Assignment.docx

Case study Indian ethos in Management & CCPR

1. Rohit Narang joined Apex Computers (Apex) in November after a successful stint at Zen Computers (Zen), where he had worked as an assistant programmer. Rohit felt that Apex offered better career prospects, as it was growing much faster than Zen, which was a relatively small company. Rohit joined as a Senior Programmer at Apex, with a handsome pay hike. He joined Aparna Mehta's five-member team. While she was efficient at what she did and extremely intelligent, she had neither the time nor the inclination to groom her subordinates. Time and again, Rohit found himself thinking of Suresh, his old boss, and of how he had been such a positive influence. Aparna, on the other hand, even without actively doing anything, had managed to significantly lower his motivation levels. a. What, according to you, were the reasons for Rohit's disillusionment? Answer the question using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. b. What should Rohit do to resolve his situation? What can a team leader do to ensure high levels of motivation among his/her team members?

2. The Hawkins Supply company is currently faced with an inventory rotation problem. This difficulty stems from the fact that some supplies must be used prior to a stated expiration date. Upon receipt, a new shipment of these perishable items must be stacked beneath the boxes that are currently in inventory. A substantial amount of time is consumed in restacking the items according to their expiration dates. Question: The company would like to reduce the double and sometimes triple handling of items. How can this goal be achieved? Are there alternative solutions which might also be effective?

3. Nokia is the world’s largest handset manufacturer and the maker of four out of every 10 mobiles sold worldwide. In the past few months (fourth quarter 2008), the mobile phone market slowed dramatically and Nokia’s competitors Motorola and Sony Ericsson announced quarterly losses and even the sales of Apple’s iPhone slowed down. The slowing down could hit other handset manufacturers more severely and force them away from the market. However, this isn’t reason enough for Nokia to cheer as its sales also dipped particularly in large markets like China where sales came down by almost 35% from the last quarter. Some analysts even reported that the company’s operating profit margin on handsets was at its lowest point in 10 years.

Why Nokia’s sales and profits dipped?  

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Slowdowns in both developed and developing markets. Nokia’s price strategy: Nokia’s refusal to be drawn into a price war in developing countries. Nokia is clearly struggling to maintain its dominance in the face of aggressive price competition from its rivals. Cash-strapped consumers: In China, which is regarded as the company’s largest market, consumers are now increasingly being price conscious (due to the faltering economy, slowing exports and slumping real-estate market) and are preferring nonbranded inexpensive phones. Competition: The total market for high-end devices increased. But, Nokia’s high-end handsets did not do well as compared to Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry. Increasing sales of cheap lower-margin devices: In the fourth quarter of 2008, margins dipped because a large proportion of sales was of cheap lower-margin devices.

4. In February 2005, at the 3GSM World Congress in France, Sony Ericsson had announced its mobile music strategy. It looked to integrate of high quality digital music players into stylish mobile phones under Sony's world famous Walkman brand. The strategy was to target a specific product portfolio and not look at providing various types of mobile phones across various price points. In the third quarter of 2005, the Walkman phones were launched. The impact was visible in the subsequent quarter itself in terms of increased volumes, sales, and net income for the company. Similar to its success with its camera phones in 2004, Sony Ericsson reported a 36.4 per cent increase over its third quarter figures and 47.1 per cent higher than the figures for the same period in 2004. It even revived Sony's Walkman music player which had lost market share drastically after the launch of iPod by Apple in 2001. However, mobile phone users are known to be quite finicky and generally choose the most popular or the next cool mobile phone in the market. Earlier, users replaced handsets every three years, but with the economy slowing down this is no longer the trend. And with the popularity of Apple's iPhone growing, Sony Ericsson may have reached the end of its good run

with the popular Walkman phones. The general higher price of its phones than its rivals' devices does not help either. Questions: a. Suggest few measures for sony Ericsson music .

5. The failure of the merger between two leading competitors in the global computer industry, Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) and Compaq Computer Corporation (Compaq) failed as the synergies identified prior to the merger did not materialize. HP bought Compaq for US$ 24 billion in stock. This was the largest ever deal in the history of the computer industry. The deal meant combined operations in more than 160 countries and more than 145,000 employees. HP-Compaq would offer the most complete set of products and services in the computer industry. The motivation behind a HP-Compaq merger (whether it made economic sense) and the problems encountered in merging operations is an interesting discussion as the stock prices of both HP and Compaq fell within two days of the merger announcement. An estimated 13 billion dollars was lost (in terms of market capitalization) in this time frame. Shares fell further as industry analysts failed to understand the benefits HP would derive by acquiring Compaq. HP was a market leader in the high margin printer’s business and Compaq, a low-margin personal computer (PC) manufacturer. Moreover, established players like direct marketer, Dell and leading IT service consulting company like IBM would give fierce competition even if economies of scale were to be achieved. With the stock price of HP’s shares stabilising at a level much below than before the merger and the PC & other hardware businesses not making much profits, the merger was ruled a failure. Industry experts felt that HP’s printer business should be spun off into a separate entity. Merger Challenges: Product line integration: This requires discontinuing some products (some loss in revenue) thereby rationalizing the product line. Reorganization: In the computer industry this has always been a failure. Cultural change challenges: HP’s culture is largely based on engineering and compromise, while Compaq had a hard-charging sales culture. Some Facts: HP was founded by Stanford engineers Bill Hewlett and David Packard HP was started in California in 1938 as an electronic instruments company. According to 2003 figures, HP revenues from imaging and printing systems accounted for 31% which was more than seventy percent of total operating profits.

