CASE STUDY

A decision has been made to merge two software firms of equivalent size. The senior and middle level personnel of both firms had come together to sort out merger related concerns and issues. The meeting was organized in a large hall. At one point during the discussion, someone expressed a concern as a multinational; we have had a certain culture in our firm. But you are an Indian firm largely owned by a single family. What would be our new culture after the merger? Are we expected to forget about our old multinational culture? Immediately, a top manager of the Indian Firm arouses and walked up to the podium and said, how can you say that our firm is not a multinational? We operate in more than a dozen countries and have offices in all those locations; at any given point of time , a third of our employees work abroad; and we earn 100 % of our revenues from overseas work. So we are as much multinational as you are. He went on with more facts and figures to bolster his argument. It seemed as if he wanted to use his finely honed debating skills to bur the culture comparison issue once and for all, in the meeting. But the top managers intervention only pushed the issue underground. Many people simply withdrew from the discussion. The change managers lost a great opportunity to explore what the concerns were. Perhaps people were anxious about possible loss of autonomy in the merged entity. People may have wondered and worried whether key personal decision would be made on personal likes and dislikes. The merging entities should have had a dialogue on issues regarding culture integration, which people considered important. As they did not do this, several individuals seemed to have concluded that the merger would be bad for them. The organization lost a large number of highly skilled people to competing firms. And several months after the merger, the firm

had still not received the strategic advantages that the merger was anticipated to provide.

1. Analyze the case and identify the issues?

Merger of two software firms equivalent in size (MNCS) Resistance to merging as there are anxious about the change in culture that would alter the prevailing culture. Merging of two different cultures into an organization as a united culture is an issue. Dominance of each company over having their culture imbibed into the companys philosophy and way of life in the organization. The employees expected the discussion to throw light on the cultural integration but did not involve such constructive discussion and hence the employees had a notion that the merging of two company would lead to only a state of chaos. Loss of autonomy in the merged entity was thought by the employees.

2. Comment on the views of the Manager of the Indian Firm?

Top Indian managers counter reply about his firm was: That the Company operates in dozens of countries. Have offices all over the world in those countries. One third of their employees work abroad The companys earns 100% of its revenues from overseas work.

3. Explain the cultural issues involved in the merger?

Fight for the incorporation of two diverse culture into one culture during the merger

 The dominance of each company to have its culture play a key role in the merged entity Resistance due to power and conflict Due to differences in functional orientation Mechanistic structure is due to lack of initiative on the part of the employees to adapt to the changing conditions

4. Explain why merger did not help in achieving strategic advantages? People had a negative opinion about the merger even before the company
went on to take up the merger. It had lost all its competitive employees to the competing firms in the due process of merging the companys. There was clear cut resistance to this cultural change and the personnel of both the companys were not ready to cooperate & created a state of animosity. Employees felt that the key personnel decision would be made on personal likes & dislikes. They had a weak culture (very low degree of commitment to the org & its core value ) The company had a soft culture where multiple and conflicting goal existed.

5. Measures to get strategic advantage out of the merger: Shared vision Positive outlook Effective leadership & communication Fair & equitable treatment of employees Fostering culture Concept of learning organization Highlighting the benefits of merger

Case Study
Wal-Mart is an American multinational corporation running a chain of large discount departmental stores and warehouse in several countries. Wal-Mart inc. was started in 1962 and incorporated officially in 1969 and began trading stock as a publicly held company in 1970. At current, Wal-Mart international experiences a rapid growth and it has acquired 4, 573 stores along with 730, 000 associates evident in 14 countries that are out of the US continent. The company has wholly owned operations in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition to these wholly owned international operations, Wal-Mart has several joint ventures in China as well as a number of majority owned subsidiaries. WalMart operates under different banners in most of its international stores but they all work towards the same goal; enabling their customers save money and live a better life. Wal-Mart stores have created an indelible mark in the retail business industry. The giant chain store has an overwhelmingly effective knowledge management program that has enabled it to retain its competitive advantage even at times of turbulent economic situations. The corporations goals are being achieved simultaneously by strictly adhering to business aims and balancing operations with the economic growth. Accordingly, economic gin as a result of positive knowledge management strategies is achieved throughout. The corporations knowledge management strategies have enabled it to focus its strategic business operations into cutting operational cots and building up a value for its shareholders. Knowledge can be classified into three broad forms, namely public, shared and personal knowledge. Public knowledge can be accessed through public domains such as internet or books. Shared knowledge on the other hand refers to knowledge that is exclusively held by employees and is only used in work. Personal knowledge is the least accessible knowledge and is used mainly in work and daily life. Through focused differentiation, the Wal-Mart has succeeded in cultivating enormous productivity and making. The corporation is now the leading of its type in not only the USA but the whole world itself. Nevertheless, the WalMart stores have encountered numerous challenges in their attempt at introducing various knowledge management strategies. Change management analysis has greatly overridden the corporations organizational growth. Effective knowledge

