Brown and Gordon Auto parts (B&G) is the third largest auto parts manufacturer in the world. It is an autonomously run division of a large conglomerate, RST, Inc. Their head quarters and principal manufacturing facilities are in Cleveland, Ohio, but they operate plant in East Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, and South Bend, Indiana. Total annual revenues are close to $2 billion, but profits were reduced dramatically in 1989 and 1990 because of the recession and particularly because of the decline in automobile sales. Plant capacity has dropped to 60%, with a slight pickup in the fourth quarter of this year. (RST, Inc. has turned in record profits in the same two years, with all divisions save B&G performing beyond plan) Most of B&G’s management teams are on-line managers who have proven themselves in operational jobs and have worked their way up in hierarchy. They don’t believe Continue reading
Management Case Studies
Management case studies are real-life examples of issues and problems found in particular workplaces or business organisations. Case study assignments give the opportunity to relate theoretical concepts to practical situations. Most case studies are written in such a way that the reader takes the place of the manager whose responsibility is to make decisions to help solve the problem. In almost all case studies, a decision must be made, although that decision might be to leave the situation as it is and do nothing.
Case Study: Henry Ford’s Contributions to Organizational Behavior and Leadership
Henry Ford, born in 1863 with his innovative ideas in producing motor vehicles and excellent engineering works went on to become the hero of people in the industry. His primary goal was always to produce petrol propelled motor vehicle and in 1896 he developed his first self propelled vehicle which he called the quadricycle. After a lot of struggles and legal battles, he founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 with only $28000. He dreamed of making efficient affordable cars and in 1908 produced the popular model T. Henry Ford changed the world with his revolutionary ideas and transformed the motor industry with his leadership. The main aim of this case study is to describe his major contributions to the study of organizational behavior and discuss his leadership style. Every manager or leader’s aim is to achieve a workplace that has a pleasant setting, consists of employees who want to Continue reading
Case Study of Toyota: Birth of Lexus
Toyota’s most popular car in North America is the inexpensive Camry, the car targeted at the lower end of the market. Based on informal information from sales records and competitor sales, Toyota executives, especially CEO Toyoda, perceived a need to move into the luxury car market. The people who for years bought Camrys were moving up in life and wanting more expensive cars, such as the BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and Cadillac. To fully define the decision requirements, Toyota dispatched 20 designers to the United States to study what customers wanted. They visited dealers, buttonholed car buyers, and organized focus groups. They learned that the need was for a luxury car that would suit younger buyers who wanted to buy European cars but could not yet afford them. Because the United States was the major market, a small team stayed in California designing clay models. In the meantime, the U.S. subsidiary, Continue reading
Case Study on Corporate Governance: Enron Scam
Enron is an energy-based company in Houston, Texas that deals with the energy trade on international and domestic based. Enron Corp. Is one of the world’s largest energy, commodities and Services Company was created out of merger of two major gas pipe line in 1985. Enron was created by merge between Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. Houston’s gas’s CEO Kenneth lay headed the merger of the two companies. After that Kenneth lay become the CEO of Enron. Earlier Enron was Enron was solely involved with the distribution and transmission of electricity and gas of United States. In merger, Enron incurred a large amount of debt, and which resulted deregulation, after this Enron was no longer had the rights of its pipelines. The company had to find a way to generate profits and cash flow. Kenneth lay hired Jeffrey Skilling to work for Enron as an accountant. Skilling suggested the practice Continue reading
Case Study: The Daewoo Group and the Asian Financial Crisis
In 1999, Daewoo Group Korea’s second largest chaebol, or family-owned conglomerate, collapse under $57 billion in debt and was forced to split into independent companies. The Asian financial crisis and its aftermath finally took its toll on the expansion-minded Daewoo and forced both Daewoo and the Korean government to decide how to dissolve the chaebol. Kim Woo-Choong started Daewoo in 1967 as a small textile company with only five employees and $10,000 in capital. In just 30 years, Mr. Kim had grown Daewoo into a diversified company with 250,000 employees worldwide as well as over 30 domestic companies and 300 overseas subsidiaries that generated sales of more than $100 billion annually. However, some estimated that Daewoo and its subcontractors employed 2.5 million people in Korea. Although Daewoo started in textiles, it quickly moved into other fields, first heavy and chemical industries in the 1970s, and then technology intensive industries in Continue reading
Case Study of Procter and Gamble (P&G): Structure and Culture
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. This happens because P&G provides branded products of superior quality and value to improve the lives of the world’s consumers. This results in leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing employees, shareholders and the communities in which we operate to prosper. The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is a brand behemoth. The world’s first maker of household products courts market share and billion-dollar brands. Its business is divided into three global units: beauty, health and well being, and household care. It also makes pet food and water filters and produces soap operas. Some 25 of P&G’s brands are billion-dollar sellers, including Gillette Fusion, Always/Whisper, Braun, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Downy/Lenor, Folgers (which it reportedly plans to spin off), Gillette, Iams, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Pringles, Tide, and Wella, among others. The P&G consists of over 138,000 employees Continue reading