ARQ Ltd is an Indian company based in Greater Noida, which manufactures packaging materials for food items.

ARQ Ltd is an Indian company based in Greater Noida, which manufactures packaging materials for food items.

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Organizational Behaviour

CASE III

THANKS FOR NOTHING

Thought it may seem fairly obvious that receiving praise and recognition from one’s company is a motivating experience, sadly many companies are failing miserably when it comes to saying “thanks’’ to their employees. According to curt Coffman global practice leader at Gallup, 71 percent of U.S. workers are “disengaged’’, essentially meaning that they could care less about their organization. Coffman states. “We’re operating at one-quarter of the capacity in terms of managing human capital. It’s alarming.’’ Employee recognition programs, which became more popular as the U.S. economy shifted from industrial to knowledge-based, can be an effective way to motivate employees and make them feel valued. In many cases, however, recognition programs are doing “more harm than good’’ according to Coffman.

            Take Ko, a 50-year-old former employee of a dot-com in California. Her company proudly instituted a rewards program designed to motivate employees. What were the rewards for a job well-done? Employees would receive a badge which read “U Done Good’’ and, each year, would receive a T-shirt as a means of annual recognition. Once an employee received 10 “U Done Good’’ badges, he or she could trade them in for something bigger and better—a paperweight. Ko states that she would have preferred a raise. “It was patronizing. There wasn’t any deep thought involved in any of this.’’ To make matters worse, she says the badges were handed out arbitrarily and were not tied to performance. And what about those T-shirts? Ko states that the company instilled a strict dress code, so employees couldn’t even wear the shirts if they wanted to. Needless to say, the employee recognition program seemed like an empty gesture rather than a motivation.

            Even programs that provide employees with more expensive rewards can backfire, especially if the rewards are given insincerely. Eric Lange, an employee of a trucking company, recalls the time when one of the company’s vice presidents achieved a major financial goal for the company. The vice president, who worked in an office best of Lange, received a Cadillac Seville as his company car and a new Rolex wristwatch that cost the company $10,000. Both were lavish gifts, but the way they were distributed left a sour taste in the vice president’s mouth. He entered his office to find the Rolex in a cheap cardboard box sitting on his desk, along with a brief letter explaining that he would be receiving a 1099 tax form in order to pay taxes on the watch. Lange state of the vice president, “He came into my office, which was right next door, and said, `can you believe this?’’ A mere 2 months later, the vice president pawned the watch. Lange explains. “It had absolutely no meaning for him.

            Such experiences resonate with employees who may find more value in a sincere pat on the back than gifts from management that either are meaningless or aren’t conveyed with respect or sincerity. However, sincere pats on the back may be hard to come by. Gallup’s poll found that 61 percent of employees stated that they haven’t received a sincere, “thank you’’ from management in the past year. Finding such as these are troubling, as verbal rewards are not only inexpensive for companies to hand out but also are quick and easy to distribute. Of course, verbal rewards do need to be paired sometimes with tangible benefits that employees value – after all, money talks. In addition, when praising employees for a job well-done, managers need to ensure that the praise is given in conjunction with the specific accomplishment. In this way, employees may not only feel valued by their organization but will also know what actions to take to be rewarded in the future.

 ARQ Ltd is an Indian company based

Questions

1)        If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be a fairly easy and obvious motivational tools, why do you think companies and managers don’t often do it?

2)        As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after observing them perform well?

3)        Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager?

4)        As a manager, how would you ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly?

ARQ Ltd is an Indian company based in Greater Noida, which manufactures packaging materials for food items.

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Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager.

Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager

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Organizational Behaviour

CASE III

THANKS FOR NOTHING

Thought it may seem fairly obvious that receiving praise and recognition from one’s company is a motivating experience, sadly many companies are failing miserably when it comes to saying “thanks’’ to their employees. According to curt Coffman global practice leader at Gallup, 71 percent of U.S. workers are “disengaged’’, essentially meaning that they could care less about their organization. Coffman states. “We’re operating at one-quarter of the capacity in terms of managing human capital. It’s alarming.’’ Employee recognition programs, which became more popular as the U.S. economy shifted from industrial to knowledge-based, can be an effective way to motivate employees and make them feel valued. In many cases, however, recognition programs are doing “more harm than good’’ according to Coffman.

            Take Ko, a 50-year-old former employee of a dot-com in California. Her company proudly instituted a rewards program designed to motivate employees. What were the rewards for a job well-done? Employees would receive a badge which read “U Done Good’’ and, each year, would receive a T-shirt as a means of annual recognition. Once an employee received 10 “U Done Good’’ badges, he or she could trade them in for something bigger and better—a paperweight. Ko states that she would have preferred a raise. “It was patronizing. There wasn’t any deep thought involved in any of this.’’ To make matters worse, she says the badges were handed out arbitrarily and were not tied to performance. And what about those T-shirts? Ko states that the company instilled a strict dress code, so employees couldn’t even wear the shirts if they wanted to. Needless to say, the employee recognition program seemed like an empty gesture rather than a motivation.

            Even programs that provide employees with more expensive rewards can backfire, especially if the rewards are given insincerely. Eric Lange, an employee of a trucking company, recalls the time when one of the company’s vice presidents achieved a major financial goal for the company. The vice president, who worked in an office best of Lange, received a Cadillac Seville as his company car and a new Rolex wristwatch that cost the company $10,000. Both were lavish gifts, but the way they were distributed left a sour taste in the vice president’s mouth. He entered his office to find the Rolex in a cheap cardboard box sitting on his desk, along with a brief letter explaining that he would be receiving a 1099 tax form in order to pay taxes on the watch. Lange state of the vice president, “He came into my office, which was right next door, and said, `can you believe this?’’ A mere 2 months later, the vice president pawned the watch. Lange explains. “It had absolutely no meaning for him.

