Hertz CEO Kathryn Marinello with CFO Jamere Jackson and other members of the executive team in 2017

Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

  • Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
  • Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
  • The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
  • Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
  • A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
  • Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
  • The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

Library Home

Principles of Management

(17 reviews)

case study examples for principles of management

Copyright Year: 2015

ISBN 13: 9781946135186

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

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Reviewed by Anjali Chaudhry, Professor, Dominican University on 10/27/22

This open text covers all pertinent areas related to principles of management. Any core business class on management focuses on the four functions of management- planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. This material does a good job going... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This open text covers all pertinent areas related to principles of management. Any core business class on management focuses on the four functions of management- planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. This material does a good job going over key concepts as well as terminology relevant in this area. Some of the examples may be outdated but that is understandable considering that this book was published in 2015 and the fact that the world of business has been experiencing a number of transitions. I am not too happy with the leadership chapter. Then again, in my opinion, most textbooks do a poor job with this topic.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is error-free, unbiased, and for the most part accurate. I specially appreciate the links for research and other sources from which the text draws support.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Content is mostly up-to-date and therefore, I am not too concerned about the lack of editions that such a format does not offer. My recommendation is to use the book as a basic text and then use other sources such as news articles, cases, and simulations to incorporate the role of current workplace context into the study of management. What aspects of management are relevant in the modern workplace (e.g., traditional organizational designs) or how new developments such as the gig economy can be understood using the management lens can easily be taught with a few additional resources that bolster this open source book material. If and when updates are needed, I am fairly certain that these can be done in a relatively easy and straightforward manner.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in a clear and easy to understand style. It introduces most of the key terms and accepted jargon from the field.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 4

The text has been divided in chapters and sub-sections each with its own hyperlink that makes it easy to move from one section to the next.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The logical organization and simple structure of the textbook is one of its strengths.

Interface rating: 4

The text uses relevant graphs and images that I frequently use to review key points from a section. The illustrations are meaningful and well-placed.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not notice any glaring grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text has been written to be relevant for students in the US. I am not sure whether the examples will be too applicable for those studying management in other countries. I did not find any instances where the text could be perceived as culturally insensitive or offensive to any demographics.

I have adopted this book for my core management course, and I plan to continue to use it.

Reviewed by John Strifler, Associate Adjunct, University of Indianapolis on 4/22/21

The text is appears to be an excellent text to introduce the P-O-L-C management principles, and promote the key elements of strategy, entrepreneurship, and leadership development in students. Highlights: Chapter 1 introduces the concepts... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text is appears to be an excellent text to introduce the P-O-L-C management principles, and promote the key elements of strategy, entrepreneurship, and leadership development in students.

Highlights: Chapter 1 introduces the concepts thoroughly and sets the approach the rest of the book utilizes. A concise history of management thought is found in chapter 3. The summary element at end of each section ( Key Takeaway) is excellent reference for learner. With the references at the end of each section, one can pull a section out for use in a teaching setting and retain the references.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The authors are clear in the beginning that they focus performance on the triple bottom line - financial, social, and environmental - and appear faithful in maintaining this approach throughout. There are no obvious errors in examples used to illustrate principles.

Examples remain accurate and relevant in explaining the concepts, however, I would utilize additional, more recent examples - noting that the text is substantially the same as its 2010 original publication.

For example, the section 3.4 addresses contemporary principles of management addressing social movements has the latest citation in 2007. Social networks have seen a significant shift.

Level of writing is suited for early college or even college prep use. A Key term summary at the end of each section or chapter would add to its usefulness.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook follows a consistent formatting, allowing for scanning through thumbnails to find illustrations or desired summaries

Modularity rating: 5

The way the chapters are sectioned and summarized, makes for ease of modular use. Consistently starts each new section on new page, which allows for ease of sub-dividing the material. Again, the practice of placing citations at the end of each section further adds to the modularity.

The text follows logical approach in the order of topics, similar to other management texts.

Interface rating: 5

I viewed the text in its PDF format, and found it clean to view and all images were displayed properly. Searching and navigation had no issues. Having a full feature PDF viewer will simplify the process of accessing and using sections separately.

No obvious grammatical issues

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

A variety of images used with a diversity of individuals. The examples used appear to be "globally" recognized.

Will utilize sections of this text as supplemental material to provide students additional information.

case study examples for principles of management

Reviewed by JOE MESSER, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Manchester University on 4/2/21

I have been a business owner for 30 years and taught business management for the last 12 years. I found this text to cover all the important areas of management. Plan, Organize, Lead, and Control, were introduced early on (page 19) and each... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

I have been a business owner for 30 years and taught business management for the last 12 years. I found this text to cover all the important areas of management. Plan, Organize, Lead, and Control, were introduced early on (page 19) and each covered in detail in their own sections in the text.

This book is well suited for an entry level course in management. Students do not need a business background before reading this text. I appreciated the current examples that were used. This will keep students engaged.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Management basics were covered very well. Examples were recent and relevant. The companies that were used as examples (SAS, Xerox, Toyota, Nucor, Google, etc. are companies that should be relevant businesses years from now.

The text was easy to read and the vocabulary was appropriate for an introductory course.

The flow and layout of the book stayed the same throughout all 16 chapters.

I found some of the sections within the chapters to be too verbose. I will cut out some of the sections (modules) in order to have time to go more in detail in other areas. For that reason the modularity is good.

The organization of the book made sense to me.

Interface rating: 2

I am still struggling trying to get access to any educational resources that go along with the book. Slides, exams, etc.

I did not run into any grammatical issues.

The text was culturally appropriate with no biases.

I intend to use this text assuming a can locate the teaching resources that go along with it. I look forward to saving my students money by using this text.

Reviewed by B'Ann Dittmar, Instructor, Clarke University on 1/7/21

Like most Principles of Management textbooks, this book has a wide breadth of topics that are covered that are relevant to the subject area. Consistent with a principles course, it does not go into great depth in most areas, as those deeper dives... read more

Like most Principles of Management textbooks, this book has a wide breadth of topics that are covered that are relevant to the subject area. Consistent with a principles course, it does not go into great depth in most areas, as those deeper dives are saved for more advanced courses. I currently use McGraw Hill's "Management: Leading & Collaborating in a Competitive World" 14th edition by authors, Thomas S. Bateman and Scott A. Snell, which is very comprehensive, and this text covers similar subject areas. The OpenStax text appears more succinct in the length of the chapters but provides adequate coverage without a lot of fluff / filler. The OpenStax text uses a couple of photo images per chapter, as well as several colorful graphics and illustrations, with adequate white space, to make it easy to read and to digest, as well as to maintain interest.

I did not see any inaccuracies within the OpenStax Principles of Management text. The text appears to remain updated with relevant examples for discussion purposes and for students to relate to.

The content provided is relevant and the examples / references to today's world provided seemed to span from 2016-2018, from what I saw. Example companies included Starbucks and Amazon, which are both relevant organizations that college students would know and have an interest in learning about. It is a contemporary text and does not feel dated. I would love to see some direct links within the text to the real-world topics that are being discussed, so students could click on them to get more information and an in-depth view, versus just a brief mention of a topic or issue. The student’s study guide contains some links like these, but it would be great to have some within the chapter, itself.

This text is easy to read, clear, and to the point. There are definitions provided for clarification, in the chapters, as well as in a list at the end of each chapter. A recommendation would be to put the chapter title and subject area on both the first page of the chapter, as well as listing it as a running head on the main window with the chapter readings. This information is currently listed along the left-hand side of the page in the table of contents, only and each chapter begins with an image and the learning outcomes on the page, but no mention of the chapter number or subject. I think this addition would provide more clarity.

Each chapter has consistency in layout and design. After each of the chapter concepts are covered, the chapter concludes with the following: • Key Terms • Summary of Learning Outcomes • Chapter Review Questions • Management Skills Application Exercises • Managerial Decision Exercises • Critical Thinking Case These resources provide a good review, as well as offering opportunities for students to synthesize / apply what they have learned. It also offers instructors the opportunity to use some of these tools for discussion.

This textbook would allow you to set up your course in a variety of modalities, as you can decide how many and which chapters you would like to use, depending on how many weeks long your course will be. It can certainly be used in a synchronous or asynchronous course, with online, hybrid, or in-person delivery. The Instructor Pack also includes several resources to take your course online and offers “cartridges” to integrate into several learning management systems, including Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Course, and Canvas.

The text appears to be well organized, overall. One chapter that could possibly be moved is the “History of Management” chapter, which is the third chapter. My current textbook addresses the history of management as an appendix to Chapter 1, which seems to make sense to me. The OpenStax text places it after Chapter 1, Managing and Performing, and after Chapter 2, Managerial Decision-Making. It may be appropriate to have Chapter 1 first, so students understand what management is, and then go into what happened in the history of management, as past events can be predictors for the future. The placement of the history chapter is not a real concern, but it just made me pause and wonder why it was placed where it was.

