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In 2016, UltraTech Cement Limited acquired a number of Jaypee Cement Corporation Ltd.'s cement capacity assets in India's largest cement sector deal. As a result of this acquisition, all permanent employees at the acquired plants became employees of UltraTech Cement Limited. This included people working in plants, logistics, sales and marketing offices, and head office. On analyzing the employee data and organizational structure, considerable differences became apparent. The differences were related to organizational culture, organizational structure at the plant level, reporting relationships, and employee compensation. The challenge was to combine the two organizations and streamline human resources policies and practices fairly and equitably and help Jaypee Cement Corporation Ltd. employees integrate well into the newly merged entity.

The Happy Turtle was a bootstrapped start-up in Delhi, India, that was focused on driving a circular economy for plastics. The company aimed to offer sustainable and biodegradable lifestyle alternatives to plastic, which could secure a greener future for the planet. The founder of The Happy Turtle had left a successful and flourishing corporate culture to follow her passion for sustainability. By mid-2019, The Happy Turtle had been growing at a slow but steady pace to reach a breakeven point. One year later, however, the company was finding itself at a crossroads. Business uncertainty had arisen due to the Indian government's new policy on plastic waste management, various underlying issues related to the circular economy, and the challenge of raising money from angel investors. In addition, the founder was finding it difficult to recruit, hire, and retain the right talent to help her achieve The Happy Turtle's vision. What strategic and routine decisions would she have to make to reach her company's goals and vision?

On November 11, 2016, Xi Dan, Senior Vice President of Tencent, and Ma Yongwu, Dean of Tencent Academy, were discussing how Tencent could develop new capabilities to sustain its growth miracle and entry into new technologies, expansion into B2B businesses, and internationalization.

Frustrated by the current system's shortcomings, including failing to provide clients with the teams they needed for increasingly advisory work and affording junior consultants an opportunity to adequately apprentice, Murphy was worried that the current compensation system was holding RRA back from executing on his growth strategy intended to help RRA-a top 5 search firm-recapture market share lost to its competitors since the great recession. He had tried many attempts, over multiple years, to change the culture through other means, but only with tepid success. Now he had to decide whether to pull the trigger on a large-scale effort to adjust RRA's discretionary bonus system after hearing concern-and even anger-over the proposal from some of his top 20 consultants. To permit students to analyze the situation, they have access to detailed, real performance and compensation data for all RRA consultants in 2015 (in the supplementary (C) case spreadsheet), along with the modeling RRA did to forecast the effect of the compensation system changes on each person. Students can therefore analyze how a more collaborative approach to compensation might positively impact some consultants and adversely impact others, assessing the benefits and risks of the dislocation. By asking students to decide whether Murphy should move forward with the new compensation system, or whether an alternative might be better, students will wrestle with the role of compensation systems in driving intended behaviors, such as collaboration, and thus in supporting or warping organizational culture, performance, and growth. By analyzing the dislocation to employees' variable compensation due to a change, students will learn the challenges of changing and calibrating compensation systems.

Frustrated by the current system's shortcomings, including failing to provide clients with the teams they needed for increasingly advisory work and affording junior consultants an opportunity to adequately apprentice, Murphy was worried that the current compensation system was holding RRA back from executing on his growth strategy intended to help RRA-a top 5 search firm-recapture market share lost to its competitors since the great recession. He had tried many attempts, over multiple years, to change the culture through other means, but only with tepid success. Now he had to decide whether to pull the trigger on a large-scale effort to adjust RRA's discretionary bonus system after hearing concern-and even anger-over the proposal from some of his top 20 consultants. To permit students to analyze the situation, they have access to detailed, real performance and compensation data for all RRA consultants in 2015 (in the supplementary (C) case spreadsheet), along with the modeling RRA did to forecast the effect of the compensation system changes on each person. Students can therefore analyze how a more collaborative approach to compensation might positively impact some consultants and adversely impact others, assessing the benefits and risks of the dislocation. By asking students to decide whether Murphy should move forward with the new compensation system, or whether an alternative might be better, students will wrestle with the role of compensation systems in driving intended behaviors, such as collaboration, and thus in supporting or warping organizational culture, performance, and growth. By analyzing the dislocation to employees' variable compensation due to a change, students will learn the challenges of changing and calibrating compensation systems.

In today's knowledge economy, employees with unique skills have a profound impact on organizations. It's crucial to keep them happy. Many managers believe that compensation is the key (as the eye-popping rewards paid to employees in the upper echelon show). But truly talented people aren't highly motivated by money. Feeling special is far more important to them. You must treat stars like valued individuals, not like members of a group, even an elite one. To do that, respect these three never-dos: Never dismiss their ideas. The Green Bay Packers learned this the hard way when they had a falling out with Aaron Rodgers because he wasn't given a voice in decisions affecting his ability to lead his team to victory. The videoconferencing provider Webex made this mistake too; it gave no traction to a proposal for a phone-friendly platform made by star exec Eric Yuan, who got frustrated and left to start megarival Zoom. Never block their development. Enabling stars to keep growing will win their loyalty. But if they feel their way forward has been barred, they'll take their skills to an organization they think will clear a path for them. Never pass up the chance to praise them. Extraordinary people spend all their time doing hard things. If they don't get recognition, they will drift away or become resentful.

