and Bull Melons are a special variety of melons that can be cultivated
only on the sandy dunes surrounding the Cock and Bull oasis in the Sahara desert. Worldwide
demand and supply have been quite stable so far at 100 melons a year, with the supply being just
sufficient to cover the demand.
Cock and Bull Melons have traditionally been sold to the sheikhs in the Middle East, and Hollywood
and Bollywood actors and actresses. Their exorbitant prices take them out of reach of common
people. 
In January 2002, the research centre at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), India discovers that
Cock and Bull melons can cure the fatal MarGaya syndrome in pregnant women, which kills both
the mother and the child. Also, it can cure the fatal MaraGaya syndrome in diabetic patients. Both
these symptoms are very rare. Unfortunately for you, in May 2002, the MaraGaya syndrome strikes
2000 people in America and the MarGaya syndrome strikes 1000 pregnant women in Sweden. 100
Cock and Bull melons are required to cure the 1000 cases in America while 100 are required to cure
the Swedish problem. You know that the patients in both the countries cannot afford the high cost
of Cock and Bull melon treatment. You also know that the revenues from treating patients would be
much lower than selling them to sheikhs and film stars. 
You are in a real dilemma. What would you do?
Confidential Information?
Mr. SecretKeeper is a Corporate Head (HR) in a company. He is very nice and gets along well with
all people. People often consult him for help and advice. One person (named “Mr. A”) approaches
him for a job because he is right now jobless. Mr. SecretKeeper takes the guy's qualifications and
asks him to come after a week however, since no job available. He keeps frequently postponing the
job offer. Mr. A keeps visiting the HR head, Mr. SecretKeeper, often and becomes his close friend.
Then, one day, Mr. A confides with the HR Head “I was in prison for 18 years for a crime that I had
not committed. With two years remaining of the sentence, I ran away from jail. Even now, police is
in look out for me.” Mr. SecretKeeper tells the person to go home and that he would give him a job.
However as soon as he leaves, Mr. SecretKeeper calls up the police and gives the details of Mr. A and
asks them to arrest Mr. A.
Because of this betrayal of trust by the HR head, people in the organization have started losing faith
in him. A senior person in the office complains to the VP that the Mr. SecretKeeper has “broken
faith”, so others could not come to him.
Assume that you are the VP of the company. What would you do about the situation?
In a fix!
You are the young dynamic, blue-eyed boy (girl) in a firm, which is a known leader in the industrial
oils business. Under your leadership, the company has done extremely well in a slow, sluggish,
mature market and has also effectively warded off competition from the superior industrial oil
segment.
However, as a young blooded individual, you decide that the company should branch into
something more glamorous and contemporary. You manage to convince the top management to get
into the film-making business.
The film-making business is started as another division, where the systems and processes are kept
the same to have uniformity across businesses. You manage to hire top talent in this field Mr. A, Mr.
B and Mr. C from different competitors. You have big hopes from the trio as these people have come
together as a team for the first time. You grant every freedom to these people to recruit their own
subordinates.
Barely a month after the film-making business has started, you are in a fix! Mr. B throws his cap,
sheds a zillion tears and tells you in a choked voice that he would rather die than continue with
your business. A couple of months later Mr. C blames your policies and quits.
Your six monthly profit and loss statement shows that film-making business had been a horrific
disaster. The only remaining member of the star trio, Mr. A says that the business is slightly out of
form and that he might deliver if you grant him complete freedom. 
You can now see your own future as dark as the industrial oils your company specializes in. You are
wondering what went wrong and what should you do now?
Tension on the job:
Sujit Bhattacharyya (Bhola) had been an exceptionally bright student throughout his studies at IIT-
Kharagpur. He devoted four years in pursuit of academic excellence. He had very few friends. Few
peers liked him, but he was the darling of all his professors. Bhola joined TELCO from the campus as
production supervisor in charge of vehicle assembly. Bhola used to manage shop floor operations
consisting of truck assembly and in a shift 30-33 operator used to report to him. The IQ level of a
typical operator could be compared to that of a class VIII student, but years of experience had made
them confident about their job.
The operators, by virtue of doing the same job for so many years, had developed a highly robotic
style of functioning and were highly resistant to change. The trade union was powerful and
exercised a lot of leverage with the management, to secure incentives and overtime payment, which
were fixed at a uniform rate across the departments.
Nilesh was an operator in charge of front axle assembly. The number of trucks that rolled out of the
factory was equal to the number of axles assembled. Thus, Nilesh was looking after a highly
sensitive assembly operation. Nilesh, lately, had lost a lot of money in the stock market, had