management at the Wal-Mart stores is largely contributed by its ushering in of big financial gains on annual production. This important and positive trend has reigned over all major stores associated with the corporation all over the world. The WalMart stores are now ideal for businesses, organizations and units at the modern global age. Improved employee skills as one way of enhancing effective knowledge management by the corporation has proved extremely successful in countering challenges encountered threatening its overall mission. The realization of this will no doubt depend on the corporations ability to bolster up its knowledge management strategies and also focus on offering services and products that meet its customers diverse needs. Wal-Mart expects to enhance its future operations through the application of modern knowledge management techniques. This will to a great extent result in improved employee training, innovation, apt responsiveness and also a positive oriented organizational culture.

Questions
a. Examine the KM practices adopted by Wal-Mart Corporation..

b. Explore the areas of application of KM and the benefits it can confer.

c. Bring out your own views about this case.

CASE FACTS

Wal-Mart international experiences a rapid growth and it has acquired 4, 573 stores along with 730, 000 associates evident in 14 countries that are out of the US continent. The company has wholly owned operations in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the United Kingdom Wal-Mart operates under different banners in most of its international stores but they all work towards the same goal; enabling their customers save money and live a better life. Wal-Mart stores have created an indelible mark in the retail business industry effective knowledge management program has enabled it to retain its competitive advantage even at times of turbulent economic situations corporations goals are being achieved simultaneously by strictly adhering to business aims and balancing operations with the economic growth corporations knowledge management strategies have enabled it to focus its strategic business operations into cutting operational cots and building up a value for its shareholders. Knowledge is classified into three broad forms a. Public knowledge b. Shared knowledge c. Personal knowledge

Wal-Mart stores have encountered numerous challenges in their attempt at introducing various knowledge management strategies . Effective knowledge management at the Wal-Mart stores is largely contributed by its ushering in of big financial gains on annual production Improved employee skills as one way of enhancing effective knowledge management by the corporation has proved extremely successful in countering challenges encountered threatening its overall mission Wal-Mart expects to enhance its future operations through the application of modern knowledge management techniques

 Results in improved employee training, innovation, responsiveness and also a positive oriented organizational culture. Examine the KM practices adopted by Wal-Mart Corporation. Wal Mart being one of the largest "Retail Business Industry" in the world and in order to overcome the competition it adapted the practices of "Knowledge Management Strategies" Wal Mart co. was successful in adapting the knowledge management strategies/techniques by improving skills of employees, training, and responsiveness, which in turn led to positive oriented organization culture Through application of KM strategy, Wal Mart co. could focus on offering services and products to its customer's diverse needs, which resulted in achieving common goal of the company "Enabling customers to save money and live a better life"

Explore the areas of application of KM and the benefits it can confer. Areas of Application Of Knowledgement Management knowledge management in enhancing profitability and financial growth knowledge management also focus on offering services and products that meet its customers diverse needs modern knowledge management techniques :- improved employee training, innovation, responsiveness and also a positive oriented organizational culture. Benefits of Knowledge Management

1. Competitive advantage 2. Achieving corporate goals with economic growth 3. cutting off operational costs 4. building up a value for shareholders 5. cultivating enormous productivity 6. contributing towards financial gains on annual production 7. helps in improving skills of employers
Bring out your own views about this case Wal mart being one of the largest Retail Business Industry in the world, spread across Brazil, Argentina, Canada and UK and operating its joint ventures in China with different banners working for same goal "Enabling customers to save money and live better life"

Wal Mart has acquired 4573 stores across the world, we can see the growth of wal mart operations accompanying with equal risk factors. In order to overcome the competitiveness, it has to open up with new strategy. The strategy/technique used by wal mart is knowledge mgt strategy which helped wal mart to retain competitive advantage at times of economic crisis. KM strategy helped wal mart to focus its business operations into cutting operational cost and building up a value for its shareholders. KM also contributed to financial gains on annual production.

