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This case study aims to yield the following learning outcomes: understand the key performance indicators of successful human resource management (HRM) in the hospitality and tourism sector, especially during pandemics; identify the various concepts and strategies of HRM and recruitment over a short period; conceptualize the types of HRM practices such as safety and health, recruitment and promotion and rewards when facing pandemic conditions as well as the handling of hotel staff in strained times; evaluate the crisis management solutions used by human resources to lower the employee turnover rate; and develop a crisis management plan from a human resource standpoint in a pandemic situation.

A five-star hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bab Al Qasr Hotel & Residence (BAQHotel) opened in October 2016. In April 2020, the hotel began accepting patients with COVID-19 in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi’s Healthcare Company (SEHA), as a support to the UAE Government, through Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCTAD), to meet the local needs and sustain business during these unforeseen circumstances, which heavily impacted the whole World. Samer Majari, the Human Resource Director of BAQ hotel was responsible for recruiting and supervising delegates, while ensuring the comfort of hotel staff, arranging for their transportation, catering, safety and well-being. To combat the high staff turnover, including COVID-19-positive staff, Majari reviewed the existing staff model; divided the staff into two groups for providing services to both sides of the hotel; arranged for separate accommodations, food and transportation; and retained the existing resources and recruited new workers. This study aims to provide management solutions that concern hiring of staff from the existing UAE market and highlights ways of creating a lower staff turnover rate through incentives and compensations, while also managing staff by motivating them and also safeguarding them against COVID-19.

This case study intends to provide a context for creative solutions to human resource challenges facing organizations during a pandemic. It also involves swift responses to crises faced by HR managers and the immediate solutions required. Therefore, this case study can be used in undergraduate level courses for students pursuing a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in HRM, hospitality management, crisis management or international business studies. Moreover, this case study can be used for corporate training and to help hospitality industry staff, mid-level human resource managers and organizational development practitioners to better understand crisis management in their hotels.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management

After studying the case, the students will be able to: 1. understand the business and existing HR practices at Precision Engineering; 2. evaluate the factors affecting business that may require the company to formalise its HR practices; 3. create recruitment and selection-related solutions for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals; 4. create training needs identification and evaluation practices for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals; and 5. create performance planning and review-related solutions for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals. The case helps students objectively assess HR practices related to three core verticals – recruitment and selection; training; and performance management systems. It also enables them to reassess these practices with the help of specific metrics and models.

Precision Engineering was a manufacturer of machined metal components in the Indian automotive components industry. It had been a family-run business since its inception in 1995. Precision was awarded the prestigious Automotive Component Manufacturers of India award in 2020 for excellence in HR. Ms Sakshi Kapoor, General Manager of Innovation, was ecstatic at the receipt of this award. She, however, was thoughtful about the informal human resource (HR) practices at the company. The top management had announced an aggressive growth plan and advised Ms Kapoor to leverage HR practices to facilitate these plans. Recruitment and selection, employee training and performance management systems needed to be formalised on a priority basis to strategically aid the future business agenda at Precision. Ms Kapoor faced the challenge of preparing the roadmap of HR 2.0 while preserving the employee-centric beliefs at Precision. The case initiates a discussion to achieve this goal by adopting suitable HR metrics and models.

It should be taught in the core course on Human Resource Management for first-year Masters in Business Administration (MBA) students. Alternatively, it could be used in elective courses such as Strategic Human Resource Management, Training and Development and Performance Management Systems for second-year MBA students.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Human resource management.

The case can be used on courses related to human resources management (HRM), which are offered in management programmes like MBA/PGDBM. The case could also be used in management development programmes, seminars and workshops that have HRM as a component of the programme. The case can be used effectively for classroom discussions as well as in distance learning programmes.

The case looks into the HRM practices at a leading Indian construction company – ABC Constructions. The case tries to explain the management perspectives behind the people practice initiatives undertaken by the company in order to recruit/retain and nurture talent. The case also explains the basic principles underlying its human resource policies. It tries to explain the initiatives taken by ABC Constructions to meet the challenges posed by the changing business environment, as the company moves beyond the borders of the country of its initial operations. The case provides an overview of unique challenges faced by a company in the Indian construction industry, where a significant number of people executing its projects are not its permanent employees.

The students would get a fairly good understanding of existing good practices in the field of human resource management, especially in the context of a multifaceted and labour intensive construction industry in the Indian corporate scenario. Anecdotes of actual experiences with respect to people management would facilitate greater understanding of the complexities involved at the grass root level of functioning and implementation. Theoretical inputs relating to training could be better understood through the customised programmes provided by the company for its diverse workforce. The HR challenges faced by the top management as a company grows and expands to new markets can better be understood.

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Human Resources Management (HRM), Industrial Relations and Strategic Management.