frequent quarrels with his wife and many times used to come drunk to the shop floor. His abrasive
behavior had caused a lot of worry to Bhola. Nilesh also started absenting himself from duty and
became casual in his approach. Subsequently, Nilesh was transferred to the quality control
department to reduce his physical workload. Bhola found it very difficult to find a suitable
replacement for Nilesh in the assembly area. He had to frequently interchange workers who were
unable to cope with the high pressure work at the axle assembly. They deliberately started going
slow, and thereby, affected productivity. Bhola did his best to pinpoint the problem. He was under
tremendous pressure from the top to increase productivity to previous levels.
The workers started demanding additional incentives and overtime payments. The management,
on the other hand, was opposed to any change in the incentive structure. Bhola was helpless. He
tried his best and at times did the work himself. The workers, sensing that Bhola had little control
over them, became more aggressive and further slowed their work. Bhola suffered an emotional
breakdown and had to stay away from work for two months. 
Discuss what the main issues in the case are and what would be your approach in this situation.
Tuna-Tuna Lactuna!:
The Minicoy Canning Factory (henceforth MCF) was set up by the Lakshadweep administration in
1969 with an aim to step up fishery production, provide employment and enable fishermen to sell
their excess fish for better returns. MCF could produce only up to 150,000 cans per year because of
labour constraint. However, due to excess production, by September 2001, MCF had accumulated
an unsold inventory of 150,000 cans amounting to Rs. 12,807,700. In 2001, 64,322 cans were sold
resulting in a turnover of Rs. 6,302,500 and a profit of Rs. 810,380.
Competition for MCF came from Integrated Fisheries Project (henceforth IFP), a government
undertaking set up with an aim to introduce and popularize diversified fishery products in rural
and urban markets. MCF canned a type of tuna called Skipjack tuna, whose meat was harder and
different in taste as compared to Yellow fin tuna canned by IFP. The distributors felt that higher
price of Skipjack tuna was the culprit for lower sales vis-à-vis IFP. The higher price was on account
of higher overheads for MCF attributed to lower volumes. IFP also had a stronger dealer network
and a much larger promotion budget. 
The demand for canned tuna is concentrated in upcountry areas. However, the sale of MCF's tuna to
these regions has been low. Sales enquiries had also been received from the Middle East, but no
action had been taken on them. Markets other than the retail market were also being explored.
The management of MCF was pondering over what the problem was and what could be done to
resolve it amicably, both in the short term as well as in the longer term.
Et tu Brutus!:
Yahan Gadbad Inc. is a reputed multinational that specialized in organizing beauty pageants. The
protagonists of this piece, besides you (of course), are Mr. Bhartus, the HR Manager and Mr.
BigMouth, the flamboyant hospitality manager. Mr. BigMouth has been in Yahan Gadbad Inc. for
over a decade now, during which he has successfully organized half a dozen pageants at exotic
locales around the world. People in Yahan Gadbad swear by his integrity and professionalism and
he has been the role model in the company for the last decade.
Mr. Bhartus and Mr. BigMouth were good friends. One day after they had had a drink too many, Mr.
BigMouth said to Mr. Bhartus, “Bhartu, I have something to confess to you. Bhartu dear, please
listen to me as a friend and not as an HR manager”. “Of course Biggie!” said Mr. Bhartus, “I have big
stomach. I can digest any secret”. Mr. BigMouth then said, “Do you remember the pageant we had in
Polynesian Islands? You know, Bhartu the human heart is frail. I kind of got bowled over by a
contestant. We had a week of debauchery. I rigged the contest to help her get the second runners up
title”.
In spite of the promise made to Mr. BigMouth, Mr. Bhartus comes to you (President, Yahan Gadbad
Inc.) with the information. You think aloud, “Damn! What do I do now? The HR department handles
confidential information and this fool could not keep a secret. On the other hand… God! Please
guide me!”
Student's BIG problem:
In an institute AIM, the students' council is selected by a voting wherein each student is allocated a
vote for each position in the council. The council is supposed to undertake activities of students'
interests. Each student pays Rs. 50 per year towards council dues. Extending the brief of the
council, it decides to add responsibilities and projects. As a first, it introduces a scheme for students
wherein it provides them stationary and hosiery at a subsidized price. This is to be done on a no-
profit no-loss basis. Initially, it is done only for a select group of students as a pilot exercise. 
Extending in the first month, the council has a sale of Rs.3500. They make a profit of Rs. 300. Seeing
this, the council decides to expand its store for the complete instituted. They buy goods worth
Rs.15000 for the first time and Rs 10000 the second time. In order to buy these goods, it takes loan
of Rs.8000 at an interest of 18% per annum. Rumors of bungling of money start floating around the
campus. Some council members are alleged to have taken money from the store and the council
funds. As a result of these rumors, some students begin to boycott the council and start to doubts its
