steel company,CAST STUDY solution
Read the case and answer the questions given at the end.
ABC Food Limited, a multinational corporation dealing in consumer food products, started its operations in India from 1965. Initially, the growth of the company has been very slow, because of the limited market size in India for ready food items. However, during the last three years there has been a boom in the fast food market and many new companies have ventured into the same product line. ABC Food Limited, being an old company operating in India, has distinct advantages vis-a-vis its competitors who are of recent standing. The products of the company have enjoyed very good reputation in the market from the day of its inception. Over a period of time, the company has added many new products which have been successfully accepted by the market. In view of the recent competition offered to its existing product line, the company has launched a number of new products in the last three years. Based on the Market Research Survey conducted by the company regarding acceptance of their new products, the feedback has been excellent. There is ample scope for the company to penetrate into the existing markets as well as expand the size of the existing market by introducing its products MS-22 3 into areas in which the company does not have any marketing set-up till date. The organisational set-up of the company in India consists of Marketing Director at the corporate level and four Zonal Managers Marketing, each in charge of East, West, North, South zone independently. The order of promotion in Marketing Department is Management Trainee - Marketing Officer - Branch Manager - Regional ManagerZonal Manager- Director Marketing. Mr.Khan joined the company in 1982 as a Management Trainee, Marketing and after completion of two years of rigorous Management Training in all the four zonal offices, he was placed in Bombay Zonal Office as Marketing Officer. Mr.Khan did his MBA in 1982 after graduating in Commerce. He was selected on the basis of Campus Interview by the company. Mr. Khan has been recognized as an outstanding officer based on his previous Performance Appraisal Reports throughout his career with the company by different bosses with whom he had worked during the relevant time. The company's performance appraisal system has been recently updated and modified with the cooperation and consultation of an outside consultant in the area of Human Resource Development. The thrust of the new performance appraisal system is on mutual consulfation and fixation at target on the btisis font disci1;3;4m between the appraisee and the a-ppra.isey Another distinct feature of the new system is that it has two-tier system of assessment, one b-..r the immediate boss under whom the a :s working and second by the boss of the re officer. The immediate boss of Mr. Khan Mr. Singh, who is in the grade of Branch Manager but placed at Zonal Office, Bombay. During the last three years, Mr. Khan and Mr. Singh have been given the assignment of conducting Market Research in various parts of the country with the help of an advertising company. In this connection both have to travel extensively to different parts of the country, being away from their families and permanent place of work at times for even more than 15 days in a month. Mr. Dutt, the Zonal Manager, Marketing incharge of Bombay division since 1985, was transferred on promotion as Zonal Manager from Northern Zone where he was working as Regional Manager. He has been observing the working of Mr. Khan as reviewing officer, being the immediate boss of Mr. Singh. During this period, Mr. Dutt had developed a fancy for Mr. Khan being smart, energetic and dynamic in his approach to work.. He has been talking good about him to Mr. Singh from time to time. However, during some of the trips to outstation which were jointly undertaken by Mr. Khan and Mr. Singh, Mr. Singh observed that Mr. Khan has started taking his work lightly as he tends to spend more time with clients in informal get-togethers instead of serious business discussions. Moreover, he has developed tendency of overcharging his expenses on such tours to the company. So far, all such expenses were authorized by Mr. Singh for payment to Mr. Khan. Keeping in mind Mr. Khan's excellent performance, Mr. Singh has been avoiding bringing it to Mr. Khan's notice. Mr. Singh has to fill up the Appraisal Report of Mr. Khan for the calendar year 1988. For the last three years, ever since Mr. Khan started working with Mr. Singh, he has been getting excellent reports from Mr. Singh. In view of the above developments, Mr. Singh has not given an excellent report to Mr. Khan for the Appraisal Year 1988. He has also made certain adverse remarks about his integrity and honesty. Mr. Khan is due for promotion and the Appraisal Report for 1988 is very important for him because as per the promotion policy of the company, promotions are decided on the basis of the last three years' appraisal reports.
Questions :
(a). Identify and discuss the core issue in the case.
(b) Was Mr.. Singh jAlstified in giving adverse remarks regarding Mr. Khan's integrity and honesty ?
(c) How would you view the action of Mr. Singh, if you were the M.D. of the company ?
(d). If you were the M.D. of the company, how do you solve the issue ?
