ICFAI Human Resource Management - Solved assignments and case study help

Dear students, get ICFAI latest Solved assignments and case study
help by professionals.
Mail us at : help.mbaassignments@gmail.com
Call us at : 08263069601

AN INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING TOOLS
Participants in flexible learning programs have limitations on the nature of the
time they can spend on learning. Typically they are employed fully or partially,
pursuing higher studies or have other social and familial responsibilities.
Availability of time is a great constraint to these students.
To aidthe participants,we have developedfour unique learningtools as below:
 Bullet Notes : Helps in introducing the important concepts in each unit
of curriculum, equip the
student during preparation of
examinations and
 Case Studies : Illustrate the concepts through real life experiences

 Workbook : Helps absorption of learning through questions based on reallife nuggets
 PEP Notes :Sharing notes of practices and experiences in the Industry will help the student to
rightly perceive and get inspired to learn concepts at the cutting edge
application level.placementinterviews
Why are these needed?
 Adults learn differently from B. School or college going
students who spend long hours at campus.
 Enhancing analytical skills through application related learning
kits trigger experiential learning
 Availability of time is a challenge.
 Career success increasingly depends on continuous learning
and success
What makes it relevant?

How is it useful?


Where does this lead to?
As and when you get 5 to 10 minutes you can read one of these and absorb and comprehend.
Spending more time is your choice.
You can use the time in travel, waiting for meetings, lunch time, small breaks or at home
usefully.
Through these tools, the learning bytes are right sized for ease of learning for time challenged
participants.
The content starts from practice and connect to precept making it easy to connect to industry
and retain.
They can be connectedto continuous assessment process of the academic program.
Practitioners can use their real life knowledge and skill to enhance learning skills.
Immediate visualization of the practical dimension of the concept will offer a rich learning
experience.

 Easier to move ahead in the learning process.

 Will facilitate the student to complete the program earlier than
otherwise.Helpsstay motivated and connected.
When is it useful?


Case Studies:
Human Resource
Management

© The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education(IFHE), Hyderabad,
April, 2015.All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spread sheet, or
transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise – without
prior permission in writing from The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad.
Ref. No. CS - HRM - IFHE – 042015
For any clarification regarding this book, the students may please write to The ICFAI Foundation for
Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad giving the above reference number of this book specifying chapter
and page number.
While every possible care has been taken in type-setting and printing this book, The ICFAI Foundation
for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad welcomes suggestions from students for improvement in future
editions.
ii

CONTENTS
1. Employee Relations @ Infosys 5
2. Holacracy – Zappos Business Model for Knowledge-based Economy 7
3. Hyper Attention – A Performance Hurdle 9
4. Outplacement Services for VRS Optees of Nokia 10
5. Job Analysis at Narayana Health 11
6. A Good Recruitment Policy – BGR‟s Case 13
7. Selection through Academic Tie-Ups 14
8. On Boarding – Search Model for Employee Potential 16
9. Career Counselling at Accenture 17
10. KPMG‟s Performance Management Strategy: From Forced Distribution to
Immediate Feedback 19
11. Pratt & Whitney‟s Training Center at Hyderabad – A Growth Path 21
12. Compensation Mechanism to Encourage Research and Development 22
13. Lifestyle Management – The PepsiCo Way 24
14. Army Veterans Grievance Handling Portal (AVGH) – Initiative to
Resolve Grievances at a Click of Button 26
15. ARLI‟s Zero-tolerance Policy to Address On-the-job Behavior 28
16. Unite‟s Democratic Support for the Workers Cause in UK 30
17. Role of Government in Maintaining Industrial Relations – A Case of Bosch 31
18. Google, Inc.: Providing Quality Work Life 32
19. Role of Education in SuccessfulImplementation of Quality Circles 33
20. Zions‟ Technique to Improve Employee Engagement 35
iii

Introduction to the Case Study
Participants in ICFAI University Programs are eager to apply theory into practice. They realize that
application orientation can enhance their learning and subsequent usage of management precepts and
practices. Picking out the principle behind real world events is critical to this learning.
To fulfil this objective the institution has introduced the Case Study methodology as a learning tool. A
one page case is developed for learning a concept/topic from an illustration of a real world occurrence.
The case illustrates a situation pertinent to an individual/a company/an industry or an economy in relation
to a concept or issue covered in the curriculum. The illustration is specific to the point being discussed.
The case depicts the knowledge which can be applied as illustrated in the practice of the real world.
These experiences can be distilled to look at a core principle at play by the participant. While there could
be multiple principles at play, the illustration of each case helps in its better understanding of the concept
at a very fundamental level.
The learning outcomes expected are:
1. Real world is illustrated and connected back to one concept/topic for better theoretical
understanding.
2. Application based approach, which significantly enhances absorption and retention.
3. Exposure to specific business situations and developments improves perspective.
It may be used for Assessment.
iv

1 Employee Relations @ Infosys
Infosys, an India-based global consulting and IT services firm was co-founded by Narayana Murthy,
Nandan Nilekani and 5 other engineers in 1981. The company was headquartered at Bangalore,
Karnataka. In 2014, Infosys clocked revenue of $ 500 billion. It employed more than 160, 000 employees
in the same year and had a market capitalization of about $34 billion.
Vishal Sikka took over as the CEO of Infosys in 2014. Sikka steered the company‟s focus towards
improving employee relations and employee engagement (Refer Chart 1).
Chart 1: Measures to Enhance Employee Relations
Revised Promotion sPolicy to Accelerate
 Comprisedof representatives from
 all the countries Infosys operated in.
Improved diversity based on nationality,
differently- abled and
genderCreatedaGlobal Diversity Council
Set-up a rapid reaction team– The SWAT
team
 Trackedemployee feedback

continuously
Took immediateactiononthe same
 Comprised of 12 employees and was

headedby a business leader
Hadrepresentatives fromdiverse
functions includin g Finance, HR, IT,

etc.
Had resolved 11 issues in Novem ber
and10 issues in October 2014.

Examplesof ProblemsResolved:
Extendedthe benefits of the
„InfyGold+‟ program to family
members allowing them to avail
discounts across hotel bookings,
 retail, etc.

Hassle-free extensionof maternity
leave by one monthonvalid
medical grounds, etc.
“Sikka’s
Initiatives
to
Improve
Employee
Relations”
Prospects for Career Growth From 2014,
employees were promoted on a
quarterly basis instead
 ofa bi-annual basis.

Between April-September 2014,
19,000 „Infoscions‟ (Infosys
employees) were promoted
Leadership Program for Infoscions
Partnered with The Stanford
 Graduate School of Business
Plannedtoenroll 200 Infoscions into
a one-year,part-time leadership
 program in March 2015 Infoscions
would participatein batches of 40
over a span of 3 years
Initiativesto Encourage Innovation
 An employee engagement program
 called „Murmurations‟ was introduced
Encouragedover 160,000Infoscions
to share innovative ideas directlywith
the topmanagement
Adapted from: “Infosys CEO Vishal SikkaOkays 5000 Promotions to Improve Employee Morale”,
Varun Sood, The Economic Times, August 8, 2014
The company had renewed its focus on employee relations to:
 Improve its „employee utilization‟.

 Improve „employee productivity‟. This was predicted to be the key factor for
propelling Infosys back as an industry leader according to Angel Broking, a reputed
stock-broking and wealth-management Indian company.