KM strategy is mainly achieved by improving employees skills, innovation and positive organization culture, which in turn led to cultivating enormous productivity. With the application of KM strategy, wal mart could focus on customers diverse needs and achieving prompt services and products to its customers and hence achieved the goal of the company.

Case: Organizational Culture at NIIT

NIIT was found in 1981 by two IIT, Delhi graduates, Rajendra S Pawar and Vijay K Thadani with the vision of meeting basic requirements for IIT talent in a world moving into information based economy. They had anticipations about the unpreparedness of Indian society to cope up with the forthcoming information age and adopted the mission bringing people and computers together successfully .Initially NIIT delivered IT training to broad spectrum of people-from students seeking a career in computers to IT professionals requiring advanced skills; from managers giving their career an edge ,to school children using computer as a learning tool .NIITs innovative offerings demonstrated the companys ability to constantly renew itself to anticipate future technology trends. From a computer training institute, NIIT has emerged as a global IT solutions corporation offering knowledge solutions along with developing software solutions .Headquarters in New Delhi, India. NIIT operated through 100% subsidiaries in the US, Asia pacific, Europe and Japan and has operations in about 40 countries. Its mission keeps pace with the developments in the field of IT evolved through operations wide discussions which help develop commitment among employees .The organization operates with the help of task teams designed for specific customer requirements for specific period to carry out the work. Team culture and openness are emphasized a great deal.NIITs corporate culture focuses on values such as quality, creativity and customer satisfaction. The quality culture of NIIT has been a result of sustained effort of its management-perpetuated through induction, socialization, reinforcement, innovation and concern for internal and external customers. The quality culture is ingrained at NIIT in such a way that the priority is to prevent mistakes rather than rectify them. Also quality efforts are backed by results, which are rewarded. Employees are treated as intellectual capital and looked after well. The happy and committed employees ensure customer satisfaction and this has got them wide acceptance across the globe. It has got well designed mechanisms for monitoring the quality of its products, services and software processes most of NIITs business have ISO 9000 certification. The work culture at NIIT has gone through all stages

of culture like symbols, behavior, organizational values, and attitudes and shared assumptions and probably this is the reason it has been able to sustain it.

Questions
1. What are the different culture elements that have an edge in the success of NIIT? 2. Do you think that NIIT will be able to sustain its growth? Justify your answer.

Founders of NIIT:

P.RAJENDRAN CO-FOUNDER

RAJENDRA S PAWAR VIJAY K THADANI CO-FOUNDER CO-FOUNDER

What cultural elements of NIIT which takes it to be the best in the business is thier relentless pursuit of accelerating business impact through learning and education for each and every one of thier clients large and small around the world.

Training as thier Only Business

NIIT is in the business of training, so we understand the entire process, from strategic assessments through learning administration and customer satisfaction. In this way, tyey can offer solutions that fit our clients needs. Not a day goes by without asking ourselves how we can deliver training services faster, less expensively, or to higher result. Training is not a sideline, its what we doand all that we do. In fact, among Top Training Companies, NIIT is the only comprehensive learning outsourcing provider on the list thier entire organization is focused solely on helping our clients to use training and education to produce business results. We are delighted to meet your organizations needs today and grow and scale with you as your requirements dictate. Flexibility, accountability, capability and passion are requirements in todays fastpaced business environment. NIIT meets these requirements everyday with thier clients and we love it.

A Partner with Deep Experience, Committed to Providing Business Value

The robust capabilities and thier rooted commitment that, when combined with more than three decades experience in implementing large scale engagements, has allowed NIIT to not only deliver improved learning services and delivery operations for a number of companies around the world, but also increase the impact of training and their associated costs.

