Case Study
Why the Need to Change
“Artermio was appointed CEO of Rafol's Enterprises upon the death of his father.
‘The company went public under the leadership of Artemio and had to adapt
to being open and transparent to outside investors. ‘There were pressures from
the shareholders to reduce costs and increase profits. In response, Artemio
implemented cost-cutting measures including downsizing by means of enforcing
carly retirement of employees who he felt could not cope in the move to digitize the
operation of the business.
As expected, most of the employees were not happy and this affected the morale
of their employees. Artemio sought the assistance of Ely Buenaobra, the VP of HR.
Ely suggested a comprehensive program wherein it is not just the managers who
would be evaluated based on achieving results but even the employees by means of
demonstrating to their employees that their performance affects company results.
This in turn will show to the shareholders that the company’s primary objective is
to increase performance.
Inspired by the case entitled “A Time for Change” from the book Human Resource Management by
‘Wendell French, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.
1. Do you agree with the proposal of Ely? Explain your answer.
2. If you were an employee of Rafol’s Enterprises, how would you react to
the new evaluation system that will measure your performance vis-a-vis
predetermined outcomes or objectives?
3. Who should be involved in developing employee outcomes/objectives?