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Principles and Practice of Management
Case Studies
Case (20Marks)
Nowadays, fast food joints spread is a
growing business in Indian metro cities. Numerous small and big joints are
mushrooming all over one such leading company is Freshest Foods Pvt Ltd. owned
by the partners, Mr Das. Both being veterans in the hotel industry, realize
that quality of food and ambience are their major VSPs and they promote their
‘feel good feeling’ with pride. However, managing fast food joints spread five
cities, about 75 outlets and 2,000 employees requires efficient control system.
Understanding this, they’ve adopted a unique computerized approach to
management and operation controls. Their system consists of a network linking
all outlets with their corporate office. To illustrate, lets have a look at
their outlet at cannought Place in New Delhi its manager Mr SumitLal begins his
day with a planner system which is feed with basic details such as day and
date. The computer records by telling their day’s salestarget, hourtohour sales
target. It’s a projection based on last year’s performance. It also shows the
scale and comparison at any other time of the day. All their cash registers are
attached to the central system and at the end of the day, give complete breakup
of the day’s sale. Their systems also maintain personnel records and schedules
of shifts for the next one week. The system also has software used for
selection of employees, their performances and their overtime, etc. Another
important area is of inventory, where the systems give daily status and
generate order based on projections. Its also used for maintaining interstore communications
with the main office. The central office receives only information on each
store, performance and sale. Both the partners have complete access to all aspects
of all their stores and finalize their planning’s based on the feedback. They
are able to monitor, control and improve upon plans and personnel. Both of them
have feel that their managers have more time to increase productivity because
their systems have reduced paper work and communication gaps. They are now
planning to open another 10 branches in upcoming cities within one year.
Answer the following question.
Q1. Describe the advantages of the
centralized control system of the company. Do you see any shortcoming in this approach?
Q2. What type of control is exhibited
by the company – precontrol, concurrent or post control?
Case (20 Marks)
Medical Secretaries at Spire Sussex
Hospital are delighted with the reporting capabilities of Health code’s e practice
manager system. Spire Sussex is one of 38 hospitals within the Spire Healthcare
group, one of the country’s leading private hospital groups. Located near
Hastings, the hospital offers a range of services, including cosmetic surgery,
orthopedics, psychiatry and gynecology, treating thousands of insured and
selffunded patients each year. Of more than 70 consultants who practice at
Spire Sussex, half entrust their billing and credit control to the hospital’s
medical secretaries, a department which has expanded by 60% since it was established
in 1997. Catherine Good sell, PA to the Hospital Director, reports that her
team process between 80 and 100 invoices each week and manage the hospital
accounts for each consultant using Health code’s e Practice manager. Spire
Sussex Hospital pays a monthly subscription for the online system and then
charges the consultants concerned. Catherine recalls the decision to use Health
code: “We looked at other practice management systems but only Health code was
able to offer the functionality we needed at the right price. This was an
important consideration because we wanted consultants who were going to use the
system to be confident they were getting the best value for money.” She is now
in no doubt that Spire Sussex Hospital made the right choice: “It is so much quicker
to send bills to insurer’s electronically using e Practice manager rather than
through the post and we can be confident that the validated invoice has been
received and can be processed straight away. When bulk payments are received
from insurers, we can reallocate the money to each patient’s account swiftly
and accurately. “But for us the system’s greatest asset is its excellent
reporting capabilities, particularly debt analysis which makes it quicker and easier
to keep track of overdue payments. We were also delighted that Health code’s
technicians were able to create a bespoke transaction report for us which shows
only the specific information we need for each patient and the amount
outstanding. It has made life so much easier.” E Practice manager’s detailed
reports enables Spire Sussex’s medical secretaries to send out timely account
statements and regular reminder letters. This means queries from insured
patients about shortfalls, or from insurers about the treatment provided to a
patient can be flagged and resolved quickly. Catherine adds that her team finds
the system’s secure messaging feature particularly useful to keep in touch with
private medical insurers without compromising patient confidentiality. Overall,
Catherine believes that ePractice manager has been a great investment. She
concludes: “I’m delighted to say that we have never looked back. The system is
really intuitive which has made it quick and easy to learn and yet it provides
all the functionality we need. Most importantly, our consultants tell us it is
working well for them too.”