 Reduce „employee attrition‟ and boost employee morale.
5

Experts had voiced the following concerns over the company‟s endeavors of improving employee
relations:
1. Keeping the young employees engaged. The average age of Infoscions was 28 years.
Keeping these young employees emotionally connected with the company would not be
an easy task.
2. The „professional‟ attitude of the contemporary workforce had made talent retention a
challenge. In June 2014, the company reported an attrition rate of 19.5%. Competitors,
Cognizant and Wipro ITS witnessed 14.5% and 16.3% attrition rates respectively in Q4
2013.
„Employee Relations’ involves developing relationships between employees, their managers and the
organization with the aim of improving the organizational performance. Under Sikka‟s leadership
Infosys renewed its focus on improving the company‟s relationship with its employees. Infosys
introduced several initiatives in order to enhance employee engagement and thereby boost employee
morale and lower employee attrition.
DiscussionQuestions:
1. Discuss the measures taken by Infosys to improve its employee relations.
(Hints: Global Diversity Council-The „SWAT‟ team-leadership program for Infusions)
2. What reasons prompted the company to re-focus on its relationship with its employees?
(Hints: employee attrition – productivity – improve employee efficiency)
Course Reference: Concept-EmployeeRelations/Unit-Introduction to HRM/Subject-
HRM Sources:
i. `Sangeetha Chengappa, “Infosys to Connect More Deeply with Staff,” Business Line, December 5, 2014
ii. Varun Sood, “Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka Okays 5000 Promotions to Improve Employee Morale,” The
Economic Times, August 8, 2014
iii. “Indian ITSees High Attrition as Market Rebounds,”www.cxotoday.com, February 27,2014
OtherKeywords: Organizational Behavior
6

2
Holacracy – Zappos Business Model
for Knowledge-based Economy
Zappos, an online retailer based in Las Vegas was founded by Nick Swinmurn in 1999.Zapposproduct
list included shoes, handbags, eyewear, accessories and clothing. It was acquired by Amazon in
November 2009 for $1.2 billion.
In 2014, Zappos planned to transform itself from traditional hierarchical structure to a more flat structure,
a structure that had no specific job titles as employees played multiple roles, with transparency
throughout the company and with increased personal accountability. In simple terms what the CEO Tony
Hsieh called it as “Holacracy”. Holacracy was derived from the word „holarchy‟, named by
Arthur Koestler. According to him, holarchy was a hierarchy of self-regulating units/ holons.
In Holacracy, there were no leaders; leadership was represented by organizing different circles and
distributing the power throughout,as under:

 Distributed authority: Each person was a leader and follower ofothers
Processing tensions:Set up clear processes for “governance” and “operations” to reduce
 tensions

 Governance Meetings:Gave clarity on accountability,authority andlimitations
Operations and tactical meetings: Planned the next-actions and aimed for outcomes
Zappos planned to adopt Holacracy to empower its employees and to create transparency and
accountability by overcoming the limitations (Refer Table 1).
Table 1: Benefits andlimitations of Holacracy:
Benefits
 Promoted teamwork

 Provided flexible work
structure with autonomy

 Providedstress free
environment

 Encouragedemployee
commitment with clarity of
roles

 Offeredfuturistic
orientation

 Developed psychological
ownership
Limitations
When speedy and effective
decisions were needed and seniors
could handle them, decision
making would be time-consuming
and delayed, if
 delegated
When the supervisor had valuable
local knowledge to make the
decisions, delegation was not
 necessary

When decision making involved
more resources and efforts to
coordinate them, senior
executives could make the
decisions
Adapted by the authorfrom the source: Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein, “Why Managers Still
Matter”, MIT Sloan Management Review, September 16, 2014
Zappos adopted flatter operating structure in 2014. It was trying to empower all its 1,500 employees by
organizing them in to 400 different circles that were playing multiple roles.
Many consumer-centric „organizations’ have replaced vertical functional departments that had tall
hierarchies with flat and horizontal cross-functional „structures’ to reduce redundancy and enable
free flow of ideas and information. The employees of such organizations feel empowered leading to
employee development. The exceptional performance of Zappos‟ employees led to a new business
model with flat structure – Holacracy.

1. Define Holacracy model of leadership.
(Hints: delegating authority – clarity on governance-focus on outcomes)
2. Why did Zappos plan to adopt Holacracy?
(Hints: autonomy-role clarity-effective decision making)
Course Reference:Concept- Organizational Structure and Human Resources /Unit- Organizational Structure and
HRM/Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein, “Why Managers Still Matter”,MITSloan Management Review, September
16, 2014
ii. Lisa Wirthman, “Is Flat Better? Zappos Ditches Hchy To Improve Company Performance”, Forbes, January 7,
2014
iii. John Bunch, “Leadership in Holacracy”, Zapposinsights, January 13, 2014
OtherKeywords: Organizational Behavior, Organization Development.
8

3 Hyper Attention – A Performance Hurdle
In 2014, China was predicted to emerge as a consumption superpower overtaking Japan, with private
consumption of 8% of the total world consumption. McKinsey reported that urbanization was also adding
to the increase in Chinese consumption. The growth was anticipated to reach 27 trillion yuan by 2020. E-
commerce market was also expected to reach $540 billion.
While China‟s consumer market was seen growing and firms were expected to flourish, managers
and executives in Chinese subsidiaries felt that visits by the executives from headquarters (Europe/US)
hampered their performance rather than adding value to business. 55 Interviews conducted on global
branch managers of various industries producing products and services revealed the truth. The issues that
were believed to have influenced the performance were:
Frequency of visits: Each visit consumed the subsidiary manager and staff‟s time in
making preparations for the meeting such as planning schedules, preparation of agendas,
business reviews. At times staff was forced to spend their weekends to make the visit
 successful.

Extra workload: Executives fromHeadquarterdisturbed the business flowby demanding
 more information and reports to support their decisions,after the visit.

Failing to understand the Chinese market: Headquarter managers were perceived to
have understood the potentialof Chinese market and had unrealistic expectations.
To add value to the subsidiary business and to build a constructive relationship between the managers of
Headquarters and subsidiaries, the study recommended certain guidelines (Refer Chart 1):
Chart 1: Guidelines recommended for Headquarters and Subsidiaries
Guidelines
Understand the local subsidiary business by
 intHeadquartersractingwith customers and
staff Act as entrepreneur (subsidiary) and
 consultants (headquarter)

Spend qualitative time to understand
the subsidiary manager‟s priorities
 Postpone or discourage the visits
 Say “no” to unrealistic
goalsSubsidiaries Convert headquarter
executives to advocate by focusing on
the priority issues ofsubsidiary
Adapted by the authorfrom the source: Cyril Bouquet et al, “The Perils of Attention From
Headquarters”, MIT Sloan Management Review, November 5, 2014
Chinese customers being more aware of global outlook were expected to be the potential customers for
consumer markets. The guidelines recommended by the study might help the firms that entered or
planned to enter the Chinese market in understanding the priorities of subsidiary firms.
Global firms should adopt „polycentric approach’ to foster their growth in foreign market by allowing
the subsidiaries to focus on local systems .Polycentric approach views the world as a differentiated
marketplace where varying needs have to be catered to. They adopt customized strategies, products,
policies, and systems.
1. Explain the implications of polycentric approach in performance management.
(Hints: customization-relationship-quality time to prioritize)
2. List out the recommendations made by the study to build a constructive relationship between
managers of headquarters and subsidiaries.
(Hints: limit the number of visits -realistic goals –prioritization)
Course Reference:Concept- Approaches to IHRM –Polycentricapproach/Unit- International Human Resource
Management/ Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i) Cyril Bouquet et al,”The Perils of Attention From Headquarters”, MIT Sloan Management Review,
November 5, 2014
ii) Mianyang and Shaghai, “Going ittheir way”, The Economist, January 25, 2014
OtherKeywords: International Human Resource Management.
9