            Such experiences resonate with employees who may find more value in a sincere pat on the back than gifts from management that either are meaningless or aren’t conveyed with respect or sincerity. However, sincere pats on the back may be hard to come by. Gallup’s poll found that 61 percent of employees stated that they haven’t received a sincere, “thank you’’ from management in the past year. Finding such as these are troubling, as verbal rewards are not only inexpensive for companies to hand out but also are quick and easy to distribute. Of course, verbal rewards do need to be paired sometimes with tangible benefits that employees value – after all, money talks. In addition, when praising employees for a job well-done, managers need to ensure that the praise is given in conjunction with the specific accomplishment. In this way, employees may not only feel valued by their organization but will also know what actions to take to be rewarded in the future.

 Are there any downsides to giving employees

Questions

1)        If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be a fairly easy and obvious motivational tools, why do you think companies and managers don’t often do it?

2)        As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after observing them perform well?

3)        Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager?

4)        As a manager, how would you ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly?

Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager.

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We keep the quality measures for all papers which mean we will provide best essays. Our editing services are also excellent. Before submitting any essays, we will check whether the papers writer well or not. The high standards of academic writing will exceed your expectations. With our quality service, we have satisfied more number of people across the world and also work with different universities in Australia, UK, USA, Dubai, Oman, etc.

At our Case Study services, our experts are familiar about the formatting styles that are followed in the academic world. Our experts have a great knowledge about the formatting styles such as MLA, Harvard, APA, Turabian, and many others. All types of formats for the case study help are available at our case study help services. In addition, our experts can solve the case studies as per the instructions of the customers.

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Are the creators of Publius in any way morally responsible for any criminal acts that criminals are able to carry out and keep secret by relying on Publius ? Is AT & T in any way morally responsible for these ? Explain your answers.

Are the creators of Publius in any way morally responsible for any criminal acts that criminals are able to carry out and keep secret by relying on Publius ? Is AT & T in any way morally responsible for these ? Explain your answers.

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Business Ethics

Note :- Solve any 4 case study

All case carries equal marks

Case No : 1

PUBLIUS

Although many people believe that the World Wide Web is anonymous and secure from censorship, the reality is very different.  Governments, law courts, and other officials who want to censor, examine, or trace a file of materials on the Web need merely go to the server (the online computer) where they think the file is stored.  Using their subpoena power, they can comb through the server’s drives to find the files they are looking for and the identify of the person who created the files.

            On Friday June 30, 2000, however, researches at AT & T Labs announced the creation of Publius, a software program that enables Web users to encrypt (translate into a secret code) their files – text, pictures, or music – break them up like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and store the encrypted pieces on many different servers scattered all over the globe on the World Wide Web.  As a result, any one wanting to examine or censor the files or wanting to trace the original transaction that produced the file would find it impossible to succeed because they  would  have to examine the contents of dozens of different servers all over the world, and the files in the servers would be encrypted and fragmented in a way that would make the pieces impossible to identify without the help of the person who created the file.  A person authorized to retrieve the file, however, would look through a directory of his files posted on a Publius – affiliated website, and the Publius network would reassemble the file for him at his request.  Researchers published a description of Publius at www.cs.nyu.edu/waldman/publius.

            Although many people welcomed the way that the new software would enhance freedom of speech on the Web, many others were dismayed.  Bruce Taylor, an antipornography activist for the National Law Center for Children and Families, stated : “It’s nice to be anonymous, but who wants to be more anonymous than criminals, terrorists, child molesters, child pornographers, hackers and e-mail virus punks.”  Aviel Rubin and Lorrie Cranor, the creators of Publius, however, hoped that their program would help people in countries where freedom of speech was repressed and individuals were punished for speaking out.  The ideal user of Publius, they stated, was “a person in China observing abuses of human rights on a day – to – day basis.”

Questions :

1. Analyze the ethics of marketing Publius using utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring.  In your judgement, is it ethical to market Publius ?  Explain.

2. Are the creators of Publius in any way morally responsible for any criminal acts that criminals are able to carry out and keep secret by relying on Publius ?  Is AT & T in any way morally responsible  for these ? Explain your answers.

3. In your judgment, should governments allow the implementation of Publius ?  Why or why not ?

Are the creators of Publius in any way morally responsible for any criminal acts that criminals are able to carry out and keep secret by relying on Publius ? Is AT & T in any way morally responsible for these ? Explain your answers.

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Anyone who has tried to balance his or her time between a busy job and a fulfilling personal life knows challenging this can be. An Indisputable fact is that work and personal lives are interconnected. Companies know this.

Anyone who has tried to balance his or her time between a busy job and a fulfilling personal life knows challenging this can be. An Indisputable fact is that work and personal lives are interconnected. Companies know this.

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Human Resource Management

Case 2 :-

Are New Recruits Looking for Work – Life Balance?

Anyone who has tried to balance his or her time between a busy job and a fulfilling personal life knows challenging this can be. An Indisputable fact is that work and personal lives are interconnected. Companies know this. Potential recruits also know this. It’s become more of an issue in recent years due to some important demographic changes that are affecting many workers. For example, companies are experiencing rising demand for the expansion of child care and elder care programs. This is not surprising given the aging of the U.S. population and that Gen Xers are starting to have families. Thus, many recruits who are members of the “sandwich generation” (i.e., they are sandwiched between elderly parents and young children and therefore have to provide care both sets of family members) consider as part of their employment decisions the number and type of work-life balance programs that potential employers offer. Other demographic changes that are contributing to this rise in the demand for work-life balance programs include the increase of single parents entering the workforce and an increase of dual-career couples. In both cases, parents who shoulder care-giving responsibilities often seek flexible work arrangements and more flexible career cycles. Flexible career cycles allow individuals to leave their career tracks temporarily to raise a child, care for sick parent, and so on. These individuals are welcomed back to work and placed back into career-oriented positions.