The interface appeared clear and functioned well. I tried it on both a laptop as well as on my iPhone. One thing I noticed as far as navigation is that when I wanted to jump to another chapter, I would click on the chapter link in the list on the left-hand tool bar, but it would not change the screen to take me there. Rather, it would open a list of drop downs for options of topics to select within that chapter. I think most people want to start at the beginning of a chapter and a click could be saved if they were taken to the beginning of the chapter when they click on the chapter title. That click could still also open the chapter options, and if they wanted to go somewhere else, they could do that.

I did not see any grammatical errors.

I appreciated that this text offered diverse images and examples that included a variety of demographics and cultural aspects. Further, you feel their commitment to diversity when you read their six-page Diversity and Representation Guidelines, which details their commitment to improving representation and diversity in OER materials. This is something that I appreciate and look for when reviewing textbook materials for use in my courses.

Overall, I believe this text is a great option for instructors and for students. I currently use the McGraw-Hill Connect access for online quizzes and exams, which include a built-in proctoring system to eliminate cheating in an online environment and would like an option for doing something similar with this open textbook. I appreciate that there are a variety of options for accessing this textbook, from an app, to a download, to viewing online, or even ordering a printed copy- all provide plenty of options for students. I also like that students can highlight within the chapters when viewing online. When I am looking to adopt a text, I am very interested in the Instructor Resources. This text offers guided lecture notes and PowerPoints as well as a test bank in Word format. Unfortunately, I found the PowerPoints to be lacking. I happen to teach Business Communications, which includes how to put together an effective PowerPoint, and typically "less is more." The PowerPoints that accompany this textbook have a plain white background with black text and no real template, so they don't look very interesting and they are inconsistent from slide to slide in their look. They also contain WAY too much text, often including full paragraphs. They should just have bullet points and save the "extra content" as lecture notes outside of the presentation slides. I did appreciate that some of the PowerPoint slides included embedded links to TED Talks and other example videos, including scenes from Apollo 13, as well as including discussion questions regarding those videos. If OpenStax: 1. Offered pre-made quiz and exam options vs. downloading a Word document with all the quiz questions and 2. They partnered with a low-cost proctoring service as an add-on solution, and 3. Updated the PowerPoint slide deck, I would be very interested in adopting this text. It offers a lot of value for an open resource.

Reviewed by Jose-Luis (Joe) Iglesias, Assistant professor of Management, USC-Beaufort on 8/25/20

I believe that the examples and cases are appropriate to demonstrate the applicability of management concepts. However, I wish that the authors could be able to update the examples and cases to a more recent world reality. Overall, the index and... read more

I believe that the examples and cases are appropriate to demonstrate the applicability of management concepts. However, I wish that the authors could be able to update the examples and cases to a more recent world reality. Overall, the index and organization works for junior students in business or someone interested in learning more about management.

I believe the content is appropriate for an introductory text in management.

The text provides the authors with the opportunity for updates.

Clarity rating: 4

The textbook uses an easy to understand verbatim and accessible concepts for non-business major students.

Consistency rating: 3

Terminology and frameworks are acceptable for an introduction to management. However, I would advise the authors to provide detailed information on the theories that support managerial functions.

I believe that modularity is an option. However, the instructor will need to add extra readings and complementary contents such as videos.

The sequence of managerial functions is well organized and explored in the text.

No interface issues noticed.

Grammatical Errors rating: 1

No grammatical mistakes noticed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

I believe that the diversity of examples and in the pictures represents a good example of inclusion.

I would consider the adoption of this textbook to an elective class in management, or management 101.

Reviewed by Linda Williamson, Program Lead, Business Administration, Klamath Community College on 3/13/19

I have reviewed numerous books related to management over the past 15 years and this text includes several components that I often need to add to the textbooks I am using. For example, there is wonderful language related to the "balanced... read more

I have reviewed numerous books related to management over the past 15 years and this text includes several components that I often need to add to the textbooks I am using. For example, there is wonderful language related to the "balanced scorecard" included in this text. I also like the depth of content related to innovation and strategic thinking that is referenced across several chapters.

I thoroughly read most chapters and carefully scanned the others; accuracy across words, figures, and exhibits appears to be strong. I did not detect any bias on the part of the authors, and in fact appreciated the wide array of business examples used to support their concepts.

The overall content in this textbook appears to be extremely relevant. Current and appropriate businesses are profiled throughout and related discussion questions seem to focus on real-world issues related to management. Chapter 2 in this text focuses on the individual student and includes substantial self-assessment; this is exactly how I teach my current Management Fundamentals course as I believe effective managers need to be aware of how they communicate with others before they can implement management tools and strategies.

This book does seem to be written in clear, concise prose, with good support and definition for new terms (and for jargon). References are provided throughout the content (including the business cases) with additional explanation for new or "involved" topics. I see consistency throughout the chapters in flow and tone, which is not always true when there are multiple authors.

This textbook appear to be consistent in the use of terminology and also in the overall framework of the content. For example, consistency in starting each chapter ("What's in it for me?"), the "Key Takeaways" at the end of each section, and the consistent reference to POLC (Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling) figure to consistently remind the reader how/where the new chapter content fits in to the overall role of management. Very effective!

I love the "chunks" and short chapter sections in this textbook! Each chapter has clearly defined sections (which a student can navigate directly to by using the tabs on the left of the page as soon as a "chapter" is selected) and yet the conclusion of each section and chapter still ties everything in to place. Very well designed.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is well organized in content, though I tend to like the "POLC" sections to be more clearly defined as "sections" of the textbook (again, the POLC figure at the start of each chapter does clear show which element the new content attaches to). There is logical flow to the content within the chapters and throughout the text overall.

I like the navigation of this textbook. Like any electronic resource, it takes a bit of getting familiar with, but it appears to be very user-friendly. When I facilitate a class using an OER, I like to have the entire textbook available in the very first module of my course in addition to having each assigned chapter available for access directly within the module that includes that specific chapter. I did not experiment to see if that would be an option with this resource.

None that I could find!

I found several examples that supported very respectful references to different cultures/people. My favorite actually involves a story of Goodwill...rather than do the traditional focus on who Goodwill serves, the authors instead focus on how the company is innovative in their strategic planning. In my opinion, that reference not only shows a different light on this company but also reminds the reader of the need for nonprofit organizations to be focused on innovation. A win-win!

I will likely select this textbook next year for my Management Fundamentals course. The authors stress upfront the necessity of determining competitive advantage and continue that theme throughout the book, which is incredibly relevant for management. The cases, discussion questions, and indepth content related to assessments (for personal growth and also for company performance such as the balanced scorecard) add a great array of materials to incorporate into this course. I really like this textbook!

Reviewed by Jeanine Parolini, Teaching Partner, Bethel University on 12/3/18

Principles of Management provides a comprehensive overview of key management and leadership principles for my professional adult undergraduate students. In our program, it is vital that we offer students a progressive big picture overview of the... read more

Principles of Management provides a comprehensive overview of key management and leadership principles for my professional adult undergraduate students. In our program, it is vital that we offer students a progressive big picture overview of the areas they need to consider in leading and managing others, and Principles of Management is that resource for our students. It is easy to access the information in this resource.

Our professional adult students need a resource that they are able to connect with and apply directly to their professional lives. Principles of Management addresses current topics that my students are dealing with in their workplaces, and it offers insights into the personal and professional management and leadership issues that pertain to most organizations today.

My adult professional undergraduate students are able to engage with the content and apply it to their personal and professional lives. The cases and examples in this resources are also relevant to students' experiences and contexts. At the same time, please keep the book up to date with considering a future revision in 2 to 5 years so that the information, examples and cases remain current.

The information is presented to my professional adult undergraduate students in a way that is engaging, practical, and accessible. The books connects well with business students and business issues.

When I engage the students in using the terminology and frameworks from Principles of Management in their papers and presentations, I am finding that students are digesting and utilizing the information properly and insightfully. They are applying it to their personal and professional lives. As I interact with students in both face to face and online venues, my experience is that students are remembering and practically using the terms and frameworks in real life applications.

Presently, I am using most of the book in my professional adult undergraduate business management course. I am able to offer several chapters in Principles of Management each week as I integrate in other articles and videos to support the week's topics. Students have commented in their evaluations that the reading is accessible, practical, interconnected with the week's topic, and a fair amount of reading for the course.

The chapters are well organized in Principles of Management and the topics in each chapter build upon each other throughout the chapter. The progression of the information in each chapter flows well and supports the practical outcomes such as discussion forums, presentations or writing assignments in my course.

