CENTRE FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION EXECUTIVE MBA (OIL & GAS MANAGEMENT)

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ASSIGNMENT 2 FOR Managing Individuals & Organization MB 101

UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & ENERGY STUDIES

Section A Section A Short Notes on 4 topics/questions (5 marks each) Total 20 marks Q.1. Comment on Training as a tool for employee retention. Q.2. How does Job Evaluation help in establishing future goals for Organizations? Is it important to evaluate only the compensable factors for employees? Q.3. What is empowerment, and how can managers empower others? Explain while commenting on the power keys to empowerment. Q.4. Are there particular sets of traits that all leaders have, making them different from non- leaders? How much of an impact do situational factors have on leaders? Section B Section B Long Notes on 3 topics/questions (10 Marks each) Total 30 marks Q.1 What are the components of Human Resource Planning? Does Planning include recruiting and should it be done by only organizations decision makers? Q.2. How do managers acquire the power needed for leadership? Are Leadership and Supervision different? Q. 3. If Goal Specificity, Participative Decision Making, Explicit time period and feedback are the key components of Management by Objectives (MBO), why do most organizations fail in implementing MBO? Section C Section C Case Studies/Caselets/Situational questions (25 Marks each) Total 50 marks A. Protest Over Job Losses Bitter it may taste, shrill it may sound, and sleepless nights it may cause, but it is true. In a major shakeup, Airbusthe European aircraft manufacturerhas thrown a big shock to its employees. Before coming to the details of the shock, a peep into the company's resume.

Name: Airbus Created: 1970 President, CEO: Louis Gallois Employees: 57,000 Turnover (2006): 26 bn (Euro) Total aircraft sold (Feb.2007): 7187 Delivered: 4598

Headquarters: Toulouse (France) Facilities: 16 Rival: Boeing Airbus announced on February 27, 2007, that it would shed 10,000 jobs across four European countries and sell six of its units. On the same day the hapless workers did what was expected of them downed tools and staged protests. The protesting workers at Airbus's factory at Meaulte, northern France, were seen picketing outside the factory gate after holding up production a day earlier. To be fair to Airbus, its management entered talks with unions before the job loss and sale was formally announced. But the talks did not mollify the agitated workers. Job shedding and hiring of units are a part of Power8 restructuring plan unleashed by Airbus to save itself from increasing loss of its ground to the arch rival, Boeing Co. Airbus's Power8 strategy was first mooted in October 2006, but sparked a split between France and Germany over the distribution of job losses, and the placement of future ones. Later, the two countries agreed to share both job losses and new technology. The Power8 plan, if finalised, would mean a 9 per cent reduction to Airbus's 55,000 employee strength.

Critically Assess

1. Why should Power8 focus on shedding jobs to save on cost? Are there no alternative strategies? 2. Will the proposed shedding of jobs and sale of six units help Airbus survive the intense competition from

Boeing?
3. Examine the role of the companys HR department in ensuring minimum impact of the downsizing on the

Organizations fate.
4. Comment on the Role of Leadership in this situation. 5. Plan a strategy for dealing with various issues ranging from lost motivation to job insecurity that the

Organization will have to gear up to deal with. B. Effective Communication as a Motivator Barry is a 27-year old who is a foodservice manager at a casual dining restaurant. Barry is responsible for supervising and managing all employees in the back of the house. Employees working in the back of the house range in age from 16 years old to 55 years old. In addition, the employees come from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. For many, English is not their primary language. Barry is ServSafe certified and tries his best to keep up with food safety issues in the kitchen but he admits its not easy. Employees receive on the job training about food safety basics (for example, appropriate hygiene and handwashing, time/temperature, and cleaning and sanitizing). But with high turnover of employees, training is often rushed and some new employees are put right into the job without training if it is a busy day. Eventually,

most employees get some kind of food safety training. The owners of the restaurant are supportive of Barry in his food safety efforts because they know if a food safety outbreak were ever linked to their restaurant; it would likely put them out of business. Still, the owners note there are additional costs for training and making sure food is handled safely. One day Barry comes to work and is rather upset even before he steps into the restaurant. Things havent been going well at home and he was lucky to rummage through some of the dirty laundry and find a relatively clean outfit to wear for work. He admits he needs a haircut and a good hand scrubbing, especially after working on his car last evening. When he walks into the kitchen he notices several trays of uncooked meat sitting out in the kitchen area. It appears these have been sitting at room temperature for quite some time. Barry is frustrated and doesnt know what to do. He feels like he is beating his head against a brick wall when it comes to getting employees to practice food safety. Barry has taken many efforts to get employees to be safe in how they handle food. He has huge signs posted all over the kitchen with these words: KEEP HOT FOOD HOT AND COLD FOOD COLD and WASH YOUR HANDS ALWAYS AND OFTEN. All employees are given a thermometer when they start so that they can temp food. Hand sinks, soap, and paper towels are available for employees so that they are encouraged to wash their hands frequently. 1. What are the communication challenges and barriers Barry faces? 2. What solutions might Barry consider in addressing each of these challenges and barriers? 3. What Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) would be helpful for Barry to implement and enforce? 4. What are some ways Barry might use effective communication as a motivator for employees to follow safe food handling practices? 5. Comment on how insufficient planning can lead to training goals not being met.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/toolkit/communication/CommunicationCaseStudy1.pdf