4 Outplacement Services for VRS Optees of Nokia
Nokia, a one of the leading mobile phones manufacturer in India was forced to shut down its Chennai
plant from November 1, 2014. Nokia had a market share of 80 percent but could not sustain in the market
with the emergence of smart phones from competitors like Samsung, Apple, Sony and Panasonic.
Consequently, Nokia‟s global devices andservices business were acquired by Microsoft for$7.2 billion
on April 25, 2014.
As the Sri Perumbudur plant was not taken over by Microsoft, Nokia suspended the operations at the
plant from November 1, 2014. This left 6,700 employees jobless at the Chennai Nokia plant.
Trade unions and political parties tried their best to save the livelihood of workers but could not succeed.
Finally, in April 2014, Nokia announced layoffs by offering VRS scheme. While 5,000 employees opted
for it, the remaining employees were expected to opt later. This was perhaps the largest VRS ever offered
in India.
Nokia offered the following benefits to the employees who opted for VRS:
 Compensating 15 month salary (three months for each year of experience) for employees

with a service of five years or more
Compensating Rs.100,000 and two times the daily salary for the earned leaves surrendered,
for employees with a service less than five years
In addition

to these benefits,it also planned to offer bridge initiatives to the employees by providing
Banking consultancy services
 Expert‟s assistance in searching new employment avenues
 Training sessions at 40 locations in Tamil Nadu to develop the required skills for new areas

and to educate them on 30 skill development modules
Certificates for the skills gained
 Employment facilities by inviting potential employers
 Limited grant to employees with more than six years to fulfil their entrepreneurial or
academic ambitions
The benefits and bridge initiatives offered by Nokia helped the VRS optees in learning new skills
required to suit the needs of potential employers invited by the company.
The services provided by the organizations in searching other employment opportunities for their
displaced employeesand providing assistance to them in getting new jobs are called „outplacement
services’. The Nokia‟sbridge initiative planstands as an example for the outplacement services.
1. How does outplacement help displaced employees?
(Hints: compensation-consultancy)
2. Explain the initiatives taken by Nokia to outplace its VRS optees.
(Hints: job search-training-employment)
Course Reference:Concept- Outplacement /Unit- Human Resource Planning /Subject- Human
Resource Management.
Sources:
i) BS Reporter, “Nokia staff urge Jaya to ensure job security”, Business Standard News, May 4, 2014
ii) TE Narasimhan&GireeshBabu,“5000 at Nokia Chennai unitopt for compensation exit route”, Business
Standard News, May 5, 2014
iii) Anna Isaac, “Nokia shuts down its India plantin Chennai, over 8000 workers lose job”, CNN-IBN Live,
November 1, 2014
OtherKeywords: Recruitment, Training and Development.
10

5 Job Analysis at Narayana Health
Narayana Health, one of the India‟s largest and World‟s most economical healthcare service providers
was ranked 36th among the „World‟s 50 Most Innovative Companies‟ by Fast Company magazine in
2012. It emerged as a global industry model for a one-stop destination for all healthcare requirements. It
had 26 hospitals across 16 cities in India with nearly 6,900 bed facility.
In knowledge economy, knowledge and skilled workers were seldom available. A research by McKinsey
Global Institute also predicted that by 2020, the shortage of highly skilled workers could reach to 13% of
demand. To reduce the gap, companies were redesigning their critical/skilled and proficient jobs by
assigning some of the tasks to lower-skill people, internally or to external sources. Narayana Hrudayalaya
identified the simple tasks involved in the process of surgery through job analysis (Refer chart 2) and
assigned the simple tasks (Refer chart 1) to its junior surgeons and facilitated their surgeons to focus
more on specialized tasks.
Chart 1: Narayana Hrudayalaya Cardiac Hospital’s Model
Adapted by the author from the source: Martin Dewhurst et al,” Redesigning Knowledge Work”,
Harvard Business Review, January 2013
Chart 2: Process of redesigning high-end knowledge work:
Adapted by the author from the source: Martin Dewhurst et al,”Redesigning Knowledge Work”,
Harvard Business Review, January 2013
Process redesigning as a part of job analysis at Narayana Hrudayalaya Cardiac Hospital saved the cost of
outsourcing and helped junior surgeons to learn through practical work and also increased their job
satisfaction.
11

‘Job analysis’ is the process of determining and recording all the relevant information about a specific
job, including the tasks involved, the knowledge and skill set required to perform the job effectively.
Narayana Hrudayalaya model uses job analysis to select the simple and manageable tasks in a high-
end knowledge work of senior surgeons and assigns the tasks to junior surgeons.
1. Define the processofconducting JobAnalysis.
(Hints: simplification-assignment-restructure)
2. How did job analysis benefit Narayana Health?
(Hints: cost effective-practicality-increased employee morale)
Course Reference: Concept-JobAnalysis /Unit- Job Analysis and Design/ Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. Martin Dewhurst et al, ”Redesigning Knowledge Work”, Harvard Business Review, January 2013
ii. Martin Dewhurst et al, Redesigning Knowledge Work”, The Hindu, January 16, 2013
iii. Narayana Health, Home Page, About us, NH OVERVIEW
OtherKeywords: Organization Development.
12

6 A Good Recruitment Policy – BGR’s Case
BGR Energy Systems Limited was initially named as GEA Energy System (India) limited when it was
run as a joint venture between German based GEA Energie technik GmbH and the Promoter B.G.
Raghupathyin 1985. In 1993, the businesswas taken overby the family members of Raghupathy andin 2007
it was renamed as BGR Energy Systems Limited. BGR‟s business includedtwo segments -supply
of Systems and Equipment and Turnkey Engineering project contracting.
Edwin B. Flippo, referredrecruitment as “a process of searching for prospective employees andstimulating
them to apply for jobs in the organization”. The organizationalfactors such as the reputation
of the organization, the culture of the organization, the channels and methods used for advertising the
vacancy influence the successorfailure of a recruitment program.A good recruitment policy should be in
accordance with the organization‟s objectives and policies andshould conform to the government
policies on hiring and provide maximum employment security.
In 2014, BGR Energy Systems Limited posted a cautionary message in newspapers and its website
asking public to beware of the fake advertisements about job openings in the company. This initiative
was taken consequent upon some deceptive acts that occurred such as:

 Agencies /persons claimed to be part of the HR team of the company
 Deceived through email ids similar to that of the company email id
 Fake advertisements and calls
Collected money in the form of security deposit,reference fees, etc. towards appointment
letters
The company disclosed its well-defined recruitment policy as a precautionary message and to curb the
fraud perpetrated by unscrupulous elements. Such type of cautionary message helped aspiring candidates
in
 Avoiding false mails and calls
 Saving time and money
 Providing a location for genuine recruitment advertisements/notifications
Helped the company to:

Get the right talent

A good „recruitment policy’ of an organization should be flexible and reflect the company‟s people-
policies. The preventive steps taken by the BGR in posting its recruitment policy depicts the strong
people-policies.
1. How is a firm‟s recruitment policy framed?
(Hints: deceptive actions – maintain reputation)
2. Why did BGR take the initiative of disclosing its recruitment policy?
(Hints: caution candidate –genuineness–talent acquisition)
Course Reference:Concept-Recruitment policy/Unit-Recruitment/Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. BGR Energy Systems Limited, Home Page, About Us
ii. BGR Energy Systems Limited, Home Page, Careers
iii. BGR Cautionary Advertisement, TheHindu, page 18, October 18, 2014
OtherKeywords: - Recruitment, Training and Development.
13

