Practice Case Studies

Case Study I
There is a peculiar situation in a particular firm. A talented woman employee is the
only earning member of her family, since her husband does not do any work. At the
same time, he insists that his wife come home on time and not spend extra time at
work, so that she manages household work, takes care of the children etc.
As a result, her boss notices that at times, the woman comes in to office tired and
sleepy. In addition, at times, she has to leave for the day with work unfinished.
What would you do if you were the womans boss?
Case Study II
Your name is XX. You are in the R&D division of a well-known and reputed firm. A
couple of years back, you had come up with an idea for a revolutionary new product
that you thought would take the market by storm. You had shared this idea with
both your immediate boss as well as the CEO of the firm. Your immediate boss too
thought that the idea was a fantastic one and that the product would be highly
successful. Unfortunately, the CEO did not agree and hence, no action was taken.
Now, it so happens that your immediate boss has taken over as the new CEO of the
firm. He remembers your idea and states his intention to launch the new product.
He also clearly indicates that you would soon be getting a handsome reward for
your idea.
However, your own thoughts about the product have now changed. You have begun
to agree to the old CEOs view that the product may not be so successful and runs
the risk of becoming obsolete soon after its launch, meaning that the investment on
it would be wasted.
What would you do? If you share your new opinions about the product with the new
CEO, you may well lose the reward that he had promised you..

Case Study III

You are the district collector of an area. The Government is planning a large project
in the area and states that it would provide incomes and employment to a number
of people in the area. However, the local people are completely against the project
and feel that it would actually lead to a loss of their livelihoods.
In addition, they protest that the compensation that they are supposed to get is
very low and does not reflect the true value of the land that they are being forced to
give up. They also have concerns about the Project Developer, whom they feel is an
unscrupulous person.

What would you do in this situation?

Case Study IV
You have witnessed an accident. A car ran over an old man and injured him badly.
The car does not stop, but the driver speeds away. You are not absolutely sure, but
you are reasonably certain that you have recognized the car as one that belongs to
a close friend of yours.
What would you do in this case? Would you inform the police as to whose car it was?

Case Study V
You are leading a team at a well known corporate firm. One of your employees is a
brilliant performer and always gets things done. His work is far better than anyone
elses.
However, there is also one problem. He is a poor team player. His team members
complain that he is highly individualistic, does not co-operate with them, etc. If he
asked to lead a project, he subjects them to too much stress and demands, most of
which they feel are unachievable.
What should you do?

Case Study VI
You are a Senior Manager, heading a particular Business Unit. Below you is a
Manager, who is extremely competent in his work and also, is excellent at
presentation skills. As a result, he has helped your unit win significant additional
business.

The problem is that not many sub-ordinates like this managers management style.
He tends to micro-manage work, ask for frequent updates, look over peoples
shoulder as they work etc. As a result, he has become quite unpopular. Some of
your sub-ordinates have even left the firm due to this reason, stating that they
could not tolerate this kind of intrusive behaviour.
What would you do?

Case Study VII

You have just joined as the Head of Operations of a large firm. While reviewing the
Projects currently being implemented, you notice a big problem with one of them.
This particular project is running way behind schedule and there have also been
large over-runs in terms of cost.
You make preliminary enquiries and find that the Managers of the project blame the
Project Management Consultant who had earlier been appointed to take care of
implementation. On the other hand, the Project Management Consultant states that
the Project Managers are to blame.
What do you plan to do?

Case Study VIII

You are in a Senior Management role. Your company operates in an industry in
which there are only two other major players. Due to your companys success, it
decides to expand.
It thus hires a number of people who were earlier employed with its competitors. As
you can imagine, they react strongly and accuse you of poaching their employees
and threaten legal action.
What would you do?

Case Study IX
Your family has been running their own export-oriented business for a number of
years and been doing fairly well. Your father sends you abroad to do an MBA. You
complete your degree and return back.
You wish to work in the corporate sector; however, your family insists that you
should join the family business.
They state that this is why they had made you do an MBA, and had even funded the
expensive course from abroad. If you had to work in the corporate sector, you might
as well have done your MBA in India, is their argument. They sent you abroad for
your MBA so that you gain an international exposure, so important for an exportoriented business. In addition, if you now dont manage the family business, they
who shall?
What would you do?

Case Study X
Your family has been running their own export-oriented business for a number of
years and been doing fairly well. Your father sends you abroad to do an MBA. You
complete your degree and return back to join the family business.
You now express a wish to expand the business by hiring more people, including
others with an MBA degree from good institutes.
Your family opposes this, stating that MBAs are too expensive and will not add much
value. They have no practical knowledge, states one of your older family
members. Another adds that they are likely to leave for greener pastures any time
they get a chance. In short, they do not support your idea at all.
What would you do?
Case Study XI
You are a talented girl from a successful business family. Your family has educated
you well and you complete your post-graduation from a reputed University.
When the time comes for you to start working, however, you are rather shocked to
find that your family opposes this. They make it clear that you should get married
soon and take care of the household in your husbands home. They start looking for
a match for you.
You are left very surprised and hurt at your familys attitude, which you feel is oldfashioned and discriminatory. What do you plan to do?

Case Study XII

You are the Managing Director of a family-owned firm that has been around for
several years in the country. Your company has a good reputation in the market for
its products, but is not known to be a good pay-master.
You see a big opportunity for your firm to diversify into a new sunrise industry.
However, the salaries typically offered in this new sector are much higher than
those in the businesses you currently manage. You know that there will be a big
hue-and-cry if you establish a new firm and offer substantially higher salaries in this
company.
At the same time, the new industry offers substantial profits and you know that a
company with an established good reputation could do really well.
How will you manage the situation?