QUEZON CITY UNIVERSITY

San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CASE STUDY

NAME DATE
YEAR AND SECTION PROF. DR. RONALDO S. TINIO

Case Problem:

Pearl Engineering Company was a large heavy-engineering unit. It attached great importance to
the recruitment and training of its senior supervisors. Apart from selecting them from within the
organization, the company recruited, every alternate year, about ten young engineering graduates
and offered them training for a period of two years, before they were appointed as senior
supervisors. Such appointments were made to about 40 per cent of the vacancies of senior
supervisors that occurred in the organization. This was considered necessary by management as
a planned programme of imparting vitality to the organization. Besides, many of the old-timers,
who had risen from the ranks, did not possess the necessary academic background with the result
that they could not keep pace with the technological changes. Management also believed that in
the rapidly changing conditions of industry, a bank of technically competent supervisors played a
pivotal role, besides serving as a pool from which to select future departmental managers.
Engineering Graduates were selected from amongst those who applied in response to an all-India
advertisement. For the selection of one engineer, on an average, eight applicants were called for
interview. A selection committee consisting of the General Manager, the Production Manager, the
Personnel Manager and the Training Officer interviewed and selected the candidates. The
selection interview was preceded by a written test and only those who secured 40 per cent marks
qualified for interview. The engineers thus selected had to undergo a two year intensive theoretical
and practical training. A well-staffed and equipped Training Institute was directly responsible for
the training of the graduate engineers, besides training trade apprentices and operatives required
by the company. Lectures on theoretical subjects were given at the Training Institute and practical
training was imparted in all the works departments under the guidance of qualified and
experienced instructors. A few lectures by senior officers of the company were also arranged to
acquaint them with the company policies on different matters. During the last quarter of their
two- year training programme they were deputed to work fulltime to familiarize themselves with
the conditions in departments where they were to be absorbed eventually.

On successful completion of training, the graduate engineers were offered appointments,

depending on their performance and aptitude as revealed during training. On placement in the
work departments, however, most of them faced some difficulty or the other.

According to management, some of the heads of departments, who were themselves not qualified
engineers, did not have sufficient confidence in these younger men. They preferred the
subordinates who came up from the ranks to hold positions of responsibility. A few discredited
them saying that it would take years before these youngsters could pick up the job. Besides, some
of the employees, whose promotional opportunities were adversely affected by the placement of
graduate engineers, tried their best to run down the latter as a class, sometimes working on the
group feelings of the workers. Some of the supervisors who were not graduate engineers also
spoke derisively of them as "the blue-eyed boys" of the organization.

Management knew that many of the graduate engineers were not utilized according to their
capacity or training, nor was any attempt made to test or develop their potentialities. They also
knew that many of the graduate engineers were, therefore, dissatisfied with their work life. Some
of them who did not get equal promotional opportunities as their colleagues placed in other
departments, were looking for better jobs elsewhere.

On the other hand, according to management, the young graduate engineers were themselves
partly responsible for the hostile attitude of others in the organization. Some of them failed to
appreciate that a newcomer invited hostility in the beginning and it took time before he was
accepted as a member of the work-group. They did not realize that they would be fully productive
only after gaining about five to seven years’ experience in the organization. A few thought that
they belonged to a superior cadre and threw their weight around. They did not bother to
understand and appreciate the problems of the rank-and-file of employees who worked under
them.

In spite of these drawback, the General Manager of the company felt that these men were a set
of disciplined supervisors. They had a sense of pride in their profession, and with the extensive
training they had received, they would be able to take up any responsible position in the
organization in course of time.

The General Manager could not allow the situation to continue especially when it was a difficult
and costly process to recruit and train young engineering graduates of the requisite type and
caliber. He knew that the prosperity of the company, to a large extent, depended on these young
men.

In addition, a large number of lucrative employment opportunities were available to these young
engineers elsewhere and there was a systematic raid on them, He, therefore, called a meeting of
all heads of departments to review the situation.

Questions:
1. Identify the issues related to manpower planning as evident in the case.
2. Discuss the strategies to tackle the percentage of internal promotion at the organizational
level.
3. What type of additional training programmes should be imparted for direct entrants?
4. Suppose you are the head of the personnel division. What would be your suggestions in
the meeting which has been called by the General Manager?