Theyve been proud to partner with industry heavy weights and some of the worlds best known brands. These organizations have chosen to work with us for a variety of reasons, however in management reviews and customer interactions 5 key themes emerge.

Customer Satisfaction Global Reach Innovation & Quality Price/Value Equation Technology as an Enabler of Learning

#1 Customer Satisfaction
NIIT has been lauded for delivering client delight. Most recently, Client Opinions research the Diamond Dashboard Training Outsourcing report cited NIIT excels among clients. HRO Today magazines Bakers Dozen, the annual survey of outsourcing buyers, recognized NIIT as Best in Customer Satisfaction Provider. In each instance, NIIT was recognized by customers for supporting:

Value Revenue Growth Productivity Breadth of Services Profitability Low Cycle Times High Quality Services and Solutions

Theyve serviced dozens of market leading companies from a variety of vertical markets, geographies and sizes, and continue to earn their business and their trust year after year.

#2 Innovation and Quality

Innovation is much more than a interesting buzzword at NIIT. We have a proven track record of continuous improvement, delivering business impact and changing the industry. In our pursuit to offer thought leadership and effective solutions to move business forward, NIIT constantly researches next generation solutions, with cost-effective ways to solve our clients problemsnot just in the new areas, but in everyday service delivery.

Cognitive Arts, an NIIT organization, changed the way content is developed when it launched it Critical Mistakes Analysis instructional design methodology. They build quality and continuous improvement into training processes for flexibility and stability, overseen by dedicated governance teams. As an example, they partnered with Hitachi Data Systems to help build a training delivery team to support fluctuations in training demand with a variable cost model that enabled expansion of training delivery.

#3 Global Reach
True global scale that keeps pace with Fortune 500 business requirements that expand and contract with ever shortening cycles takes more than a good network. It requires rock solid reliability to deliver unmatched

quality, precision when the pressure is on, and the track record and maturity to manage change, challenges and surprises without missing a beat. Thier enormous team of scholars, technicians, instructors, subject matter experts and learning solutions professionals is staffed with highly skilled learning and education experts along with and seasoned-testedpartners that support our clients around the clock. This team strength allows NIIT the agility to flex, expand, contract and spike as needed while being able to respond to virtually any learning or education issue around the globe. Because they know time of the essence, they do this with speed, precision and excellence in execution so that your strategy needs can be meet even in the most demanding business situations.

#4 Technology as an Enabler of Learning

NIIT seeks to benefit humankind through pioneering the effective deployment of technology to help people learn. In fact, thier founders intent in creating NIIT was to successfully bring people and computers together, as we did through the HiWel project. Thier clients trust us to help them use technology as key support for training in their industries. What we do with technology is what counts; for example, NIIT identified not just the technology but also the training-culture elements that had to change in order to bring success in its Yum! Brands/KFC virtual training solution (listen to a podcast about the solution here).

#5 A Superb Price/Value Equation

There can be no substitute for a superb price value equation. It takes more than just the latest technologies to give enterprises and learning organizations the business impact they need from training. NIITs approach to training is based on reducing costs through the creation of business value, so our clients realize:

Faster time-to-market and quicker employee onboarding, as with our client Diageo. NIIT designed a modular, interactive, and goaloriented training program to educate employees on internal information systems within 7 days, resulting in a 50% reduction in service desk calls and 33% more productivity per new employee. Better-aligned solutions delivered by performanceimproving training partners. Effective custom solutions. More convenient self-study and blended delivery options, thanks to our resource network and understanding of technology and training, as demonstrated by our work with Computer Associates. Clarity on training results through regular monitoring and reports from our training-process governance teams.

Why Go with NIIT?

Known worldwide as one of the top 5 providers of Managed Training Services offerings, NIIT offers more than 30 years of experience in education and training. As a learning services company, we are unique in our focus on creating value, our process-driven improvement and

innovation, and our passion about training. We have received industry recognition as a valued partner for excellence in learning, along with earning ISO 9001 certifications in core technologies to best serve our clients. NIITs approach to Managed Training Services is to work closely with an organization to:

Uncover the true cost of training so that organizations can begin to manage the entire amount while reducing future costs. Identify the training content, technologies, and delivery that will have the most positive business impact through proven techniques such as Critical Mistake Analysis. Manage the solution and gather metrics that measure the resulting improvements to the bottom line.