          Are companies using work-life balance programs to attract top candidates to join their firms? The answer is yes. Whirlpool attempts to attract recruits with the company’s family friendly culture. To illustrate, the company arranged for housing for an intern and his family for the entire summer.

          At Xerox, two executives successfully share one job so that they can have more time at home with their young children. After 10 years, the job sharing arrangement is working whereby both executives report high levels of satisfaction with the arrangement, and the company has been able to retain two productive and experienced employees.

          Flextime programs that allow employees limited control over which days and hours they have to be working at the office are becoming popular at many companies. For example, an employee may prefer to work a 4-day/10-hours-a-day week instead of a traditional 5-days/8-hours-a-day week. The shorter workweek may allow the employee to attend children’s sporting events, provide weekend care for an elderly parent, or engage in other important activities. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Merrill Lynch, Deloitte Touche, and Cigna have implemented flextime programs.

          Related to flextime is telecommuting, which allows employees to work in their home part or full time while being connected to the office via the Internet, phone lines, and the like. Although some managers and supervisors fear a loss of control from this type of work-family arrangement, companies like Pfizer have been careful to create an effective telecommuting policy. For example in order to qualify for this program, Pfizer employees are required to demonstrate that the work can be accomplished odd-site to no more than two per week.

           Work-life balance programs such as job sharing, flextime, and telecommuting are designed for both retaining current employees and attracting potential employees to the firm. As new college graduates increasingly find themselves providing care to both their aging parents and young children, the value of these programs will only increase. Undoubtedly, this will make work-life friendly companies more attractive in the marketplace.

Questions

1. Why is there a need for companies to offer work-family balance programs such as flextime, telecommuting, and job sharing?

2. Of the three programs discussed above, which be the most important program for you personally when deciding whether or not to join an employer? Why?

 Anyone who has tried to balance

3. Some organizations do not believe in offering any of these work-life balance programs. What do you think their reasoning is? Explain.

Anyone who has tried to balance his or her time between a busy job and a fulfilling personal life knows challenging this can be. An Indisputable fact is that work and personal lives are interconnected. Companies know this.

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Anil Mahajan absent -mindedly ran his finger over the cake of soap before him. He traced the name ‘Golden Glow’ embossed on the soap as he inhaled its unmistakable sesame fragrance. It was a small soap, almost like a bar of gold.

Anil Mahajan absent -mindedly ran his finger over the cake of soap before him. He traced the name ‘Golden Glow’ embossed on the soap as he inhaled its unmistakable sesame fragrance. It was a small soap, almost like a bar of gold.

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Consumer Behavior

Case V

Golden Glow Soap

Anil Mahajan absent -mindedly ran his finger over the cake of soap before him. He traced the name ‘Golden Glow’ embossed on the soap as he inhaled its unmistakable sesame fragrance. It was a small soap, almost like a bar of gold. There were no frills, no coloured packaging, and no fancy shape. Just a golden glow and the fragrance of sesame and Lucida font that quietly stated’ Golden Glow’.

Mahajan smiled wanly and clasped the soap in his hands, as if protecting it from an unseen predator. He was wondering with quiet concern if the 30-year-old brand would last long. Sensi India, where Mahajan was marketing manager, was taking a long, hard look at the soap, as it was proving to be a strain on resources.

There were varying stories about how Golden Glow was launched. Some said the brand was a ‘gift’ from the departing English parent company. Others claimed that it was created for the then chairman’s British wife, as the Indian climate did not agree with her skin. They also claimed that the lady also coined the copy “The honest soap that loves your skin” was also coined by the lady. The line had stuck through three decades. Only the visuals had changed, with newer models replacing the older ones.

Zeni was basically a speciality products company producing household hygiene, fabricare, and dental care products. Golden Glow was the only soap in its product mix, produced and marketed by Sensi. Its reliable quality and value delivery had earned it a lot of respect in the market. Golden Glow equity was such that Sensi was known as the Golden Glow Company. Indeed, the brand name Golden Glow denoted purity, reliability, and gentle skincare.

In 1994, Sensi UK increased its stake in the Indian subsidiary to 51%. Within months, all of Sensi’s products were given a facelift, thanks to the inflow of foreign capital. New packaging, new fragrances, new formulations and more variants were introduced.

Only Golden Glow was left untouched. For, although it had a growing skincare business following some strategic acquisitions in Europe in the early eighties, Sensi UK was not a soap company. The UK marketing team ran an audit of every brand and product in the company’s portfolio. But when it came to Golden Glow, it faltered. “We don’t know this one,” officials at the parent company said.

“We don’t want this one to be touched,” Mahajan had said protectively, a sentiment tliat was endorsed by the managing director, Rajan Sharma. “Golden Glow is too sacred, we will leave it as it is,” he said.

But the UK marketing team was confounded. What was a lone soap doing in the midst of toilet cleaners and fabric protectors; they wondered, however they somehow agreed that their proposed revamp strategy would only look at up-gradation, not tinkering with what wasn’t broken.

Indeed, for 30 long years no one had tampered with the Golden Glow brand. And Mahajan felt there was no reason to start now. Golden Glow, in his view, was a self-sustaining brand. That was a bit of an understatement because advertising for the brand was moderate and Sensi India had never used any promotional gimmick for it.

Now, after four years of nurturing the other categories, Sensi UK had decided to launch its Vio range of skincare products in India. But Golden Glow’s presence and profile was a major roadblock to Vio’s success. “It will create dissonance, confuse our skincare equity and deter the articulation of Vio’s credo. It will stand out as a genetic flaw,” argued the UK marketing head. “You need to do a rethink on Golden Glow.”

Mahajan protested. “Why? It has such a strong equity and loyal following. So much has been invested in it all these years. Why give up all that?”

Rajan, however, had another idea. “Let us then extend the Golden Glow brand.” He said It was the simplest solution. Companies were now investing heavily in creating new equities for their brands. But in Golden Glow’s case, Sensi was already sitting on a brand with a terrific equity. He felt that extending this equity to other categories, such as skincare products would be successful.

