Case Study 1

Technology in Asian motors a need for the hour which is about Asian Motors ltd. This Human Resource Management Case
Study deals with the external factors affecting the organisation specially challenging HR department. This case study can be
categorised under Organisational development, organisational Change, External Factors affecting HR etc.

HR Case Study 1: Technology in Asian motors a need for the hour

o Asian motor Ltd is an automobile spare part company which is there in the market from 6 decades. It was serving to
the needs of the customers (majorly focused on 3 companies) by giving product delivery time to time and goods with
good quality. To achieve the above said things Asian motors had to walk a long history. The work force is the main
reason because of which Asian motors is well known for its timely delivery and good quality goods.
o Most of the employees in Asian motors are associated with the organisation for more than 3 to 4 decades. It is said
that the one who join the organisation as a fresher will leave the organisation as a retired person only. The turnover
ratio is very low in Asian motor ltd due to the feel of satisfaction and job security provided by Asian motor ltd
management.
o Till last year everything was fine with Asian motors. During the last year the scenario has changed. Number of
competitors enters in the market and each one of them was well equipped with all modern technologies. 2 among
the major 3 customers who applied for Standards like TQM ISO started pressurising Asian motors to go for modern
technology as a part of their Standards process. They want the goods that are manufactured through modern
machineries.
o The management is also ready to go for an organisational development by accruing new machines and adopt all
required modern technologies and allocated a big amount of fund towards this plan. The management was fully
aware that to sustain the business they have to go for Organisational change and development. The management
hired an OD consultant who will work out a plan for the change and find out the hurdles in implementing the plan.
o The OD consultant stated in his report that, the employees are the major hurdles in achieving the target of modern
plant in Asian Motors. The reasons stated by him are: -

a) Very old employee who are not much comfortable in adopting the new system.

b) Chances of employees to show less interest towards Training in the new machineries as their employment period will be very
less due to their age.

C) Major reason is it is not advisable and won’t be fruitful to invest the training and development amount on those employees
(40%) who are going to retire in less than 5 years.

This started a pressure in the minds of the employees about the job security. The union leader quoted in front of management
that “The place which we felt it is our own organisation which will never leave us aside or where we want to serve for our life
time becomes a question mark in front of us”.

The management assured him that “we will never commit such things which will put the employees in loss. There will be no
question of job security here. And we all together will create a modern plant equipped with latest technology at Asian motors.
Our plan is ready for that.”

He presented the plan in front of all the employees after listening to which the employees felt so happy and they confirmed
that it is their own organisation and they will serve for the company till their life time.

Questions

1) Discuss the state of mind of employees of Asian Motors before the plan is discussed with them.

2) Locate and discuss the external factors which are determinates of this case in detail.

3) What would be the possible plan drafted and discussed by the management to solve the issue through which both the
employees and management would be benefited.

4) Discuss the pros and cons of the plan that is been framed in question no.3.
 Case Study 2
Harsha and Franklin both of them are postgraduates in management under different streams from the same B-School. Both of
them are close to each other from the college days itself and the same friendship is continuing in the organization too as they
are placed in the same company, Hy-tech technology solutions. Harsha placed in the HR department as employee counsellor
and Franklin in the finance department as a key finance executive. As per the grade is concerned both are at the same level
but when responsibility is concerned Franklin is holding more responsibility being in core finance.

By nature, Harsha is friendly in nature and ready to help the needy. Franklin is silent in nature ready to help if approached
personally and always a bit egoistic in nature. They have successfully completed 4 years in the organization. And management
is very much satisfied with both of them as they are equally talented and constant performers.

Harsha felt that now a day’s Franklin is not like as he uses to be in the past. She noticed some behavioural changes with him.
During general conversations, she feels that Franklin is taunting her that she is famous among the employees in the
organization, on the other hand, he is not even recognized by fellow employees.