intentions. In addition, they allege that the store was supposed to be on a no profit no-loss basis,
but still it aimed at earning profits. 
On complaints to the institute authorities, the store is closed for business till further notice, pending
an internal investigation into the matter. As a result of the store closure, the council is left with
stocks of Rs.13500. In addition, the council also has to repay Rs. 8000 plus interest to the financial
institution.
In the present scenario, what could be the possible solutions?
The Video Games Case
You are the CEO of a large, diversified entertainment company. A division of your firm
manufactures video games. The division is the third largest manufacturer of hardware in the
industry and has a 10% market share, with the top two having 40% and 35% respectively. The
industry growth has been strong, though over the last few months, the overall industry sales
growth has slowed a bit.
The division's sales have increased rapidly over the last year from a relatively small base. Current
estimate is annual sales of 500,000 units for your division. The selling price of the basic Video Game
unit (hardware) is Rs. 1000. The current cost of manufacturing a unit is Rs. 700, excluding the
marketing costs. The top two competitors are estimated to have a 10 to 15% cost advantage
currently. The division currently exceeds corporate return requirements; however, margins have
recently been falling.
The product features are constantly developed (e.g., new type of remote joy stick), to appeal to the
segments of the market. However, the division estimates much of the initial target market (young
families) has now purchased the video game hardware. No large new user segments have been
identified. 
Recently, a request has come to you, the CEO, for approval of Rs. 20 Cr. for tripling the division's
capacity. The requested expansion will also reduce the cost of manufacture by 5 to 7 % from the
present value. Should you approve the expansion?
Bow Bow!
You are the General Manager (Procurement) in a large, international trading firm, Idhar Udhar Inc.
Your current responsibilities involve procurement of rats, dogs and cats from the dark interiors of
Africa and selling them at a profit in developed countries as pets. Of these products, dogs are
extremely seasonal, being available only from the middle of May to the end of August. You are
expecting a bumper season this time around. Also, the price of dogs in the developed countries
being at an all time high, you are expecting record profits which would, in a swift move, also put
your career on the fast track. 
Bang in the middle of the procurement season, an internal audit reveals that Mr. Ghotala Doggy,
your star manager (Procurement Dogs) has siphoned off Rs. 20,000 from company funds. Mr. Doggy
has excellent relations with the suppliers and you know that it would be impossible to meet targets
without him. On your questioning, Mr. Doggy reveals that he had taken the money for paying the
medical bills of his daughter, Ms. Bitchy Doggy, who was seriously ill. 
Following this incident, audits were conducted in other divisions and irregularities were found
there also. However, since your division was the first where such an incident took place, people are
looking at you to set a precedent. Your company lays extreme emphasis on personal integrity and
this is the first time in the company's century old history that such an incident has occurred. What
would you do?
The Dilemma!
You are the GM (HR) of a small firm involved in manufacturing and selling AM/FM radios. Of late,
sales of radios have declined due to emergence of TV, Cable etc. The main departments are the
production, marketing and accounting. 
 Bharat is a clerk in the accounting department. He has been with the company for 15 years now. He
knows the job well, but of late, is increasingly coming late for work. He is married with two children
and he cites family problems as the cause of late arrival on job. Every time he promises to mend his
ways, but has not done so till date.
Om is the production supervisor. He has been with the company since its inception 30 years ago
and commands a lot of respect from his workers. But, age is catching up on him fast. Also, the much
younger workers are increasingly questioning and resisting his authority. If chucked out of the job,
it might be difficult for him to find another job at his age. He is due to retire in another two years. Jai
is a young MBA in marketing from a major B-School. He joined the company a year ago and started
new advertising and marketing campaigns, at a tremendous cost to the company. His plans met
with initial success, but then the sales were back to its initial levels. He handles the company's
dealers in the northern region. But, his initial success seems to have gone to his head. He
increasingly feels discontented when some of his new ideas are turned down by the higher
management.
Jagdish is a marketing executive with the company for the last 6 years. Though not an MBA, he was
still hired for the job due to his sharp acumen. In the years to follow, with an increasing mumber of
MBA's joining the company, he was denied promotion last year. This caused bouts of deep
depression, from which he recovered after two months. After that, he has been complacent in his
work and sometimes even rude to the customers. 
In a desperate cost-cutting measure, your company decides that it must reduce the workforce as a
first measure. These four are the possible candidates for job termination. You, as a group, have to
decide how many you will sack, which ones, and why?