7 Selection through Academic Tie-Ups
ICICI Bank was founded in 1994 by ICICI Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary). It used to offer only
project finance up to 1990. From 1990 it started offering a range of products and services to different
financial services group. Its primary goal was to offer financial services to medium-term and long-term
projects throughout India. As on March 31, 2014, the bank‟s profit after tax was Rs. 98.10 billion ($
1,637 million). It had 3,845 branches with 12,012 ATM centers throughout India.
In 2000, When ICICI planned to expand its retail business; it searched for the requisite talent. It could not
find the right talent and introduced some training programmes to the existing employees. The program
was found time consuming and affected the productivity of employees. ICICI then decided to develop an
ecosystemfor itself for the supply of professionals.
Further it approached Business Schools to introduce vocational education by adopting their syllabus in to
the curriculum. As the approach failed, it planned to go for tie-ups with academic and training
institutions. It tied up with different institutions for supply of different professionals. Its association with
NIIT University met the staffing needs for middle managers, National Institute of Securities Markets for
executives in treasury and investment functions, ITM group for sales officers and Manipal Global
Education for probationary officers. These institutions offered different programs by designing their
curriculum in tune with the requirements of ICICI Bank.
Chart 1: The selection process of candidates through such programs were:
Adapted by the author from the source: M Saraswathy, Banking jobs up for grabs, Business Standard
News, March 13, 2014.
These programs not only helped ICICI Bank in reducing its attrition rate and training costs but also
helped candidates in becoming successful professionals at ICICI Bank. These officers were also given
opportunity to pursue further education. HDFC Bank, Syndicate Bank and many other public and private
banks followed suit.
The selection process’ in an organization depends on the strategy and objectives of the organization,
the tasks and responsibilities associated with the job, the qualification required, and characteristics
required in an individual. ICICI Bank developed its own manpower supply system associating itself
with different institutions to fill up the talent gap with the requisite qualification and skill sets.
14

1. Why were banks tying up with educational institutes to fill their talent
gaps? (Hints: manpower planning – cover talent gaps)
2. Explain the selection process adopted by ICICI Bank?
(Hints: invitation – selection – placement)
Course Reference: Concept- TheSelection Process – Unit – Selection – Subject - Human Resource
Management Sources:
i. “Syndicate Bank Recruitment 2014 through Post Graduate Diploma in Banking”,I ndia Today, November 6,
2014.
ii. “Banking Sector May Create Up To 20 Lakh New Jobs”, The Hindu, Business Line, February 9, 2014.
iii. M Saraswathy, “Banking jobs up for grabs”, Business Standard, March 13, 2014.
iv. BeenaParmar, “5-7 lakh banking jobs in the offing”,Business Line, June 30, 2014.
OtherKeywords: Recruitment, Training and Development
15

8 On Boarding – SearchModelfor Employee Potential
Red Hat Corporation, a US based public company founded in 1993, offered software solutions in 5 key
technology areas: cloud, middleware, operating platform, storage, and virtualization with a subscription
model. In 2014, it had about 6,100 employees working around the globe at 80 offices in 35 countries,
with headquarters located at Raleigh, North Carolina.
Companies observed onboarding process as an opportunity to create long termemployee engagement and
growth while employees observed it as a reflection of company‟s workplace culture. In the initial days of
employment, if people were not given special attention, they would feel disappointed. However, Red Hat
explored onboarding process as a new model for identifying employee potential.
Onboarding

process of Red Hat:
New hires were taken to the Raleigh headquarters for exhaustive multiple-day program
 Employees were asked to go through their culture practice - brand book (called as „Bible‟)
 Introduced to the program inductors
 Provided Red Hat uniform and red cap as a symbol of team building
 Engaged with employees and provided challenging opportunities
To retain the talented people selected through vigorous pursuit and to strengthen and add value to the
recruitment policy, organizations should improvise their HR policies to make the onboarding experience
a cherished moment for the employee. The precautions that needed to be taken to seek employee
engagement as a part of successful onboarding included the following steps.
i. Emphasize team building: Organize the process through teamwork and reiterate company's
objectives
ii. Gave a personal touch: Assign a mentor to each new hire to help and suggest themin
attaining the skills required for smooth transition
iii. Accentuate employer brand: Reflect the brand and factors of reputation in to onboarding
to confirm their existence
iv. Permit to use personal brand: Encourage them to use social media to strengthen employer
brand
v. Ensure the process with check-ins: Ensure proper onboarding through feedback using
personal interactions,surveys and conversations with each mentor
Red Hat on boarding experience reflected the organization culture and helped in adding value to the
company through long-term employee engagement and employee growth.
Organizational socializing, or ‘onboarding ’new employees in the right way at the time of their
joining, yield good results. Red Hat moved a step ahead perceiving onboarding as a model to identify
employee potential.
1. Explain the measures to be taken for successfulonboarding.
(Hints: building teams- acquiring skills –collecting feedback through personal interactions)
2. Explain the onboarding process ofRed Hat.
(Hints: introducing to organizational culture-inclusion in teams-allocating challenges)
Course Reference:Concept- Onboarding /Unit- Socialization/ Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. “The Onboarding Experience Matters To Your Future Employees”,
www.forbes.com,Leadership, June 1, 2014
ii. Carly Guthrie, “Employee Onboarding at Startups Is Broken – Here‟s How to Fix It”, First Round.com
iii. REDHAT, About us, Company details
16

9 Career Counselling at Accenture
Accenture, a leading international provider of management consulting, outsourcing and technology
services was founded in 1989. Its revenue for the year ended August 31, 2014 was $30.0 billion. It had an
employee strength of about 305,000 working in more than 200 cities located across 56 countries with Its
headquarters situated at Dublin, Ireland.
Organizations were motivating their employees by helping them in building their career path and by
identifying their competencies and providing them with the right opportunities. In 2014, a study
conducted by Tower Watson on what employees expected from the companies and how companies
perceived the employee needs, one of the HR expert of Accenture expressed the following initiatives
taken by them to reduce the mismatch:
Initiatives taken by Accenture to develop employee career paths:
 Every employee was assigned with a career counselorand mentor
 Counselors and employees met every quarter
 Counselor was either a superior or manager
 Employee‟s future plans were discussed in the sessions
 Counselors set individual development plan in tune with the individual‟s goals
 Employee was given an opportunity on acquiring new skills, whenever a job opportunity

comes
Career counsellors played an important role at Accenture (Refer chart 1) to develop
employee career paths.
Chart 1: Career counselor’s role at Accenture:
Career
Counselling at
Accenture
Adapted by the author from the source: http://careers.accenture.com/in-en/your-future/training-
counseling/Pages/index.aspx
In 2012, Accenture was working hard to retain its talent through external tie ups. Several talent
management initiatives were taken such as collaborating with XLRI to build HR talent, and with ISB to
develop middle management and with IGNOU to develop the talent in BPO sector. Its focus was
continuously on being a learning organization and as such it had focused on internal development.
In organizations,the supervisorcounselsthe employee through„career counseling’ regarding the
availableopportunities,the employee‟saspirations,and their competencies andhelps themin building
career planning program. The initiatives taken by Accenture management helped its employees in
building their career plans by getting continuous guidance from the counselors assigned.
17

1. What do you understand by career counselling?
(Hints: competency mapping – employee perception -career building)
2. How is career planning done at Accenture?
(Hints: clarity on job specifications-continuous support-open feedback)
Course Reference: Concept- Career Counseling – Unit – Managing Careers/Subject – Human Resource
Management
Sources:
i. Chanpreet Khurana, “The Clarity Principle”, LiveMint, November 30, 2014
ii. Goutam Das, “Accenture Inida‟sHR head on its policies”, Business Today, February 14, 2012
iii. Accenture, Home Page, Your Future, Training and Career Counselling
OtherKeywords: Recruitment, Training and Development
18

KPMG’s Performance Management Strategy: From
10 Forced Distribution to Immediate Feedback
KPMG was formed in 1987, as a result of a merger between Peat Marwick International (PMI) and
Klynveld Main Goerdeler (KMG), with its headquarters situated at Amstelveen, Netherlands. It started
operating in India in 1993 and had its branches located in Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai,
Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. It offered advisory services in the areas of risk
management, financial and business, tax and regulatory, internal audit and corporate governance across
nations. In 2014, its employee strength was 162,000 with a turnover of $24.82 billion.
In 2014, there was a growing competition for talent and plenty of opportunities were available for
talented people in the market. As such, to protect its talent and recruit the best talent, KPMGhad planned
to revise its policies (Refer Chart 1) on employee engagement, performance management and recruitment
strategies. It planned to launch the new policy from April 1, 2015 on a pilot basis. KPMG was following
the conventional forced distribution performance appraisal system. The challenges that forced it to
reframe its performance management policy were:
 Categorizing employees on ranking system
 Understanding and executing properly