Answer the following question.
Q1. Explain the role of ePractice Manager
in Sussex Hospital.
Q2. Is this system helpful for such
health organizations? Explain.
Case (20Marks)
John Benson had been head of the
department for about eight years. Over this period the department had high
labour turnover and a considerable current of discontent among its 25
employees. John was an autocratic supervisor. Because he seemed to have the support
of the division manager, the people in the department did little outward
complaining about his leadership. Nevertheless it was common knowledge in other
departments in the division that the majority of the people in John’s
department were very dissatisfied, to say the least. These people were career
employees performing technical work, and they received personal feelings of accomplishment
from their work. Few compliments were forthcoming from their boss; while they
resented this, their personal pride and possible fear of retribution kept them
from saying anything to John. One of the things they resented most was John’s
frequent practice of taking credit for ideas and efforts of subordinates so
that he could enhance his own reputation with his superior, the division
manager. One of his subordinates, Will Michaels, had become the informal leader
of the department, although he did not seek the role. Other employees sought
him out for advice and guidance, and he became the focal point of the gripe
sessions which had become more frequent as time passed. These gripe sessions
were quasisocial occasions such as lunch, and they usually ended with Will
telling his fellow employees to complain openly about their grievance to both
John and his superior. Will had done this several times and, while he gained no
positive results, he at least had the satisfaction of having a clearly stated
position. This may have been one of the reasons why the other employees turned
to him for advice. In any event, Will evidenced no fear of his boss, and he was
generally recognized as a superior employee by his peers. The division manager
retired, and was replaced by a member of one of the departments in the
division. He had not had prior administrative experience in the company,
although he had had managerial responsibility at prior places of employment.
Because he was familiar with the problems in John Benson’s area of responsibility,
he recognized it as a trouble spot; and after some consultation with the
assistant division manager, he decided to replace John Benson as department
head. John was quite surprised, since he had assumed that he could continue
under the new division manager as well as he had under the one who had recently
retired. When the new division manager demoted John, he said he could stay with
the company as a technician in the department he had previously managed. This
was done because of John’s long tenure with the company and the fact that he
was only eight years from retirement. John accepted the demotion with
considerable dejection and malice, but he felt he had no choice under the
circumstances. Will Michaels was called in by the new division manager and
asked to assume the department head position. He was informed of his former
superior’s demotion and the fact that John would now be working for him. The
division manager told Will that he was chosen because it was believed that he
could weld the department into a cohesive operating unit of the division. Will
accepted the responsibility with what could be called confident apprehension.
Answer the following question.
Q1. By making the transition from
informal leader, can Will maintain the same relationship with his fellow
employees? Explain.
Q2. What problems do you feel he will
have with his former superior in the changed relationship which now exists?
Q3. Did the new division manager handle
the situation properly? Justify.
Q4. What kinds of problems does an
informal leader face when he becomes the formal leader?
Case (20 Marks)
With the aim of preparing Leo
Apotheker, a board member and Deputy Chief Executive, as the next CEO, Henning
Kagermann, SAP's executive board's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO),
requested the supervisory board to appoint Leo as coCEO. In the past, the same
pattern of leadership transition was adopted by SAP for grooming successors at
SAP. Leo would work with Henning as coCEO at SAP for a year before taking over
as sole CEO of the company. Henning's contract with SAP expires in May 2009.
Moreover, SAP had invested heavily to create trendsetting innovations in the
areas of serviceoriented architecture (SOA), new solutions and business models
for the midmarket, but it faced challenges from its nearest competitors like
Oracle, which is moving fast ahead in SOA. For executing its strategy, SAP was
looking forward to Leo, who was different from the previous bosses of SAP as he
was neither a member of the founder's generation nor a geek. Leo had a strong
sales background. The case facilitates
discussion on the leadership transition
at SAP and Leo's ability to rise to the occasion.
Answer the following question.
Q1. Discuss the leadership transition
at SAP and succession planning.
Q2. Explain the cultural changes in the
organization & opportunities for business growth.
Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224
