Case study on decision making

and delegation

By : B N Nagaraj
Decision making
 Many Companies work in a professional manner
and gives authority to take decisions
 But some Companies boasts about this and still
have power with top boss and others should just
follow what is told to do.
 OR they take decision and this has to be
implemented in all perspective
 OR they would have already pre conceived ideas
and force you to implement what is in their mind.
Decision making
 In this presentation I am trying to project live examples
which really happened in one of the organisation but with
slight touch of humour
 This also does not mean that HR guys can not make
decision on their own.
 What ever the decision given by the top, the HR guy has
to weigh the pros and cons and implement.
 Should feel the pulse of the people before implementing
or suggesting new ideas.
 Should be able to communicate to the top the practicality
of any new idea or method
Case study : 1
 The Managing Director of a firm wanted to introduce
Banana in the menu of canteen
 He called the HR guy and told him to have Canteen
committee meeting and discuss about this.
 The HR guy called for a meeting and suggested this
 But the question came when to give the banana –
During the Break fast time or during lunch ?. All were
hesitating to take a decision.
 HR guy told – wait,wait I will ask MD and come back
Case study : 1 contd
 He came back and said, MD has told us to give during
Lunch time.
 But again one more question Came up – is it before
lunch or after lunch ?
 HR guy told – wait,wait I will ask MD and come back
 He came back and said, MD has told us to give after
lunch as fruits are eaten after lunch
 But again one more question came up – whether to give
green ripe bananas or yellow ripe bananas ?
Case study :1 contd
 HR guy told – wait, wait I will ask MD and come back
 He came back and said, let us give yellow ripe banana
as it is good for health.
 But again one more question came up – Whether the
banana to be peeled and kept in the plate or the whole
fruit to be kept ?
 HR guy told – wait, wait I will ask MD and come back
 He came back and said – MD has told us to peel and
keep it so that it will save time and they can go back to
work fast.
Case study :1 contd
 But again one more question came up- Whether
to eat the banana or to eat the peel ?
 This time the Committee took a bold decision
and said let us not go back to MD. We shall eat
the banana and throw the peel !!!
 A major decision taken by the canteen
committee !!!!
Case study : 2
 MD of the firm wanted to change the colour of the uniform
issued to employees
 He called the HR guy and asked him to get seven sample
colour pieces and show it to him.
 Promptly HR guy brought and displayed them to MD.
 MD said, he liked the cream one. How ever he wanted to
take a democratic decision.
 He asked the HR guy to take an opinion pool by showing the
colours to employees .
 Promptly the HR guy circulated to 150 employees and took
the opinion
Case study : 2 contd
 In the opinion pool Light blue colour got the
maximum voting.
 When the HR guy told this to MD , he said there
is some thing wrong. “Do one thing – get all the
colours stitched to uniform and take another
round of opinion.”
 HR guy promptly did the same and took one
more round of opinion.
 Again the the Blue colour won.
Case study : 2 contd
 But again MD said, some thing has gone wrong
– get it stitched in different styles and take one
more round of opinion.
 HR guy promptly got them stitched in different
styles and took one more opinion.
 Again the Blue colour won
 But again MD said - something, some where we
have gone wrong.
Case study : 2 contd
 He instructed the HR guy to call 7 employees and
make them wear the seven different colour
uniforms and display the same to employees and
take one more opinion
 This time also the Blue colour won.
 But MD said again - some thing has gone wrong. I
think you should bring all 7 employees wearing
uniform in front of me, let me see it.
 HR guy did the same.
Case study : 2 contd
 After seeing all the employees wearing
different colours, MD said – “I told you in
the beginning itself, see the Cream colour
looks so nice. I think we should issue
cream uniform to all.
 HR guy had to follow the decision given by
MD and had to convince all employees !!!!
Case study :3
 MD of the firm wanted to introduce Hand pound
red rice, Vegetable oil for frying, and Brown
bread as menu in the canteen, as they are good
for health.
 Against the wish of the employees the same
was introduced and the employees had no
option.
Case study:3 contd
 One day after the lunch one of the employee was having
the Brown Bread in his hand and chit chatting with his
friends in a group out side the canteen .
 At the same time MD of the firm was also nearby and
talking to some one.
 At that moment a dog came near the group of
employees standing.
 The employee who had the bread loaf gave it to the dog.
The dog sniffed it, grabbed it and started walking.
Case study : 3 contd
 The employee kept on watching the dog and told
his friends not to disturb him
 MD who was nearby also heard this and was
curious and came to the employee and asked –
why are you staring at the dog for such a long.
 The employee answered with out hesitation - Sir
I want see how far the dog goes after eating this
bread loaf and conks dead.
Case study : 3 contd
 MD understood the message and stopped
issuing Brown bread, Hand pound red
rice and vegetable oil fried items in
canteen !!!!!
Case study : 4 contd
 A corporate office was four storied building and
had a lift.
 MD of the firm got a bright idea and called the
HR guy and instructed him
 Please display on the notice board and near the
lift, a placard – ” EMPLOYEES BELOW 30
YEARS OF AGE USE STAIRCASETO BURN
THEIR CALORIES”
 HR guy did the same promptly
Case study :4 contd
 Some employees seeing this strictly followed
 But some young employees especially who were
directly selected from Campus recruitments
started commenting and murmuring and still used
the staircase
 But some how wanted to convey to MD that they
are not happy about this.
 They started commenting to HR. Why
Management should tell us how to burn our
calories. We know how to do it.
Case study : 4 contd
 In one of the monthly meeting of freshers with MD
this topic came up.
 Intelligently the freshers calculated the time taken
for them to climb up the stairs case and rest time
needed for them after climbing
 They pointed out with the statistics the waste of
office hours per day/per month/per year and how
it can be better utilized.
 After the meeting the HR guy was called by MD
and asked to remove the placard near the lift.
Case study :4 contd
 He also commented – “You HR guys
should apply your mind before doing
something – Don’t follow the blind
instructions given by MD”
 What is the Lesson learnt ???????
Case Study : 5
 In an organization there were many above the
age group of 40 years.
 The MD of the firm was health conscious.
 He decided to introduce low calorie diet in the
canteen for above 40 years of age.
 He called the HR guy and asked him to call a
dietician and design a lunch with low calories
diet for above 40 years of age.
Case study : 5 contd
 The HR guy promptly called a dietician and designed a
lunch with low calories and introduced in the canteen.
 Displayed the contents of the lunch on the counter
every day and instructed the above 40 group to have this
lunch.
 For few days it worked fine.
 The above 40 employees after some days started taking
this in addition some more dish from the regular counter
to supplement the short comings and also some food
stuffs were tasty in the regular counter.
Case study : 5 contd
 After some days people who took lunch from
both the counters put on weight.
 After some more days no body went to the
counter above 40 lunch.
 All started taking lunch from the regular counter
by selecting what ever they felt like eating.
 So – what is the lesson learnt ????
Lesson learnt
 You might have come across such
decisions making in your organization
 Please post them in citeHR for benefit of
other members.
 Comment on lesson learnt ????
Thank you
 B N Nagaraj
 Very few organisations delegate authority through a
system of responsibility and accountability. If the HR
man was made responsible and accountable for all his
actions, then MD would not have been troubled to take a
decision on matters which would have no bearing on the
long term perspectives or vision of a company. In certain
cases where authority is delegated HR professionals
have failed in capitalising them properly in managing
company affairs correctly and credibly thereby the MD
loosing faith in the sub-ordinates.