NIIT Technologies is a leading IT solutions organization, servicing customers in North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. It offers services in Application Development and Maintenance, Managed Services, IP Asset or Platform Solutions, and Business Process Outsourcing to organizations in the Financial Services, Travel & Transportation, Manufacturing/Distribution, Healthcare and Government sectors. The Company adheres to major global benchmarks and standards, having secured the ISO 9001:2000 certifications and the ISO: 27001 Information Security Management accreditation. NIIT Technologies also follows global standards of development. It has been assessed at Level 5 of SEI CMMi version 1.2. NIIT

Technologies Business Process Outsourcing conforms to the highest quality standards such as COPC and Six Sigma. Its data centre operations are assessed at the international ISO 20000 IT management standards.

NIIT Technologies has posted on the consolidated basis a net profit of Rs 640 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011 as compared to net profit Rs 478 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010, representing a rise of 33.89%. Revenue income has increased from Rs 3 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010 to Rs 4.33 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011, representing a rise of 44.33%. ``We are pleased to report another quarter with all round revenue growth in each geography, and a quarter with growth in every industry segment of focus`` said Arvind Thakur, chief executive Officer, NIIT Technologies. ``Consolidated (Q,N,C,F)* revenues grew 16.7% sequentially during the quarter on the back of volume growth of 7.8% over the previous quarter. Strong growth in US and EMEA and robust traction in the Travel & Transport segment were the prime contributors to these impressive results,`` the company said. ``Significant multi-million dollar repeat orders from top clients led to USD 75 million of fresh order intake, resulting in USD 245 million of executable order book over the next 12 months. Four new customers were added during the quarter. Two customers

were added in BFSI and one each in Travel & Transport and Manufacturing,`` it added. ``Strong order build-up and continued YoY improvement in fresh order intake will sustain growth for the Company`` said Rajendra S. Pawar, chairman, NIIT Technologies. Large transformational engagements secured in the previous quarter, along with growth in our key accounts and the complete integration of the Spanish acquisition have resulted in the revenue share of US and EMEA to 37% and 39% respectively. Travel and Transportation contributed to 38% of revenue mix, while BSFI contributed 36% of revenues. 245 net additions of employees took place during the quarter taking the total headcount to 6,978. Attrition is down to 12.5%. Shares of the company gained Rs 6.4, or 3.11%, to settle at Rs 212.20. The total volume of shares traded was 270,946 at the BSE (Wednesday).

Acknowledgements during the quarter The Company was listed in the ET 500 published in December 2011. Ms. Pratibha K. Advani, Chief Financial Officer was awarded Leading Woman Chief Financial Officer 2011, by iiGroup, the global organization which keeps executives up-to-date with industry trends. Mr. Lalit Dhingra, President, NIIT Technologies, USA, was conferred an Honoree Business Leader by the prestigious Stevie American Business Awards.

Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements. The business involves various risks, and uncertainties that could result in the actual results to differ materially from those indicated here. All forward looking statements made herein are based on information presently available to the management of the Company and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

Case Study
Insurance and investment company STAR FInanceial Inc, is outsourcing a piece of the rock to CITY Inc.. The human resources of outsourcer will take over STARs HR systems and administrative functions in a deal worth $800 million over ten years. The deal calls for CITY to handle all state payroll, HR call centers management and informations systems and support, employee data, staffing and records management for STARs 50,000 employees. CITY also will be responsible for the companies accounts payable transactions. Executives at STAR which includes STAR insurance Co. and other companies, declined to comment on the deal. CITY chairman and CEO Jim told investors on a conference call that STAR in New Jersey, decided to outsource its HR functions after noting CITYs ten years, $1.1 billion HR outsourcing contract with one of the top banksin 2005 and its ability to support STARs people soft human resources system. Although STAR did not say how much money it expects to save over the duration of the contract, Jim says, the insurer anticipates being able to operate more efficiently and focus on strategic human resoruces functions, such as providing employee self- service HR processses.