But Golden Glow needed a new positioning before it could be extended. Till a few years ago, it had been in premium category, priced at Rs.15. Then new brands with specific positioning and higher price tags entered the market. This created a level above Rs.15 soaps and pushed Golden Glow down to the mid-priced range. So Golden Glow’s price was not commensurate with its premium position and image.

Over the years, Golden Glow had become so sacred that Sensi India had been too scared to do anything to it. As a result, the soap was left with niche category of loyal users. This category neither shrank or increased, just kept getting older and older, and with it the brand also kept growing older. For example, when Mahajan’s wife had her first baby at 25, her mother had recommended Golden Glow for her dry skin and also for baby’s tender skin because it contained sesame oil. That was in 1979. Today, Mahajan’s daughter had turned 21 and was being wooed by Dove, Camay, even Santoor, and Lifebuoy Gold, with their aggressive advertising. Golden Glow had begun to lose its image of being contemporary as newer brands came in with newer values.

Today, at 46, Mahajan’s wife still used Golden Glow, but when she recommended Golden Glow to her daughter, she said, “But Golden Glow is a soap for mothers, for older people.”

That was a major problem. The Golden Glow brand had aged, and Sensi India hadn’t even been aware of it. While its equity had grown with its users, its personality had aged considerably in the last 30 years. “I don’t think you can keep the personality young, unless you keep renewing the brand. The objective now is to widen your equity so that your image becomes young,” continued Rajan. “For instance, if today you were to personify a Golden Glow user now, it would be a woman of 45 years using the same brand for many years, who is aver-se to experimenting, very skincare conscious, very trusting, and very one-dimensional. As you can see, this is not a very competitive personality. These are the strengths of our Golden Glow, but these are also its weaknesses,” he analysed.

The context had changed. Today, youth demanded brands that stood for freedom and fearlessness. They demanded bold brands that dared to cure, not just p;eserve. “Preservation is for old people. Those are the attributes being presented in evolved markets,” said Rajan. To make Golden Glow contemporary, the attributes had to be re-framed, he felt. “You can’t make a young brand trusting caring, loving, without adding other attributes to it. Today, youth stands for freedom, for laughter, for frankness, for forthrightness. That’s what Close Up, Lifebuoy Gold, Vatika, and other brands propagate. So, either come clean and say it is for older skin which needs trust and kindness, or reposition the brand,” said Rajan.

Repositioning was also necessary to address another anomaly in Golden Glow’s image: its perceived premium. Sensi India had been unable to do anything about Golden Glow slipping into the mid-price range following the entry of more expensive brands. Now, as Rajan mulled over the brand extension plan, Mahajan felt that Golden Glow’s premium positioning was its core equity and that had to be maintained.

“If you are premium priced in the consumer’s mind, your extensions are automatically perceived as premium. So, if you don’t present the other products as premium, the consumer will not see them as extensions of the brand,” he said. “For example, if you are to launch a shampoo which is priced lower than Sunsilk, but higher than Nyle and Ayur, then whatever the rationale, the consumer will not accept your product. “It is not the Golden Glow I know,” will be the feeling,” he said.

Mahajan felt that since premium positioning was one of Golden Glow’s equity values, it would be very difficult to convince consumers that the brand was being extended without hanging on to this particular value. “Will they buy your rationale that the very same values and equity would now be available at a low price? To be in the premium segment now, you have to price it at Rs 35 or 40, almost on a par with Dove,” he said. “With Dove retailing at Rs 45, Golden Glow will be perceived as a cheaper option.”

“We can’t simply raise the price,” said Rajan. “What are we offering for that increase? You can ‘t add value because you don’t want to tamper with the brand. The consumers will then ask, “Golden Glow used to be so cheap, what has happened now? The user will forget that 15 years ago, Rsl0 was expensive, because all her comparisons would be in today’ s context,” said Rajan.

“So what’s the option?” asked Mahajan. “You don’t have to be expensive to be premium,” said Rajan. Golden Glow already has the image of a premium brand, thanks to its time-tested core values of purity, credibility, and reliability. What we can do is reinforce the premium through communication and positioning. In fact) we should have tinkered with Golden Glow long ago. That is what HLL did with Lux. It also launched a bridge brand, Lux International, in the premium category,” said Rajan.

“How could we have done anything to the brand?” asked Mahajan. “The product had such a strong following. It stood for gold, for sesame oil, for its subtle earthy perfume. We changed the packaging periodically, but that’s all we could do. Remember the time we brought out a transparent green Golden Glow with the fragrance of lime? It bombed in the market.”

Rajan was not in favour of the premium positioning. It appeared very short sighted to him, given the bigger plan to extend the brand. “Where are the volumes in the premium segment? He asked. “For some reason, every manufacturer feels that skincare can be an indulgence of only the moneyed class. As a result, there is a crowd in the premium end of the market. Do we want to be yet another player in the segment?”

Fifteen years ago, Golden Glow was perceived as a premium product. But today, globa1brands like Revlon, Coty, and Oriflame were delivering specific premium platforms. Golden Glow did not have a global equity. ‘Let us revisit the brand and examine what it stood for 15 years ago and examine the relevance of those attributes in today’s context,” suggested Rajan. “Golden Glow stood for care, consciousness, love, quality and all that. But today, are these enough to justify a premium position?” he asked Mahajan. “These attributes are viable in the mid-priced segment.” He said.

“The mid-priced brand is the proverbial washer-man’s dog,” said Mahajan. “You don’t know whether you are at the bottom end of the premium range or at the top-end of the low-priced range. You end up creating an image of being on the opportunity fence. It is a mere pricing ploy, with no strategic value.”

QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the nature of problem(s) in this case?

2. Suggest the kind of consumer research needed?

3. How should Golden Glow be positioned/ repositioned to bring about the desired change among consumers? Give your reasons.