 Rating people on a scale of 5

 Building internal competition between employees

 Focus on individual performance rather than team work

 Hampering the performance culture
The revised policies were expected to benefit KPMG (Refer Chart 1):
Chart 1: KPMG’s modified Performance Management Strategy
 Motivate employees to share
their experiences on business and
communities

 Arrange inspirationaland
businessleadersspeech
 Provide regular feedback

 Giving high bonus for high
performers
 Clearly distinguishing the
HigherPrupose
KPMG
 Form small groups across
the organization

 Encourage team work

 Eliminate internal competition

 Adopt job rotation

 Grow high performance culture

 Promote value discussion on
performance
Connect
Adapted by the author from the source: Rica Bhattacharyya “KPMG tweaks employee engagement
programmes to retain, recruit the best”, ET Bureau, November 4, 2014
KPMG was experimenting with the new systemto ascertain whether this would work well and to shield
its talent and to fill the talent gaps.
KPMG faced challenges with the conventional performance appraisal system. The three commonly
used methods of ranking are alternation,paired comparison, and „forced distribution’. Forced
distribution is used where there is large number of employees. In forced distribution method,
employees are categorized as „Top‟,„Standard‟,and „Bottom‟ and are placed under a forced-
distribution curve. KPMG is experimenting to preserve and recruit the best talent by replacing forced
distribution method of performance management through reformed strategies.
1. Why do organizations conduct performance appraisals?
(Hints: motivate – increase employee engagement- manage performance)
19

2. In what ways is the new policy of performance appraisal expected to benefit KPMG?
(Hints: distinguishing high and low performers-eliminate internal competition-value addition)
Course Reference: Concept- Forced distribution – Unit – Performance Appraisal – Subject - Human Resource
Management
Sources:
i. Rica Bhattacharyya, “KPMG to move away from bell curve-based performance appraisal”, ET Bureau,
Economic Times, December 19, 2014.
ii. Rica Bhattacharyya, “KPMG tweaks employee engagement programmes to retain, recruit the best”, ET Bureau,
Economic Times, November 4, 2014.
iii. “How Cos likeInMobi, KPMG, Godrej & others are redesigning appraisals”, ET Bureau, Economic Times,
April11, 2014.
OtherKeywords: Business Environment and Law.
20

Pratt & Whitney’s Training Center at Hyderabad –
11 A Growth Path
Pratt & Whitney (P&W), the aerospace manufacturing subsidiary of United Technologies (an innovative
company serving commercial aerospace, defense and airlines) was set up in 1925 by Frederick Brant
Rentschler- a man who believed in integrity, product quality and shared vision as core principles and
practices. The company had 31,500 employees working for about 11,000 customers in 180 countries
across the world. Its total revenue in 2013 was $14.5 billion.
In 2014, around 300 aircrafts in India used P&W and International Aero Engines (a joint venture with
major stake holding by P&W). Further GoAir and IndiGo ordered 72 and 150 A320 new planes and Air
Costa ordered 150 E-2 jets that use P&W engines. During the same period, in a press release, the
Managing Director of Pratt & Whitney said that India has largest growth potential in aviation market
after US and China. He believed that the growth of annual passenger traffic from 50 million to 150-160
million in the last decade would reach 400 million and above in seven to eight years.
He also assumed that the expected growth can be met only with continuous supply of talent. To achieve
the objective, Pratt & Whitney planned to set up a training center in Hyderabad at GMR International
airport, its third centre after the US and China. The objective of setting the training center was to train the
aircraft engineers and technicians in current and new engine models as well as to adapt to the
technological changes. As part of training, aircraft engineers were offered class -roomand on-job training
to match the skill set required to perform their jobs and to improve effectiveness. They had to pass the
examination to get the endorsement on their licence from the DGCA (Director General of Civil
Aviation).
The benefits

of locating centre at Hyderabad were:
Growth of aviation sectorin the country
 Training center for engineers, technicians and instructors at home country
 Saving training costs for airlines
 Bridging the talent gap
Setting up a training center at Hyderabad could facilitate serving the clients at home country than sending
them to locations in far off geographies for training purpose. People from Middle East and South Asia
were also expected to participate in the training programme.
„Skill-based training’helps employees to improve their job effectiveness and ability to adapt to the
technological changes. Launch of Pratt & Whitney‟s training center at Hyderabad could help the
company enhance the skills of engineers, technicians and instructors thereby fostering the growth of
aviation industry.
1. How does providing skill based training to aircraft engineers help the aviation
industry? (Hints: development of industry-development of skills - reducing talent gap)
2. Why did Pratt & Whitney plan to open the training center at Hyderabad?
(Hints: location benefits – saving costs - supplying trained manpower)
Course Reference:Concept-Skill-based training/Unit-Employee Training and Management Development/Subject-
Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. BS Reporter, “Pratt & Whitney setting up training centre in Hyderabad”, Business Standard News, October 16,
2014
ii. Aneesh Phadnis, “P & W to develop engine training centre at Hyderabad”, Business Standard News, March 17,
2014
iii. United Technologies, Our Company, Key Facts
OtherKeywords: Recruitment, Training and Development, Organizational Development.
21

12
Compensation Mechanism to Encourage Research and
Development
Research and Development (R&D) plays a vital role in the development of a country. It helps country to
prosper through innovations. The Government of India significantly invested in Research and
Development by establishing universities, technological Institutions and research centers. However, the
top spenders on Research and Development (R&D) were from private sector companies such as Ranbaxy
Laboratories, Dr Reddy‟s Laboratories, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Cadila. With full
support from the government, the R&D sector was expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual
Growth Rate) of 14 percent i.e. $42 billion by 2020 as against $ 14.7 billion in 2012.
In 2014, India had about 100,000 research scholars. While encouraging young and talented boys and girls
to pursue research was the need of the hour, the existing scholars were protesting for the revision of their
stipend amounts. The reasonsforthe protestwere:
 Lack of mechanism for regular evaluation of stipend
 Absence of online fellowship disbursement mechanism
 Leave travel allowance was not given for research scholars to visit home
 Scholarship was inadequate to support the rising prices
 Fellowship was not matching with fee hikes
Payment of stipend was irregular
In October 2014, The Union Minister of State for Science & Technology announced the hike in
honorariums and also recommended instituting a mechanism (Refer Table 1) for regular evaluation of
scholarships. But the hike had a mixed reaction from scientific community. Some academicians and
research scholars recommended more reforms. The reforms needed were:
Table 1: Reforms recommended
Reforms
 Gradual increase in stipend

 Adequate shcolarship to support rising prices
 Sanction ofMedicalcoverage to researchshcolars
 Timely disbursement ofstipend
 Allocating funds forlaboratory requirement
Sanction ofannualcontingencyforbooks
Adaptedby the authorfromthe source:Mehta Nikita,“Researchstipends hikedby over 50%”,Livemint,
October 22, 2014 & Gandhi Divya, “Not Everyone is happy with hike in research fellowships”, The
Hindu, October 21, 2014
It was opined by academicians that people need decent income to undertake research as a career. Hike in
the fellowships announced by the Government of India was expected to attract more people with
inclination for research.
‘Compensation administration’ is a system of compensating employees in a fair manner and
matching the expectation of the employees. Honorarium hike announced by the government matched
some of the expectations of research scholars in meeting the increasing cost of living and improving
quality of work life.
1. Explain the objectives of compensation administration.
(Hints: quality of life –attracting to pursue research – respects the profession)
2. What were the reforms required in the compensation offered by the government to research scholars?
(Hints: matching rising prices-avoid delays in disbursement-sufficient funds for extra benefits)
22