In a statement it said, "ITC believes that this action on its part will create the right climate for a constructive dialogue that will help develop appropriate content, rules & regulations to make the intended legislation equitable and implementable". The complexity of the issue was that, the issue involved the tussle between the ethical and commercial considerations. On the one hand, was tobacco, the most dangerous consumer product known, which killed when used as the makers' intended. Therefore from an ethical standpoint, the Government had to discourage the habit, as it was responsible for the welfare of its citizens. On the other hand, the tobacco Industry was a major contributor to the State Exchequer (In the Year 2000-01 it contributed about Rs. 8000 crores in excise revenue) which was extremely important, given the financial crunch which it faced. In the light of the above statements, what approach should the government choose-the ethical or commercial and is it proper for government to interfere in matters of personal choice in the first place? To make the matter more complex, there was the question- was the objective achievable at all and was it equitable? The answers to these questions lay in understanding the viewpoints of both sides-those in favour and those against such bans.

We have had five or six cases of poisoning of young people who had stomach pain after drinking (the suspect beverages)." In the same week, the governments of France, Spain and Luxembourg also banned Coke's products while Coke's Dutch arm recalled all products that had come from its Belgium plant. The entire episode left more than 200 Belgians and French, mostly school children, ill after drinking the Coke produced at Antwerp and Dunkirk. The company had to assure its British customers that the products made in its UK factories were safe. By June 15, 1999, Coke had recalled about 30 million cans and bottles, the largest ever product recall in its 113-year history. For the first time, the entire inventory of Coke's products from one country were banned from sale. As part of a damage control exercise, Coke sent a team of scientists to Europe. During its visit to Europe after a week of these incidents, Coke's chairman and CEO Michael Douglas Ivester said, "We deeply regret any problems encountered by our European consumers in the past few days." Coke Belgium even announced that it would reimburse the medical costs for people who had become ill after consuming its products.

In the early morning hours of December 3, 1984, a poisonous grey cloud (forty tons of toxic gases) from Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL's)1 pesticide plant at Bhopal spread throughout the city. Water carrying catalytic material had entered Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) storage tank No. 610. What followed was a nightmare. The killer gas spread through the city, sending residents scurrying through the dark streets. No alarm ever sounded a warning and no evacuation plan was prepared. When victims arrived at hospitals breathless and blind, doctors did not know how to treat them, as UCIL had not provided emergency information. It was only when the sun rose the next morning that the magnitude of the devastation was clear. Dead bodies of humans and animals blocked the streets, leaves turned black, the smell of burning chilli peppers lingered in the air. Estimates suggested that as many as 10,000 may have died immediately and 30,000 to 50,000 were too ill to ever return to their jobs.

The catastrophe raised some serious ethical issues. The pesticide factory was built in the midst of densely populated settlements. UCIL chose to store and produce MIC, one of the most deadly chemicals (permitted exposure levels in USA and Britain are 0.02 parts per million), in an area where nearly 120,000 people lived. The MIC plant was not designed to handle a runaway reaction. When the uncontrolled reaction started, MIC was flowing through the scrubber (meant to neutralize MIC emissions) at more than 200 times its designed capacity. MIC in the tank was filled to 87% of its capacity while the maximum permissible was 50%. MIC was not stored at zero degree centigrade as prescribed and the refrigeration and cooling systems had been shut down five months before the disaster, as part of UCC's global economy drive. Vital gauges and indicators in the MIC tank were defective. The flare tower meant to burn off MIC emissions was under repair at the time of the disaster and the scrubber contained no caustic soda. As part of UCC's drive to cut costs, the work force in the Bhopal factory was brought down by half from 1980 to 1984. This had serious consequences on safety and maintenance. The size of the work crew for the MIC plant was cut in half from twelve to six workers. The maintenance supervisor position had been eliminated and there was no maintenance supervisor. The period of safety-training to workers in the MIC plant was brought down from 6 months to 15 days.