Anil Mahajan absent -mindedly ran his finger over the cake of soap before him. He traced the name ‘Golden Glow’ embossed on the soap as he inhaled its unmistakable sesame fragrance. It was a small soap, almost like a bar of gold.

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Analyze the ethics of marketing Publius using utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring. In your judgement, is it ethical to market Publius ? Explain.

Analyze the ethics of marketing Publius using utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring. In your judgement, is it ethical to market Publius ? Explain.

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Business Ethics

Note :- Solve any 4 case study

All case carries equal marks

Case No : 1

PUBLIUS

Although many people believe that the World Wide Web is anonymous and secure from censorship, the reality is very different.  Governments, law courts, and other officials who want to censor, examine, or trace a file of materials on the Web need merely go to the server (the online computer) where they think the file is stored.  Using their subpoena power, they can comb through the server’s drives to find the files they are looking for and the identify of the person who created the files.

            On Friday June 30, 2000, however, researches at AT & T Labs announced the creation of Publius, a software program that enables Web users to encrypt (translate into a secret code) their files – text, pictures, or music – break them up like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and store the encrypted pieces on many different servers scattered all over the globe on the World Wide Web.  As a result, any one wanting to examine or censor the files or wanting to trace the original transaction that produced the file would find it impossible to succeed because they  would  have to examine the contents of dozens of different servers all over the world, and the files in the servers would be encrypted and fragmented in a way that would make the pieces impossible to identify without the help of the person who created the file.  A person authorized to retrieve the file, however, would look through a directory of his files posted on a Publius – affiliated website, and the Publius network would reassemble the file for him at his request.  Researchers published a description of Publius at www.cs.nyu.edu/waldman/publius.

            Although many people welcomed the way that the new software would enhance freedom of speech on the Web, many others were dismayed.  Bruce Taylor, an antipornography activist for the National Law Center for Children and Families, stated : “It’s nice to be anonymous, but who wants to be more anonymous than criminals, terrorists, child molesters, child pornographers, hackers and e-mail virus punks.”  Aviel Rubin and Lorrie Cranor, the creators of Publius, however, hoped that their program would help people in countries where freedom of speech was repressed and individuals were punished for speaking out.  The ideal user of Publius, they stated, was “a person in China observing abuses of human rights on a day – to – day basis.”

Questions :

1. Analyze the ethics of marketing Publius using utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring.  In your judgement, is it ethical to market Publius ?  Explain.

2. Are the creators of Publius in any way morally responsible for any criminal acts that criminals are able to carry out and keep secret by relying on Publius ?  Is AT & T in any way morally responsible  for these ? Explain your answers.

3. In your judgment, should governments allow the implementation of Publius ?  Why or why not ?

Analyze the ethics of marketing Publius using utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring. In your judgement, is it ethical to market Publius ? Explain.

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Business Communications – Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s dilemma.

Business Communications – Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s dilemma.

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Business Communications

CASE III

Arvind Pandey Caught in Business Web

Arvind Pandey is a project manager at Al Saba Construction Company in Muscat.   It s a flourishing company with several construction projects in Muscat and abroad.  It is known for completing projects on time and with high quantity construction.  The company’s Chairman is a rich and a highly educated Omani.  A German engineer is Arvind’s Vice – President for urban and foreign construction projects.

Three months ago, Al Saba had submitted a tender for a major construction project in Kuwait.  Its quotation was for $ 25 million.  In Kuwait the project was sponsored and announced by a US – based construction company called Fuma.  According to Al Saba, their bid of $ 25 million was modest but had included a high margin of profit.

On 25 April, Arvind was asked to go to Kuwait to find out from the Fuma project manager the status of their construction proposal.  Arvind was delighted to know that Fuma had decided to give his company, (Al Saba) the construction project work.  The project meant a lot of effort and money in planning the proposed construction in Kuwait.

But before Arvind could tank the Fuma project manager, he was told that their bird should be raised to $ 28 million.  Arvind was surprised. He tried to convince the Fuma project manager that his (Arvind company had the bast reputation for doing construction work in a cost effective way.  However, he could always raise the bid by $ 3 million. But he wanted to know why he was required to do so.

The Fuma manager’s reply was, “That’s the way we do our business in this part of the world, $ 1 million will go to our Managing Director in the US, I shall get $ 1 million, you, Mr. Pandey, will get $ 1 million in a specified account in Swiss Bank.

Arvind asked, “But why me?”  “So that you never talk about it to any one.”  The Fuma Project Manager said.  Arvind promised never to leak it out to any one else.  And he tried to bargain to raise the bid by $ 2 million.  For Arvind was familiar with the practice of “pay – offs” involved in any such thing.  He thought it was against his loyalty to his company and his personal ethics.  Arvind promised the Fuma project manager that the bid would be raised to $ 28 million and fresh papers would be put in. He did not want to lose the job. He came back to Muscat and kept trying to figure out how he should place the whole thing before his German Vice President.  He obviously was at a loss. 

Questions:

1. Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s dilemma.

2. Does Arvind Pandey really face a dilemma?

3. In your view what should Arvind Pandey do? Should he disclose it to his German Vice President?

Business Communications – Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s dilemma.

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Analyse the financial viability of the two options.  Which option would you recommend ?  Why

Analyse the financial viability of the two options.  Which option would you recommend ?  Why

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Finance Management

Case NO. 6

ARQ LTD

ARQ Ltd is an Indian company based in Greater Noida, which manufactures packaging materials for food items.  The company maintains a present fleet of five fiat cars and two Contessa Classic cars for its chairman, general manager and five senior managers.  The book value of the seven cars is Rs. 20,00,000 and their market value is estimated at Rs. 15,00,000.  All the cars fall under the same block of depreciation @ 25 per cent.