Post-graduate students or executive post-graduate students, Core course in Human resources Management (HRM), Industrial Relations or Strategic Management or in elective courses in Industrial Relations and Strategic HRM.

The Personnel manager of Asian Paints Ltd., Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) factory, found himself in a Catch 22 situation when a Union leader of the manufacturing unit refused to work. The Union leader had been transferred from the Quality Assurance department to the Production department. The case describes the sequence of events and the backdrop in which the aforementioned situation had unfolded. Given the circumstances that prevailed in the factory, the personnel manager’s decision was likely to have significant impact on the factory’s output.

The student will be able to understand the industrial relations/Union issues in a company and the role of different stakeholders, namely, management, Union, workmen and the government in a conflict scenario. The student will learn the application of principles of natural justice and will be able to evaluate the Industrial Relations (IR) strategy adopted by the organizations to prevent labor unrest at the workplace. The student will understand the impact of critical management decisions on the organization’s performance in an uncertain global environment.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Human Resource Management and Public Sector Management.

The target audiences for the case study are BSc, MSc and MBA students and management trainees and executives who are interested in learning the human resource (HR) practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of their employees and their employee’s family which, in turn, motivates them to contribute more efficiently and effectively for the organisation. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programmes as this case discusses time-tested HR practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers.

India has and is undergoing sweeping economic changes lately. There are several organisations that have supported this positive change. Of these, one such organisation, which shouldered the infrastructural burden of the transportation sector in India’s growth story, was the 160-year-old Indian Railways (IR), the world’s largest commercial employer. IR’s profit over the past few years was a far cry from its loss-making days, which tempted the government of India to consider privatisation in 2001. The transformational turnaround would not have been possible but for IR’s employees. After celebrating IR’s 160th anniversary in 2013, the case organisation wished to revisit its HR practices to understand its recent economic transformations and to strategise how they can improve and sustain maximum efficiency in future. The objective of this case study is to understand the “people side” of IR by explaining its current HR practices and to investigate and identify changes over the years so that changes then can be implemented in the context of HR practices for the future. Hence, the case attempts to explain the role of HR management in IR’s turnaround strategies. Resistance exhibited by IR staff towards its recent initiative of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation across India due to fear of job losses and insecurity is also discussed in the case. Teaching note for this case study explains existing people management frameworks published in the research literature to class participants by applying it to the case company. In addition, the teaching note also discusses how chief personnel officers (CPOs) of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees with least resistance. Changes/initiatives that can be imbibed by the CPOs in the existing HR practices to overcome the resistance exerted by the employees and to improve the existing system are also discussed.

This case study’s primary objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the HR practices being followed in IR, the world’s largest commercial employer. The case also attempts to assess the ERP system initiative by IR and analyse how it can be imbibed into the existing IR’s HR system. In short, the case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which form the learning objectives of this case study: What are the HR practices that are being followed in the world’s largest commercial employer? How are the HR practices followed helpful in the retention of employees? How can IR pursue the change initiatives, especially ERP implementation, among the employees without any resistance? What are the changes/initiatives that can be imbibed in the HR practices to improve the existing system?

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Killing ‘em softly: terminating projects within a video game studio is a case study on human resource management (HRM) and project management in a creative setting. This disguised case is based on a real situation that was documented through individual and group interviews at a major video game studio. Several HRM and project management concepts can be discussed through this case including employee retention, planning and staffing and intracompany communication. It seeks to help students develop a multi-level, interdisciplinary and critical analysis of a common HRM situation in project-based creative sectors and invites them to devise action and communication plans to handle the termination of a project.

This disguised case is based on real events and depicts tensions as they unfolded within a Canadian major video game company. Data for this case were collected through eight individual interviews followed by two group interviews with the employees involved. Early drafts of this case were also presented to respondents in order to ensure the validity of the case. Follow-up interviews, as well as the analysis of company documents were later used to complete the case’s final edits.

This case can be used in HRM, project management and creativity management courses/modules at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is relevant for business students in an HRM major, as well as for general administration students who plan to work in creative sectors. The case is also suitable for students in arts programs who aspire to manage creative teams or projects. It can be used as a take-home individual or group assignment, or as an in-class group activity.

Human Resource Management (HRM), Industrial Relations, Labor Law (Indian business context), Organizational Behavior, Trade Union and Employer-Employee Relationship.

Academic students (MBA and BBA), management trainees, HR managers and top management of organizations interested in understanding the importance HRM practices.

This case describes an Industrial Relations situation in an automobile company in India. It begins with the mention of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's (MSIL) brush with an unprecedented labor violence that rocked its Manesar facility on July 18, 2012, eventually leading to the lock out of the same on July 21, 2012. Further, it describes the background of the company, employer-employee relationship, a series of strikes experienced by the company, incidents that led to the violence, incidents that happened on the day of violence and finally actions taken after the violence by the company, the government and the union. With such details, the case raises questions on the prolonged people management issues afflicting MSIL. It endeavors to educate the discussants on the specifics of an industrial relations system and the role of each actor toward maintaining industrial peace.