In 1996, in the north Indian state of Haryana, the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) promised to make it illegal to buy, sell, consume or produce alcohol in the state if it were elected to the state assembly.1 The opposing parties criticized the HVP for trying to gain political mileage out of a sensitive issue like liquor prohibition. Despite the criticism, HVP won the elections and its leader Bansi Lal carried out the party's promise within minutes of becoming the Chief Minister (CM). Over the next year, the ban cost the state treasury Rs 12 billion in excise revenue and led to a loss of 20,000 jobs in brewing, distilling and retailing of alcoholic drinks. In addition, 40,000 truckers, farmers and bottle producers experienced a substantial decrease in their earnings. The state police filed 98,699 cases involving about 100,000 people caught intoxicated or in possession of liquor. Over 13 lakh bottles were seized and 7,000 vehicles were impounded. The state also saw an alarming increase in deaths, resulting from the consumption of spurious liquor by poor people. To offset the loss of revenue, the government raised taxes and fees for various state-provided services - power tariff were increased by 10-50%, bus fares by 25%, and the petrol sales tax by 3%. New taxes were levied on businesses and self-employed people. Almost overnight, illicit brewing and liquor smuggling became one of the biggest industries in the state. Haryana's tourism industry suffered badly as tourists preferred to visit neighboring states where there was no prohibition. Profits of most hotels and restaurants, including the state-owned Haryana Tourism Resorts reached the nadir. The HVP also paid heavily for imposing prohibition in Haryana. Not only did it lose 8 of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it held in the 1998 parliamentary elections, its leader's son spoke openly against prohibition. As a result, in a 'not-so-surprising' move, the Haryana government decided to lift prohibition in April 1998. The Rs 60 billion Indian liquor industry was delighted by this move. At the same time, prohibition supporters all over the country voiced their objection to this decision, fuelling the age-old dispute over the efficacy of prohibition.

The T-Series Story: A Murder In July 1997, some of the leading personalities from the Indian music industry gathered for a meeting at a five-star hotel in Chennai. Among those attending were representatives from music companies like Venus and Tips Industries (Tips) and the owner of Super Cassettes Industries, Gulshan Kumar (Gulshan). The meeting had been called to persuade Gulshan to co-operate with the other music companies. One of the representatives pleaded with Gulshan, "You've ruined the market. No matter how hard we try to sell, you undercut us. We owe huge amounts to lenders. For God's sake, ease up on your business so that we can carry on with ours." To this, Gulshan calmly replied, "I won't do it any more." Though the others did not really believe him, the meeting ended on a peaceful note. But Gulshan could not continue run his music empire for much longer. A few days after this meeting, he was shot dead, allegedly by the Mumbai underworld.

Two of Indian film industry's prominent names - music director Nadeem Saifi (Nadeem) and a promoter of Tips, Ramesh Taurani (Taurani) - were arrested for conspiring to kill Gulshan.1 The case, covered extensively in the national media, was still being fought in the courts in November 2001, with Nadeem hiding in UK and Taurani out on bail. Gulshan's death brought to the attention of the nation the story of a man who had allegedly built an empire on music piracy and plagiarism. Super Cassettes' 'T-Series' had completely changed the way the Indian music industry functioned, allegedly by successfully exploiting the loopholes in India's anti-piracy regulations. In April 2001, Ramoji Group's Film City, hosted its first English production, 'Quicksand', produced by Ramoji Rao1 and directed by Sam Firstenberg2. Thus, Ramoji Film City brought international (Hollywood) attention to Hyderabad. Ramoji Rao incorporated the Ramoji Group in 1962, with Margadarsi Chit Fund Ltd. By 2001, the Rs. 15 billion Ramoji Group became one of the biggest business houses in India. The group had interests in newspapers and magazines, hotels, films and television, investment companies, condiments and confectioneries, a 1000-acre film city, apparels and handicrafts. (Refer Exhibit I) Over the years, the Ramoji Group under the entrepreneurship of Ramoji Rao, seemed to have set standards in the print, television and the film industry. Analysts felt that Ramoji Rao's excellent business acumen, sharp insight and an eye for spotting out opportunities, made him a successful entrepreneur. Ramoji Rao, started his career in the early 1960s in Delhi with an advertisement agency – Ad Crafts. In 1962, he opened the first branch of Margadarsi – a chit fund company in Hyderabad. Realizing the advertising needs of Margadarsi, Ramoji Rao established an ad agency – Kiron Ads – named after his eldest son. Kiron Ads was the first accredited ad agency in Hyderabad. After a few years, the second branch of Margadarsi was opened in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). This was followed by the setting up of Dolphin Hotel in Visakhapatnam. In the late 1960s, Ramoji Rao also started a magazine for the farmers called 'Annadata' in Telugu3.