            A German multinational company (MNC) BYR Ltd, has acquired ARQ Ltd in all cash deal.  The merged company called BYR India Ltd is proposing to expand the manufacturing capacity by four folds and the organization structure is reorganized from top to bottom.  The German MNC has the policy of providing transport facility to all senior executives (22) of the company because the manufacturing plant at Greater Noida was more than 10 kms outside Delhi where most of the executives were staying. 

Prices of the cars to be provided to the Executives have been as follows :

The company is evaluating two options for providing these cars to executives

Option 1 : The company will buy the cars and pay the executives fuel expenses, maintenance expenses, driver allowance and insurance (at the year – end).  In such case, the ownership of the car will lie with the company.  The details of the proposed allowances and expenditures to be paid are as follows :

1. a) Fuel expense and maintenance Allowances per month

1. b) Driver Allowance : Rs. 4,000 per month (Only Chairman, Managing Director and Directors are eligible for driver allowance.)

2. c) Insurance cost : 1 per cent of the cost of the car.

            The useful life for the cars is assumed to be five years after which they can be sold at 20 per cent salvage value.  All the cars fall under the same block of depreciation @ 25 per cent using written down method of depreciation.  The company will have to borrow to finance the purchase from a bank with interest at 14 per cent repayable in five annual equal instalments payable at the end of the year.

Option 2 : ORIX, The fleet management company has offered the 22 cars of the same make at lease for the period of five years.  The monthly lease rentals for the cars are as follows (assuming that the total of monthly lease rentals for the whole year are paid at the end of each year.

                        Santro Xing                                                  Rs.  9,125

                        Honda City                                                         16,325

                        Toyota Corolla                                                    27,175

                        Sonata Gold                                                         39,250

                        Mercedes Benz                                                    61,250

            Under this lease agreement the leasing company, ORIX will pay for the fuel, maintenance and driver expenses for all the cars.  The lessor will claim the depreciation on the cars and the lessee will claim the lease rentals against the taxable income.  BYR India Ltd will have to hire fulltime supervisor (at monthly salary of Rs. 15,000 per month) to manage the fleet of cars hired on  lease. The company will have to bear additional miscellaneous expense of Rs. 5,000 per month for providing him the PC, mobioe phone and so on.

            The company’s effective tax rate is 40 per cent and its cost of capital is 15 per cent.

Analyse the financial viability of the two options.  Which option would you recommend ?  Why ?

Analyse the financial viability of the two options. Which option would you recommend ? Why

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Finance Management – Analyse the debt capacity of the company

Finance Management – Analyse the debt capacity of the company

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Finance Management

Note.: 1)Attempt any Four Cases.

              2)All Cases carry equal marks.

Case NO. 1

ZIP ZAP ZOOM CAR COMPANY

Zip Zap Zoom Company Ltd is into manufacturing cars in the small car (800 cc) segment.  It was set up 15 years back and since its establishment it has seen a phenomenal growth in both its market and profitability.  Its financial statements are shown in Exhibits 1 and 2 respectively.

            The company enjoys the confidence of its shareholders who have been rewarded with growing dividends year after year.  Last year, the company had announced 20 per cent dividend, which was the highest in the automobile sector.  The company has never defaulted on its loan payments and enjoys a favourable face with its lenders, which include financial institutions, commercial banks and debenture holders.

            The competition in the car industry has increased in the past few years and the company foresees further intensification of competition with the entry of several foreign car manufactures many of them being market leaders in their respective countries.  The small car segment especially, will witness entry of foreign majors in the near future, with latest technology being offered to the Indian customer.  The Zip Zap Zoom’s senior management realizes the need for large scale investment in up gradation of technology and improvement of manufacturing facilities to pre-empt competition.

            Whereas on the one hand, the competition in the car industry has been intensifying, on the other hand, there has been a slowdown in the Indian economy, which has not only reduced the demand for cars, but has also led to adoption of price cutting strategies by various car manufactures.   The industry indicators predict that the economy is gradually slipping into recession.

Exhibit 1 Balance sheet as at March 31,200 x

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

            Source of Funds                              

Share capital                                                           350

                        Reserves and surplus                                  250                             600

                        Loans :

                                    Debentures (@ 14%)                         50     

                                    Institutional borrowing (@ 10%) 100

                                    Commercial loans (@ 12%)           250

                        Total debt                                                                                          400

                        Current liabilities                                                                            200

                                                                                                                                    1,200

                        Application of Funds

                        Fixed Assets                                                 

                        Gross block                                                   1,000

                        Less : Depreciation                                         250

                        Net block                                                          750

                        Capital WIP                                                      190

                        Total Fixed Assets                                                                           940

                        Current assets :

                        Inventory                                                         200

                        Sundry debtors                                                 40

                        Cash and bank balance                                    10

                        Other current assets                                        10

                        Total current assets                                                                        260

                                                                                                                                    -1200

Analyse the debt capacity of the company

Exhibit 2 Profit and Loss Account for the year ended March 31, 200x

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

            Sales revenue (80,000 units x Rs. 2,50,000)                                        2,000.0

            Operating expenditure :

                        Variable cost :                                                         

                        Raw material and manufacturing expenses       1,300.0

                        Variable overheads                                                                100.0

            Total                                                                                                               1,400.0

            Fixed cost :                                                               

                        R & D                                                                               20.0

                        Marketing and advertising                                                     25.0

                        Depreciation                                                                            250.0

                        Personnel                                                                       70.0

            Total                                                                                                                  365.0

            Total operating expenditure                                                                      1,765.0

            Operating profits (EBIT)                                                                               235.0

Financial expense :

            Interest on debentures                                                      7.7

            Interest on institutional borrowings                          11.0

            Interest on commercial loan                                        33.0                    51.7

Earnings before tax (EBT)                                                                                                 183.3

Tax (@ 35%)                                                                                                               64.2

Earnings after tax (EAT)                                                                                        119.1

Dividends                                                                                                                    70.0

Debt redemption (sinking fund obligation)**                                                     40.0

Contribution to reserves and surplus                                                                     9.1                                                  

*          Includes the cost of inventory and work in process (W.P) which is dependent on demand (sales).

