Question 1: (Based on case study): What do you think the company can do?

Can you make any

general conclusions and observations on management theory and management practice? (30
Marks) (word limit 800-1000 words)

Answer:
I think jumping right straight into the answer to the given question "What the company can do?".
Firstly, we have to identify the problems (in the company and its management) and the possible
solutions to it. We all know this fact that management involves four major functions:
1) Planning
2) Organizing
3) Leading
4) Controlling
Planning:
After reading the case study thoroughly, I found out that the Hamdard Company is a well-known
company in chemicals and insecticide business. The owner of the company Wajid Hussain has
very vivid goal setting and planning that has helped the company to prosper. But he follows the
orthodox method of setting goals and plans. He includes himself in the top management and set
the goals and plans all by himself. His company is on a one-man show. He is the only head of the
company and all the important decisions are being taken by him. He decided to expand the
company into 79 brands which is prosperous for the company in terms of the profit. No one in
the company and even in his family dares to question his plans or decisions. It’s completely a
one-man show.
Problems:
1) Traditional Goal setting
2) One man show (Only Wajid Hussain can make plan rest of the company has to follow
his instructions only)
Solutions:
Management by objective (MBO) will be very helpful because the members of the company can
set mutually agreed-upon goals. Those goals will be more precise, clear, attainable or may be
innovative.
Organizing:
Primarily, the organizational design involves six steps. Firstly, one should divide the work
among job specific people who fit for the job best. Secondly, do departmentalization the
organization into different forms. Thirdly, to make a chain of proper authority to check the work.
So, the work can be done effectively and efficiently. Fourthly, allocate some employees to a
specific manager. On the fifth note, do departmentalization/centralization. Lastly, formalize the
behavior of employees by making proper rules and regulations. These are some of the
specifications of the design.
Problem:
1) We saw is that Wajid Hussain has hired only yes saying people in the company. 
2) He has not made any departments regarding customer care, quality check etc. He is almost
working by himself to expect auditing and taxation work. No one has the freedom to do
something unless he allows them.
3) He was not trusting anyone. Therefore, he has not made any board of directors. He was a self-
obsessed leader. He majorly thinks of himself not the company in the long run. He has not given
any employees the authority to do any task without getting him informed.
4) He has not given rights to line managers or production managers. He usually makes labourers
work forcefully.
5) He has the power to make the decision. The company was centralized.
6) He has made rules and regulations for the employees without consulting.
Solution:
Hassan should hire job specific people. The employees who know their job well, are a free spirit,
innovative, creative thinkers. So, they can add value to the company and make it progressive.
He should have the spirit to believe in his workers. He should make departments for specific
work so that the employees take decision freely and do their work with self-check. His
authoritative nature has affected his VP’s self-esteem and as we can see they were not able to
make decisions after his death. It is because he has never given them the chance to make the
right and the wrong decision. As a result of which no one of the VPs was able to make his own
decision after him.
His company’s decision making was centralized. It should be decentralized. Because the more
democratic the environment of the company is the more progressive that company will be.
The environment of an organization should be trustful. The leader has to trust his team. He has to
give them the leverage of free will, space and work. No one can be on everyone’s head all the
time. Therefore, a leader needs to work cordially with him and trust his employees. So, that when
he is not present there, they will do their work with the same honesty and zest. He should consult
with employees on making rules and regulations for employees.
Leading:
Problem:
Hassan has not motivated his workers to do work with their heart. Rather has showed them his
fierce look and intimated them to get his job done. He has the master slave relation with workers.
His communication with his team was very weak. He never appreciates them to talk to him
freely and share their suggestions and feeling.
Solution:
Hassan should give compensations to his protentional employees to get work done and to retain
them. He should treat his worker as they are equal to him. He should make his workers well
educated of the growing trends. He must communicate the goal and aims of the company with
every employee. So, they think of themselves as the valuable asset of the company and could
work for the company as a value addition.
Controlling:
Solution: The fear of Hassan that the company wont work without his supervision can be catered
by setting controlling techniques and tools. The controlling techniques and tools like self-check,
feedback report, calculating variances by comparing actual performance with the standard set,
giving incentives to well performers can increase the credibility and performance of the workers,
managers etc.
What the company can do?
The company can do a number of things. The VP’s can select a new honor of the company or
simply can work as a decentralized company. It can learn from all the mistakes done by Hessan
and not repeat them. It should hire professionals for the job, make every comfortable and aware
of their job roles, involve people (all managers) in decision making related to their department,
make the environment friendly and work like a team. Moreover, many comprehensive
suggestions are made in the solution.
Question 2:
A company has retained you to study their existing structure and reporting relationships. The
company believes that since they are operating with state-of-the-art technology and their core business is
to extend technical support to telecom majors, there is no point in keeping their brick and mortar
organization structure in all the countries of their operation. They would, instead, prefer to follow a
networked structure, with their controlling office in Dubai. Suggest the right course of action to them.
(15 Marks)
Ans:
Suggestions on the Right Course for establishing company:
The existing structure of the company is the traditional physical office equipped with all necessary tools
and environment to work. But now as they are operating with state-of-the-art technology. Their heart core
business objective is to give support to telecom major. This business not like a manufacturing business. It
is a e-service oriented business which can be governed from a centre of home as well. The company has
taken a mature decision of not wasting their energy and resources over setting physical offices all over the