introduction She captured the markets around the world and now she wants to conquer space. In an innovative move, Shahnaz Husain has started work on formulations that astronauts could carry with them in their extraterrestrial sojourns to protect their skin from the ravages of space travel and slow down the ageing process. She has sent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) free samples of her moisturizers, hoping that they will be used on space expeditions. Shahnaz Husain is one of India's most successful women entrepreneurs. Her company, Shahnaz Husain Herbals is one of the largest manufacturers of herbal products in the world. It formulates and markets over 400 products for various beauty and health needs and has a strong presence across the globe, from the USA to Asia. In 2002, the Shahnaz Husain Group, based in New Delhi, was worth $100 million. It employed about 4200 people in 650 salons spread across 104 countries. The Group has seen a good growth rate in the 25 years that it has been in business. The average growth rate in the initial years (late 1970s to the early 1980s) was 15-20%. In the 1990s the average growth rate was 19.4%. A number of awards, both national and international have been conferred on Shahnaz Husain. Some of them are "The Arch of Europe Gold Star for Quality", "One of the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World", "The 2000 Millennium Medal of Honor", "Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award", etc. (Refer Exhibit I & II)

The Making of an Entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain belongs to a royal Muslim family which migrated from Samarkhand to India and later held high positions in the princely kingdoms of Bhopal and Hyderabad before India's independence. Shahnaz received her schooling in an Irish convent and because of the influence of her father, Chief Justice N.U. Beg, she developed a love for poetry and English Literature.

The Death of an Icon The 6th of July 2002 was a black day in the Indian corporate history. The Founder and Chairman of the Reliance group of Industries (Reliance), Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani (Dhirubhai) died after a 13 day battle for survival. A perfect combination of entrepreneurship and leadership, Dhirubhai transformed Reliance from a company with a turnover of Rs 640 million in 1976, to one with a turnover of Rs 620 billion in 2002. Starting with a small textile mill in Naroda, in 1966, Dhirubhai took Reliance into various areas like petrochemicals, polyester filament yarn, oil and gas exploration and production, refining and marketing of petroleum, textiles, power, telecom services, information management and financial services (Refer Exhibit I for Reliance Group of Companies). Dhirubhai never followed the textbook style of management. Instead, he evolved a unique style, which combined the American style of entrepreneurship, with the Japanese focus on the latest technology. And to this, he added the innate shrewdness of a Gujarati businessman. Analysts feel that he was a perfect manager of time, money and men and exhibited a passion to find solutions to problems. Dhirubhai started Reliance at a time when most companies in India were owned by the government, and the private players were given stepmotherly treatment by the government while offering licenses and permits. Similarly, when most Indian business houses depended on government – owned financial institutions for funds, Dhirubhai raised capital from the public by offering shares of his companies.

Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was established in 1907 by J N Tata1 at Jamshedpur in Bihar, India. TISCO offered a wide range of products (See Exhibit I) and services including Hot rolled/Cold rolled (HR/CR) coils2 and sheets, tubes, construction bars, forging quality steel, rods, structurals, strips and bearings. It also manufactured material handling equipment, ferro alloys and other minerals, software for process controls, and offered cargo-handling services. In the early 1980s, TISCO initiated a modernization program of its steel plant (See Exhibit II). Explaining the need of modernization, J J Irani, the then managing director of TISCO said, "We would have been finished otherwise.... you cannot fight a modern-day war with weapons of the Mahabharata. We would have been annihilated had we not modernized. We realized this and embarked on the four phases of modernization. We addressed our drawbacks like the steel making process, our weakest link." By mid-1990s, TISCO had become India's most cost-effective steel plant. It also became Asia's first and India's largest, integrated steel producer (ISP)3 in the private sector. By 2000, eight divisions of Tata Steel were ISO-140014 certified, including Noamundi Iron Operations, West Bokaro Collieries, Ferro Alloy Plant, Joda, Sukinda Chromite Mines, Joda East Iron Mines, Tubes Division, and Growth Shop & Steel Works. n May 2002, NTT DoCoMo (DoCoMo) Inc., Japan's largest mobile phone company, announced a net loss of ¥ 116.19 billion1 and a goodwill write-off of ¥ 624.6 billion for the fiscal ending March 2002. Though the company registered an increase in operating revenues from ¥ 4,669.37 billion in 2000-01 to ¥ 5167.14 billion, the revenue growth was stated to be well below its company

expectations. Company sources attributed this to the general decline in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for voice services and slower growth in new cellular subscribers across the country (Refer Exhibit I for DoCoMo's financials and ARPU data). DoCoMo's announcement did not come as a major surprise to industry observers, as media reports had been forecasting losses for the company since early 2002 itself. What was noteworthy about this development, however, was the fact that the company was largely believed to be performing exceptionally well in the recent past. The fact that DoCoMo had roped in as many subscribers as the leading US-based media company AOL, but much faster, was often cited as a proof of Japan finally waking up to the challenges of the 'new' economy. Analysts claimed that DoCoMo was paying the price for its aggressive overseas expansion drive during 1999-2002, in the form of these losses. DoCoMo had to take a huge write-off in its books on account of a decline in the value of its foreign investments and the slump in the global telecommunications market in 2001. While some analysts felt that DoCoMo should revamp its global strategy, a few others said that the company should take measures to increase ARPU. In the words of Hironobu Sawake, an analyst at J P Morgan (leading global financial services firm), "The question is whether we can see a rise in profitability." DoCoMo announced that its commitment towards globalization was intact. The company also brushed off analysts' view that the focus should be on increasing the ARPU. Instead, it announced that it would focus more on 3G (Refer Exhibit II for a note on 3G) initiatives (developing and launching more innovative and new 3G technology products). While DoCoMo was still lauded for its well designed and executed strategic and marketing game plan that had helped it build a huge subscriber base over the years, these developments had raised many doubts about its future prospects and its ability to turn itself around.