Course Reference:Concept- Compensation administration /Unit- Compensation Management/ Subject- Human
Sources:
i. Shounak Ghosal, “Stipend hike cheer for researchers”, The Times of India, October 23, 2014
ii. Nikita Mehta, “Research stipends hiked by over 50%”, Live mint, October 22, 2014
iii. Divya Gandhi, “NotEveryone is happy with hikein research fellowships”, The Hindu, October 21, 2014
23

13 Lifestyle Management – The PepsiCo Way
PepsiCo Inc., a New York based company engaged in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of snack
foods and beverages, was ranked second in “The World‟s Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies of
2013” with a food sales of $65,492 million, in the world. It was establishedthrough the merger of Pepsi-
Cola and Frito-Lay in 1965. In 2014, the company had about 300,000 people working worldwide.
PepsiCo adopted a global wellness strategy to keep its associates healthier. The company designed
wellness programs for its associates and promoted healthy behaviour so that the associates could lead a
quality life. It ensured the minimum employee benefits such as medical, disability, life insurance and
retirement benefits to its employees across the globe.
A study conducted by RAND Corp. (a US based,not for profit organization involved in research and
analysis) in 2013 proved that companies offering such wellness programs were able to save disease
management costs (Refer Chart 1). PepsiCo‟s wellness program for employees‟ lifestyle management
(Refer Chart 1) was referredto as PepsiCo‟s Healthy Living wellness program. PepsiCo also gave
monetary rewards for undertaking wellness programs. It gave incentives of $50 on completing the online
wellness program and $100 for phone-based program.
Chart 1: The activities involved and benefits accrued from PepsiCo’s Wellness Program:
Adapted by the author from the source :Japsen Bruce, “Healthy Lifestyle Adoption Push May Not
Save Employers Money”, Forbes, January 6, 2014 &www.pepsico.com, Health and Safety, Benefits,
Workplace Wellness,Occupational Health & Safety
The RAND study revealed that the costs of motivating employees to adopt healthy living style were
increasing and while wellness programs contributed to reduction in hospital admission for chronic
illnesses, they could not significantly reduce healthcare costs and improve savings.
‘Employee wellness programs’ should be conducted by organizations to guide the employees in
carrying out their work effectively. PepsiCo‟s wellness programs illustrated their efforts towards
making their workplace, one of the best and great places to work and achieve world-class health and
safety performance.
24

1. How do organizations take care of their employee‟s health?
(Hints: designing health programs –providing benefits – conducting wellness programs)
2. How did PepsiCo benefit from the employee wellness programs?
(Hints: top position-reduced healthcare costs-controlled fitness costs)
Course Reference:Concept- Regular Employee Wellness Programs /Unit- Occupational Safety and Health/ Subject-
Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. Bruce Japsen, “Healthy Lifestyle Adoption Push May Not Save Employers Money”, Forbes, January 6, 2014
ii. PepsiCo.com, Health and Safety, Benefits, Workplace Wellness, Occupational Health & Safety
iii. “Workplace Wellness Programs Can Cut ChronicIllness Costs; Savings for Lifestyle Improvements Are
Smaller”, News for release, RAND Corporation, January 6, 2014
OtherKeywords: Organization Development.
25

Army Veterans Grievance Handling Portal (AVGH) –
14 Initiative to Resolve Grievances at a Click of Button
In India, the Ministry of Defence, formed under the charge of a Cabinet Minister was headed by its own
Commander-in-Chief, post-Independence. In 1955, the Commander-in-Chief was renamed as the Chief
of the Army Staff. The Department of Defence co-ordinated the activities of: The Department of Defence
Production, The Department of Research and Development and The Department of Ex-Servicemen
Welfare. The policy directions on defence and security issues were framed by the Ministry and its
Departments and these departments ensured their effective implementation as per the Government‟s
directives.
In 2014, The Indian Army established a new portal (Table 2) for the ex-servicemen and their dependants.
The internet based web portal was developed and designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) Ltd. It
was established as a part of various initiatives taken by the Indian Army to quickly (Table 1) resolve the
grievances of ex-servicemen and „Veer Naris‟ (the widows and mothers of martyrs who had laid down
their lives in the service of the Nation).
Table 1: The benefits of the system were:
Benefits
Ease of contact with the concerned agencies
Taught about the latest policies, regulations, entitlements and benefits
Facilitated easy interaction through web portal
Helped in tracking the grievance resolving progress online
Informed about the status ofthe case
Subsequently, in Kolkata an Eastern Command Army Veteran Cell was also launched. The cell was
established to serve the ex-servicemen by facilitating them in the grant of post-retirement benefits,
healthcare and canteen facilities. The ex-servicemen were given a toll free number 1900-325-2477 to
contact for resolving their issues. The cell was headed by the widows and mothers of martyrs who had
laid down their lives in the service of the Nation a Brigadier-ranked officer.
Table 2: The grievance redressed process through AVGH was:
Steps in the process of AVGH
Veterans were given User ID and Password to login to the web portal
www.indianarmyveterans.gov.in
They had to refer the policy/regulations on the latest entitlements and benefits on the web
Post the complaints through web login
Track the issues with the concerned offices online
The portal replied through automated response and sent e-mail or message about the progress of the
case
The AVGH portal helped the Indian Army in meeting the expectations of the veterans and their
dependants. The development of the portal showed the commitment of Indian Army towards the welfare
of their ex-servicemen and their dependants by trying to solve their issues fasterthrough the launch of the
web portal.
The Indian Army established AVGH, a web portal for „grievance redressal’ to speedily and
effectively resolve the issues related to ex-servicemen. In order to have an effective grievance
redressal procedure, certain conditions have to be fulfilled. The grievance redressal procedure should
resolve employee grievance immediately, not violating any organizational rules and policies,
providing data and information to the employees and resolving at the lowest possible level.
26

1. How are workplace grievances taken care of?
(Hints: establishing grievance redressalcell – grievance redressal portal)
2. Discuss the AVGH process developed to resolve the veterans‟ grievances by the Army veterans.
(Hints: user id – web login- messages about the status ofthe issue)
Course Reference: Concept- Grievance Handling – Unit – Effective Grievance Redressal – Subject - Human
Resource Management
Sources:
i. “Army establishes cell for ex-servicemen”, Press Trust of India, August 19, 2014.
ii. “Indian Army launches the Army Veterans Grievance Handling (AVGH) Portal”, Desh Gujarat, June 5, 2014.
III. Indian Army launches Army Veterans GrievanceHandling (AVGH) Portal , .i diaar y eteras.go .i .
27

