case study on decision making and delegation by : b n nagaraj

Case study on decision making and delegation

By : B N Nagaraj

Decision making

Many Companies work in a professional manner and gives authority to take decisions

But some Companies boasts about this and still have power with top boss and others should just follow what is told to do.

OR they take decision and this has to be implemented in all perspective

OR they would have already pre conceived ideas and force you to implement what is in their mind.

Decision making

In this presentation I am trying to project live examples which really happened in one of the organisation but with slight touch of humour

This also does not mean that HR guys can not make decision on their own.

What ever the decision given by the top, the HR guy has to weigh the pros and cons and implement.

Should feel the pulse of the people before implementing or suggesting new ideas.

Should be able to communicate to the top the practicality of any new idea or method

Case study : 1

The Managing Director of a firm wanted to introduce Banana in the menu of canteen

He called the HR guy and told him to have Canteen committee meeting and discuss about this.

The HR guy called for a meeting and suggested this But the question came when to give the banana –

During the Break fast time or during lunch ?. All were hesitating to take a decision.

HR guy told – wait,wait I will ask MD and come back

Case study : 1 contd

He came back and said, MD has told us to give during Lunch time.

But again one more question Came up – is it before lunch or after lunch ?

HR guy told – wait,wait I will ask MD and come back He came back and said, MD has told us to give after

lunch as fruits are eaten after lunch But again one more question came up – whether to give

green ripe bananas or yellow ripe bananas ?

Case study :1 contd

HR guy told – wait, wait I will ask MD and come back He came back and said, let us give yellow ripe banana

as it is good for health. But again one more question came up – Whether the

banana to be peeled and kept in the plate or the whole fruit to be kept ?

HR guy told – wait, wait I will ask MD and come back He came back and said – MD has told us to peel and

keep it so that it will save time and they can go back to work fast.

Case study :1 contd

But again one more question came up- Whether to eat the banana or to eat the peel ?

This time the Committee took a bold decision and said let us not go back to MD. We shall eat the banana and throw the peel !!!

A major decision taken by the canteen committee !!!!

Case study : 2

MD of the firm wanted to change the colour of the uniform issued to employees

He called the HR guy and asked him to get seven sample colour pieces and show it to him.

Promptly HR guy brought and displayed them to MD. MD said, he liked the cream one. How ever he wanted to

take a democratic decision. He asked the HR guy to take an opinion pool by showing the

colours to employees . Promptly the HR guy circulated to 150 employees and took

the opinion


In the opinion pool Light blue colour got the maximum voting.

When the HR guy told this to MD , he said there is some thing wrong. “Do one thing – get all the colours stitched to uniform and take another round of opinion.”

HR guy promptly did the same and took one more round of opinion.

Again the the Blue colour won.


But again MD said, some thing has gone wrong – get it stitched in different styles and take one more round of opinion.

HR guy promptly got them stitched in different styles and took one more opinion.

Again the Blue colour won But again MD said - something, some where we

have gone wrong.


He instructed the HR guy to call 7 employees and make them wear the seven different colour uniforms and display the same to employees and take one more opinion

This time also the Blue colour won. But MD said again - some thing has gone wrong. I

think you should bring all 7 employees wearing uniform in front of me, let me see it.

HR guy did the same.


After seeing all the employees wearing different colours, MD said – “I told you in the beginning itself, see the Cream colour looks so nice. I think we should issue cream uniform to all.

HR guy had to follow the decision given by MD and had to convince all employees !!!!

Case study :3

MD of the firm wanted to introduce Hand pound red rice, Vegetable oil for frying, and Brown bread as menu in the canteen, as they are good for health.

Against the wish of the employees the same was introduced and the employees had no option.

Case study:3 contd

One day after the lunch one of the employee was having the Brown Bread in his hand and chit chatting with his friends in a group out side the canteen .

At the same time MD of the firm was also nearby and talking to some one.

At that moment a dog came near the group of employees standing.

The employee who had the bread loaf gave it to the dog. The dog sniffed it, grabbed it and started walking.


The employee kept on watching the dog and told his friends not to disturb him

MD who was nearby also heard this and was curious and came to the employee and asked – why are you staring at the dog for such a long.

The employee answered with out hesitation - Sir I want see how far the dog goes after eating this bread loaf and conks dead.


MD understood the message and stopped issuing Brown bread, Hand pound red rice and vegetable oil fried items in canteen !!!!!


A corporate office was four storied building and had a lift.

MD of the firm got a bright idea and called the HR guy and instructed him

Please display on the notice board and near the lift, a placard – ” EMPLOYEES BELOW 30 YEARS OF AGE USE STAIRCASETO BURN THEIR CALORIES”

HR guy did the same promptly

Case study :4 contd

Some employees seeing this strictly followed But some young employees especially who were

directly selected from Campus recruitments started commenting and murmuring and still used the staircase

But some how wanted to convey to MD that they are not happy about this.

They started commenting to HR. Why Management should tell us how to burn our calories. We know how to do it.


In one of the monthly meeting of freshers with MD this topic came up.

Intelligently the freshers calculated the time taken for them to climb up the stairs case and rest time needed for them after climbing

They pointed out with the statistics the waste of office hours per day/per month/per year and how it can be better utilized.

After the meeting the HR guy was called by MD and asked to remove the placard near the lift.

Case study :4 contd

He also commented – “You HR guys should apply your mind before doing something – Don’t follow the blind instructions given by MD”

What is the Lesson learnt ???????

Case Study : 5

In an organization there were many above the age group of 40 years.

The MD of the firm was health conscious. He decided to introduce low calorie diet in the

canteen for above 40 years of age. He called the HR guy and asked him to call a

dietician and design a lunch with low calories diet for above 40 years of age.


The HR guy promptly called a dietician and designed a lunch with low calories and introduced in the canteen.

Displayed the contents of the lunch on the counter every day and instructed the above 40 group to have this lunch.

For few days it worked fine. The above 40 employees after some days started taking

this in addition some more dish from the regular counter to supplement the short comings and also some food stuffs were tasty in the regular counter.


After some days people who took lunch from both the counters put on weight.

After some more days no body went to the counter above 40 lunch.

All started taking lunch from the regular counter by selecting what ever they felt like eating.

So – what is the lesson learnt ????

case study on decision making and delegation by : b n nagaraj

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