Assignment Purposes/Learning Outcomes:

After completion of Assignment-3 students will able to understand the

CLO1 State the concept of management functions, roles, skills of a manager and the different theories of management.

CLO2 Describe the current trends and challenges in global business management.

CLO4 Employ knowledge and techniques of strategic planning, problem solving, decision making and change management.

Assignment-3 Please go through the Caselets and answer the questions that follows. (Length of each answer should not be less then 200 words)

Part A

HR outsourcing offers real benefits

‘Today my company has 47 employees and enjoys a great relationship with CBR, our HR outsourcing firm. They have offered us increasing specialisation in HR functions as the business has grown. I don’t worry about HR details; I just focus on targeting new markets and segments. Employee administration is truly the least of my worries each day. New job applicants think we are a much bigger company than we are because of the professional recruitment services CBR offers. They also look after all legal compliance issues.’
(– Roger, landscape garden contractor, Phoenix, USA )

QUESTIONS

Explain the following terms from the text:

1. Outsourcing. (2 Marks)
2. HR function.Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing HR functions. (3 Marks)

Part B

British Airways (BA) – has outsourcing gone too far?

BA has outsourced more of its operations than any other major world airline. All of its ticketing and internet operations are designed and managed through Indian IT companies. BA now employs relatively few IT staff directly and these are all employed on key strategic projects. The development of the ‘shopping basket’ feature on ba.com is an example of BA’s tactical use of Indian IT companies. BA’s overhead cost per passenger is one of the lowest in the industry.

The strike at Gate Gourmet caused chaos on BA flights in 2005. The airline could not serve food on thousands of its flights due to the strike at its only outsourced producer of in-flight catering. This was a low-cost, high-risk strategy that backfired – BA employed no catering staff itself and other catering firms were unable to produce the quantity of meals that the airline needed during the lengthy strike.

(Source: www.silicon.com and www.personneltoday.com)

QUESTIONS

1. Explain two benefits to BA from outsourcing many of its operations. (2 Marks)

2. Analyse three possible problems to a business of reducing its core staff to an absolute minimum and using flexible workers and outsourced suppliers. (3 Marks)

ANSWERS:

Part A

1. Outsourcing. (2 Marks)

Answer-

2. HR function.Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages ofoutsourcing HR functions. (3 Marks)

Answer-

Part B

1. Explain two benefits to BA from outsourcing many of its operations. (2 Marks)

Answer-

2. Analyse three possible problems to a business of reducing its core staff to an absolute minimum and using flexible workers and outsourced suppliers. (3 Marks)