CASES FOR PRACTICE – SHORT

 In a public sector company, the workers are very lazy and do not do their allotted jobs in the
stipulated time. The vice-president calls the manager and questions him about the situation. The
manger says that the workers are bored with their jobs and their salary is not adequate. He is not
willing to take a decision. What should the V.P. do? Who is at fault? Devise a solution.

 A software company was entering a new area of MIS. This company had a good reputation
in the software areas. The company won a contract for MIS for a pharmaceutical company. The
project was scheduled for completion in one year. But after 8 months a large part of the project was
incomplete. Not completing the project on schedule will bring loss of face and litigation for the
company. What should be the company do?
 Mr. A works in a multinational firm where he is Senior Manager (Production). Recently, Ms.
B was appointed Vice President of the company, with Mr. A reporting to Ms. B. Due to some
problem in the production line, Ms. B requests a late evening meeting with Mr. A. When Mr. A goes
for the meeting, Ms. B makes some inappropriate advances on him. Mr. A promptly reports the
matter to company HR manager. The HR manager finds it hard to believe Mr. A's story and along
with Ms. B, accuses him of inappropriate conduct. The matter has leaked to the press and is causing
bad publicity for the company. What should the company do?

 A person with software skills gets a job in a hardware firm, on a temporary basis. He is not
doing well and is feared to be sacked within one year. His boss gives him letters of recommendation
to apply elsewhere. At the end of the year, when is to be thrown out, he files a case against the firm,
showing the recommendation letters. How will the company come out of this mess?

 Mr. X has a distinguished academic record and excels in sports and other extra-curricular
activities since childhood. He joined ABC as salesman. In the company it was noticed he was
conceited and his interaction with other people was not exactly cordial. He was indifferent to
suggestions from superiors and subordinates. However, he was a star performer as salesmen and
always crossed targets, in the time he had spent with the company. The company needs a new
regional sales manager to improve the performance of a loss-making region, should they appoint
him?

 The M.D.'s driver had been with the company for 25 years. He was very good at his job. One
day he took the car home after dropping the M.D. late at night. While driving him, he accidentally
kills a girl crossing the road. Although it was not his mistake, the court punishes him. The personnel
officer in the company recommends dismissal. What should the company do? Retain him or fire
him?

 A restaurant owner is currently setting up a new restaurant. For the restroom, he has three
options: paper towels, roller towels and hot air dryers. Dryers have an initial cost of Rs. 500 each
and monthly service charges of Rs. 100. Paper towels cost 5 paisa and the number of paper towels
used varies directly with the number of customers. Toweling rolls cost Rs. 5 per roll and will be
changed daily. Which option should the owner go for considering this is going to be a posh
restaurant?

