CASE 1

One way to manage human resources effectively is to treat each member of the organization as
the "member of the family deserving respect and recognition". There should be no class system
or social status differentiation among all the employees from the president down to floor worker.
The tendency of successful organizations is towards participative style of management and
workers' participation in making operational decisions. Nothing is more motivational to workers
than to know that there are no barriers between them and the management and there are no 'ivory
towers' where managers get special and superior treatment than the workers. This style of
management is especially prevalent in the Japanese industries where there is open and free
communication between management and workers. This open interaction among all is highly
encouraged by one Japanese company which has established a reputation for quality, service and
human relations in the whole world. That company is SONY.
To break down barriers between management and staff, Sony has instituted common cafeterias,
known as on-site dining. On-site dining is perceived as more than merely a pleasant dining
experience. According to Sony's director of facilities management, "When employees eat in, they
tend to exchange work ideas. They walk the work at a different level."
On-site dining also saves time as well as abuses of lunch hour time because workers do not have
to commute to different restaurants for lunch.
Morita, a onetime highly successful Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sony, once explained: "I
have always made it a point to know our employees, to visit every facility of our company and to
try to meet, and know every single employee." He himself socialized with the employees
because he considered them as a part of Sony Family. To him, it was not human resource
management; it was respect, for one's family.
The on-site dining facility helps to strengthen work-related relationships and thus increase
employee morale and productivity. It is a one-class cafeteria and there is no special place or
special food reserved for top management. All the employees eat in the same place under the
same environment. It. brings employees together in a more relaxed setting, outside the work
environment, so that they have the opportunity for social bondage. This, in turn, can create work
relationships and enhance productivity. Workers get to know each other on a first name basis and
then try to help each other in the work environment. This also helps in providing easy access to
management and this is a morale boosting element. This is due to the fact that on site dining
encourages intra-company networking by bringing together people at different positions in the
structural vertical as well as horizontal hierarchy from different departments. Such networking
can ultimately facilitate internal communication since people get, to know each other with
respect and affection.
Such Japanese work ethic is being adopted by more and more American companies. They are
beginning to realize that human resource management is not moving the people to work, but

motivating the people to work and motivation comes with respect and recognition rather than
financial incentive or comfortable working conditions alone.
Questions:
1.

How can you describe human resource management at Sony, based on this one element
of 'onsite dining for all the Sony employees?

2.
Do you believe that, too much familiarity at work place lowers discipline and hence
productivity?
3.
Do you think work place should be considered as a social place? Explain.
4.
Write an essay on the reasons that led to Sony being one of the most successful
companies dealing in high quality electronic merchandise.
5.
Do you think that this concept of HRM can be successfully applied in Filipino
organizations too? Why?

Case 2:
Mr. Ajay Aryal had been teaching accounting at Kathmandu University (K. U) for the past four
years. During that time, he had gained much respect from his students, his peers, and the college
administration. He had twice been rated as one of the five best professors at Kathmandu
University (K.U), a rating that carried with it an additional Rs. 10,000 stipend .He was active in
the college, in the community, and in his own private consulting business. He had published a
number of articles and was confident that he would be granted tenure and a promotion to full
professor within three years.
In April, when the dean sent routine contract letters for the next academic year to each faculty
member to sign, Ajay Aryal returned his with a note saying that "he would not be returning".
Instead he was accepting a position in a Chartered Accountants firm.
Shocked by the news, the Dean of KU called Aryal's department chairman to see why this
sudden resignation had occurred. The department chairman, Hari Sharma, said that it was only a
matter of time before it happened: "you see, dean, we cannot compete salary -wise with private
industry. We need to make adjustment so that our salary compressions can be eliminated and
these who are outstanding faculty members be encouraged to stay".
You might be right, Sharma, but we cannot go beyond our means. If we lose a few of the good
ones, that are sad, but if we make concessions to keep Ajay Aryal, what will that are opening us
up to in the future?
Questions:
1.
Describe how the four areas of HRM- acquisition, development, motivation, and
maintenance are affecting Kathmandu University.
2.
Based on your understanding of these four HRM functions, how might they apply-in the
Ajay Aryal's resignation case?
3.
"The rewards/compensation policy of KU is faculty that's why this case has been
occurred." Do you agree or disagree? Give your opinion.
4.
Suppose you are the dean and have just contacted Ajay Aryal and have asked him to meet
with you with regard to his resignation. How would you try to convince him to stay?
Discuss.