For the most part the text is free from navigation issues. The one area for development is to make sure it is clear when it is a chapter subheading and when it is a figure subheading. Perhaps using a different size font or bolding or italicizing the font for one of those titles may be helpful. I have been confused at times when a figure title falls on the previous page of the actual figure, yet the chapter subheading is at the top of the figure. I have also experienced students' questions on this as well when they are being asked to assess a certain figure in the reading material and want to be sure they have the correct figure. I'd appreciate clearing this up in the next version to avoid confusion.

The text appears to be free from mechanical issues and grammatical errors. I am proud of the way the text presents itself to our professional adult undergrad students.

Cultural inclusion is important to me so I am sensitive to inclusivity of races, ethnicities and backgrounds in my approach to resources and the classroom environment. Principles of Management provides support to cultural inclusion in it's discussion of globalization and global trends, values-based leadership, and to some level related to ethics and culture. At the same time, this is a key area to keep up to date on and to realize that the globe is in our workplaces everyday with our diversity. In future revisions, I suggest taking this area to another level in helping readers to manage an innovative and diverse workplace to a greater level by being aware of cultural bias and learning through differences. I supplement the books information with additional material related to bias, insecurity and personal/cultural maturity.

Principles of Management is an engaging resource for my professional adult undergrad business students because it provides a general overview of key management and leadership topics with the opportunity for practical application through examples, cases, questions, and relevant frameworks that I can then incorporate into my weekly assignments.

Reviewed by Valerie Wallingford, Professor, Bemidji State University on 6/19/18

There should be a chapter devoted to the 4 functions of management (planning, leading, organizing & controlling) versus just one chapter covering all four primary functions of management so that is why I have ranked it a 3. read more

There should be a chapter devoted to the 4 functions of management (planning, leading, organizing & controlling) versus just one chapter covering all four primary functions of management so that is why I have ranked it a 3.

Text is accurate, case studies are outdated.

Textbook is up-to-date except cases.

The book's clarity is good as provides adequate context for terminology utilized. Easy to understand and comprehend.

Yes, the text is consistent throughout.

Yes, the text is easily readable and chapters are easily divisible into smaller reading sections which makes it nice if the professor doesn't want to cover the entire chapter just sections. There are pictures, charts, etc. that also break up the reading.

The organization/flow/structure are similar to many principles of management texts with possibly moving mission/vision chapter earlier but professor can assign chapters in the order they prefer.

The interface is good, as I had no issues with navigation, distortion, or display features.

No grammatical errors were found.

The text was not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It was inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

Reviewed by K Doreen MacAulay, Instructor II, University of South Florida on 3/27/18

The material covers all the basic requirements for a principles of management course. The concepts and applications are on par with what is being taught. I feel the examples are a little dated, but that is something that could easily be augmented... read more

The material covers all the basic requirements for a principles of management course. The concepts and applications are on par with what is being taught. I feel the examples are a little dated, but that is something that could easily be augmented through classroom.

The content of this book is very accurate and I did not find any errors in the delivery of the information.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The concepts are up to date with what is important and covered in a principles of management course. The examples, although relevant to the material, could be a little more up to date. As note, however, this is something that could easily be addressed through classwork.

The concepts, theories and general knowledge delivered in this book as exactly what one would expect to find in a good Principles of Management book.

There are no consistency issues that I found throughout the reading of this book.

The segments within each of the chapters of the book made for an easy and logical flow to the material. Each segment lends itself easily to the learning process for the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

The actually order of the book chapters, however, did not seem to fit a traditional model. I would not teach the chapters in the order that they are provided, however, I would use all the material provided. Example: I would have motivating after leading; the structure chapter near the end and make chapter 13 - chapter 14 and chapter 14 be chapter 13.

To me a logical concept flow goes from a general introduction, strategy and the go micro level to macro level. This book's order of chapters does not seem to have a clear path.

Some of the pictures seemed out of place because they were small. As well, there was not a uniformed look to the pictures which took away a little from the appearance, but overall the material was easy to read and that is the main point.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Easy to read and understand.

Clearly based in a American capitalist approach to knowledge, this book is on par with most American textbooks in this area.

I look forward to incorporating this textbook into my class. I believe for a survey course like this, this work is the ideal foundation to help the students learn.

Reviewed by Debby Thomas, Assistant Professor of Management, George Fox University on 2/1/18

The text covers the basics that other Principles of Management texts do. read more

The text covers the basics that other Principles of Management texts do.

I have found this textbook to be clear and accurate. The case studies are a bit dated, but relevant.

The content of this book is organized around management concepts and principles that will not quickly go out of date. The case studies are concise, practical and relevant and should be fairly easy for the publishers to update occasionally.

This book is written in a way that the concepts are covered thoroughly without being verbose or difficult to understand. The concepts are presented in a way that is easy to comprehend and encourages application.

The terminology and framework of the text are consistent. One minor improvement would be to have a comprehensive table of contents at the beginning of the book (presently there is a table of contents of each chapter at the beginning of the chapter). This would help students follow the overall flow of the text more easily.

This text provides numbered sections for each chapter. I find this helpful and I don't always assign the whole chapter as reading for one class. I can be precise about exactly which parts of which chapters I want the students to read. The text has pictures and charts or graphs to break up the text, and the sections are generally short enough to hold a student's attention.

The topics are presented in a logical fashion. As with most Principles of Management textbooks its impossible to get through all of the content in one semester, but the set up works well to emphasize certain chapters more than others.

The book comes in multiple formats for the convenience of the reader. The PDF is usable only with the use of the built in table of contents (no clickable links to chapters in the PDF).

The text does not contain grammatical errors.

The pictures in the text include people of a variety of ethnicities. I have not found anything in the book that is insensitive or offensive in any way. It also introduces the concepts of unconscious bias early in the text.

Reviewed by Mindy Bean, Faculty, Linn-Benton Community College on 6/20/17

The Principles of Management heavily relies of the POLC method of Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. The text was unique in covering the basics of each area within each context while tying it in with many factors that managers deal... read more

The Principles of Management heavily relies of the POLC method of Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. The text was unique in covering the basics of each area within each context while tying it in with many factors that managers deal with. It had many concepts of most Principles of Management resources for assisting students in learning.

The books content was very accurate to the date that the sources were presented. A lot of resources were during the recession or before the recession. I feel like an OER that was adapted from 2010 should have included a few more updated examples.

The books concepts will keep for a while, when it comes to management theories there are always more being presented (fades) and there are those that keep the core concepts. I believe this book covers on the hard fundamentals of management while expressing the common trends of management in certain business industries. With technological advances and competitive nature of business, this book's relevance and longevity is based more on the subject matter.

The writing is adequate for the topics being presented. The many examples of firm situations and how they applied the concepts were well placed and had a good consistency until the end of the text. The jargon was appropriate for the subject matter.

The book carried consistent terminology and framework. The rhythm in which the reader gets used to is consistent except for two chapters toward the end in which it extended on my laptop to being about 25 pages. The way in which terms are presented are not in bold but mainly italic or overly emphasized. I believe it to be an easier read then most materials I have came across.

The book was easy and readily divisible into smaller reading sections besides the two chapters I previously mentioned towards the end. I personally would use the OER in that way due to its design to prevent good amounts of information without disruption.

The organization of the text was presented well. It was different from other materials that focus on the POLC and cover each section individually in order. I was impressed by the clear fashion that information was laid out by relating each topic outside of POLC that managers have to deal with and correlating to how it works with POLC when necessary.

The interface worked well. I pulled the book up on three different forms and systems. It was consistent, the visual aids/charts were presented well and I was able to see them all clearly. The only thing I personally didn't like was downloaded on iBooks you had to swipe versus clicking to turn the page.

The cultural relevance was accurate. I did not see any insensitive or offensive material.

I did have problems trying to get this on my Kindle.

Reviewed by Irene Seto, Faculty, Portland Community College on 6/20/17

I was involved with modifying an existing course to utilizes Open Education Resources in our introduction to Management Supervisory course. This text book is one that we selected a few chapters from for our course. I found this book covers all the... read more

I was involved with modifying an existing course to utilizes Open Education Resources in our introduction to Management Supervisory course. This text book is one that we selected a few chapters from for our course. I found this book covers all the major fundamental concepts required in a typical introduction Management course.

I did not encounter any biased or inaccurate information in the textbook.

The principles of Business be the same, but the business world and our technology is constantly changing. I would imagine minor updates of examples and case studies would be needed every 2-3 years.

I found the chapters easy to read and follow. Key terminologies were highlighted and explained well.

Each chapter's layout is consistent and created an easy to follow framework.

The chapters are well organized, similar to many introductory Management textbook. The learning objective and summary for each chapter is good.

