MBA 2nd Semester

Case study of Human Resource Management

Faculty Member: Keshav Khadka
Submission Date: 7th Oct, 2020

Case 1.2: Sony Family

One way to manage human resources effectively is to treat each member of the
organization as the "member of the family deserving respect and recognition".
There should be no class system or social status differentiation among all the
employees from the president down to floor worker. The tendency of successful
organizations is towards participative style of management and workers'
participation in making operational decisions. Nothing is more motivational to
workers than to know that there are no barriers between them and the management
and there are no 'ivory towers' where managers get special and superior treatment
than the workers. This style of management is especially prevalent in the Japanese
industries where there is open and free communication between management and
workers. This open interaction among all is highly encouraged by one Japanese
company which has established a reputation for quality, service and human
relations in the whole world. That company is SONY.
To break down barriers between management and staff, Sony has instituted
common cafeterias, known as on-site dining. On-site dining is perceived as more
than merely a pleasant dining experience. According to Sony's director of facilities
management, "When employees eat in, they tend to exchange work ideas. They
walk the work at a different level."
On-site dining also saves time as well as abuses (misuse) of lunch hour time
because workers do not have to commute (go) to different restaurants for lunch.
Morita, a onetime highly successful Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sony, once
explained: "I have always made it a point to know our employees, to visit every
facility of our company and to try to meet, and know every single employee." He
himself socialized with the employees because he considered them as a part of
Sony Family. To him, it was not human resource management; it was respect, for
one's family.
The on-site dining facility helps to strengthen work-related relationships and thus
increase employee morale and productivity. It is a one-class cafeteria and there is
no special place or special food reserved for top management. All the employees
eat in the same place under the same environment. It. brings employees together in
a more relaxed setting, outside the work environment, so that they have the
opportunity for social bondage. This, in turn, can create work relationships and
enhance productivity. Workers get to know each other on a first name basis and
then try to help each other in the work environment. This also helps in providing
easy access to management and this is a morale boosting element. This is due to
the fact that on site dining encourages intra-company networking by bringing
together people at different positions in the structural vertical as well as horizontal
hierarchy from different departments. Such networking can ultimately facilitate
internal communication since people get to know each other with respect and
affection.
Such Japanese work ethic is being adopted by more and more American
companies. They are beginning to realize that human resource management is not
moving the people to work, but motivating the people to work and motivation
comes with respect and recognition rather than financial incentive or comfortable
working conditions, alone.
Questions:
1. How can you describe human resource management at Sony, based on this
one element of 'on- site dining' for all the Sony employees?
2. Do you believe that, too much familiarity at work place lowers discipline
and hence productivity?
3. Do you think that this concept of HRM can be successfully applied in
Nepalese organizations, too?