One morning Mr. Mehta General Manager Hy-tech technology solutions shocked while going through the mail received from
Franklin about his resignation. Mr. Mehta called Harsha immediately and discussed the same as she is close to Franklin. By
hearing the news Harsha got stunned and said that she does not know this before she also revealed here current experience
with him. Mr. Mehta who does not want to lose both of them promised her that he will handle this and he won’t allow Franklin to
resign.

In the afternoon Mr. Mehta took Franklin to Canteen to make him comfortable after some general discussion he starts on the
issue. Franklin, after some hesitation, opened his thinking in front of Mr. Mehta. The problem of Franklin is

1) when he comes alone to canteen the people from others don’t even recognize him but if he accompanied by Harsha he gets
well treated by others.

2) one day Both of them entered the company together the security in the gate wished them but the next day when he came
alone the same security did not do so.

3) Even in meetings held in the office, the points raised by Harsha will get more value so many times he keeps silent in the
meeting.

It happens to Franklin that he has to face such degradation in each day of work which totally disturbs him. Franklin also
questioned that “Harsha and myself have the same qualification, from the same institute, passed out in the same year both with
first class. We have the same number of experiences in this organization. Moreover, the responsibilities with me are more
valuable than those of Harsha. After all these things if I am been ignored or unrecognized by the fellow employees my ego
does not allow me to continue here”.

By listening to this statement Mr. Mehta felt that it is not going to be very difficult to stop his resignation. Mr. Mehta explained
Franklin the reasons for such partial behaviour of the employees.
After listening to Mr. Mehta Franklin said sorry for his reaction and ready to take back his resignation. And he called Harsha
and spoke with like before.

Questions for HRM Case Studies: Case Study 1

Find the reason that Mr. Mehta would have given to Franklin.

Solution for HRM Case Study 1

Mr. Mehta listening to this case understood the situation and realized the reason behind the partial response given by the
employees towards Franklin and Harsha. As Franklin said both Harsha and Franklin are passed out from the same college in
the same year. Both of them joined the company together both have the same experience. Even in performance-wise, both
stands in the same level i.e. both are constant performers and good performers.

Franklin analysed all the above-said similarities between him and Harsha. He also stated that he holds more responsibility than
that of Harsha. One thing Franklin did not notice or analysed is the job profile of Harsha. It is true that Franklin holds more
responsibility than that of Harsha but when it comes to direct interaction with employees Harsha wins the employees’ attention
in this aspect. Harsha being a counsellor in HR she faces the employees every day. She developed good rapport among the
employees due to her friendly nature. She is always remembered by the employees whenever they face any problem as she
gives good counselling and most of the time she suggests the best solutions for such issues.
Franklin though holding a key position in finance his profile does not allow him to interact with the employees. Though he has a
helping tendency he does only when someone approached him personally. As the employees of other departments do not have
any relation with him they never approach him for help.
Mr. Mehta having a good experience understood these things when Franklin explained his problems one by one. Later he
relates each situation, explained by Franklin with the above said reasons and made Franklin understood the reality.

Mr. Mehta said that the security in the gate or the employees in the canteen who recognized Harsha and not Franklin would
have interacted with her during counselling or approached her for any issues. And as usual, she would have counselled well or
solved the issues of them that is the reason why they treat her and wish her whenever where ever they meet her. When it
comes to the case of Franklin they would have hardly met him or interacted with him.

When it comes to the point that even in-office meetings Harsha, points are valued so Franklin keeps mum. For this, Mr. Mehta
replied that the points put forward by her would be related to employees or from the employees’ point of view which actually the
management wants to know so they give value to her points. And as quoted Fraklin after, one or two such incidents keep silent
in the meeting. He never made an attempt to raise some suggestions so management does not have any option to listen to that
suggestion.