The Story of the Cellular Phone Brand Orange By the end of 2000, the sun seemed to be setting on the Hutchison empire in India, or at least on its Orange1 brand. Hong Kong-based cellphone operator Hutchison Max Telecom,2 which owned the popular Orange brand in Mumbai (India) might soon have to give it up in favor of the city's second operator, BPL-France Telecom. France Telecom, which acquired worldwide rights for the Orange brand in May 2000 from Vodafone3, was planning to enforce its ownership of the brand in India in a bid to cash in on the popularity of the brand.4 France Telecom was keen on using the brand via its joint venture with BPL5 in Mumbai. Said a France Telecom official, "We are likely to retain the brand for this part of the world. A final decision is likely to be taken early next year". Analysts felt that the Orange takeover could come as a severe blow to Hutchison in Mumbai, as the company could lose its leading position in this market. Hutchison would have to re-invest huge amounts in building up a new brand and giving it the same level of credibility that Orange enjoyed. Analysts also felt that Hutchison, which had controlling stakes in cellular operators in other circles like Delhi, Calcutta and Gujarat, would have to develop a new brand for these circles.6 The company might be hit particularly hard in Delhi, the second largest cellular market in the country. The Hutchison Group had initially planned to launch the Orange brand in Delhi, in May 2000, through its 49 per cent holding in Sterling Cellular. This was later delayed to October 2000. It became clear that the Orange launch in Delhi had run into rough weather. Sudarshan Banerjee, CEO, Sterling Cellular, agreed that there was a delay in the Orange launch in the Capital, but attributed it to an expansion in its network. He Said, "We might launch Orange some time next year in Delhi." The Orange brand was also to be launched in Kolkata, where The Hutchison Group held 49 per cent in Usha Martin. But France Telecom, the foreign equity partner of Hutchison's Mumbai rival, BPL, seemed to be raising objections over the use of the Orange brand name outside the Mumbai circle.

Doordarshan's Problems: Is DD Dead? After years of falling revenues, in 1999-2000 Doordarshan (DD)1 had a revenue growth at 50%. In 1999-2000, DD earned revenues of Rs 6.1mn compared to Rs 3.99 mn in 1998-99. DD showed signs of revival with the launch of DD World (a channel for NRIs) and had relative success with some of its regional channels (Refer Table I for different DD channels). However by the end of 2000-01, DD's honeymoon with success seemed to be over. In 2000-01, DD's revenues were projected to grow at 6-15% while private channels such as Zee TV, Star, Sony had projected 40-50% revenue growth2. Analyst's felt that DD's sagging revenues were only tip of the iceberg. DD was plagued by multiple problems, which found their roots in the mismanagement of affairs. By the late 1990's the private producers, advertisers and audience had deserted DD. Not even one car company advertised on DD and even two-wheeler manufacturers kept a low profile3. Ads of Pepsi and Coca-Cola were found only during sports telecasts. Only FMCG companies stuck to DD because of its terrestrial network to reach the rural and semi-urban audience4. In spite of having over 21,000 employees5, DD outsourced 50% of its programmes from the private producers. In late 1990's DD faced number of allegations of largescale scams and irregularities. Under utilized infrastructure, improper investments and poor financial management plagued the performance of DD. In 1992, when the Government opened airwaves to private players, DD faced the heat of competition from private satellite channels. In the Cable & Satellite (C&S) homes it was found that there were hardly any viewers for the DD programmes. The depleting Television Viewer Ratings (TVRs)6 of the DD programmes was also a cause of concern as advertisers deserted due to its low viewer ratings. Analysts felt that DD would need a budgetary support of Rs 5 bn during the fiscal 2000-01 to sustain itself as its revenues would not be enough to meet its expenditure. Analysts questioned the capacity of the Government to own DD and many felt that privatization would be the only solution.

