Case Study Analysis: Planning, Online Shoppers, and Employee Retention

This assignment presents two case studies from the Harvard Business Review, focusing on contemporary management challenges. The first case explores the question of whether planning is dead in the face of unpredictable market forces, using the example of a company struggling with 'showrooming' and the loss of online shoppers. The analysis delves into the management problems, particularly the lack of effective decision-making and the need for innovative strategies to retain customers. The second case examines the issue of employee attrition within a growing company, highlighting the role of HR in fostering a positive work environment and addressing employee concerns. The case discusses the tension between a culture of 'love and emotions' and the need for fair treatment and equal opportunities. The document analyzes the management problems faced by the protagonists and proposes solutions for both scenarios, emphasizing the importance of planning, decision-making, and organizational culture.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

1CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
Elevator 1- Is planning dead?
Planning is one of the integral part of any organization. Thought it is very much true that
the recently the organizations has become very unpredictable and the competition may come
from unexpected sources (Channon & Jalland, 2016). Therefore it may be considered by some
management Gurus that planning is dead. However the question arises then how the organization
will solve its existing problems and what will be the future plan of action? How will the
immediate and the long term future of the organizations be decided if there is no planning or
strategic discussion? There is no possible other ways. Planning has been the backbone of the
businesses since man had started a civilized economic system. Therefore it is never possible to
say that planning is really dead.
Case Study- Can you win back online shoppers? By Harvard Business Review.
Question- What management problems confront the Board?
The management in this particular case is suffering from a lack of decision making
because of the critical problem it is currently facing. Lack of prior planning or envisioning the
possible scenario from beforehand is one of the reasons that such situation has arrived. The
management is extremely anxious to solve the problem of “showrooming “ where the customers
are arriving at the stores, getting knowledge about particular product, even trying it first hand
and then leaving without buying (Garvin, Natarajan & Dowling, 2014). They rather choose to
buy the same products from the online shopping applications because the prices are much lower,
about 8% lower in this particular case. As it was discussed in the previous elevator pitch that
whether planning is dead or not, some people would take this example to prove that planning is
dead, because even after planning the problem cannot be averted (Gensler, Neslin & Verhoef,

2CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
2017). However on the other hand there is the question of how to ultimately solve this problem,
only proper planning can do so. Without planning how any way the management would counter
a crisis like this. Any new innovation that comes into action to solve particular problems only
comes after necessary planning. The primary management problem confronted by the board is
the problem of lack of decision making because lack of viable options to solve the problem. Only
intensive brain storming and exhausting sessions of planning may solve the situation.
The idea proposed by Farb, the CEO of the company to use the shelf of the company to
display exclusive items as promotions is good and this will not only increase the revenue of the
company but also bring in customers aiming to grab the exclusive new launches. It has been seen
that in exclusive shops such as Apple, people queue up for whole night to put their hands on the
newly launched products. Therefore the exclusive products can be launched in the company’s
showroom and these can be made exclusively available for the first month only in the company’s
showroom which will automatically start drawing the customers to the shop for buying the
products. The problem of “showrooming” can be solved in this particular way.
Management of the various companies keep on encountering various problems at various
levels, it is important for the management and the board of directors to properly meet and brain
storm new ideas that can be implemented by the employees at ground level. The employees are
giving feedback to the Bertice Jenson that the general customers are actually afraid of the
exclusive services, because they are of the idea that the exclusive pre or post sale services are
actually costly and would add to their burden. The solution that needs to be searched must take
care that they are non-intrusive in the shopping experience of the customers. Changes must be
brought in the style of display of the products and the prices as well.

3CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
Elevator 2- Walking both sides of the street
The present times are really difficult for the brick and mortar shops. To survive in the age
of digital and online shopping it is very difficult, because of the very less price of the products
found online. This problem needs to be countered by innovative ways and closing shops is not an
option. It has been seen that the products like Apple iPhone still is increasing in their sales
revenue because the goodwill and x factor that they have is unbeatable. The brick and mortar
electronic shops needs to rebrand themselves in a way that the customers are drawn into these
shops even if the online applications are giving better discounts. New product launches may be
done through the physical shops so that people throng to buy the product after its launch only in
these shops rather than looking at online sites.
Case Study- Can a strong culture be too strong? By Harvard Business Review
Question- What management problems do you believe confront the protagonists at
Parivar?
Indira the HR manager at Parivar is the protagonist in this particular case study. She is
facing the management problem of employee attrition where a larger number of employees are
leaving the organization than the number of employees who are recruited by the organization
(Teixeira & Gupta, 2015). Indira is confronted by the problem of high attrition of employees and
she needs to restore the confidence of the workforce so that the retention becomes higher. The
higher management and the directors are often sarcastic at Indira because of the failure of her
department in keeping the employees. Parivar as a growing company needs to keep the employee
base stable so that too much money is not invested in employee recruitment, training and
induction. Employee attrition is a great loss for the company as it involves a lot of expenditure to
inculcate and introduce new employees to the system and hold them back. The existing

4CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
employees who have enough knowledge about the product and services of the company also
goes out with considerable level of experience which is a benefit for the company where the
employee are joining.
The new solution proposed by Nisha is to make the company more receptive and
interactive to human problems. The new employee support system that is proposed is expected to
solve complex work life balance that the employees might face. It is the philosophy of the top
management especially the director Sudhir to establish a work culture based on “love and
emotions”, so that the employees feel homely in the workplace. However Indira is skeptical
about the possibility of the system in the organization and whether the system will help the
process or it will worsen the situation. It is a fact that the employees are already leaving the
company, the latest being Amal. Amal agreed that the work culture in the company is more
personal and homely than the mechanized process of Wipro, but the pay at Wipro is much higher
and also the culture of partiality from the management and the Big Brotherly attitude in this
company is a problem for the employees according to him.
The solution provided by Nisha is really required to be implemented in the organization
because anyways the organization is lacking employee retention. This can be one of the ways in
which the company may get back its employee retention. It has been seen that in many of the
companies worldwide the Human Resource is made more humanistic and personal. The
employees are treated as a part of the organization and their emotional needs are more and more
taken care of. In this particular case the big brotherly attitude or the partiality from the side of the
management must be resolved and each employee must be treated equally. If there is no equality
among the employees then the problem of difference of opinion will arise and it will further
complicate the situation. Sudhir’s idea of a company that will be based on love is good to

5CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
implement but that must be balanced with proper process otherwise the system might be too
much lenient which will be harmful for the organization.

6CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT
Reference:
Channon, D. F., & Jalland, M. (2016). Multinational strategic planning. Springer.
Garvin, D. A., Natarajan, G., & Dowling, D. (2014). Can a strong culture be too
strong?. Harvard business review, 92(1), 27.
Gensler, S., Neslin, S. A., & Verhoef, P. C. (2017). The showrooming phenomenon: it's more
than just about price. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 38, 29-43.
Teixeira, T. S., & Gupta, S. (2015). Case Study Can You Win Back Online Shoppers?.