The flow of the chapters are fine. But we did not use all of the chapters for our course. Personally, I would put Globalization and Valued Based Leadership (Chapter 3) toward the end.

The embedded links that I came across to and tested were fine. There were not many graphics.

I did not found grammatical errors.

Nothing really stood out that seem to be culturally insensitive.

Page numbers would be helpful!

Reviewed by Holly Jean Greene, Lecturer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville on 6/20/17

The textbook covers subject matter found in most management texts such as the four foundations of management - planning, organizing, leading and controlling ( P-O-L-C). In fact, each chapter links back to P-O-L-C very well. The textbook covers... read more

The textbook covers subject matter found in most management texts such as the four foundations of management - planning, organizing, leading and controlling ( P-O-L-C). In fact, each chapter links back to P-O-L-C very well.

The textbook covers organizational structure & culture, planning & goal setting, strategy & decision making, teams, leadership & motivation too. A few additional topics covered are social media and communication. One of the text strengths is in it's brevity: It covers a swath of terrain succinctly and would work well in course where an instructor wants to add additional learning tools such as videos and case studies.

I didn't find any areas of obvious inaccuracy or bias. In fact, I find the text is written without the opinion of the authors.

Each chapter includes a "case in point" story that's current or at least covers an event that's occurred within the last ten years.

I like the style in which the text is written - simple, easy to read prose. There are instances where I felt as if the text was written for an 8th grader, yet, if an instructor's goal is to use a text that simply introduces students to the foundations of management and they plan on adding additional learning tools, this is a great text to use.

I didn't see any obvious areas of inconsistency.

Using this text modularity and assigning just the sections students need is one of the text strengths. Each chapter stands on its own.

Organization of the text is clear and logical. In some instances, the text is not in the order I would assign but structuring the subject matter to an instructor's discretion is one of the advantages of using this text.

A few of the images seem small and I believe more images could have been used.

I didn't find any glaring grammatical errors.

Another one of the text strengths is its focus on helping students understand their own behavior. Each chapter contains an activity for students to complete that allows them the opportunity to learn more about their own behavior and biases.

This text in combination with additional learning materials - videos, case studies, self-assessment assignment - is a solid choice to use.

Reviewed by Paul Jacques, Associate Professor, Rhode Island College on 4/11/17

Each of the concepts that are typically covered in a Principles of Management course are included in this manuscript. The table of contents, chapter index, are helpful. Glossary of key terms is embedded within each chapter and could perhaps be... read more

Each of the concepts that are typically covered in a Principles of Management course are included in this manuscript. The table of contents, chapter index, are helpful. Glossary of key terms is embedded within each chapter and could perhaps be broken out in a separate chapter section (end of chapter?) to aid comprehension. There was no index included in this reviewer’s copy of the text.

The concepts included are presented accurately.

To be sure, each of the topics covered in this text are within the scope of the body of knowledge that an Introduction to Management student would be expected to master. The references are quite dated, however, with the bulk of the most recent references being from 2008. That said, and perhaps in the interest of providing the most updated references possible, citations from seminal work (example: NEO-PI, Costa and McCrae, 1985) are largely ignored in lieu of more recent, but relatively lightweight, work s. While major concepts are explained, the impact of these concepts on the world of work/management are given much less emphasis. To the reader, this approach can be perceived as being presented with a stream of facts, one after the other, with little attempt at anchoring the concepts to applications.

Clarity rating: 3

What’s here is good with my main concern being that there’s large sections of pure, unbroken text. I would think that the “Key takeaway” segments could be more numerous throughout the chapter. The Moreover, these takeaways would seem to benefit from several “key implications for managers” summaries throughout the chapter. As it stands now, it appears to be left to the student to pull out the relevance of the various concepts explained.

It seems apparent that there was a great deal of work involved in the preparation of the book manuscript. Each chapter’s flow and appearance are similar to that in each of the other chapters.

Each chapter appears to be designed to stand alone.

The “What’s in it for me?” chapter introductions are a useful and clever way of avoiding the more sterile term “chapter learning objectives.” The significant challenge to the student, however, is to internalize the chapter readings so that he/she sees the applicability.

Not sure if it’s a browser/printer issue, but some of the images were inordinately small (ex: figure 2.11, p. 63). Moreover, several of the figures are orphaned in the text – no reference/support afforded by surrounding paragraphs.

This reviewer observed no instances of grammatical errors which, in a work of this size (over 600 pages) is compelling evidence of polished, thoughtful preparation.

There were no examples of cultural insensitivity. To the contrary, the authors added to the reader’s understanding of the topic by presentation of findings related to the GLOBE study. Perhaps a more comprehensive treatment of the topic would have resulted had the authors presented the idea of diversity from a “levels of analysis” perspective – individual, dyad, group/collective. This approach would seem to result in a more efficient presentation of the topic and one that is applicable to all levels of management.

Overall, it seems that a strength of this text is that it encompasses a full gamut of topics that are typically included in a Principles of Management course at the undergraduate level. This reviewer found the content to be quite strong, but the interface between content and learner to be the main opportunity that exists with this title. Specifically, cases are interspersed throughout the text/chapters, but there are no questions related to any of the cases and so the cases come across more as stories than they do point of convergence/learning. In addition, the segments that are labelled “Exercises” at the end of each chapter’s segments would be more aptly referred to as simply “chapter segment questions.” The reality that there is no real deep thought required to answer the questions nor are they reflective of any experiential/active learning. The word that this reviewer keeps coming back to is “Application.” The text boasts truly excellent content, but the application portion is largely missing.

Reviewed by David Bess, Professor, University of Hawaii on 8/21/16

The text covers the major topics taught in a typical introduction to management course quite thoroughly. read more

The text covers the major topics taught in a typical introduction to management course quite thoroughly.

It read well and seemed to be quite accurate in terms of the theories/concepts and their applications.

It is up to date...other than maybe some cases.

It is easy to read; has nice summary sections; flows well./

It is consistent.

It is easy to read and has nice short sections with summaries.

The topics are presented in a logical fashion. They are offered in the rough order found in many principles texts. It is not the order in which I teach them...but it is logical and clear.

The interface is sound.

The grammar is sound.

I believe it is ;culturally relevant for most cultures.

I wish it had page numbers....it is a bit difficult to navigate.

Reviewed by Kim bishop, Adjunct Faculty, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

Yes, the subjects match up with what our school has for Course content and outcome Guides, for this course. It covers all subjects adequately. read more

Yes, the subjects match up with what our school has for Course content and outcome Guides, for this course. It covers all subjects adequately.

I did not find any errors and I did not see it as biased in any way. I guess it would depend on what you call accuracy and unbiased. For my needs, from what I have been taught and from what I have learned in the working world, I found it adequate.

The only things that would need updating would be case studies that could be more current since it was written in 2010. Having more current up to date case studies would be more interesting to the students and more engaging since it would be current or within the last couple of years at least.

very easy to read and understand. There were a couple of acronyms that were new to me, but the way they were laid out in the objectives and then addressed were helpful.

I love the way it is laid out. each chapter was easy to navigate and set up. It is the same for each objective and chapter giving you lots of options for discussion and for assigning work.

It is organized excellently. as mentioned before I like how it is laid out with learning objectives, content, key take away and exercises for each section. I like the What's in it for Me, at the beginning of the chapter so it shows students what they will get out of the chapter and then it ties in with each section. I really like how this book is laid out.

Yes, very logical and easy to read as mentioned before. Student gets to see what they will learn and how they can apply it, then each section is broken down to address the learning objectives.

There was not a lot of graphics or pictures, but the links do work that are embedded for external work.

I could not find any glaring grammatical errors.

I did not find any examples of cultural insentitivity

I really like this book and I am going to use for my course in the fall as a resource. I really like how it is laid out and the case studies the exercises, discussion points as well as the external resources like finding out what your learning style is. I like that it does not have a bunch of fluff and pictures and graphics as I will use this as a resource. It is intuitive and as current as it can be. Management concepts do not change much over time, but how they are implemented and communicated do and I feel this addresses that need for change. it was an easy read and did not feel like you were reading a textbook but interesting information about management. There are enough outside links to other information that you do not really need the textbook and the online content they have extra that you have to pay for. I would recommend the book, with some updates periodically to the case studies.