 Mr. A buys a two-storied house which already has two tenants residing in it. The tenants
refuse to vacate the premises even after notices and reminders. On court's order, the ground floor is
vacated to enable Mr. A to shift to his new house. However, the tenants on upper floor have made
 life a living hell for Mr. A. The upper floor tenants have secured a stay order in the case. Mr. A's
lawyers, in connivance with the tenants, have suggested him to reach for a out-of-court settlement
by paying hefty amount to the tenants. Mr. A is unable to pay such a huge amount. What should Mr.
A do?

 John was the personnel executive of a reputed bank and had been working there for 15
years. During this period he had developed a good rapport with the subordinates. The subordinates
commonly sought his help for their personal problems. Frank was a clerk and had been working
with the bank for the past 20 years. One day, Frank went to John and confessed to him an event of
his past. He said that when he was a teenager, he was caught stealing and had been sentenced to
prison for 2 years. But he escaped from the prison, when 6 months were left. This had been a secret
since, but he often had nightmares and he asked John to help him. John expelled Frank from the
bank and handed him over the police. When the Vice-President came to know about John's actions,
he sacked John on the grounds that he had breached the faith of the employee. John wrote a letter to
the President explaining that he was not a priest and so cannot be expected to remain confidential.
Since Frank was a runaway convict he had done his social duty by handing him over to the police.
Moreover, it was company's policy not to employ any ex-convicts. Since all his actions were
justified, he should be reinstated. What should the president do?

 Illingworth is a engineer in forging division of BAB, an engineering company. He has been

working in the organization for the last 6 years and has been consistently rated as one of the most
innovative employees of the organization. Illingworth came out with a proposal to import 2 forges
from Germany which could save a lot of money and increase productivity of the organization. The
management gives an in principle approval. Illingworth goes ahead and orders for the import. At
the close of financial year, Mr. Rarely the chairman gets to know that the financial position of the
company is not sound and that he has to curtail unnecessary expenditure. Mr. Rarely calls
Illingworth and says that the management is not supporting his project which is going to cost the
company 4.5 Cr. Illingworth is held responsible for the decision to import the forges. What happens
to the project initiated by Illingworth?

 Litson, a textile company is relocated from Murray to Fairley due to high labour costs. It
Advertises for posts at the new location and gets around 500 applications out which 260 were
selected. Three other companies in the same region lose their competent employees to Litson. They
accuse Litson of foul practices. One of the three companies which have lost its employees to Litson
is a customer of Litson and accounts for 18% of the market share of Litson's products. This
company threatens to cancel all its orders to Litson, if he doesn't restrain from poaching people
from the company. What should Litson do?
 Co. A is the manufacturer of large jet engines in the U.S. with a 40% market share. The major
purchasers of jet engines are the commercial airlines. There is one major U.S. competitor and a
potential Japanese competitor who will not be able to enter the industry for another 10 years. The.
U.S competitor's prices are below Co. A's but it delivers the engines in 3 months while Co. A does it
in 2 months. Co. A is going into losses. What should the higher management do?

 A South India based food retailer is looking to expand into North India. The retailer has 15%
market share in South India, with three major competitors having 10-12% shares each. The rest of
industry is fragmented amongst smaller players. Two of the competitors already have operations in
North India. Our company has no experience of retailing n North India and a minimal knowledge of
the region. Should the company open stores in North India too?

 A lady by the name of Lata has been working in an insurance company for the last 5 years,
joins a fast moving consumer goods company. She is a very bright prospect and does outstandingly
well in her training period of one year and her colleagues during that period also vouch for that fact.
After one year of training, she is given charge of a small territory in which she does very well and is
again praised by her colleagues and supervisors alike. She is then given charge of a much larger
territory after a few months. Her supervisor after a time complains to the senior management that
Lata has not been good at her job and is finding it difficult to handle her customers. Even the person
in charge of overseeing Lata's training personally, reports that she is not performing well. Lata in
turn complains that her job is going on perfectly well and if there are any complaints it's because
she is being victimized in the male dominated atmosphere. The matter is then reported to the head
office. What should head office do?