Understanding the role of actors of industrial relations toward effective HRM in the organization. Analyzing the compliance of the actors under the existing labor laws as applicable to the organization. Comprehending the attitude of employees, employers and industry toward each other and also toward the job. To understand the nuances of people management function and its contribution toward the violence that eventually resulted in lockout. To comprehend various organizational behavior concepts that shall help synergize the employees' objectives and employer's goal. To analyze the complete incident with relevant organizational and industrial relations (IR) theories.

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Human resource management.

Undergraduate and graduate level Human Resource Management programmes; Leadership modules.

This case accounts the experience of a Malaysian company, Telekom Malaysia Berhad, in implementing talent management practices in its organization. There were several developments that prompted Telekom Malaysia Berhad to initiate a talent management program. The emergence of competitors had forced the company to introduce initiatives to sustain the business. One of the key initiatives involved the need to better manage its talent. The talent management process at Telekom Malaysia Bhd is divided into four key stages. These are first, talent spotting; second, talent assessment and endorsement; third, formulation of individual development plan; and the fourth, readiness level assessment. Each of these stages is implemented using a well-defined set of standards and activities.

This case examines how commitment and support from line management is crucial in the successful implementation of a talent management program and HR-related initiatives generally. Line managers are identified as the missing linchpin between HRM and organizational performance. The case will also identify how the role of line managers is now shifting to support the HR in a strategic sense. Thus, we find a shift in the HR profession from personnel management to strategic human resource management. The case examines the importance of a positive leader-member relationship, creating a culture which is receptive to change. This can be achieved by transformational leader who fosters closer relationships with subordinates. Finally, the case pinpoints how development can occurs in three main ways – on the job experiences, relationships, networking and feedback and formal training opportunities.

Teaching note.

We have used data mostly from published sources like The Economic Times, Forbes, The Times of India and the annual reports of Nestlé India Ltd. Because we classify it as a Teaching Case Study as per the guidelines of Emerald Publishing, we have ensured that any data presented in the case has been acquired only from published sources and is not internal company data. Citations have also been provided wherever necessary.

On 6 June 2015, Nestlé India’s top product Maggi instant noodles was banned nationwide for an unspecified period. The ban was imposed due to allegations of Maggi containing high amounts of lead and message, and consequently violating the food safety standards. What followed was the destruction of massive stocks of Maggi which had been taken off from shelves of stores countrywide. Furthermore, the company faced a huge blow financially as its sales plummeted. This case delves into how Nestlé India adopted relevant strategies to successfully avert the Maggi crisis. Some remedial measures included appointing a Managing Director who understood the market, improving the communication channel and boosting the churn out of new products along with greater emphasis on marketing and advertising.

This case is aimed mainly at undergraduate level students in the field of management studies and public relations management. This case is also relevant for students pursuing a specialization in Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Marketing and Organizational Change.

This case study is best suited for courses in career management, stress management, work–life management or science of well-being in organization behavior (OB) or human resources management (HRM). This case study is targeted at the MBA or executive development programs. The learning outcomes of this case study are as follows: to analyze the challenges in balancing Suraj Kumar’s (the protagonist) work–life balance situation and identifying the main causes of such a conflict. What are some strategies that could be used to address these issues? To develop a plan to balance work responsibilities with family and personal life. What specific actions could he take to achieve this balance? To design a training program for employees that addresses work–life balance issues. What topics would you cover in the training, and what methods would you use to deliver the content? To create a proposal for a flexible work arrangement program that an organization could offer to its employees. What would be the benefits of this program, and how would it be implemented and managed? To develop a business case for why an organization should prioritize work–life balance for its employees. What are the potential benefits of doing so, and how can the organization measure the impact of its efforts?

This case study discusses conflicts due to competitive priorities that people face in balancing the pressures, roles and responsibilities between their professional life (careers) and their personal life, and the trade-offs that they make across these multiple aspects of their lives. This case study revolves around Suraj Kumar, a successful consultant, who was offered a promotion as the executive director for the social sector. This promotion would require extensive travel and time away from his family. Kumar was struggling to balance his work responsibilities with his family life and his involvement with the Smile and Shine Foundation, which supports the education of children from economically weaker sections of society. He was reflecting on his past and present and trying to figure out how to prioritize his commitments while also achieving his personal and professional goals.

This research has shown that a case discussion and role-play can be effective for a less experienced audience. Instructors can provide multiple perspectives to stimulate reflection and debate. For executive MBA or executive development programs, a self-reflection exercise is recommended. Participants in these programs may have personal experience dealing with or may know others who have dealt with work–life balance issues, making self-reflection a valuable tool.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.