ARLI’s Zero-tolerance Policy to
15 Address On-the-job Behavior
AEGON Religare Life Insurance (ARLI), a joint venture of AEGON (a global company that offered
insurance, asset management and pension plans) and Religare (a large financial service group in India)
and Bennett, Coleman and Company (a major media corporation in India) was formed in 2008. It offered
a variety of insurance plans for financial planning and life insurance. In 2014, it was awarded „E-
Business Leader‟ by the Indian Insurance Awards under the Overall Insurance Industry Awards
group. Its employee strength was about 11,000 with a turnover of more than one billion dollars.
In view of the increasing sexual harassment cases reported in 2013, the Director, International Labor
Organization (ILO) worked with employers on changing the workplace attitudes of employees and on the
mechanism to address the workplace sexual harassment. In 2014, ARLI had taken some measures (Refer
Table 1) to set a safe working environment in the organization. It decided to take up any kind of sexual
harassment inside or outside the organization as a breach of human right and business conduct and ethics.
The following were some of the reasons for framing the policies:
 Difficulty in describing an act as sexual harassment
 Lack of clear principles on workplace sexual harassment
 Change in communication style with the advent of IT and social media
 Lack of awareness on workplace conduct
Absence of preventive measures
Table 1: Initiatives taken by ARLI’s to prevent and address the workplace sexual harassment:
Introduced Zero tolerance policy. All employees including the new
Zero Tolerance Policy recruits had to read, understand and acknowledge the policy
through a digital signature
Accessibility Policy was made accessible on the intranet
Express Yourself
Standard procedure was set to reach the concerned person for
redressal by keeping it confidential
Fast Action
Complaints were dealt seriously, investigations were done and
quick actions were taken
Intolerance was not tolerated Proper utilization of intranet was ensured
Disciplinary Action
Any activity of sexual nature was treated as inappropriate at
workplace and appropriate disciplinary action was taken
Adapted by the author from the source: AdilSaba, “Erase the grey zones”, Business Line, January 16,
2014
ARLI took the measures to sustain their belief in providing a healthy and safe working environment and
to maintain self-respect of its employees.
Under acts of indiscipline, „on-the-job’ behavior of the employee such as carelessness, abuse of
alcohol and drugs, sexual harassment, or fighting with co-workers, which hampers the work of the
individual or disturbs the performance of other employees, should be subject to disciplinary action.
ARLI‟s zero-tolerance policy to address the workplace sexual harassment was designed to ensure
healthy and safe work environment.
1. Explain the need for disciplinary action for certain types of on-the-job behavior.
(Hints: safe working environment-protect human rights- conduct and ethics)
28

2. What did ARLI do to prevent and control workplace sexual harassment?
(Hints: zero tolerance policy –accessibility- disciplinary action)
Course Reference: Concept- On-the-job behavior – Unit – Disciplinary Action/Subject – Human Resource
Management
Sources:
i. Saba Adil, “Erase the grey zones”, Business Line, January 16, 2014
ii. Head-Talent, “Saba‟s Article on Sexual Harassment in Hindu Business Line”, AEGON RELIGARE LIFE
INSURANCE, Company, MediaCenter, Press coverage, January 21, 2014
iii. TineStaermose, Director,“India must have zero tolerance for workplace sexual harassment”, International
Labor Organization, Regions, Asia and Pacific, Information Resources, Public information, September 2, 2013.
29

16 Unite’s Democratic Support for the Workers Cause in UK
Unite,a trade union established to meet the challenges of the 21st century was Britain‟s biggest trade
union with 1.42 million members from around the world. Unite covered industries such as steel-making,
foundries, aluminium, production of castings and coils for steel, and precious metals. The organization
stood up for equality and fought for the rights of the workers.
Tata Steel‟s European operation that was started in 2007 in Britain could earn operational profits for few
years after its inception but it was unable to meet the expected profits due to low demand. As a result, it
announcedthe sale ofsome ofthe units to Geneva based Klesch Group. Though the Chief Executive of Tata
Steel‟s European operations guaranteed that the company would consult the staff, stakeholders, trade
union representatives and works councils throughout the process, workers of the units earmarked for sale
approached Unite.
Unite intended to play a major role in the deal of Tata Steel Europe and the likely buyer Klesch Group
through negotiations. Out of 30,500 employees, 6,500 people were from the units put up for sale. Unite
was assessing (Refer Chart 1) the situation based on concerns and benefits of the deal.
Chart 1: Unite’s concern and benefit analysis of the deal
Concerns Benefits
Futureof the workers Understanding thebusiness model of the likely buyer
Job cuts Continuity of steel production
Futureof the TataSteel Europe division Assessment of buyer requirement
Investment plans of manufacturing steel in the UK Operational plans of the buyer
Adapted by the author from the source: DivekarAditi, “Tata Steel trade union Unite to meet Tata
Steel Chairman Cyrus Mistry on November 15, 2014
Unite planned to reinforce confidence among employees by initiating discussions with the Klesch Group
on matters like loss of jobs, job security, future investment plans and understanding business models to
influence the outcomes.
Modern ‘tradeunions’are more practicalas they considerissues like production problems in the
industry and socialissueslike employment,while puttingforward their demands.Unite‟s concern
about the unprofitable units along with the proposed units for sale shows the influence of socio-
economic factors on the trade unions.
1. Explain the role of Trade Unions in fighting for the rights of the workers.
(Hints: job security –negotiations-equality)
2. Why did the employees of the units that were put up for sale approach Unite?
(Hints: trade union-workers future-job security)
Course Reference:Concept- Characteristics of Trade Unions /Unit- Trade Unions /Subject- Human Resource
Management.
Sources:
i. Ishita AyanDutt, “Tata Steel faces tough choices in Europe”, Business Standard News, October 27, 2014
ii. Aditi Divekar, “Tata Steel trade union Uniteto meet Tata Steel Chairman Cyrus Mistry on November 15”,
Business Standard News, October 27, 2014
iii. Unite, Home Page, About Us
OtherKeywords: Business Environment and Law, Business Economics.
30

17
Role of Government in Maintaining
Industrial Relations – A Case of Bosch
Motor Industries Company Limited (MICO), a Bosch Group company started operations in India in 1951.
MICO manufactured spark plugs, filters, nozzle-holders, and elements and delivery valves under
technology guidance from Bosch - the largest Indo-German company that supplied technology and
services to Automotive, Industrial, Consumer Goods and Energy and Building Technology.
MICO had four manufacturing plants in India – Bangalore, Naganathapura, Nashik and Jaipur. MICO
was under the scanner since September 2010 when workers at Bangalore plant went on strike for wage
hikes, medical facilities and hospitalization expense reimbursement. Though Bosch reassured its
stakeholders about its commitment to business policies and discipline, labor unrest was frequent in the
company.
In March 2010, a tripartite meeting for negotiation was called at Naganathapura plant for salary
hikes. Later, in the same month an agreement was made at the Naganathapura plant for the new
 salary hike.

In September 2011, the MICO Employees Association (MEA) union at Bangalore plant again
went on tool down strike without a prior notice against outsourcing some non-core
manufacturing and support processes. The strike was called off after sixteen days when the state
 government referred the matter to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal for adjudication.
In March 2013,MEA went on tool down strike followedby a three months “go-slow” approach
protesting against the suspension of a workman. This was called off after the labor
 commissioner held conciliation and the management subsequently withdrew the suspension.

In September 2014, wage negotiations were on going for three plants other than Nashik plant.
The union demanded an increase of Rs.20,000 /- in their monthly salaries against the
 management offer of Rs.17,000/-. Workers went on a strike by giving notice in advance.

The Karnataka government prohibited the strike by issuing an official order under the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947, after negotiations and conciliations between the company management and
 workmen union and several senior government officials of the State failed.

Finally, on December 8, 2014, Bosch put an end to the strike by entering in to a wage settlement
for 2013-2016 with MEA.As per the settlement, the monthly cost-to-company of an average
workman rose from Rs.64,000/- to Rs.86,000/- against the condition that the workers meet the
industrial engineering standards of 7.5 hours of work in eight-hour shift. It also announced
employment confirmation to 100 temporary workmen (out of 370 numbers) with the new
intermediate wage level.
The workers at the plant resumed the production agreeing to stick to the assessment on productivity
standards.It was expected that about 2,600 workers would benefit from the wage settlement.
The case of Bosch indicateshow the state „government‟ and legal systems can enforce a peaceful
industrial environment through negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and adjudication.
1. Does government have any role to play in maintaining industrial
harmony? (Hints: Industrial Disputes Tribunal – Labor commissioner)
2. What was the role played by the government in the negotiations to resolve labor unrest at MICO?
(Hints: call off strike-negotiations- conciliations)
Course Reference:Concept-Government/Unit-Industrial Relations, CollectiveBargaining, and
Workers‟ Participation in Management/Subject- Human Resource Management.
Sources:
i. BS Reporters, Karnataka Govt. prohibits strikeat Bosch, Business Standard, October 10, 2014;
ii. BS Reporter, Bosh workers in Bangalore on Strike, Business Standard, September 17, 2014;
iii. BS Reporter, Different articles, Business Standard, November 16, 2013; October 14, 2011 &on March 13, 2010.
iv. Mahesh Kulkarni, “Bosch concludes wage settlement in Bengaluru plant”, Business Standard, December 9,
2014.
31