Reviewed by Brian Richardson, Adjunct Faculty, University of Hawaii at Manoa on 8/21/16

In the introduction to Principles of Management, the authors state that there are three themes in the book: strategic thinking, entrepreneurial thinking, and active management. The entrepreneurial theme is not as prevalent as their introduction... read more

In the introduction to Principles of Management, the authors state that there are three themes in the book: strategic thinking, entrepreneurial thinking, and active management. The entrepreneurial theme is not as prevalent as their introduction would suggest. There is some discussion of creativity, although references to writers and books beyond the single book by Edward De Bono would have enhanced the section. Sections that stand out as useful include the discussions of fairness, groupthink, employee performance review, and predictors of job performance. Some sub-sections and minor topics should have been separate sections with more details, such as the discussion of meetings, of interviewing, and of HR rules and policies. Finally, sections that would have useful additions to the textbook include how to write a good survey, how to deal with very difficult employees, and how to improve morale, which was referenced superficially but not focused on. The selection of management writers and level of detail provided for their positions is uneven. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is given three pages while Collins' discussion of changing good companies into great ones has two passing references and a short summary of the idea of a BAHG (big, hairy, audacious goal). Some thinkers were left out or not considered. Senge is not mentioned, even in the short section on "Learning Organizations". Likewise, academic writers and many historical thinkers, such as Max Weber, are not mentioned at all. Also lacking was a sense of how these different thinkers or ideas might disagree with each other or people outside of the management field. Instead, the text offers a series of disconnected concepts and models, which likely improved the modularity of the overall book, but at the cost of limiting the interactions between the topics and positions. As a result, there was little logical or conceptual analysis and the book relied on exposition.

Much of the textbook is made up of summaries of different concepts and models connected to management, with an emphasis on contemporary writers and psychosocial theories. There were no obvious inaccuracies in the summaries of the concepts and thinkers, although some sections could be criticized as limited, vague, superficial, or uncritical.

A textbook on management principles will become less relevant over time as updated information becomes available and new thinkers offer different concepts and models. One reference that stood out was the quote that "According to one source, there will be 11.5 million more jobs than workers in the United States by 2010." Given that this is a book last updated in 2015, the data should have been updated as well, especially given how wrong it turned out to be. Interestingly, this source is a Wired magazine article from 2007, published just before the economic crash. The examples and illustrations may become dated fairly quickly. References to specific CEOs and other leaders, for instance, will become less relevant over time. In this edition, there is a reference to and picture of Condoleeza Rice but no mention of Obama, for instance. Obama only occurs as a marginal participant in a group shot of world leaders

The clarity of the discussion is generally good, although there is some room for improvement. The photographs, for instance, do not support the text very well. A glossary would have been useful for clarifying all of terms used while an index would have helped readers access specific sections more effectively. The choice of examples is sometimes not clear. For instance, the examples used to illustrate organizations dealing with uncertain conditions, and thus needing flexible strategies were "a gang of car thieves or a construction company located in the Gaza Strip" (page 182). Both of these examples are strange and much better examples taken from businesses could have been provided and then discussed in some detail. Likewise, the example that they give of resistance to change was that people have been unwilling to adopt Dvorak keyboard and have stuck with the QWERT keyboard, despite the obvious efficiency of the Dvorak system (page 281). This is a great example of resistance to change, but one wonders why the authors could not find an example from business, such as how the railroads ignored the rise of the airplane.

While the book is generally consistent overall, it book sometimes strays from a discussion of the "principles" of management and does not adopt a consistent idea of what kinds of businesses are being talked about. The book would have been clearer if the authors had started with a classification of types of business that they are talking about (manufacturing, marketing, services, non-profits, perhaps) and be clear about what they were not covering (like government bureaucracies). For instance, I was thinking of using this textbook to support a course in Library management, and while some of it was useful, much of it would have been irrelevant or confusing. Had the book been clearer on how the different topics connected to different types of organizations, it would have been clearer which topics were relevant to specific readers or situations

The textbook is very modular, although there are times when this modularity breaks down. For instance, the discussion of data in the early part of the book was useful, but it would have been more appropriately connected to the discussion of budgeting, which occurs much later in the section on control. Another example is the discussion of globalization and intercultural issues, which occurs sporadically throughout the book and is never really brought into focus.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The overall structure of the textbook follows Fayol's POLC model of management (Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling) with the overall narrative following the different stages in the process. Each section includes learning objectives, key takeaways, and discussion questions. These parts are very good at focusing the conversation in the larger sections. However, these additional parts are sometimes longer than the main text for that section and seem unnecessarily repetitive. The shift between institutional management and personal management is a bit strained at times, making it unclear whether the focus of the book is management or the personal growth of the manager. Each section included a list of references. In one section, there is simply a reference to the Columbia Encyclopedia, which was not helpful. Typically, however, there are a lot of references in each section. In fact, there are too many references that have minimal value. With some exceptions, the references are to short articles that could easily be retrieved by a Google search. Given that this is an introductory textbook, it would have been better to have an annotated "Further Reading" section that could lead readers to important writings and videos that expend on the different modules.

Interface rating: 3

The layout of the textbook follows standard page layout formatting. There are some things that could be improved. First, some of the text, such as some paragraph headers and keywords, are blue, which suggests that it is hyperlinked (as are the captions for pictures), but this is not the case. The full URLs in the text, also blue, are the only hyperlinks in the textbook. Another feature that could be improved is the way that the text, at least in the PDF version, has line breaks at the end of each line, which means that copying text leads to broken paragraphs that require additional editing if they are copied to another document or web page. The greatest issue with the interface, however, is the amount of white space that is included in the text. Given how short the different sections are and the way that the layout is organized, there is likely 100 pages worth of unnecessary white space in the text, which turns a 500-odd page book into over 600 pages. Added to this that the pictures and list of references are not that relevant, and the book appears to be laid out very inefficiently.

Beyond a few minor typos, the book was clearly written. The prose was a straightforward expository style, although at times it could have been more concise. The writers would often begin their paragraphs with rhetorical questions and then answer them right away, which did not help clarify the prose and typically made the writing more verbose. On page 279, the caption and the picture do not match.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The book is focused on ideas and problems connected to American private-sector management. As a result, it is largely uncritical of large-scale organizations. Non-profits are discussed on a single page in the context of internal controls. Bureaucracy, as a term with negative connotations, is only mentioned in passing as an example of mechanistic structures, which are seen as an exception. Discrimination, likewise, is mentioned in passing three times, once in terms of how issues of discrimination have become a broader concern for "diversity management". Finally, unions are mentioned a few times in a long list of stakeholders (pages 150 and 151), even though the sample table for tracking stakeholders (page 148) does not mention them. Unions are seen as a punishment for businesses that appear to be unjust (page 529). At-will employment, on the other hand, is discussed in a focused paragraph in a way that does not consider the debate between union and at-will employment. For a textbook on industrial-focused management, the relative silence to the contrast between union and at-will employment conditions is unfortunate. When the book discusses global trends, it tends to be simplistic, taking trends such as "becoming more connected" as more important than such things as economic inequality, resource depletion, surveillance, war and terrorism, or social instability. In that sense, the book would not be very useful to people outside of the United States or to those who were actively engaged in intercultural management. At best, the book points to some of the problems that could be faced.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Principles of Management

  • 1.1 Introduction to Principles of Management
  • 1.2 Case in Point: Doing Good as a Core Business Strategy
  • 1.3 Who Are Managers?
  • 1.4 Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy
  • 1.5 Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling
  • 1.6 Economic, Social, and Environmental Performance
  • 1.7 Performance of Individuals and Groups
  • 1.8 Your Principles of Management Survivor's Guide

Chapter 2: Personality, Attitudes, and Work Behaviors

  • 2.1 Chapter Introduction
  • 2.2 Case in Point: SAS Institute Invests in Employees
  • 2.3 Personality and Values
  • 2.4 Perception
  • 2.5 Work Attitudes
  • 2.6 The Interactionist Perspective: The Role of Fit
  • 2.7 Work Behaviors
  • 2.8 Developing Your Positive Attitude Skills

Chapter 3: History, Globalization, and Values-Based Leadership

  • 3.1 History, Globalization, and Values-Based Leadership
  • 3.2 Case in Point: Hanna Andersson Corporation Changes for Good
  • 3.3 Ancient History: Management Through the 1990s
  • 3.4 Contemporary Principles of Management
  • 3.5 Global Trends
  • 3.6 Globalization and Principles of Management
  • 3.7 Developing Your Values-Based Leadership Skills

Chapter 4: Developing Mission, Vision, and Values

  • 4.1 Developing Mission, Vision, and Values
  • 4.2 Case in Point: Xerox Motivates Employees for Success
  • 4.3 The Roles of Mission, Vision, and Values
  • 4.4 Mission and Vision in the P-O-L-C Framework
  • 4.5 Creativity and Passion
  • 4.6 Stakeholders
  • 4.7 Crafting Mission and Vision Statements
  • 4.8 Developing Your Personal Mission and Vision

Chapter 5: Strategizing

  • 5.1 Strategizing
  • 5.2 Case in Point: Unnamed Publisher Transforms Textbook Industry
  • 5.3 Strategic Management in the P-O-L-C Framew

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Principles of Management teaches management principles to tomorrow's business leaders by weaving three threads through every chapter: strategy, entrepreneurship and active leadership.