This case explores the challenges facing a new Chief Human Resources Officer as she evaluates health insurance benefits at a financial services company with 100,000 employees. Bank4 faces increasing costs while its employees see rising out-of-pocket expenses. Students will participate in workgroups focusing on pharmacy, provider prices, benefit and plan design, or prevention and wellness to evaluate the different options to address rising health care costs.

Research research has found that employee happiness, well-being, and an optimistic outlook are powerful predictors of how well that employee performs. Business executives who consciously promote employee well-being and take steps to eliminate toxic leadership in their business units will reap the benefits.

Before the pandemic, employers rarely offered remote work as an accommodation except in cases of documented, legally protected disabilities. But the pandemic-era experiment of working from home effectively leveled the playing field for employees for whom coming to a physical office presented hardships. The authors describe considerations for employers as they navigate a future in which work location isn't dictated by a pandemic.

Aster Retail (AR) is the retail pharmacy division of Aster Dr Moopen's Healthcare (ADMH) Group. The group delivers healthcare services across the Middle East, India and the Far East with a portfolio of hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and retail pharmacies. AR, under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jobilal Vavachan, is well known for its people-centric approach, unique culture and innovative human resource (HR) practices. AR has won multiple awards for HR practices, service quality and business performance. In a recent corporate restructuring, "Aster Primary Care" was carved out, combining the group's Clinics and Retail businesses. The case discusses the evolution of ARs' HR journey and the challenge to integrate culturally diverse businesses, without compromising ADMH values and promise, "We'll Treat You Well."

In December 2019, Throwback Brewery, a small brewery and farm-to-table restaurant in New Hampshire, had many things working in its favor: a loyal customer base, a strong culture and long-tenured Team Leaders who had helped to make the brewery the success it had become. At the same time, Throwback Brewery struggled with internal issues such as pay disparity among its employees and a lack of effective communication between the owners Nicole and Annette and their employees. To address these issues and keep the company on a growth trajectory, Nicole and Annette wondered if a more formal talent management system was needed to assess staff performance. In hopes of improving upon the company's shortcomings and aligning Throwback Brewery for continued growth and success, Nicole and Annette consider talent management options including a personnel performance appraisal process.

The program head for retail talent acquisition at Yes Bank Limited needed to improve the talent acquisition process to fill vacant positions for relationship managers—a critical position within the business unit. Competition for talent was severe, with multiple positions at competing organizations open to suitable candidates, and screening the necessary number of candidates to ensure recruitment success was time-consuming and frustrating for everyone involved. One of the bank’s business leaders, particularly frustrated with the hiring process and the lack of consistency with candidate selection, was pressing for an urgent solution.<br><br>One option was to use an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, which centralized the candidate applications and improved the screening process by using machine learning to review videotaped candidate interviews. AI ranked the candidates, providing access to a larger talent pool and a quicker path to acquiring the needed talent. The process would resolve the bottlenecks that job aspirants typically faced in the traditional interview process, but would the tool dehumanize the entire process and undermine the interactions that ultimately led to better conversions and future integration with the brand and values of Yes Bank?

In September 2021, the chief operating officer and executive vice-president of HealthCare atHome India Pvt. Ltd. (HCAH India), based in Mumbai, India, was concerned about his company’s future. Founded in 2012, HCAH India provided a wide range of health services at home, including intensive care, step-down beds, post-operative care, nursing, physiotherapy, attendant services, and elderly care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was growing at a rate of 60 per cent month over month. While the COVID-19 virus continued to strain the country’s health care system, the chief operating officer and executive vice-president faced numerous organizational and social challenges. HCAH India had responded quickly to address the home health care needs of patients during the pandemic. It was even recognized for its excellence by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as the best home health care provider. However, how could the organization evaluate its options and focus on internal capabilities, while building on its strengths to meet future challenges?

Following a weekend strategy retreat in October 2018, the vice-chair and group CEO of Kuwait-headquartered mobile telecommunications company Zain, was proud of the company’s performance over the previous year. Zain Group had much to celebrate, having blazed a trail in advancing women’s empowerment and inclusion in the workplace—a double challenge in a technology industry that was also based in a region heavily influenced by traditional gender values. Its strategy included the launch of the Women Empowerment Network initiative (WE Initiative) in November 2017, a strategic master plan aimed at achieving gender equality, empowering women, and advancing women’s careers at Zain. However, a great deal of progress remained, and new challenges were emerging. The company had put significant emphasis and resources toward women’s empowerment and development, leaving some of the male colleagues feeling overlooked and left out. As well, other groups, such as people with disabilities and younger generations, also had barriers to overcome. How could the company continue its efforts to support women while also being inclusive and considering the needs of all its employees?