Air India - The Virgin Airways Saga: Introduction In December 1999, India's national carrier, Air India (AI) signed an agreement with Virgin Atlantic Airways1 (VA) by which VA would fly three flights on the DelhiLondon route on a code-sharing2 basis with A-I. This was hailed as a significant development for the ailing A-I. The code sharing arrangement was expected to trigger off a price war in the Delhi-London route where British Airways (BA) was a dominant player. According to the agreement, VA would fly three more flights a week on this route by 2001. In July 2000, VA started off with two flights a week on Thursdays and Saturdays from Delhi. It planned to have a third flight by October 2000. However, till late 2001, VA was still flying two flights. A-I did not seem ready to allow VA fly the third flight because A-I too had a flight from Delhi on Monday, the day VA wanted to fly from Delhi. Meanwhile, the Government of India (GoI) granted rights to BA to fly three more flights per week from Kolkata to London. This was in violation of the bilateral pact signed between Britain and India according to which BA and A-I were allowed to fly 16 flights a week to each other's country. BA was already flying 16 flights a week-seven from Delhi, seven from Mumbai and two from Chennai. In late 2001, VA was severely affected by the downturn in the global aviation industry. VA was finding it difficult to sustain its operations in India with only two flights a week. VA had made it clear that unless it was allowed to increase the frequency to three, its exit from India would be a distinct possibility.

Background Note A-I was registered as Air India International in 1948. Later in 1962, the word 'International' was dropped and from March 1994, the airline began functioning as Air-India Limited. In 2000, A-I's network covered 44 destinations (Refer Exhibit I). In addition, A-I had a code sharing arrangement with a number of foreign airlines. These included Air France, Swiss Air, Bellview Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Aeroflot, Air Mauritius, Kuwait Airways and Emirates.

Cartoon Network - The Indian Experience: Cartoon Crazy Kids (and Parents) In March 2001, leading satellite television (TV) channel, Cartoon Network, held a cricket tournament titled 'Toon Cricket 2001,' in Mumbai, India. In the tournament, famous cricket players were to play against famous cartoon characters such as Scooby Doo, Tom, Jerry, Fred Flintstone, Dee Dee, and Johnny Bravo. The tournament was a promotional exercise, aimed at increasing the popularity of the channel and its cartoon characters. The match was scheduled to begin at 2.30p.m, but the 35,000 plus capacity stadium was almost full by 1.30 p.m. with children and their parents. By 2.30 p.m. the stadium was overflowing and many were waiting outside trying to enter the stadium, leading to a stampede. As the organizers kept trying to manage the crowds, they had to delay the match till 4.00 p.m. When the organizers announced the start of the match, children and their parents went wild with excitement and broke the barricades to meet their favorite cartoon characters. When pleadings and requests failed to control the crowd, the organizers had to threaten the children with the cancellation of the match to send them back to their seats. Even then, when the match began, a ring of people stayed on the field, surrounding the pitch, obstructing the view of the people who returned to the stands. The organizers and the security people were helpless, as they did not want to physically force the children off the field. By 5 p.m. many disappointed people left the stadium saying, "We can't see anything, what's the point?" Observers remarked that judging by the number of people who were there in the first place, the stadium was still probably full, even when half the crowd had left. The crowd eventually settled down and the second half of the match went well. The cartoon characters entertained and delighted the crowds with their antics. This overwhelming response to the tournament was beyond even Cartoon Network's expectations. A stunned looking Cartoon Network official said, "I've never seen so many kids!" Though it was not the first time Cartoon Network had organized such a promotional event, they had never seen a response like this, where cartoon crazy children and their parents had gone so 'completely berserk.' Even the organizers were amazed at the popularity of Cartoon Network's characters.

Kinetic Honda - The Break-Up: Break-Up Blues It was in August 1998 that the first chinks in the Kinetic Honda Motors Ltd. (Kinetic Honda) armor were reported by Business India. Both Honda and the Firodias of Kinetic were quick to deny rumors of a split, though reports of the Firodias quietly raising resources to buy out Honda's stake kept surfacing. The Firodias were even reported to have securitised the assets of their twowheeler finance company - 20th Century Kinetic Finance (TCKF) - to raise this money. Trouble had been brewing since the company recorded a loss of Rs. 6 crore in the first quarter of 1998. Eventually Honda decided to put the matter to rest and called Arun Firodia (Firodia) to Japan in December 1998. Honda made Firodia an offer - either he buy their 51% stake or Honda would buy out his 19% stake. Analysts remarked that it was difficult for Firodia to let go of the company that he had nurtured for the best part of his life. Eventually, Firodia negotiated a deal with Honda, to acquire its stake at Rs 45 per share, (when the market price was almost double), at a total cost of Rs 35 crore. He also signed an agreement with them for continuing to manufacture and sell the existing Kinetic Honda models. Honda also agreed to continue providing technical know-how support in return for royalty and technical fees from Kinetic. Considering the fact that Honda was the world's biggest and most successful scooter manufacturer, the pullout came as a surprise to industry observers, as it was quite unlcharacteristic of Honda Motor to give up a segment. More so, as just a couple of months earlier, Honda had been reported to be planning to make further investments in Kinetic Honda1. This was seen as a major setback for the company. It was also perhaps the only instance of a Honda failure anywhere in the world.

