NMIMS Semester 3 December 2024 HRM Assignments

Organisation Culture

1. Examine how Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions influence an organisation’s internal practices and employee behaviours. Discuss the implications of high vs. low Power Distance and Individualism vs. Collectivism on organisational communication and teamwork, using examples from multinational corporations?

2. Using Handy’s Organisational Culture Model, evaluate how the typology of culture (Power Culture, Role Culture, Task Culture, and Person Culture) within an organisation influences its operations, employee engagement, and strategic agility. Provide an example of an organisation for each type of culture discussed, highlighting the impact of culture on the organisation’s success and challenges.

3. FinTech Innovators, a prominent player in the financial technology sector, finds itself at a pivotal moment of organisational evolution. Historically entrenched in a Role Culture characterized by rigid hierarchies and defined job roles, the company has embarked on a transformative journey towards adopting a Task Culture. This strategic shift is motivated by the recent acquisition of a startup specializing in financial analytics, a move that not only diversifies FinTech Innovators’ portfolio but also introduces a cultural amalgamation challenge.

This transition aims to foster a more flexible and responsive organisational environment, conducive to innovation and enhanced customer service. However, the path is fraught with potential pitfalls, reminiscent of historical integration failures such as the ill-fated merger between Burger Chef and General Foods. These examples serve as cautionary tales, highlighting the critical importance of careful cultural integration to avoid operational inefficiencies and lost market potential.

The task at hand for FinTech Innovators involves devising a comprehensive plan to seamlessly blend the traditional Role Culture with the more agile and collaborative Task Culture of the acquired startup. Key to this process is strategic communication, ensuring that all employees are aligned with the new cultural direction and understand their roles within it. Leadership plays a crucial role in this transformation, tasked with modelling the desired behaviours and fostering an environment of openness and adaptability.

To ensure the effectiveness of this cultural shift, FinTech Innovators must establish clear metrics for success. These include enhanced organisational performance indicators such as market share growth, product innovation rates, and customer satisfaction levels. Equally important is measuring employee engagement and satisfaction, as these are critical barometers of internal acceptance and assimilation of the new culture.

In summary, FinTech Innovators stands on the brink of a significant cultural transformation. By learning from past merger challenges and meticulously planning the integration of diverse cultures, the company aspires to not only navigate this transition successfully but also to emerge as a more innovative, agile, and market-responsive entity.

a) How should FinTech Innovators approach the integration of the newly acquired startup’s Task Culture to enhance its strategic agility without diluting the core values that have underpinned its success in a Role Culture environment?

b) Considering the historical challenges faced by companies like Burger Chef and General Foods during their cultural integration processes, what specific strategies should FinTech Innovators employ to ensure a seamless cultural merger, thus avoiding similar pitfalls and ensuring employee engagement and satisfaction?

Management Theory and Practice

Q1. Dr. Rohit Mahajan, a promising young researcher, has secured a prestigious research grant. However, claiming the funds requires navigating a complex bureaucratic maze within the university administration. Long forms, unclear procedures, and seemingly endless approvals threaten to delay his crucial project. In light of this case, what principles of bureaucratic managements must Rohit consider? Please elaborate on the relevant principles of bureaucratic management.

Q2. The Marketing Manager, Alex, is implementing a complex communication policy with lengthy approval processes for emails and documents. This coincides with a new CEO who rarely interacts with lower-level employees, creating a sense of isolation and lack of transparency.

How do these communication barriers affect employee morale, engagement, and productivity? How can these communication barriers be fixed to improve communication flow?

Q3. Mohit, a store manager at a university cafeteria, faces two challenges. First, he needs to order enough food items like sandwiches and salads to meet daily demand, which fluctuates based on class schedules. Second, a new student group has requested for a specialized vegan menu option.

Mohit has two decisions to deal with. First, how much of each standard food item he should order. Second, whether he should implement the new vegan menu option.

a. Which of the above two decisions fall under the programmed or non-programmed categories? Explain your answer.

b. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each decision in this situation?

Organisational Theory, Structure and Design

1. Analyze the utility of a line structure in an organisation. Explain which types of companies would prefer this structure. Evaluate the pros and cons of this structure. Give examples as required.

2. It is said that there is no magic formula for choosing the correct organizational structure. However, its suitability should be determined based on certain features. Evaluate the importance of each feature and add suitable examples wherever needed.