Strategic — All business school teachings have some orientation toward performance and strategy and are concerned with making choices that lead to high performance. Principles of Management will frame performance using the notion of the triple bottom-line — the idea that economic performance allows individuals and organizations to perform positively in social and environmental ways as well. The triple bottom line is financial, social, and environmental performance. It is important for all students to understand the interdependence of these three facets of organizational performance.

The Entrepreneurial Manager — While the "General Management" course at Harvard Business School was historically one of its most popular and impactful courses (pioneered in the 1960s by Joe Bower), recent Harvard MBAs did not see themselves as "general managers." This course was relabeled "The Entrepreneurial Manager" in 2006, and has regained its title as one of the most popular courses. This reflects and underlying and growing trend that students, including the undergraduates this book targets, can see themselves as entrepreneurs and active change agents, but not just as managers.

By starting fresh with an entrepreneurial/change management orientation, this text provides an exciting perspective on the art of management that students can relate to. At the same time, this perspective is as relevant to existing for-profit organizations (in the form intrapreneurship) as it is to not-for-profits and new entrepreneurial ventures.

Active Leadership — Starting with the opening chapter, Principles of Management shows students how leaders and leadership are essential to personal and organizational effectiveness and effective organizational change. Students are increasingly active as leaders at an early age, and are sometimes painfully aware of the leadership failings they see in public and private organizations. It is the leader and leadership that combine the principles of management (the artist's palette, tools, and techniques) to create the art of management.

This book's modular format easily maps to a POLC (Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling) course organization, which was created by Henri Fayol (General and industrial management (1949). London: Pitman Publishing company), and suits the needs of both undergraduate and graduate course in Principles of Management.

This textbook has been used in classes at: College of Alameda, Columbia Basin College, Flagler College, Johnson County Community College, Pasadena City College, Penn State University, Renton Technical College, San Diego Mesa College, Sierra College, Yuba College.

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CBSE Class 12 Case Studies In Business Studies – Principles of Management

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Principles of Management: Definition The principles of management serve as broad and general guidelines for the managerial decision making and action.

Types of Principles of Management

  • Fayol’s Principles of General Management
  • Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management.

Significance of Principles of Management

  • They help to provide managers with useful insights into reality and increase their efficiency in dealing with recurring problems.
  • They ensure optimum utilisation of resources as due to the presence of cause and effect relationship the outcome of the decisions and actions can be predicted. Moreover, it leads to effective administration as the principles tend to restrict the personal prejudices and biases.
  • They facilitate scientific decision making as they emphasise on logical thinking rather than blind faith.
  • They help to meet the changing requirements of the environment to the best advantage ofa organisation.
  • They help in fulfilling social responsibility of an organisation.
  • They facilitate the process of management training, education and research as they are at the core of management theory.

Features of Principles of Management

  • Universal Applicability: The principles of management are deemed to apply to all types and sizes of organizations.
  • General Guidelines: The principles are guidelines to action but do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems as the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors.
  • Formed by practice and experimentation: The principles of management are formulated by the management experts through observation and tested through repeated experimentation.
  • Flexible: The principles of management are not rigid prescriptions, which have to be followed absolutely. They are flexible and can be modified by the manager in the light of given situation so as to achieve the desired goals.
  • Mainly Behavioural: The principles of management aim at influencing behaviour of human beings in a desired manner.
  • Cause and effect relationships: The principles of management seek to establish relationship between cause and effect so that they can be used in similar situations in a large number of cases.
  • Contingent: The application of principles of management is contingent or dependent upon the prevailing situation at a particular point of time.

FAYOL’S PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

  • Division of work: The whole organisation work, both managerial and technical, should be divided into smaller jobs and the task involved in doing each such job should be determined. It leads to specialization, speed, efficiency and accuracy of work.
  • Discipline: It refers to the obedience to organizational rules and the employment agreement. It is necessary for the systematic working of the organisation. It requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties.
  • Authority and Responsibility: There should always be a balance between the authority given and responsibility entrusted to an employee. This is because if authority is more than responsibility, the employees are likely to misuse it whereas if authority is less than responsibility, he/she will be unable to do the desired work.
  • Unity of command: There should be one and only one boss for every individual employee from whom he should receive orders and be responsible to. Dual subordination should be avoided.
  • Unity of Direction: All the units of an organisation should be moving towards the same objectives through coordinated and focused efforts. Each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan.
  • Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest: In all the situations, the interests of an organisation should take priority over the interests of any one individual employee .
  • Remuneration of employees: The overall pay and compensation should be fair to both employees and the organization. The employees should be paid fair wages, which should give them at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time it should be within the paying capacity of the company i.e. remuneration should be just and equitable.
  • Centralisation and Decentralisation: The concentration of decision-making authority is called centralisation whereas its dispersal among more than one person is known as decentralization. Large organizations have more decentralization than small organizations.
  • Scalar Chain: The formal lines of authority along which the communication flows from highest to lowest ranks are known as scalar chain. Gang Plank is a shorter route that has been provided so that communication is not delayed during emergencies. However, the superior has to be informed later on.
  • Order: The people and materials must be in suitable places at appropriate time for maximum efficiency i.e. ‘a place for everything (everyone) and everything in its place/
  • Equity: It emphasizes kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise caste, creed.
  • Stability of Personnel: The employee turnover should be minimized to maintain organizational efficiency. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation.
  • Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
  • Espirit De Corps: The management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees. A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers.

Difference between Unity of Comman and Unity fo Direction

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT Scientific Management: Definition Scientific Management means knowing exactly what you want your employees to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way. Fredrick Winslow Taylor is known as the ‘Father of Scientific Management’.

Techniques of Scientific Management

  • Time Study is the technique to determine the standard time taken bya worker of average skill and knowledge to complete a standard task.
  • Fatigue study seeks to determine the amount and frequency of rest intervals required in completing a task.
  • Method study seeks to find out one best way of doing the job.
  • Motion study refers to the study of movements of limbs which are undertaken while doing a typical job.This helps to eliminate unnecessary movements so that it takes less time to complete the job efficiently.
  • Standardisation refers to the process of setting standards for every business activity Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous varieties, sizes and dimensions of products.
  • Instruction Card Clerk: He assigns work to all the employees.
  • Route Clerk: He decides how work will progress regarding total productions. So that production is on time.
  • Time and Cost Clerk: He determines what will be the total cost and how much time each job take.
  • Disciplinarian: He sees that there is discipline at work place.
  • Speed boss: He ensures that the work is moving at a suitable pace.
  • Gang Boss: He ensures sufficient availability of raw material, tools etc.
  • Repair Boss: He sees that whenever some repair is involved in any work, the work is done properly.
  • Inspector: He sees that whether the quality of output is good or not.
  • Differential piece wage system was introduced to reward efficient workers by paying them at a higher rate than those who performed below standard.

PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

  • Taylor believed that there was only one best method to maximise efficiency which can be developed through study and analysis and should substitute ‘Rule of Thumb’ or hit and trial method throughout the organisation.
  • The scientific method involved investigation of traditional methods through work-study unifying the best practices and developing a standard method, which would be followed throughout the organisation.
  • In the present context, the use of internet has brought about tremendous improvements in internal efficiencies and customer satisfaction.
  • Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead ofa kind of class-conflict, the managers versus workers.
  • To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers.
  • The prosperity for the employer cannot exist fora long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa.
  • He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice.
  • This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony Not Discord’
  • There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism.
  • Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management.
  • Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which results in substantial reduction in costs.
  • At the same time workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management
  • Taylor was of the view that the concern for efficiency could be built in right from the process of employee selection.
  • Each person should be scientifically selected and the work assigned should suit her/his physical, mental and intellectual capabilities.
  • To increase efficiency, they should be given the required training.
  • Efficient employees would produce more and earn more. This will ensure their greatest efficiency and prosperity for both company and workers.

Difference between Fayol’s and Taylor’s Approach to Management

Latest CBSE Questions

Question 1. Explain ‘unity of command’ and ‘equity’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

  • Unity of command: According to Fayol, there should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. Dual subordination should be avoided. Fayol felt that if this principle is violated “authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened”.
  • Equity: According to Fayol, “Good sense and experience are needed to ensure fairness to all employees, who should be treated as fairly as possible.” This principle emphasizes on kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. The managers should not discriminate against anyone on account of gender, religion, language, caste, belief or nationality etc.