world. Their plan for a networked structure with their head office or operating centre from Dubai for the
business is a billion-dollars idea.
This is all what the company has to undergo for setting the setup of their company. The company has to
study the environment, cultural problems, economy and political issue of the company for and to which
they are going to create their e-business. Because they will have to make teams from different countries
which are going to perform the required task. And as a mature and responsible organization it is very
important to understand the issue of ethnicities, culture, religion etc. of them. So, the management don’t
face serious issues regarding this. Secondly, their controlling centre at Dubai should be well equipped.
The central team should know their job fully. They should be vigilant, departmentalized and clear to their
job roles. The team which will be recruit from the other countries shall be trained first so that they could
perform their job reluctantly and efficiently. The company should have a strong internet bandwidth in
every country. So, they don’t face the issue of network due to long distant work environment. The
headquarter team should be arrange different seminars and training programs for the employees. Its
purpose should be making them aware of the new trends in the market and to teach them skills like
communication skill, team work, leadership, project handling, problem handling etc.
The teams which are recruited from different companies should be disunited after the completion of the
project and to form other teams for some other project. Before disassembling the group its very important
to check the performance of each individual, rate them a according to their performance and help them in
to conquer their deficiencies by explain and working on it. The report of that project should be submitted
to the headquarters’ team after the completion of the milestone.
The company has to build a strong online presence by making proper web portal and then market it.
Technology is a big gun. This company has to master it. Its employees should be equipped and aware of
the innovative technological trends to be in the first line for customers. Strong social media presence is
very necessary for grabbing customer attention and retention. A good portfolio of employees and previous
work will also be helpful. The company should also consult the government of different countries and
agencies before opening their e-business there to understand their laws well. It will help the company to
not fall a prey of different scams and whenever it happens, they know the law to file case against it and
get justice. Hence, these are some of the suggestions on the right course for establishing company on
internet.
Question 3:
Ahmad Anwar, a production manager in a cement manufacturing unit, achieved the highest production
target and even exceeded the level of expectation of the company. In a board meeting, Anwars’s
performance was discussed at length and the company promoted him to the position of general manager
(operations), creating a new position to bring all production shops under him. The post-promotion
performance of Anwar was also laudable. However, resentment against Anwar started increasing day by
day. This aspect was not given much thought by the top management of the company. Finally, one day,
Anwar was physically assaulted by a group of workers who accused him of showing apathy to their
problems. The incident persuaded the management to suspend 12 workmen who were found to be directly
involved. This enraged the other workers of the company and they resorted to a total shutdown of
production with the demand that their colleagues be reinstated and Anwar removed from his charge.
Identify Anwar’s leadership style and suggest how he can continue to be a good performer while
remaining a favourite of the workers. You may cite actual examples from the corporate world to justify
your answer. (15 Marks)
Ans:
Mistakes Anwar might have made:
Anwar was assaulted by the employees of the company may be because of his dictatorial nature. He
became the GM of the company because he has impressed the top management with his performance. He
has increased the profit of the company by exceeding the level of expectations in production unit. He
must be a kind of person who won’t show empathy and sympathy to those employees who are working
beneath him. As a production manager, he was in direct contact with the workers of the company. He
might do many bad things with the workers that have outraged them and forced them to do violence. He
might have cut short the fringe benefits of the employees to cut short the expense, or he may force the
employees to work overtime and pay them less or record the time they have actually worked less. He
must force them to do work forcefully or by intimidating them. He might have created an environment for
employees that is suffocating. He might have exploited them by cutting their salaries on leaves that are on
genuine reasons or by not allowing them to take allowed leaves by company. He might have not given
them the bonuses they deserve by making any lame excuses. He might have ditched them that he will
increase his pay rate when he will get the higher position. But later on, he refused to do so. He might not
give them the health benefits they actually deserve by the company. He might has emotionally abused
them. He might have disrespected their culture and any sentimental value which trigger them to do such a
violent act.
Suggestion for Anwar on How he can become a favourite person among employees:
But if we want to become, he has to fulfill the demands and promises he has made with those workers.
He should communicate with them softly and properly; He should listen to their problems carefully so
that he can devise all the possible ways and means to eradicate them. He should try to understand their
turmoil and hardships and try to be empthatic with them. He should excuse with them, admit his mistake
in front of the workers and assure them that their rights will be given to them. Moreover, he should give
special benefits to the workers. It can be in the form of bonuses, compensation, health facilities,
insurances, free education to their kids or many more. Anwar should respect every employer’s self-
respect, ethnicities, religious partices, cultural values and traditions.
Dispute Among Chinese workers and Apple company:
We have previously seen such problems in Apple company. The manager has also exploited the workers
of China, which set them on fire. He was not giving them their salaries on time. Chinese called out a
country wide strike against this discrimination and exploitation. In the end, the government involved and
the dispute was settled. Amazon was accused for having biases against the Chinese. They were accused of
not giving them equal salaries, benefits, allowances and compensations as USA employees are getting.
But the company refused these allegations on intial stages. Later on, after the trial they were accused of
doing biases with Chinese for which they have to fulfill the requirements of the workers.