3. The external environment of a business is measured by a system called the PESTLE analysis which gives a holistic overview of all the associated contextual aspects influencing it. In the above context, explain with the help of suitable examples:

a. Evaluate the different relevant concepts of the external environment that help in strategy building.

b. Discuss the systems or approaches through which information can be collected regarding the external environment.

Compensation & Benefits

Case study.

Aztec Shoe Industries Pvt Ltd is a medium scale shoe factory manufacturing shoes exclusively for the export sector. It has two plants, one in Pune, Maharashtra and the other in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The year 2015 was not very good for the company as export orders were scarce and both the plants were operating at much less than full capacity. However, in the beginning of 2016, in March there was good news at last as the company was awarded a big contract to manufacture nearly 5 lakh pairs for a European company and as a result of this order, both the plants started working at full capacity again. However, in July 2016 when only about 50% of the order was executed, disaster struck, as the company received news that the European client had declared bankruptcy and the order was cancelled. To overcome the situation, the MD of Aztec, Mr Azad, directed the sales team to procure additional orders on a war footing and also declared that a 20% salary cut will be carried out for all employees (including the MD himself) in the organization for the next three months. He left the implementation of this wage deduction policy, to the General Managers of both the plants.

How the Pune Plant handled the Wage deduction Issue

After receiving the wage deduction policy instruction from the MD, the GM of this plant, Mr Murthy invited the General Secretary (GS) of the Union Mr Mehta for a meeting. Then, he appraised Mr. Mehta regarding the situation which had forced the Company Management to declare a 20% across the board wage-cut for all the employees in the plant. He also requested Mr Mehta to convince the workmen regarding the necessity of this unfortunate action. Following this meeting, the Union GS, Mr. Mehta addressed all the workmen together and discussed the gist of the conversation that he had with the General Mgr and also conveyed the GM’s request for cooperation from all concerned. Later, the GM (Mr Murthy), issued a notice addressing the employees which was pasted on the Main Notice Board and on all prominent places inside the plant. This notice was as follows:-  “It is hereby brought to the notice of all employees that due to the unprecedented financial crisis that our company is facing, the Management is constrained to declare a 20% across the board wage deduction for the next three months. The situation will be reviewed after that period and if the situation improves, later, the deducted money will be returned with interest to everyone.”

A.1) How the Workmen reacted to this Wage-Cut in the Pune Plant

This curt notice pasted on the notice board generated a lot of discussion among the workmen and most were not convinced that the situation was so bad that a 20% wage-cut needed to be imposed and that too at a time when the festival season was approaching. Many also felt that the company may be taking advantage of a bad situation to deny the workmen their dues. However, there were some, very few workmen who appreciated the fact that the management had opted for a general pay-cut and had not resorted to a lay-off.

A.2 Industrial Relation scenario during those three months period

The number of cases of workmen indiscipline was far more during this 3 month period than during the preceding months. Confrontation between the workmen and the management became almost a daily affair, absenteeism was much higher than previous and in general the quality of the production deteriorated. In general, the whole industrial relation scenario deteriorated and naturally the production of the plant suffered. Apart from these, there were also cases of sabotage and surprisingly cases of pilferage were also much higher during this period than in the preceding months.

B) How the Hosur Plant handled the Wage deduction Issue

The General Manager of the Hosur plant (Mr Sukhbir), also invited the General Secretary of the plant and also the most important office bearers for a presentation by his team explaining why this pay-cut was required vis-à-vis the company’s financial position. The basic idea was to convince the Union office bearers that i) this action was unavoidable, given the company’s financial position and ii) this pay-cut was only a temporary affair. The GM also instructed his Sr Mgrs to interact with the workmen under them and explain the logic behind this unfortunate decision. In this way, the GM ensured that the rank and file understood and was convinced about the necessity of this pay-cut decision.

B.1) How the Workmen reacted to this Wage-Cut in the Pune Plant

Due to methods employed by Mr Sukhbir to explain why this action was necessary, unlike the workmen of the Pune plant, the majority of the workmen were convinced about the veracity of this action. They also felt that they also should cooperate with the management to tide-over this difficult period and so extended their cooperation.

B.2 Industrial Relation scenario during those three months period

Surprisingly, cases of indiscipline actually reduced during the three month’s period. Absenteeism during this period actually improved and the production also improved marginally over the previous periods. Cases of sabotage and theft were non-existent.