**        The loans have to be retired in the next ten years and the firm redeems Rs. 40 crore every year.

            The company is faced with the problem of deciding how much to invest in up

gradation of its plans and technology.  Capital investment up to a maximum of Rs. 100

crore is required.  The problem areas are three-fold.

• The company cannot forgo the capital investment as that could lead to reduction in its market share as technological competence in this industry is a must and customers would shift to manufactures providing latest in car technology.

• The company does not want to issue new equity shares and its retained earning are not enough for such a large investment.  Thus, the only option is raising debt.

• The company wants to limit its additional debt to a level that it can service without taking undue risks.  With the looming recession and uncertain market conditions, the company perceives that additional fixed obligations could become a cause of financial distress, and thus, wants to determine its additional debt capacity to meet the investment requirements.

Mr. Shortsighted, the company’s Finance Manager, is given the task of determining the additional debt that the firm can raise.  He thinks that the firm can raise Rs. 100 crore worth debt and service it even in years of recession.  The company can raise debt at 15 per cent from a financial institution.  While working out the debt capacity.  Mr. Shortsighted takes the following assumptions for the recession years.

1. A maximum of 10 percent reduction in sales volume will take place.

2. A maximum of 6 percent reduction in sales price of cars will take place.

Mr. Shorsighted prepares a projected income statement which is representative of the recession years.  While doing so, he determines what he thinks are the “irreducible minimum” expenditures under recessionary conditions.  For him, risk of insolvency is the main concern while designing the capital structure.  To support his view, he presents the income statement as shown in Exhibit 3.

Exhibit 3 projected Profit and Loss account

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

            Sales revenue (72,000 units x Rs. 2,35,000)                                         1,692.0

            Operating expenditure

                        Variable cost :                                                         

                        Raw material and manufacturing expenses       1,170.0

                        Variable overheads                                                                  90.0

            Total                                                                                                               1,260.0

            Fixed cost :                                                               

                        R & D                                                                               —

                        Marketing and advertising                                                     15.0

                        Depreciation                                                                            187.5

                        Personnel                                                                       70.0

            Total                                                                                                                  272.5

            Total operating expenditure                                                                      1,532.5

            EBIT                                                                                                                  159.5

            Financial expenses :

                        Interest on existing Debentures                                7.0

                        Interest on existing institutional borrowings       10.0

                        Interest on commercial loan                                    30.0

                        Interest on additional debt                                                   15.0                  62.0

            EBT                                                                                                                     97.5

            Tax (@ 35%)                                                                                                      34.1

            EAT                                                                                                                     63.4

            Dividends                                                                                                             —

            Debt redemption (sinking fund obligation)                                                50.0*

            Contribution to reserves and surplus                                                          13.4

            * Rs. 40 crore (existing debt) + Rs. 10 crore (additional debt)

Assumptions of Mr. Shorsighted

• R & D expenditure can be done away with till the economy picks up.

• Marketing and advertising expenditure can be reduced by 40 per cent.

• Keeping in mind the investor confidence that the company enjoys, he feels that the company can forgo paying dividends in the recession period.

He goes with his worked out statement to the Director Finance, Mr. Arthashatra, and advocates raising Rs. 100 crore of debt to finance the intended capital investment.  Mr. Arthashatra  does not feel comfortable with the statements and calls for the company’s financial analyst, Mr. Longsighted.

Mr. Longsighted carefully analyses Mr. Shortsighted’s assumptions and points out that insolvency should not be the sole criterion while determining the debt capacity of the firm.  He points out the following :

• Apart from debt servicing, there are certain expenditures like those on R & D and marketing that need to be continued to ensure the long-term health of the firm.

• Certain management policies like those relating to dividend payout, send out important signals to the investors.  The Zip Zap Zoom’s management has been paying regular dividends and discontinuing this practice (even though just for the recession phase) could raise serious doubts in the investor’s mind about the health of the firm.  The firm should pay at least 10 per cent dividend in the recession years.

• Mr. Shortsighted has used the accounting profits to determine the amount available each year for servicing the debt obligations.  This does not give the true picture.  Net cash inflows should be used to determine the amount available for servicing the debt.

• Net Cash inflows are determined by an interplay of many variables and such a simplistic view should not be taken while determining the cash flows in recession.  It is not possible to accurately predict the fall in any of the factors such as sales volume, sales price, marketing expenditure and so on.  Probability distribution of variation of each of the factors that affect net cash inflow should be analyzed.  From  this analysis, the probability distribution of variation in net cash inflow should be analysed (the net cash inflows follow a normal probability distribution).  This will give a true picture of how the company’s cash flows will behave in recession conditions.

Analyse the debt capacity of the company

The management recognizes that the alternative suggested by Mr. Longsighted rests on data, which are complex and require expenditure of time and effort to obtain and interpret.  Considering the importance of capital structure design, the Finance Director asks Mr. Longsighted to carry out his analysis.  Information on the behaviour of cash flows during the recession periods is taken into account.

The methodology undertaken is as follows :

• Important factors that affect cash flows (especially contraction of cash flows), like sales volume, sales price, raw materials expenditure, and so on, are identified and the analysis is carried out in terms of cash receipts and cash expenditures.

• Each factor’s behaviour (variation behaviour) in adverse conditions in the past is studied and future expectations are combined with past data, to describe limits (maximum favourable), most probable and maximum adverse) for all the factors.

• Once this information is generated for all the factors affecting the cash flows, Mr. Longsighted comes up with a range of estimates of the cash flow in future recession periods based on all possible combinations of the several factors. He also estimates the probability of occurrence of each estimate of cash flow.