Rahul, a first year Master of Business Administration Student in a premier business school in India, encountered a misunderstanding while interacting with his study group, which met online due to COVID-19 restrictions in August 2020. He tried to resolve the misunderstanding, but instead, his attempt resulted in an escalation of the situation. Distressed over the misunderstanding and what he perceived as a breach of trust, he had lost his motivation to work with the group. Now, he is trying to reassess the situation and understand what went wrong, in an attempt to form a plan of action to mitigate the situation.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (Cognizant) was a multinational corporation that operated in the information technology (IT) services sector and provided consulting and business process outsourcing services to its clients. As the world fell into the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company faced a series of challenges, through 2020 and into the start of 2021, that rocketed its employee attrition rates to an all-time high while also affecting revenue. During early 2021, the company was faced with the herculean task of retaining employees in the face of uncertainty and an extremely competitive market, even if this meant putting a dent in the company's cash reserves. Cognizant had to determine how to build a better employee value proposition and develop initiatives to both retain and regain employees. Were the measures it had taken sufficient? Amid the scare of the pandemic and the war raging in India for talent, would Cognizant need a more robust human resources (HR) plan? Would it need to improve its measures for promoting the well-being of employees? Was the company too focused on performance and the bottom line?

Sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 caught small- and medium-sized Chinese enterprises off guard, such as Ciyang Garment Factory (CY) in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province. Many migrant workers could not come for work on time because of the outbreak, and Li Qiang-the founder and general manager of CY-felt uneasy about defaulting on orders and worried about future lawsuits. The experienced garment maker Liu Ning, who had been working in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, was also stranded at home in Zaozhuang because of the epidemic. After meeting with Li, the two reached a cooperation agreement. Liu Ning's arrival temporarily solved the urgent labour shortage of CY; however, the pay difference between the veteran senior workers in the factory and those who had worked in the south, such as Liu Ning, became the catalyst of the 'absenteeism incident'. Because of the human resource management problems caused by this incident, Li was once again caught in a dilemma. Will the absent workers be back in 3 days? How should Li solve the human resource crisis caused by absenteeism? To help the development of CY, does Li need to reform the human resource management system? How can he change it? This case examines Li, the director of the factory, and Liu Ning, a skilled technician, to demonstrate the difficulties faced by small- and medium-sized private manufacturing enterprises in China under the impact of COVID-19. With the conflict between the two salary systems as the background, this case discusses how Li deals with the crisis and the future development plan of CY.

In 2014, as the firm celebrated its ten-year anniversary, Jia started to take an interest in the sharing economy that was sweeping China. He was intrigued by the sharing concept and wondered whether designers' work time and professional abilities could be shared. He twice attempted to establish sharing models and was not frustrated by the setbacks. He kept searching for a good business model that could make his idea work. In 2016, for the first time, LKK's 100 per cent annual growth rate started to show sluggishness. This time, he decided to fully devote himself to the new economy as he knew this would become a new growth driver for the company and for the design circle. He was so determined that he appointed someone to take care of the traditional design company, LKK, declaring that he would focus 100 per cent on the new model and would lead the new team to "disrupt LKK". In July 218, a fire burnt LKK's Beijing office. Jia was surprised by what the office symbolized to his team when he saw an old partner break into tears. It suddenly hit him that his full devotion to the sharing platform model might have hurt the feelings of his old partners and have shaken LKK's basic values, professional idealism, pride and ambition of LKK designers. This was probably the deep-rooted reason why they felt so frustrated by the fire. Most senior designers were against the new model. Jia needed to conduct this venture by himself. Consequently in 2016, he founded a separate firm, LKKer, a platform company, later referred to as LKP, without taking any one from the LKK team. Inside LKK, a friendly joke, "the chairman went out to start his own business", went viral, and Jia perceived LKK staff hostility towards LKP. Jia desperately needed talent support from LKK and also LKK's existing brand influence, but he found himself unable to utilize these resources at LKP. LKP's first two years were very difficult.

The case describes the challenges that George Diaz, Chief Operating Officer of Simplex Bank in Peru faces, regarding the operational inefficiencies and low service level of its telephone banking services (Simplexphone). The fundamental problem of the case is what segment of the organization should be intervened (new employees, medium experience, or seniors) and what measures should be implemented to reduce the average time of attention (ATH), from 358 seconds to 200 seconds (competitor´s standard). The case describes the organization, the processes, systems, and call center's human management processes. The case presents three possible options to improve AHT: 1) redefining recruitment profiles and processes; (2) reengineering training programs and manuals (3) establishing a robust performance evaluation system. By focusing on the specific question of reducing AHT, the student is given the opportunity to diagnose possible causes and propose specific measures to remedy the situation. The case is accompanied by an Excel database that must be shared as support prior to the sessions, so that the students can generate diagnoses and test hypotheses about the possible problems faced by the organization.

Spreadsheet supplement for case IC0027.