 M. Soft is a software co. established 6 years ago by PCC (a construction firm). PCC cannot
give a very high salary as it would not be consistent with their other business. The ultimate aim of
MSoft is to enter the export market but in 6 years they do well in the domestic market. MSoft
decides to hire a firm SYSQS to start a training program and to improve their business operations.
SYSQS does a good job and MSoft starts to reap the benefits in the form of several prestigious
projects. MSoft employs 15 new people. Then in the middle of a crucial project, two senior
executives leave for better remuneration. What should the GM of MSoft do?

 A fertilizer company, Pizza and Urea, is located near a village, Payamudirsholai on the banks
of river Pamba. One day, the villagers find fish dying due to fluid waste from the fertilizer plant. The
community makes a representation to the Govt. through their local MLA and fishing being the main
source of income for these villagers, Govt. issues an order whereby the fertilizer company is to be
closed down and they also have to pay compensation to the villagers, while the fertilizer company's
 contention is that it is not due to their fault. The company manages to get a stay order on the govt.
ruling from the High Court. While, the social activists go to Supreme Court and hope for justice,
common villagers suffer due to the death of fish. Suggest a solution to the problem in the case.

 Chemco is a subsidiary of an engineering company with a turnover of Rs 75 Crores and a

15% bottomline. It initiated implementation of an enterprise wide integrated software and systems
solution and hired the best consultant - Dramco. The scheduled budget was Rs. 2.5 crores and time
frame was 2 years. At the end of 2 yrs, a committee was formed to review the implementation part.
The MD found that the project was only 40% complete and facing serious cost and time overruns.
The top management blames the consultant and the plant level managers and workers for the
delay. On the other hand, the consultant blames top management. Identify the problem and discuss
the course of action.

 A bindaas group of eight Dil Hai University students plan to go on a motorbike expedition to
the nearby hill station, Smile, on a three day break. On the way to the hill station, they have to go
through a village hamlet. One of the two vehicles, which were cruising ahead of the other two, runs
over a village kid and flees from the spot. Meanwhile, elders in the village come to know about the
incident and decide to search for the culprits. For the students this is the only route to get back to
their home town. The group has four girls whose safety had to be taken care of. If you are the
members of this bindaas group, what would you do?

 Over the past few years, a retail bank has moved from 10 branches in one state to 100
branches in 8 states. All the branches are operated autonomously and the company as a whole is
losing money. Specifically, the branches in four of the backward areas are losing money. But,
government regulations state that it must have some branches in backward areas too. In the past,
the bank has tried to mandate cost reductions and had formed committees with representatives
from each branch, but to no avail. What should the bank do now?

 There is a private rail company 'Aage Nahin Jayenge'. Its trains aren't running on time. So,
there is lot of criticism in newspapers. The manager appoints a person as in-charge of a 'Punctuality
Cell' and gives him all the powers and asks him to deliver the results. The person tries to coordinate
everything. Drivers who don't run the train on time are asked to report to the manager. But the
drivers and station masters say that it’s not their fault. The tracks are bad and motor engines used
are quite old. What is the manager supposed to do?

 Gwalior Rooyi is to setting up a textile plant in a Nivunakinapalli, which doesn't have too
many skilled workers. When this plant starts recruiting, they end up with people already employed
 in the (only) 3 other existing industries. They are accused of “buying” out people and threatened
with loss of market share due to losing out on present customers.

 A major airline with a reservation system is thinking about working with a software
developer to add a feature to its system which can track fraud by travel agents. The primary fraud
perpetrated by travel agents is backdating of tickets, e.g. issuing 14 day advance purchase ticket 10
days before the actual flight. How should the airline evaluate whether they should add this feature
or not?

 A student gets admission to a premier engineering college securing a very high rank in the
entrance test. However, his performance in the first year is very bad and he fails in two subjects.
Simultaneously, a rumor starts floating around in the engineering college that this student cheated
in the entrance test to secure very good marks. This loss of repute for the examination procedures
is putting pressure on the Principal to quell the issue. However, some students are demanding a
high level enquiry, which would lead to a high drop in institute's reputation. What should the
Principal of the engineering college do?

 New Media is an Internet Service Provider that has had two continuous years of high
profits. However, this quarter, the profits have fallen by 50%. What can be the possible causes for
this? As a group, work out an action plan to save the company based on the causes of decline in
profits.