Name: Maliha Haque

ID: 2125076660

Ans. To the Ques No. 1

Summary of the case and highlight the key aspect of discussion and debate:

The case revolves around a factory called Armada Factory Ishapore (AFI) where Singh was appointed as
an HR Manager. His successful interventions helped increase AFI’s productivity by 45%. Even though his
techniques were innovative and successful, his style were not liked by many. Joining the factory, Singh at
first worked to understand the problem and gain confidence of the workers. He realized that the factory
was very inefficient in terms of production, productivity, and discipline. So, he implemented team-based
decision making model on the shop floor, introduced total plant maintenance or TPM to maximize
production system effectiveness and incorporated Buddhist percepts and gave them their own meaning
to apply to the situation of the factory. Main debate of the case arose, when management team hired
Kumar to implement Western models of human resource management in Indian conditions. Singh was
not happy with this situation and Kumar was unwilling to cooperate.

Ans. To the Ques No. 2

I consider Sing’s experiment innovative. His team based decision making model made sure the workers
had an active role in the factory’s decision making. Not only that he made sure they were involved and
felt empowered. Also, his experiments with Buddhist percepts and how he gave meaning to the
Buddhist philosophy of the “Three Jewels” to make it appeal to the workers and apply to the situation in
the factory was certainly innovative.

Ans. To the Ques No. 3

Singh is not an HR manager and yet he made successful HR interventions. His reasons for success would
be his deep understanding of Indian management and culture, his passion to always become a shop-
floor manager, and not an “armchair professor” and his hard work and emotional investment in
implementing innovative management techniques.

I consider Singh’s experiment a success in the real sense of the term as his experiment not only helped
increased productivity but also helped

If I were to be placed in a similar situation and faced with a local workforce, I would also

Ans. To the Ques No. 4

Singh should bounce back and assert himself, as in the past. He should not quit as his practices are well
accepted between the workers in AFI. The locals would definitely be receptive to Kumar’s foreign ideas
of management. Kumar’s attitude such as mocking the locals and their quaint rituals would not go a long
way.
 Ans. To the Ques No. 5

If I were in Kumar’s situation, I would collaborate with Singh. By polishing Singh’s ideologies and helping
to align them with HR practices with the company’s strategic intent to together bring the organization’s
vision to life. Both of their combined knowledge, that is, Singh’s understanding of the workforce and his
well- accepted buddhist percepts and Kumar’s understanding of proper management tools and
techniques from the U.S. would help AFI reach new heights of success.

Ans. To the Ques No. 6

From a cross-cultural management perspective, the key lessons from the case are:

Sing’s thought behind organizing a practical shop-floor system to prevent losses before they occur
throughout the entire production system cycle, with a view to achieving zero accidents, zero defects,
and zero breakdowns. This technique of management which he learnt was from a personal trip to Japan.

His incorporation of Buddhist percepts was also a key lesson of the case. The way he took inspiration
from the three “Gacchams” that Buddhists looked to for guidance and gave them their own meaning in
a way to apply to the workforce.