Chapter IC, Problem 19.1CDQ

Summary Introduction

Case summary:

Person R is the general manager of Company M (whose performance was low in operations), where the company return on investment was low. Therefore, his boss (Person S) wanted to know the reason for not performing well. Even after 4 years of service, his performance is low and Person S had expected better performance by then. Person S demands for better performance in future.

Especially in Country C, the company specialized in producing printed circuit boards for cell phones and computer industries. Company M was in a joint venture with Company SE; therefore, the decisions regarding the company were taken together. Person R wanted a top-level job in corporate headquarters so he planned to take challenges in Company M of Country C. However, nothing is said to be going good in Company M; everything was a big mess.

One of the major drawbacks for the company was that they did not use updated technologies for manufacturing products. Person R wants to develop the technology but it was not that easy. To bring improvement in operations, Person R requested HR for 2 specialists from Country U to work with Country C’s employees but that did not work out well.

After this failure, Person R selected the best 4 employees from Country C and sent them to Country U for a 2-month training program. This training had good results because they had improved their operations within 1 year by introducing six sigma quality programs. There was a development in the flow of inventory; finally, the company earned a profit after 3 years.

Doing business in Country C was though the job because there are huge competitors for the same product. Therefore, customers demanded low prices. Person R tried to explain all these difficulties to Person S but the latter would not listen. Person R worked hard to turn his operations around but he was not getting any credit.

Characters in the case:

Person R,

Person S,

Company M,

Country C,

Country U,

Company SE.

Introduction:

Human resource management (HRM) is the practice that companies undergo to manage people in order to accomplish their goals.

To determine: Whether it is right to hold Person R to the same performance goals as managers in other countries and the other methods that may be adopted instead.