Question 2. Sanchit, after completing his entrepreneurship course from Sweden returned to India and started a coffee shop ‘AromaCoffeeCan’ in a famous mall in New Delhi. The speciality of the coffee ship was the special aroma of coffee and a wide variety of flavours to choose from. Somehow, the business was neither profitable nor popular. Sanchit was keen to find out the reason. He appointed Sandhya, an MBA from a reputed college, as a Manager to find out the causes for the same. Sandhya took feedback from the clients and found out that though they loved the special unique aroma of coffee but were not happy with the long waiting time being taken to process the order. She analysed and found out that there were many unnecessary obstructions in between which could be eliminated. She fixed a standard time for processing the order. She also realised that there were some flavours whose demand was not enough. So, she also decided to stop the sale of such flavours. As a result with in a short period Sandhya was able to attract the customers. Identify and explain any two techniques of scientific management used by Sandhya to solve the problem. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer: The two techniques of scientific management used by Sandhya to solve the problem are: (any two)

  • Time study: It seeks to determines the standard time taken to perform a well-defined job. The objective of time study is to determine the number of workers to be employed , frame suitable incentive schemes and determine labour costs. By using time measuring devices for each element of task the standard time is fixed for the whole of the task by taking several readings.
  • Simplification (Standardisation and Simplification): Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous diversity of products in terms of varieties, sizes and dimensions. It not only helps to reduce inventories but also save cost of labour, machines and tools. Thus it helps to increase turnover by ensuring optimum utilisation of resources.
  • Motions which are required
  • Motions which are unnecessary
  • Motions which are incidental. Thus, motion study helps to eliminate unnecessary movements of a work and enables him to complete the given task efficiently.

Question 3. Explain briefly ‘discipline’ and ‘scalar chain’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

  • Discipline: Discipline refers to the obedience to organisational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organisation. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. .

Question 4. Explain ‘order’ and ‘initiative’ as principles of general management. (CBSE, Delhi 2017) Answer:

  • Order: According to Fayol, “People and materials must be in suitable places at appropriate time for maximum efficiency.” The principle of order states that ‘A place for everything (everyone) and everything (everyone) in its (her/his) place’. A sense of orderliness will lead to increased productivity and efficiency in the organization.

Question 5. Explain briefly ‘Unity of Direction’ and ‘Order’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

  • Unity of direction: According to Fayol, each group of activities having same objective must have one head and one plan. It prevents overlapping of activities. For example if a company is manufacturing handmade carpets as well as machine made carpets there is likely to be a lot of overlapping of activities. Therefore, there should be two separate divisions for both of them wherein each division should have its own in charge, plans and execution resources.

Question 6. Explain briefly ‘Initiative’ and ‘Esprit de Corps’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

  • Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should’ be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
  • Espirit de corps: According to Fayol, ‘Management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees.” A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers to promote teamwork. This approach is will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. It will also reduce the need for using penalties.

Question 7. Explain briefly ‘Remuneration of Employees’ and ‘Scalar Chain’ as principles of general mangement. (CBSE, OD 2017) Answer:

  • Remuneration of employees: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management.

Question 8. What did Taylor want to communicate through mental revolution? (CBSE, Sample Paper, 2017) Answer: Through the concept of mental revolution Taylor emphasized that there should be complete transformation in the outlook of the management and workers towards each other. Managers should share surplus with workers and the workers should work with full devotion instead of indulging in any form of class conflicts.

Question 9. Briefly explain work study techniques that help in developing standards to be followed throughout the organization. Answer: The various work study techniques that help in developing standards to be followed throughout the organization are described below:

  • Time study: It seeks to determine the standard time taken to perform a well-defined job. The objective of time study is to determine the number of workers to be employed, frame suitable incentive schemes and determine labour costs. By using time measuring devices for each element of task, the standard time is fixed for the whole of the task by taking several readings.
  • Method study: The objective of method study is to find out one best way of doing the job among the various methods available of doing the job. This can be done by taking into consideration several related parameters.
  • Fatigue study: It seeks to determine the amount and frequency of rest intervals that should be provided to the workers for completing a task. This technique helps in increasing productivity as the rest intervals will help a person to regain stamina and work again with the same capacity.

Question 10. Nutan Tiffin Box service was started in Mumbai by the Mumbai Dabbawalas. The Dabbawalas who are the soul of entire Mumbai aim to provide prompt and efficient services by providing tasty homemade tiffin to all office goers at the right time and place. The service is uninterrupted even on the days of bad weather, political unrest and social disturbances. Recently, they have started online booking system through their website ‘mydabbawala.com’. Owing to their tremendous popularity amongst the happy and satisfied customers and members, the Dabbawalas were invited as guest lecturer by top business schools. The Dabbawalas operate in a group of 25-30 people alongwith a group leader. Each group teams up with other groups in order to deliver the tiffins on time. They are not transferred on frequent basis as they have to remember the addresses of their customers. They follow certain rules while doing trade—no alcohol during working hours; no leaves without permission; wearing white caps and carrying ID cards during business hours. Recently, on the suggestion of a few self-motivated fellow men, the dabbawalas thought out and executed a plan of providing food left in tiffins by customers to slum children. They have instructed their customers to place red sticker if food is left in the tiffin, to be fed to poor children later.

  • State any one principle of management given by Fayol and one characteristic of management mentioned in the above case.
  • Give any two values which the Dabbawalas want to communicated to society. (CBSE, Sample Paper 2016)
  • The relevant principle of management given by Fayol is: Stability of Personnel: The employee turnover should be minimized to maintain organizational efficiency. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation. (The other correct answers are principle of Discipline / Initiative / Espirit de corps) The characteristic of management mentioned in the above case is: Management is goal oriented as it seeks to integrate the efforts of different individuals towards the accomplishment of both organizational and individual goals. (The other correct answers are management is intangible/ group activity/dynamic)
  • Concern for poor/ Humanity
  • Responsibility

Question 11. ‘Aapka Vidyalaya’ believes in the holistic development of students and encourages team building through a mix of curricular, co-curricular and sports activities. On its Founder’s Day, a stage performance had to be put up. A committee of ten prefects was constituted to plan different aspects of the function. They all decided to use recycled paper for decoration. There was a spirit of unity and harmony and all the members supported each other. With mutual trust and a sense of belonging, the programme was systematically planned and executed. Kartik, one of the prefects, realised that the group had unknowingly applied one of the principles of management while planning and executing the programme. He was so inspired by the success of this function that he asked his father to apply the same principle in his business. His father replied that he was already using this principle.

  • Identify the principle of management applied for the success of the programme.
  • State any two features of management highlighted in the above paragraph.
  • Identify any two values which ‘Aapka Vidyalaya’ communicated to society. (CBSE, Delhi 2015)
  • The principle of management applied for the success of the programme is Espirit De Corps.
  • Management is goal oriented as it seeks to integrate the efforts of different individuals towards the accomplishment of both organizational and individual goals.
  • Management is pervasive as it is applicable to all types of organizations, (economic, social, political) all sizes of organizations (small, medium, large) and at all levels of management (top, middle and lower).
  • Sustainable development.

Question 12. Telco Ltd. manufactures files and folders from old clothes to discourage the use of plastic files and folders. For this, they employ people from nearby villages where very less job opportunities are available. An employee, Harish, designed a plan for cost reduction but it was not welcomed by the production manager. Another employee gave some suggestions for improvements in design, but it also was not appreciated by the production manager.

  • State the principle of management that is violated in the above paragraph.
  • Identify any two values that the company wants to communicate to the society. (CBSE, OD 2014)
  • The principle of management that has been violated in the above case is Initiative. Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization.
  • Concern for environment
  • Providing job opportunities

Question 13. Pawan is working as a Production Manager in CFL Ltd. which manufactures CFL bulbs. There is no class-conflict between the management and workers. The working conditions are very good. The company is earning huge profits. As a policy, the management shares the profits earned with the workers because they believe in the prosperity of the employees.

  • State the principle of management described in the above paragraph.
  • Identify any two values which the company wants to communicate to society. (CBSE, OD 2014)
  • The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Harmony, not Discord’. Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead of a kind of class-conflict, the manager versus workers. To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers. The prosperity for the employer cannot exist for a long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa. He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice.

Question 14. Voltech India Ltd. is manufacturing LED bulbs to save electricity. However, it is running under heavy losses. To revive from the losses, the management shifts the unit to a backward area where labour is available at a low cost. The management also asks the workers to work overtime without any additional payments and promises to increase the wages of the workers after achieving its mission. Within a short period, the company starts earning profits because both the management and workers honour their commitments.

  • Identify any two values that the company wants to communicate to the society. (CBSE, Delhi 2014)
  • The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Discipline’. Discipline- It refers to the obedience to organizational rules and the employment agreement. It is necessary for the systematic working of the organization. It requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties.
  • Sustainable development

Question 15. ABC Ltd. is engaged in producing electricity from domestic garbage. There is almost equal division of work and responsibilities between workers and the management. The management even takes workers into confidence before taking important decisions. All the workers are satisfied as the behaviour of the management is very good.