After listening to all the explanations given by Mr. Mehta Franklin realized his mistake and felt proud of the Rapport developed
by Harsha among the employees. He said to Mr. Mehta that he will take back his resignation. And rushed to Harsha to make an
apology and to meet her as a friend as like his college days.
 Case Study 3
Watson Public Ltd Company is well known for its welfare activities and employee-oriented schemes in the manufacturing
industry for more than ten decades. The company employs more than 800 workers and 150 administrative staff and 80
management-level employees. The Top-level management views all the employees at the same level. This can be clearly
understood by seeing the uniform of the company which is the Same for all starting from MD to floor level workers. The
company has 2 different cafeterias at different places one near the plant for workers and others near the Administration
building. Though the place is different the amenities, infrastructure and the food provided are of the same quality. In short, the
company stands by the rule of Employee Equality.

The company has one registered trade union. The relationship between the union and the management is very cordial. The
company has not lost a single man day due to strike. The company is not a paymaster in that industry. The compensation
policy of that company, when compared to other similar companies, is very less still the employees don’t have many grievances
due to the other benefits provided by the company. But the company is facing a countable number of problems in supplying the
materials in the recent past days. Problems like quality issues, mismatch in packing materials (placing material A in the box of
material B) incorrect labelling of material, not dispatching the material on time, etc…

The management views the case as there are loopholes in the system of various departments and hand over the responsibility
to the HR department to solve the issue. When the HR manager goes through the issues he realized that the issues are not
relating to the system but it relates to the employees. When investigated he come to know that the reason behind the casual
approach by employees in work is

o The company hired new employees for a higher-level post without considering the potential internal candidates.

o The newly hired employees are placed with higher packages than that of existing employees in the same cadre.

Questions:

1. Narrate the case with a suitable title for the case. Justify your title.

Employee Equality is not the need for every hour. In the above-said case, Watson Ltd had provided all facilities to employees at
each grade in an equal manner. But still, the employees started creating certain issues like materials are meeting the quality
supply schedule is not met etc. And the HR manager said that the policy of hiring new employees for the higher post without
considering old potential employees is the major problem.

“Employee recognition VS Employee equality”. As the HR manager states that employees are not been recognized for the
potential rather the company has gone for new recruitment. Because of which the company faces problems.

2. The points rose by the HR manager as the reason for the latest issues in the
organization is justifiable or not. Support your answer with Human resource related concepts.

Yes, the points raised by the HR manager is justifiable because “Human beings are social Animals as popularly” said by many
Human resources Scholars. So human minds demand social recognition, self-respect, consideration, etc for their work and
performance.

In the above-said case, even the company provides and stands by the concept of employee equality when it fails to recognize
the potential talents of existing employee they felt dissatisfaction towards the organization and they showed in the way of
quality issues and slow down production.

Related HR concept.

Slow down Production:

The concept of slow down production is a type of employee’s strike. The Industrial Relations sates that when the employee
wants to show their dissatisfaction to the management but don’t want to go for strike they follow slow down strike. The impact of
which will be understood after a particular time period.

Employee Recognition:
 Human beings can be easily motivated by Rewards and recognition than that of money. In this case, also the employee is not
satisfied even after all facilities just because of the reason that they are not recognized.

Hawthrone Experiment:

In the four types of test conducted by Elton Mayo, the remarkable hike in production is recognized in the stage when they
consulted the employees for the management decisions regarding them. The same thing was missing in Watson Ltd. Before
the new hires if the management consulted the employees both management and employees would have avoided this issue

Hygiene Factor:

The theory of hygiene factors states that there are certain factors related to employees the presence of which will not create a
major impact but the absence of such things will lead to a de motivation to the employees. Employee Recognition is one such
factor when the management fails to do so it will Detroit the employees to a great extent.

3. Help the organization to come out from this critical issue. If you are in the role of HR
manager what will be your immediate step to solve this case.

If I was in the post of the HR manager I will try to discuss the issue and ask for the reason from the management for new
recruiting rather than considering available potential talents. I will personally analyse the reasons provided by management and
if acceptable I will discuss the same with the employees. Everything is possible with a discussion. So I will discuss and
convince the employee that this won’t happen again in the organization. I will also initiate the collective bargaining process for
reasonable salary hike for the existing employees.