Case- 3
Merlyn Monroe is not a complainer. If she has a major ache, she usually suffers in silence.
Although her employer, Atlantic Mutual Insurance, has an employee assistance program- to
provide emotional and psychological support in the work plan. She certainly never thinks of
using it, even if she did have a worry on her mind. They say its confidential but who really
knows? Asked Ms. Monroe, an administrative assistant at the insurance company.
But Merlyn Monroes life changed on September 11, 2001. Her office at 140 Broadway
in New York City, was near the world trade Center. She watched the whole thing from her
50th Floor office window.
Ms.Monroe had never seen so much destruction in her life. She had never seen such a
horrific terrorist attack. Nor had she forced her to relieve 9/11 over and over.
Everything she talked to people they wanted details, which made it worse for her. She had so
much anger about what had happened to her life and lives of so many people and the city where
she worked for 40 Years.
Two weeks after 9/11, Ms.Monroe was still suffering after effects. Even though she lives on
state Island and Atlantic Mutuals offices have been temporarily relocated to Madison, New
Jersey, not an hour goes by when she doesnt have flashbacks of her experiences of 9/11.
Questions
1. What should Atlantic Mutual Management do, if anything, to cope with the aftereffects of
9/11?
2. How long would you expect employees to be adversely affected by 9/11 if a company
provides no formal assistance for dealing with anger and stress?
3. What, if anything, should Management do about employees who appear to be suffering
from such kind or trauma and stress, but will neither admit it nor accept help from their
employee?
4. Outline the role of HR specialist in providing a safe and healthy environment for
employees.

Case 4
Patil, RK Materials, is very angry, anxious and restless. He bumped into Mehta, RK
Materials, threw the resignation letter on his table, screamed and walked out of the room swiftly.
Patil has a reason for his sudden outburst. Details of the story will tell the reasons for Patils
anger and why he put his resignation, only four months after he took up his job.
In the year 2000 Patil quit his prestigious Mittal plant at Vishakhapatnam. As a manager
Materials, Patil had various powers like he could even place an order of materials worth Rs.50
Lakhs. He required nobodys prior consent.
Patil Joined a pulp-making plant located at Kerala, as RK Materials. The plant is part of a
multi-product and multi-plant conglomerate owned by a prestigious business house in India. The
perks, reputation and designation of the conglomerate attracted Patil away from the public sector
steel monolith.
When he joined the eucalyptus pulp making company, little did Patil realize that he needed
prior approval to place an order for materials worth Rs.25lakh. He thought that he had the
authority to place an order for materials by himself worth half the amount of what he used to as
at the Mega Steel maker. He placed the order, materials arrived, were received, accepted and
used up in the plant. Trouble started when the bill for Rs.25 lakh came from the vendor. The
accounts department withheld the payment for the reason that the bill was not endorsed by
Mehta. Mehta refused to sign on the bill as his approval was not taken by Patil before placing the
order.
Patil felt very angry and cheated. A brief encounter with Mehta only made the situation
worse. Patil was rudely told that he should have known company rules before venturing. He
decided to Quit.
Questions
1. Do you think the company has any orientation program? If yes, discuss its effectiveness.

2. If employees were properly selected, there should be no need for an orientation

program. Comment on the statement.
3. If you were Patil, how would you react to the above situation?
4. Discuss the purpose of orientation. What are various requisites of an effective program?

Case- 5
ABC Tool Engineering is a company producing machinery and machine tools and some
other related engineering products for specialist production companies. Its workforce consists of
1000 employees, two-thirds of which work in the production department. In 2000, the
Management decided to introduce a total quality Management Scheme to increase efficiency and
quality control. Throughout the 1990s, more flexible arrangements had been introduced together
with a breakdown of old work demarcation lines. Machines were now built by flexible teams of
workers employing different skills like fitters, electricians, hydraulic engineers, etc. In 2000, the
initiatives towards TQM were made with the introduction of BS 1110. Workers were asked to
inspect the quality of their work which resulted in reduction of the need for specialist inspectors
and both time and money were saved. Agreements were negotiated with the union for extra pay
as a result of the increase in worker responsibility. In 2001, the Management decided to
introduce a full-blown Total-quality Management Scheme on the basis of the success with the
introduction of BS 1110. Problem solving groups were formed based on work groups with
voluntary participation. Group leaders, who were mainly supervisors, were trained is how to run
a group and in problem-solving techniques. The aims of the groups were
1.

Identifying problems inside their work area.

2.

Propose solutions

3.

Identifying problems outside their work area

4.

Refer external problems to a review team.

The review team consisted of Managers with one representative from each group, usually
the group leader. The unions were lukewarm to the scheme and some shop stewards were
directly against it. Within a period of 9 Months, the Total quality Management Scheme was
reviewed and the senior Management came to the conclusion that it had not lived up to
expectations, and few board members called it a failure. Some reason s they had identified were
that team leaders had felt uncomfortable in their roles and there has been a lot of skepticism from
some of the workers.
Questions
1.

According to You, why did the Bs1110 Scheme succeed and the TQM Scheme failed in
ABC engineering? Define the term workers participation in management. Bring out the
prerequisites for its success.

2.

Explain in your own words what empowerment means to you. Also discuss A worker is
a worker, a Manager a Manager and never the two shall meet. Do you agree? Why?

3.

What suggestions would you give to a similar company who were thinking of
introducing Total Quality Management to make it a success?