More companies are turning to self-service applications as way to empower customer and employees and cut down on administrative costs. Xylon corp., a $20billion insurance company in Philadelphia, partnerede with Theta group, to provide personalized portals designed to let Xylons sixteen million customers better track claim status, benefit services, and other aspects of their health and retirement plans. Its no surprise that companies are out sourcing funcitons as a way to save money and focus on core business. A principal at management consultant firm Tower Perrin. He says businesses are buying expertise and the ability to work effectively when they decide to outsource. Questions a. Bring out the analysis of this case. b. Explore implications of outsourcing HR functions. c. Mention the risk factor for STAR Corporation in a brief d. How can STAR effectively managed internal forces for change?

Facts of the Case

This is the case about outsourcing. In this case STAR Financial Inc. outsourced its work to CITY Inc. It is a contract over 10 years and it deals with worth $ 800 million. The functions of outsourcing is handle all state payroll and HR call centre management and information system and support, employee data, staffing and records management for STARs 50000 employees. CITY also will be responsible for the companies accounts payable transactions. Executives at STAR such as STAR insurance co and other companies, decline to comment on this contract. Now CITY got a new contract from STAR worth $ 1.1 Billion which more than the older which includes modified functions like providing employee self service HR Processes which results more effective and efficient operation and focuses on strategic human resource function.

Explore implications of outsourcing HR functions.

Areas Specifically Affected

The areas impacted by HR outsourcing include some of the most transactionheavy functions of personnel. This covers areas such as hiring, payroll processing, health benefits and retirement account management, collections, employee training, and IT areas that support the information and records needed by personnel.

Staffing Flexibility
One of the most attractive impacts of HR outsourcing is a perceived benefit of staffing flexibility. Companies can add or cut staffing as needed or as workload demands without worrying about being entangled in messy employee terminations and long hiring processes. This assumption generally works with outsourcing as long as the function outsourced is fairly general and standardized. If the tasks involved are highly specialized and require unique training, then the company will find itself in a pickle with perennially under-skilled staff.

Immediate Savings
An immediate short-term impact is usually seen in the reduced cost of operation, at first. Many outsource providers will gauge what the cost of the functions are currently for the client company and price below them to be attractive. In the first years of operation this cost comparison will hold true, favoring the outsourcing option. However, as demands increase, specialization is desired, or workload increases, the cost for the outsource provider's services will go up.

Transition Expenses
As noted earlier, another immediate impact will be the expenses associated with getting the outsource provider started in supporting a client company. Few situations allow an outsource provider to just start up cold. There will be training, familiarization, travel, certification that new processes will be correctly followed, and more. Frequently, transition to outsourced personnel support takes about a year to complete, depending on the scope of the services transferred. Simultaneously, there is also the cost and time spent eliminating the home staff that have now become surplus.

Mention the risk factor for STAR Corporation in a brief

Possibility of Information Leak. Increase in cost. Employee efficiency will reduce. There is no innovation and creativity for employees. Time consuming.

How can STAR effectively managed internal forces for change?

Positive Environment
A critical internal force that influences employee behavior is the actions of colleagues. "creating an atmosphere of sharing and helping" was at the top of the list during a roundtable brainstorming session at the STAR co when employees were asked to identify the primary forces that improve effective working. Companies that can

effectively build an internal culture that is based on mutual respect, teamwork and support will notice increased productivity and a sharper focus on service to customers.

Technology

Technology is a significant factor that can have both positive and disruptive influences on employee behavior. While technology can often help streamline processes and make work easier for employees, learning how to use new technology while remaining productive can be stressful. Factor in the rapid advent of technology, in general, and employers seem to be faced with an almost ongoing need for new training, process improvement and documentation.

Centralization
Star company Can centralize the each process and activities regarding planning and decision making within a particular location or group.

Division of work
Star company have to divide the work among the employees instead of outsourcing the job. By this employees can enhance their knowledge and innovative skill.

Effective training for employees

STAR co has to provide the proper training facilities to their present and prospective employees. This will helps the company to avoid the outsourcing.