Principles and Practice of Management
Technology and process are core aspects of an outsourcing company
Case Studies
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
ICICI OneSource (IOS), set up in December 2001, became India’s leading third party BPO company, offering services to consumer industries in financial services, retail, telecom, media and utilities. This caselet highlights the initiatives taken by ICICI OneSource to attain BS7999 certification and COPC certification, which are well known ratings for security and service standards. This also discusses the employee focus of the company by means of its recruitment, training and promotion programs. ICICI OneSource (IOS) set up in December 2001, became India’s leading third party BPO companies, offering services to consumer industries in financial services, retail, telecom, media and utilities. Its global delivery standards resulted in multiple longstanding client relationships with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies and have made it a clear leader among Indian BPO companies catering to the UK market. IOS with a commitment to quality was the world’s first company to achieve COPC (Customer Operations Performance Center) 2000 CSP certification for back office processing and the first Indian BPO company to attain BS 7799 certification. The company had approximately 4000 employees in 2004, across five offshore delivery centers in Bangalore and Mumbai, and in market teams in the US and UK.
Answer the following question.
Q1. Technology and process are core aspects of an outsourcing company. Explain how ICICI One Source (IOS) has imbibed quality in these aspects to achieve world class service levels?
Q2. Quality in service is enhanced by investments in people. How has IOS leveraged human resources to improve their service capabilities qualitatively?
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
With the aim of preparing Leo Apotheker, a board member and Deputy Chief Executive, as the next CEO, Henning Kagermann, SAP’s executive board’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), requested the supervisory board to appoint Leo as co CEO. In the past, the same pattern of leadership transition was adopted by SAP for grooming successors at SAP. Leo would work with Henning as co CEO at SAP for a year before taking over as sole CEO of the company. Henning’s contract with SAP expires in May 2009. Moreover, SAP had invested heavily to create trendsetting innovations in the areas of service oriented architecture (SOA), new solutions and business models for the midmarket, but it faced challenges from its nearest competitors like Oracle, which is moving fast ahead in SOA. For executing its strategy, SAP was looking forward to Leo, who was different from the previous bosses of SAP as he was neither a member of the founder’s generation nor a geek. Leo had a strong sales background. The case facilitates discussion on the leadership transition at SAP and Leo’s ability to rise to the occasion.
Answer the following question.
Q1. Discuss the leadership transition at SAP and succession planning.
Q2. Explain the cultural changes in the organization & opportunities for business growth.
3/2/2017 Aeren Foundation
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Bob Jensen is the chief engineer of State Electric and Power, a large utility company. State, a progressive company, had been conducting research for several years in a search for more effective ways to produce electricity. Most of the plants used either oil or natural gas to develop energy, and it was obvious that the other sources had to be explored. Jensen had been with State Electric for 30 years, and he was considered an excellent, innovative engineer who was very conservative in his relationships with peers,
superiors, and subordinates. During the last three years he served on the company’s research committee which monitored both the research efforts and the budget needed to support them. Among the projects being studied were solar energy, methane gas derived
from garbage and other vegetable waste such as corn stalks and nuclear energy. The most promising possibility seemed to be nuclear fuel. Many other utilities were using it and they appeared to have few problems with its use. Records of other plants around the
country were checked, and after considerable deliberation top management decided to go ahead and file for a permit with the public utility commission (PUC). Jensen was asked to assemble an engineering team to work on the project, and he turned to his brightest people, all of whom he believed would jump at the chance to work on the project. He was right about the first four he spoke to.When he asked Don Henry, a brilliant young engineer, he was met with a cold stare. “If this company wants to go nuclear, I’m not going to help it” :What’s more, I’II testify against the permit at the PUC hearing”.
Answer the following question.
Q1. What should Jensen do about Don Henry?
Q2. If an employee is unhappy with his company’s plans should he do more than quit?
Q3. To what extent is Don Henry being unreasonable? Explain.
Q4. What might his future be? Explain.
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Mary Roberts had been with the company three years when she was promoted to manager of the tax department which was part of the controller’s division. Roberts started with the company when she graduated from college as an accounting major. She entered the organization as a management trainee, and during the one year program she demonstrated considerable leadership ability as an informal leader her peers. Mary also impressed many senior managers in the company with her sense of responsibility and her willingness to work hard. All of her training assignments were completed on time with considerable skill for an inexperienced person. Since she was very interested in tax accounting, Roberts was assigned to the tax department to be developed further as staff accountant. Within four months she became a supervisor of ten staff as staff accountants to fill a vacancy created by an unexpected early retirement. Her superior believed her to be the most qualified individual to fill the position even though others in the department had more experience in tax accounting. None, however, demonstrated leadership ability or the commitment to work that Mary possessed. The tax department manager was promoted to fill a vacancy in the financial planning department eight months later, and he recommended to the controller that Mary Roberts be promoted to fill the position he was leaving. He mentioned that her work was excellent and that she was a very effective supervisor. The tax department had 45 employees including 3 supervisors, 10 clerical employees, and 3 typists. Several people in the department were senior personnel with 10 to 30 years of experience in tax work. Some of these were more technically knowledgeable in taxation than Mary. There was some resentment in this group that so young a person was made a department head, and three of these people were particularly upset because they desired the promotion and felt they deserved it. What made them even more upset was the fact that the tax manager did not discuss the promotion with them.
Answer the following question.
Q1. What can Mary Roberts do about the resentful senior employees?
Q2. Can higher management do anything to help Roberts make the transitions to greater responsibility? Explain.
Q3. Will her lack of technical knowledge hinder Mary’s managerial effectiveness? Justify.
Q4. Should Mary’s superior have discussed the promotion with the senior employees before announcing it? Explain__
Technology and process are core aspects of an outsourcing company
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