The Marketing manager of AMK Enterprises, Roopali Deshmukh stepped out of the conference hall in a pensive mood after an important meeting called by the CEO. The meeting was attended by the heads of various departments in the company and was convened to discuss the targets for the coming assessment year. Deshmukh hada formidable sales target to achieve and wondered how she would be able to meet those seemingly impossible goals This fear was further aggravated by the fact that the productivity levels of employees in the company had been falling. Deshmukh was under tremendous pressure from the management to improve the

performance of her team. She also had to deal with the decreasing levels of employees’morale in her 24member team. As a first step, Deshmukh informed her team members about a meeting that she planned to hold the next day. She then drafted a plan of action that she intended to discuss with her team. The next day, Deshmukh began the meeting by informing her team members about the corporate meeting she had attended. She then said, “We have a difficult task ahead for this year, and your participation and involvement is essential to achieve the goals”. She then invited suggestions from her team members regarding the role to be played by each of them. The meeting then progressed on to setting of individual targets for by each team member as,it was felt that this would help in accomplishing the organizational goals. Specific goals were, therefore, set and agreed upon by all the team members. The team aimed to increase the organizational profits by 18% over the next six months. They sketched out a plan of action to achieve the targets set for the team and decided that they would meet once every two months to monitor their progress.Two months later, the team met again and received their progress. Deshmukh also gave a feedback on the performance of every memberof the team. The team then collectively identified the areas of improvement and decided upon the measures they would take to overcome their deficiencies. This continued for the rest of the year. The final review meeting was held just before the yearly corporate meeting attended by the top management. The team was surprised to see that they had achieved their targets. Thus, effective planning and control mechanisms helped the team achieve their short term goals, and this in turn, helped in the achievement of the organizational objectives. Besides, the employees were also motivated as the management gave adequate recognition to their involvement and participation in achieving team goals. The target to be achieved by the team was highly challenging. This further motivated the team members as they had better opportunities to prove their problems solving skills. Thus, the outstanding performance of the sales team helped the organization achieve in the long term.

Questions for Discussions: 1. Roopali Deshmukh followed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while setting goals for team members. Discuss the various phases of the MBO process that helped her team achieve its goals 2.Explain briefly the process of MBO and the various advantages of implementing MBO in organizations SUGGESTED ANSWERS 1. Roopali Deshmukhfollowed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while setting goals for team members. Discuss the various phases of the MBO process that helped her team achieve its goals. ANSWER Roopali Deshmukh implemented the MBO process as an intervention to improve the productivity ofher sales team. She successfully implemented the process by following a sequence of effective planning, control and development. The following are the various phases of the MBO process that led to its success:The MBO program was initiated by the top management which set the overall organizational goals and communicated them to the people down the hierarchy. However, the management did not interfere much with the means of achieving the objectives. In other words,it gave adequat e autonomy to its employees to implement the progress. Deshmukh then drafted a plan of action to achieve the targets decided by the management for the year. She invited employee participation in various aspects of implementation of the program. She encouraged her team members to decide the role each one would play in role to achieve the team’s target. She sought their suggestions to play in order to achieve the team targets that each individual would achieve. These short term targets were in line with the team’s long term goals and objectives. Deshmukh also set specific time frames specific time frames for the accomplishments of the targets. Thus the goals were not only specific but also time bound. Deshmukh closely monitored the performance of all the team members without actually

interfering in their job. She also offered positive feedback to her subordinates and this helped them overcome their shortcomings and perform effectively.Thus the MBO program implemented in the sales team proved to be beneficial to both the employees and the management 2.Explain brieflythe process of MBO and the various advantages of implementing MBO in organizations ANSWER Management by objectives is a goalsetting tool where goals are set by employees in collaboration with the management. The aim of management by objectives is the achievement of organizational goals. MBO involves setting up shortterm goals for employees inline with the long term objectives of the organization. MBO is thus an effective tool for planning, control nad development.Most organizationsuse MBO as a control mechanism to ensure that there is no deviation between employee performance and organizat ional objectives. Organizations also use MBO as a performance measurement tool. Since MBO is a bottom -up approach, the organization gains from the participation of employees in the establishment and achievement of employee goals. Since individual goals areset collaboratively by employees andemployers and are closely linked to the organization’s mission and objectives, achievement of individual goals results in accomplishment of organization’s objectives. Thus an effective MBO program not only motivate employee to achieve their individual goals but also helps in attaining organizationaThe Marketing manager of AMK Enterprises, Roopali Deshmukh stepped out of the conference hall in a pensive mood after an important meeting called by the CEO. The meeting was attended by the heads of various departments in the company and was convened to discuss the targets for the coming assessment year.Deshmukh hada formidable sales target to achieve and wondered how she wouldbe able to meet those seemingly impossible goals. This fear was further aggravated by the fact that the productivitylevels of employees in the company had been falling. Deshmukh was under tremendous pressure from the management to improve the performance of her team. She also had to