Assuming a normal distribution of the expected behaviour, the mean expected

value of net cash inflow in adverse conditions came out to be Rs. 220.27 crore with standard deviation of Rs. 110 crore.

            Keeping in mind the looming recession and the uncertainty of the recession behaviour, Mr. Arthashastra feels that the firm should factor a risk of cash inadequacy of around 5 per cent even in the most adverse industry conditions.  Thus, the firm should take up only that amount of additional debt that it can service 95 per cent of the times, while maintaining cash adequacy.

            To maintain an annual dividend of 10 per cent, an additional Rs. 35 crore has to be kept aside.  Hence, the expected available net cash inflow is Rs. 185.27 crore (i.e. Rs. 220.27 – Rs. 35 crore)

Analyse the debt capacity of the company? 

Finance Management – Analyse the debt capacity of the company

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An operation analyst suggested that company employees shared a “dump on the clerks” mentality What in your view can be the outcome of such a mentality

An operation analyst suggested that company employees shared a “dump on the clerks” mentality What in your view can be the outcome of such a mentality

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Operation Management

Case 3  :-

Read the following carefully and answer the questions at the end:

COMPANY BACKGROUND

The Bronson Insurance Group was originally founded in 1900 in Auxvasse, Missouri, by James Bronson. The Bronson Group owns a variety of companies that underwrite and commercial insurance policies. Annual sales of the Bronson Group are $100 million. In recent years, the company sulfured operating losses. In 1990, the company was heavily invested in computer hardware and software. One of the problems the Bronson Group faced (as well as many insurance companies) was a conflict between established manual procedures and the relatively recent within the past 20 years) introduction of computer equipment. This conflict was illustrated by the fact that much information was captured on computer but paper files were still kept for practical and legal reasons.

FILE CLERKS

The file department employed 20 file clerks who pulled files from stacks, refilled used files, and delivered files to various departments including commercial lines, personal line, and claims. Once a file clerk received a request for a file, it usually tock about two hours for the requester to receive the file. Clerks delivered flies to underwriters on an hourly basis throughout the day. The average file clerk was paid &8,300 per year. One special file clerk was used full time to search for requested files that another file clerk had not been able to find in the expected place. It was estimated that 40 percent of the requested files were these ‘no hit’ flies requiring a search after these ‘no hit’ files were eventually found stacked in the requester” office. The primary “customers” of the file clerks were underwriters and claims attorneys.

UNDERWRITING

Company management and operations analysts were consistently told the greatest problem in the company was the inability of file clerks to supply files in a speedy fashion. The entire company from top to bottom viewed the productivity and effectiveness of the flies department as unacceptable. An underwriter used 20-50 files per day. Because of their distrust of the files department, underwriters tended to hoard often uses files. A count by operations analyse found that each underwriter kept form 100-200 files in his or her office at any one time. An underwriter would request a file by computer and work on other business until the file was received. Benson employed 25 underwriters.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Upper management was deeply concerned about his problem. The MIS department had suggested using videodisks as possible solutions. A video disk system was found that would be sufficient for the company needs at a cost of about $12 million. It was estimated that the system would take two years to install and make compatible with existing information systems. Another, less attractive alternative was using microfilm. A microfilm system would require underwriters to go to a single keyboard to request paper copies of files. The cost of a microfilm system was $5 million.

Questions

(a) Looking at the facts of the case, which one of the new technologies should the company implement? Give reasons for your recommendation.

(b) An operation analyst suggested that company employees shared a “dump on the clerks” mentality What in your view can be the outcome of such a mentality?

(c) How can you apply what you have learnt lot size reduction, WIP inventory reduction, and JIT to improve the files situation in this case?

An operation analyst suggested that company

Q 4.         Consider the following two mutually exclusive projects.  The net cash flows are given below:

If the desired rate of return is 10% which project should be chosen and why?

Q 5 ) Whirlpool Company has experienced the following demand for ice during the past six months:

Forecast for March sales using six-months moving average Compare the result with three-months moving average and one-month moving average. Which result do you recommend?

Q 6 ) Give two examples (with supporting details) of the impact of technology in product and service design, in the context of service and manufacturing firms.

Q 7).         Would a project management organization be different from an organization for regular manufacturing in what ways?  Examples.

Q 8).       How project evaluation different from project appraisal?  Explain with examples.

An operation analyst suggested that company employees shared a “dump on the clerks” mentality What in your view can be the outcome of such a mentality

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We at Case Study offer all types of online academic assistance, be it homework help, coursework help, case study help, Assignment help, Project Reports, Thesis, Research paper writing help.

And for each service, each subject and each topic, we dedicate an expert writer who has knowledge in that specific field of study. Experience impeccable academic writing service like never before.

Our experts understand that the time of the customers is very precious. The professors of universities and colleges are very rigorous about the submission deadlines of projects or assignments. Hence, the key objective of our case study help service is to deliver the assignments to the customers even before the promised submission deadlines.

We keep the quality measures for all papers which mean we will provide best essays. Our editing services are also excellent. Before submitting any essays, we will check whether the papers writer well or not. The high standards of academic writing will exceed your expectations. With our quality service, we have satisfied more number of people across the world and also work with different universities in Australia, UK, USA, Dubai, Oman, etc.

At our Case Study services, our experts are familiar about the formatting styles that are followed in the academic world. Our experts have a great knowledge about the formatting styles such as MLA, Harvard, APA, Turabian, and many others. All types of formats for the case study help are available at our case study help services. In addition, our experts can solve the case studies as per the instructions of the customers.

The experts of our Case Study services are highly qualified and professional. We have CAs CFAs & PhD on our panel who have years of experience in the writing of case study / Assignments.

At our Case Study services, our experts never plagiarize the content from the other sources for the solutions of case studies. We have strict policies regarding plagiarism at our organization. We have never faced any complaint so far regarding plagiarism from our customers. We use new technologies and modern plagiarism checking software’s to detect plagiarism from our papers.

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