18 Google, Inc.: Providing Quality Work Life
Google Inc., an American multinational corporation, known for innovation and collaboration was
founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. Google specialized in Internet-related services and
products such as online advertising technologies, search, cloud computing, and software.
Google ranked firstin the listof “Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work - 2014”. The credibility lied in its
philosophy of providing Quality Work Life (QWL) (Refer Chart 1) by “creating the happiest, most
productive workplace in the world”. It had proved that workplace design and office interiors had an
immense effect on the productivity and creativity of employees.
Chart 1: Google’s exceptional QWL initiatives
Google’s motivate employees
Adapted by the author from the source: Stewart James B., “Looking for a Lesson in Google‟s Perks”,
NYTimes.com, March 15, 2013
In 2014, noted companies such as Zomato and Free Charge were trying to imitate the culture of Google
to encourage creativity and improve collaboration and openness among the employees.
The primary objective of „Quality of Work Life (QWL)’ should be to provide a healthy work
environment for employees. The study of Ergonomics or Human Engineering stresses the provision of
betterplant layout and improved equipment design. Google‟s success through innovation and
collaboration demonstrated exceptional quality of work life.
1. Explain the need for QWL initiatives in modern organizations.
(Hints: keep employees happy – productive workforce – stress free environment)
2. What were the initiatives taken by Google to make their employees happy and productive?
(Hints: connecting employees with brand –autonomy – health consultation)
Course Reference:Concept- Quality of Work Life /Unit- Quality of Work Life/ Subject- Human
Sources:
i. Shonali Advani, “Offices like Myntra,InMobi andothers get chic makeover”,Economic Times, November 7, 2014
ii. Mithila Mehta, “Interiors say a lot about your workplace”, The Times ofIndia, April 10, 2013
iii. James B.Stewart, “Lookingfor a Lesson in Google‟s Perks”, NYTimes.com, March15,2013
OtherKeywords: Organizational Behavior, Organization Development.
32

19
Role of Education in Successful Implementation
of Quality Circles
Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Nagpur, established in 1947, was inaugurated by
the first president of India Dr.Rajendra Prasad. Spread across 196 acres of land, the hospital attached to
this institute had 1,401 bed capacity. It had a Medical college, Super speciality Hospital, Dental College,
Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy and Nursing schools in its premises.
In 2014, Government institutions were given instructions to keep their premises clean as a part of Prime
Minister‟s Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan program. Even before the official order came from the PMO, the
newly appointed Dean at GMCH, Nagpur implemented standard procedures to improve and advance its
services and operations. To implement the same, he formed twelve quality circles and launched themon a
pilot basis.
The quality circles were related to cleanliness, patient care, bedside environment, plumbing, laundry,
staff behavior etc. As a part of quality circle meant for cleanliness, GMCH could see the following
changes within two months:

 Standard procedure was set for monitoring process
 System was developed for measuring outcomes
 Authorized volunteers felt responsible
 Developed employee commitment
Improved sanitation in the premises
After launching quality circles, GMCH observed some pre-requisites to successfully implement the
program. It conducted a workshop (Refer Chart 1) to give the required inputs to its staff. The workshop
by the GMCH included the following activities:
Chart 1 : Activities of GMCH workshop:
Adapted by the authorfrom the source: GwalaniPayal,”Quality circles to bring about better care at
GMCH”, The Times of India, November 6, 2014
GMCH‟s efforts of educating the staff resulted in successful implementation of the quality program
in a very short span of time. As a part of the cleanliness program, it also took some measures to ensure
that private hospital ambulances were not parked in the premises of GMCH, as the staff of these private
ambulances were misguiding the patient relatives and damaging the image of government hospitals.
GMCH was expected to produce more results through other quality circles.
GMCH planned to install protocol-based systems in the Hospital to improve the services and
operations. In the Indian scenario, the lack of leadership skills and pr oper „education‟, acts as a
bottleneck in the successful operation of Quality Circles (QCs). Providing necessary training to the
leaders of QCs and educating them on the benefits of QCs can help in solving the problem. GMCH
conducted workshops to educate the staff, nurses and Class IV workers in identifying the problems
and searching for solutions.
33

1. Why do organizations encourage and empower quality circles?
(Hints: standard systemdeveloped –employee commitment – improved sanitation)
2. List out the activities of GMCH‟s quality circles.
(Hints: briefing objectives-training – reporting to co-ordination committee)
Course Reference: Concept- Education – Unit – Quality Circles – Subject - Human Resource
Management Sources:
i. PayalGwalani,”Qualitycircles to bring about better care at GMCH”, The Times of India, November 6, 2014.
ii. PayalGwalani,”Maintaining the newly-achieved cleanliness in GMCH premises a huge responsibility”, The
Times of India, November 5, 2014.
iii. PayalGwalani, “GMCH acts tough against private hospital ambulances”, The Times of India, November 4,
2014.
OtherKeywords: Project Management
34

20 Zions’ Technique to Improve Employee Engagement
In 2013, Zions Bank received American Bankers‟ designation of Best Banks to Work For. Zions
Bank, a subsidiary of Zions Bank Corporation was operating with more than 500 offices and 600 ATMs
in 10 Western states of USA. In Zions Bank, leaders and managers acted as catalysts in change
management and in attaining higher employee engagement.
In 2012, George Myers, Executive VP and HR Director adopted a new review system to fully engage his
employees by wiping out the standard review process. The features of the new systemwere
 Yearly reviews were replaced by weekly mini-reviews and coaching sessions

 The process included peer accountability

 Individual contributions were connected to the organization‟s strategyandbusiness results

 Compensation was connected to the expected behaviors and performances 
Efforts put by Myers resulted in:
 Development of job skills and knowledge for 91% employees
 Career growth for about 85% employees
Continuous support and recognition from their supervisors for 92% of employees
In 2012, Gallup conducted research studies on the work-unit-level relationship between the employee
engagement and the specific performance outcomes. The recommendations of the research included
interacting with employees on a daily basis through one-on-one meetings and conducting weekly action-
planning sessions to improve their engagement levels. It could be inferred that the best practices in the
key areas of performance with special reference to employee engagement, as per Gallup study were
reflected in Zions Bank.
„Employee engagement’ is the emotional commitment of an employee with the organization and its
goals. Organizations can enhance its performance with high employee engagement. Zion‟s technique
to engage the disengaged employees resulted in sustainable growth.
1. How does employee engagement lead to improved performance in organizations?
(Hints: skill development-career growth – motivation)
2. List out the features of Zions‟ new employee engagement system.
(Hints: mini-reviews-matching organization‟s strategy with business results-behaviorchange)
Course Reference:Concept-EmployeeEngagement/Unit-Emerging Challenges of HRM/Subject- Human Resource
Management.
Sources:
i. Robyn Reilly, “Five Ways to Improve Employee Engagement Now”, Gallup Business Journal, January 7, 2014
ii. Larry Myler, “Need Higher Employee Engagement? Zions Bank May Have The Answer”, Forbes, November 17,
2014
iii. Zions Bank, Home Page, About Zions Bank
OtherKeywords: Organization Development; Strategic Human Resource Management.
35

Dear students, get ICFAI latest Solved assignments and case study help
by professionals.
Mail us at : help.mbaassignments@gmail.com
Call us at : 08263069601

ICFAI Human Resource Management - Solved assignments and case study help

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to ICFAI Human Resource Management - Solved assignments and case study help

Similar to ICFAI Human Resource Management - Solved assignments and case study help (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

ICFAI Human Resource Management - Solved assignments and case study help