deal with the decreasing levels of employees’morale in her 24 member team. As afirst step, Deshmukh informed her team members about a meeting that she planned to hold the next day. She then drafted a plan of action that she intended to discuss with her team. The next day, Deshmukh began the meeting by informing her teammembers about the corporate meeting she had attended. She then said, “We have a difficult task ahead for this year, and your participation and involvement is essential to achieve the goals”. She then invited suggestions from her team members regarding the role to be played by each of them. The meeting then progressed on to setting of individual targets for by each team member as, it was felt that this would help in accomplishing the organizational goals. Specific goals were, therefore, set and agreed upon by all the team members. The team aimed to increase the organizational profits by 18% over the next six months. They sketchedout a plan of action to achieve the targets set for the team and decided that they would meet once every two months to monitor their progress.Two months later, the team met again and received their progress. Deshmukh also gave a feedback on the performance of every member of the team. The team then collectively identified the areas of improvement and decided upon the measures they would take to overcome their deficiencies. This continued for the rest of the year. The final review meeting was held just before the yearly corporate meeting attended by the top management. The team was surprised to see that they had achieved their targets. Thus, effective planning and control mechanisms helped the team achieve their short term goals, and this in turn, helped in the achievement of the organizational objectives. Besides, the employees were also motivated as the management gave adequate recognition to their involvement and participation in achieving team goals. The target to be achieved by the team was highly challenging. This further motivated the team members as they had better opportunities to prove their problems solving skills. Thus, the outstanding performance of the sales team helped the organization achieve in the long term. Questions for Discussions: 1.

Roopali Deshmukh followed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while setting goals for team members. Discuss the various phases of the MBO process that helped her team achieve its goals . 2.Explain briefly the process of MBO and the various advantages of implementing MBO in organizations. SUGGESTED ANSWERS 1.Roopali Deshmukh followed the practice of management by objectives (MBO) while setting goals for team members. Discuss the various phases of the MBO process that helped her team achieve its goals. ANSWER: Roopali Deshmukh implemented the MBO process as an intervention to improve the productivity ofher sales team. She successfully implemented the process by following a sequence of effective planning, control and development. The following are the various phases of the MBO process that led to its success: The MBO program was initiated by the top management which set the overall organizational goals and communicated them to the people down the hierarchy. However, the management did not interfere much withthe means of achieving the objectives. In other words, t gave adequate autonomy to its employees to implement the progress. Deshmukh then drafted a plan of action to achieve the targets decided by the management for the year. She invited employee participation in various aspects of implementation of the program. She encouraged her team members to decide the role each one would play in role to achieve the team’s target. She sought their suggestions to play in order to achieve the team targets that each individual would achieve. These short term targets were in line with the team’s long term goals and objectives. Deshmukh also set specific time frames specific time frames for the accomplishments of the targets. Thus the goals were not only specific but also time bound.

Deshmukh closely monitored the performance of all the team members without actually interfering in their job. She also offered positive feedback to her subordinates and this helped them overcome their shortcomings and perform effectively. Thus the MBO program implemented in the sales team proved to be beneficial to both the employees and the management. 2.Explain briefly the process of MBO and the various advantages of implementing MBO in organizations ANSWER Management by objectives is a goal setting tool where goals are set by employees in collaboration with the management. The aim of management by objectives is the achievement of organizational goals. MBO involves setting up short-term goals for employees inline with the long term objectives of the organization. MBO is thus an effective tool for planning, control nad development. Most organizations use MBO as a control mechanism to ensure that there is no deviation between employee performance and organizational objectives. Organizations also use MBO as a performance measurement tool. Since MBO is a bottom-up approach, the organization gains from the participation of employees in the establishment and achievement of employee goals. Since individual goals are set collaboratively by employees and employers and are closely linked to the organization’s mission and objectives, achievement of individual goals results in accomplishment of organization’s objectives. Thus an effective MBO program not only motivate employee to achieve their individual goals but also helps in attaining organizational

T.Y. B.M. S.

SUBJECT: INDIAN ETHOS IN MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT NO. 1 Date of submission: 09th March, 2018. 1.

Explain the requites of Indian ethos.

2. What are the management lessons learned from the Bible.

3. What is the role of Indian Ethos in Management Practices? 4. What are the management lessons from Vendanta?

5. What are the management lessons one can learn from character of Mahabharata? 6. What are the management lessons one can learn from Holy Quran?

7. What are the management lessons from Arthashastra? 8. Distinguish between Ethics and Ethos.

9. What are the values imbibed in the Indian culture? 10. Explain Vishwas- Vyaavahr-Vyapar and its importance.

11. Explain the Serni of business organization. 12. Explain important aspects of Indian Heritage and its influences on trade and commerce in Ancient India.