Case Study
Essays

This document details specific models of HRM and Change Management within the context of a fictitious case. This reference material also attempts to identify areas of improvement within the context of HRM. The subsequent section then identifies methods in which to help improve the implementation of these improvements within the context of the underlying business. The document finally concludes with strategies aimed at future change with the company.

A multinational shoe manufacturing company has been accused of deliberately designing a shoe with an insole that is offensive to Muslims. Footwear International consists of a number of companies that are semi-autonomous with regard to operations, and are governed by boards of directors that include local business community members. The Footwear International company in Bangladesh experienced severe criticism from local activist student groups who interpreted the design of an insole to include the name of Allah. Further, the students charged the manufacturing company of being owned and financed by Jews, and somehow linked the entire episode to Salman Rushdie. The designer of the shoe—a devout Bengali Muslim who does not speak or read Arabic—declared that the pattern integrated into the insole design was inspired by Chinese temple bells that she purchased. Further, the insole design had been considered and approved for inclusion in the manufacturing by the designer's supervisor.

Electronic medical records have various advantages in healthcare systems. This is a case study on the implementation of an electronic medical records system designed by Epic systems. It focuses on the driver of implementation, players and stakeholders involved in the implementation, challenges faced and how they can be resolved and the key factors for success of implementation.

The following case study employs the array of industry metrics discussed above to determine major factors that contributed to Trans World Airlines' (TWA) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while American Airlines ("AA") succeeded in the same time period from 1997-2001. This time period was chosen because SEC filings were available, providing valuable insight into the stark differences between the two airlines. TWA was a major U.S. carrier that was founded in 1930 and operated for 71 years until it fell into bankruptcy in 2001 and was subsequently acquired by American Airlines. This ended a tumultuous decade for TWA, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in the 1990s.

Alcan's continued revenue growth is the result of the combined success of increasing sales in four main business units, in addition to growth through acquisition. The cumulative effects of these two factors have served to create a profitable business and one where a highly decentralized organizational structure dominates (Chang, Wang, 2011). The catalyst of the organization becoming so decentralized is the continued revenue gains made across four businesses, each competing in market areas that face heavy pricing and commodity-like market conditions. Despite the heavily process-centric based approaches the industry takes to supply chain management, production and distribution, Alcan has been also able to profitably grow sales in the more mature markets they compete in. The senior management and IT departments credit the highly decentralized nature of the enterprise-wide systems that run the company. During the time period of the case, Alcan generated $23.6B in sales in 2006, and has 68,000 employees throughout its global operations that span 61 countries. The four major groups include Primary Metal, Engineered Products, Packaging and Bauxite & Alumina. Each of these business groups have their own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and IT infrastructure. They each also have their own maintenance contracts with enterprise software vendors including SAP who the company pays approximately $100M a year in maintenance fees to. There are also the costs of operating over 400 different pricing systems, many of which duplicate functions across divisions as well. The new CIO of the company, Robert Ouellette, enters into a challenging situation and one that will require a completely different IT and organizational structure to succeed. Organizational Environment The Alcan organizational environment is highly decentralized to the point of there being four separate companies in the same corporation, each with its own entire value chain and supporting functions. As with the value chain concept, each of the four divisions has created its own main and supporting functions, and no two business units or divisions are the same. From the initial supply chain management and supplier quality management processes and systems to the supplier qualification, new product development, production and fulfillment including logistics, each business unit is significantly different than the other. When information systems and processes become unique to a given organizational business unit or division, the information and intelligence shared redefines the identity and over time, the core competencies of a business unit (Boh, Yellin, 2007). This is exactly what's happening in the four business units of Alcan during the time period of the case study. The Primary Metal, Engineered Products, Packaging and Bauxite & Alumina have in effect become their own companies, each with its own ERP, Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and myriad of pricing and distribution systems. The case states that there are over 400 different pricing systems in place across the four business units or divisions. CIO Robert Ouellette and other senior executives see the potential for consolidating all systems together and creating a centralized IT architecture. Creating a highly centralized IT architecture and framework would require the fundamental structure of the company to change significantly. It would also require an entirely new IT architecture, followed by redefinition of processes, systems and procedures throughout the company. As the information platforms or technologies of a business define not only the performance of divisions but the structure and performance of business models over time, Robert Ouellette and his staff must think strategically as to how they will modify the overall organizational structure.

The two types of statistics are applied in researches in making judgments regarding social behaviors. Both of them help in finding out the meanings of social incidents in estimating the values of recreation activities and some materials. Descriptive statistics are tools used in describing the basic data while inferential statistics are extremely complicated. Descriptive statistics are mostly used in describing a sample group that is under study. Inferential statistics are useful in making estimates, generalizations, and predictions. Single-case and small-N research designs appropriate for conducting research in rare phenomenon. Various experimental designs exist and are important in any statistical analysis.

Organizational culture is the workplace environment formulated from the association of the workers in the workplace. While executive leaders play a large role in defining organizational culture by their actions and leadership, all employees contribute to the organizational culture. The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization make up the organizations culture.

Three research methods might be appropriate to the situation facing the company. The first research method is quantitative research. Quantitative research focuses on the principle of positivism in the process of determining the underlying issues in relation to the research question. I would recommend case study type of qualitative research method to reveal the reasons behind the research question. Recruitment screening involves effective and efficient selection of participants to facilitate the research process of the company. The investigative question that should guide Sara's observation should aim at answering the characteristics of the study or research question (What?). In order to address this research question, operationalization of the variables would occur in the form of case study.

¶ … Corporate Philanthropy on the Developjment of Business

The transition from a middle school setting to a high school setting can be daunting for the best of students, but this transition may be particularly problematic for many special needs students that are transitioning…