Q1)  In the Pune plant, how would you explain the “rampant indiscipline” that occurred in those 3 months and can you link the cases of theft with any theory?

Q2)  In your opinion, what factor (or factors) are responsible for the different ways in which the workmen reacted in the two plants.

Case study.

Vasir joined ABC Metaliks Ltd as an “Office Boy” on 1st April 2022 at a monthly consolidated pay of Rs 6000. On 30th September’22, there was a big fire in the office and Vasir showed exemplary courage in dousing the fire and saving company property. However, he was severely burnt and spent three months in the hospital and rejoined duty on 1st of January’23 only.  In acknowledgement of his courage and bravery, the company promoted him to Jr Clerk at a consolidated salary of Rs 8000/month (Minm Wage was Rs 5500 per mth) from 1st Jan’22. On 31st March’23, the company declared a bonus of 15%; paid Vasir Rs 7500/- as yearly bonus considering the three months hospitalisation as  “unauthorized” leave.

Q3a. What would be the yearly earnings of Vasir for his bonus calculation?

Performance Management System

1. Carspares Ltd is a four-wheeler spare parts company which was founded in 2020. The company has 200 employees and provides online spare parts (example car engine parts, windows, second hand accessories etc.) for vehicles across India. Recently the company has also opened 4 showrooms in key locations in India for offline sale of vehicle spare parts. You are the HR Manager of the company and you need to prepare an HR Score Card consisting of four key HR objectives and performance indicators.

2. Anandan works as a Sales Executive in a Shoe manufacturing company. He has been working in the company since the past 14 months. His performance appraisal process has commenced and he is being rated with the BARs method. Using the Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARs) prepare a format that covers the criteria of “Customer Service” and “Listening to the customer”.

3. Prepare 2 performance objectives each using the SMART principles for the following job profiles

a) Admin Manager in a company in the hotel industry.

Manpower Planning, Recruitment & Selection

1. “E-recruitment is one of the modern channels of recruitment”. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

2. Career Anchors play vital role while deciding the career choices. Give your inputs and explain in detail.

3. Human Resource is a valuable asset of the organization. It can make or break the organization.

Performance Appraisal is very sensitive and close to the heart of every employee. So, appraisals need to be done with utmost care.

What challenges a manager might face while appraising the performance of his team members?

Industrial Relations & Labour Laws

1. In a manufacturing unit located in Gujarat, India, there has been a recent increase in instances of industrial unrest, including strikes and disputes between the management and the workforce. The primary issues include disagreements over wage revisions, working conditions, and communication breakdowns. As an HR consultant, propose a set of practical suggestions to improve industrial relations in this scenario. Consider the cultural and legal aspects of the Indian industrial landscape in your recommendations.

2. In a textile manufacturing company based in Mumbai, India, there have been complaints from workers regarding irregularities in the payment of wages. Some employees claim they are not receiving their wages on time, while others express concerns about unauthorized deductions. As an HR consultant well-versed in labor laws, provide a comprehensive set of recommendations to ensure compliance with the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, addressing issues related to timely payment, permissible deductions, and the provision of pay slips. Consider practical steps the company can take to improve transparency and adherence to the legal requirements outlined in the Act.

3. In a heavy machinery manufacturing plant in Mumbai, India, tension has arisen between the management and the workforce due to disputes over wage revisions and working conditions. Workers, represented by a trade union, are demanding higher wages and improved facilities, while the management is concerned about maintaining operational efficiency and competitiveness in the market. Negotiations have reached an impasse, and there is a looming threat of a potential strike. The atmosphere is tense, and both parties are looking for resolution mechanisms.

a) As an HR consultant, the management seeks your guidance on initiating a collective bargaining process with the trade union to address the wage revision and working conditions. Outline the key steps, strategies, and principals involved in effective collective bargaining that can lead to a mutually beneficial agreement. Consider the legal framework and cultural nuances within the Indian industrial context.

b) The workers, on the other hand, are considering the option of a strike to emphasize their demands. As a conciliation officer appointed by the government, outline the steps you would take to facilitate conciliation between the management and the trade union. Highlight the role of conciliation in preventing industrial disputes, the legal provisions supporting the process, and the potential outcomes that can be achieved through successful conciliation.