  • Identify any two values which the company wants to communicate to society. (CBSE, Delhi 2014)
  • The principle of management described in the above paragraph is ‘Cooperation, Not Individualism’. This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism. Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management. Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which results in substantial reduction in costs. At the same time, workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management
  • Participation

Question 16. The principles of Taylor and Fayol are mutually complementary. One believed that management should share the gains with the workers while the other suggested that employees’ compensation should depend on the earning capacity of the company and should give them a reasonable standard of living. Identify and explain the principles of Favol and Taylor referred to in the above paragraph. (CBSE, Delhi 2014) Answer: The principles of Fayol and Toylor referred to in the above paragraph are ‘Remuneration of employees’ and ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. Remuneration of Employes: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time, it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management. Harmony, Not Discord: Taylor emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers instead of a kind of class-conflict, the managers versus workers. To achieve this state, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers. The prosperity for the employer cannot exist for a long time unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employees and vice versa. He advocated paternalistic style of management should be in practice

Question 17. The principles of Taylor and Fayol are mutually complementary. One believed that management should not close its ears to constructive suggestions made by the employees while the other suggested that a good company should have an employee suggestion system whereby suggestions which result in substantial time or cost reduction should be rewarded. Identify and explain the principles of Taylor and Fayol referred to in the above paragraph. (CBSE, Delhi 2014) Answer: The principles of Fayol and Taylor referred to in the above paragraph respectively are ‘Initiative’ and ‘Cooperation and Not Individualism’. Initiative: Initiative means taking the first step with self-motivation. The workers should be encouraged to develop and carry out their plans for improvement. Suggestion system should be adopted in the organization. Cooperation and Not Individualism: This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’.There should be complete cooperation between the labour and the management instead of individualism. Competition should be replaced by cooperation and there should be an almost equal division of work and responsibility between workers and management. Also, management should reward workers for their suggestions which result in substantial reduction in costs. At the same time, workers should desist from going on strike and making unreasonable demands on the management.

Question 18. Nikita and Salman completed their MBA and started working in a multinational company at the same level. Both of them worked hard and were happy with their employer. Salman had the habit of back-biting and wrong reporting about his colleagues to impress his boss. All the employees in the organisation knew about it. At the time of performance appraisal, the performance of Nikita was judged to be better than Salman. Even then their boss, Mohammed Sharif, decided to promote Salman stating that being a female, Nikita would not be able to handle the complications of a higher post.

  • Identify and explain the principle of management which was not followed by this, multinational company.
  • Identify the values which are being ignored quoting the lines from the above paragraph. (CBSE, OD 2013)
  • The multinational company didn’t follow the Principle of Equity. It emphasizes kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise.
  • Honesty: “Wrong reporting about his colleagues to impress his boss.”
  • Justice: “At the time of performance appraisal, the performance of Nikita was judged better than Salman. Even then their boss, Mohammad Sharif, decided to promote Salman.”

Question 19. Hina and Harish are typists in a company having the same educational qualifications. Hina gets Rs.3,000 per month and Harish gets Rs.4,000 per month as salaries for the same working hours. Which principle of management is being violated in this case? Name and explain the principle. (CBSE, Delhi 2006) Answer: The principle of Equity has been violated in this case. It emphasises kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. No discrimination should be made by them on the basis of caste, creed, gender or otherwise.

Additional Questions

Question 1. Radhika opens a jewellry showroom in Jaipur after completing a course in jewellry designing. She has employed eleven persons in her showroom. For greater productivity, she divides the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/her specialised job. The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Radhika as the final authority. In the earlier days of starting of the business, five of her employees were asked to put in extra hours of work. In return she had promised to give them a special incentive within a year. Therefore, after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment. However, when it comes to settling the conflicts among her employees, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the various principles of management that are being applied by Radhika by quoting lines from the paragraph.
  • Identify and explain the principle of management which is being violated by Radhika by quoting lines from the paragraph.
  • State any one effect of the violation of the principle of management by Radhika as identified in part(b) of the question.
  • Principle of Division of Work: According to Fayol, “The intent of division of work is to produce more and better work for the same effort. Specialisation is the most efficient way to use human effort.” He advocates that the principle of division of work is applicable to all kinds of work both technical as well as managerial. “For greater productivity, she divides the work into small tasks and each employee is trained to perform his/her specialised job.”
  • Principle of Centralisation and Decentralisation: The concentration of decision-making authority is called centralisation whereas its dispersal among more than one person is known as decentralisation. According to Fayol, “There is a need to balance subordinate involvement through decentralisation with managers’ retention of final authority through centralisation.” “The sales persons are allowed to close a deal with a buyer by giving a maximum of 10% discount, whereas the decision to give any further discount rests with Radhika as the final authority.”
  • Principle of Discipline: Discipline refers to the obedience to organisational rules and employment agreement which are necessary for the working of the organisation. According to Fayol, discipline requires good superiors at all levels, clear and fair agreements and judicious application of penalties. “Therefore, after six months when the business was doing well, she awarded a cash bonus to each of these employees to honour her commitment.”
  • The principle of management which is being violated by Radhika is Equity. According to Fayol, “Good sense and experience are needed to ensure fairness to all employees, who should be treated as fairly as possible.” This principle emphasizes on kindliness and justice in the behaviour of managers towards workers. The managers should not discriminate against anyone on account of gender, religion, language, caste, belief or nationality etc. “However, when it comes to settling the conflicts among her employees, she tends to be more biased towards her female employees.”
  • One effect of the violation of the Principle of Equity is that it may lead to job dissatisfaction among the male workers.

Question 2. Rajveer works as a plant superintendent in a carpet making factory. In order to complete the export orders on time, the production manager asks him to make the workers work over time whereas the finance manager is strictly against this practice because it will increase the cost of production. Moreover, Rajveer feels that since the company is manufacturing handmade carpets as well as machine made carpets there is a lot of overlapping of activities. Therefore, there should be two separate divisions for both of them wherein each division should have its own in charge, plans and execution resources. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the principle of management which is being violated.
  • Also identify the principle of management that Rajveer feels should be implemented in the factory.
  • Give any two differences between the principle of management as identified in part (a) and part (b) respectively.

Answer: The principle of management which is being violated is stated below:

  • Unity of command: There should be one and only one boss for every individual employee. Dual subordination should be avoided. Fayol felt that if this principle is violated, “authority is undermined, discipline is in jeopardy, order disturbed and stability threatened”.
  • Unity of direction: All the units of an organization should be moving towards the same objectives through coordinated and focused efforts. Each group of activities having the same objective must have one head and one plan. This will lead to unity of action and coordination.

Question 3. Neeraj is selected for the post of software developer in an IT Company. On the first day of his joining Mehul, his project manager tells Neeraj that during the course of his work he will come across many such opportunities which may tempt him to misuse his powers for individual or family’s benefit at the cost of larger general interest of the company. In such situations, he should rather exhibit exemplary behaviour as it will raise his stature in the eyes of the company. Also, for interacting with anyone in the company on official matters, he should adopt the formal chain of authority and communication. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the various principles of management that Mehul is advising Neeraj to follow while doing his job.
  • List any two values that Mehul wants to communicate to Neeraj.
  • Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest: Through this principle, Fayol advocates that in all circumstances, the interests of an organisation should take priority over the interests of any one individual employee. This is essential because larger interests of the other employees and the stakeholders i.e., owners, shareholders, creditors, debtors, financers, tax authorities, customers and the society at large cannot be sacrificed for the interest of any one person. For example, Mehul tells Neeraj that he might get tempted to misuse his powers for his or his family’s benefit and so he must display exemplary behaviour to raise his stature in the eyes of the company.
  • Self restraint

Question 4. Davinder is a class twelfth commerce student in a reputed school in Punjab. Satinder is his elder brother who is doing his Masters in Hospital Administration from Delhi after completing his B.Sc course. During vacations when Satinder comes home, Davinder shows him the business studies project that he is preparing on the topic ‘Principles of Management’. Satinder tells him that these principles are also a part of MBA course curriculum at the beginner’s level as they form the core of management in practice. But he finds these principles different from those of pure science. In context of the above case:

  • Outline the concept of principles of management.
  • Why does Satinder find the principles of management different from those of pure science?
  • Why do the principles of management form the core of management in practice? Explain by giving any two points highlighting the importance of principles of management.
  • The principles of management serve as a broad and general guideline for the managerial decision making and action.
  • Satinder finds the principles of management different from those of pure science because the management principles are not as rigid as principles of pure science. This is due to the fact that they deal with the human behaviour and thus, need to be applied creatively in the light of given situation.
  • Providing managers with useful insights into reality: The principles of management provide the managers with useful insights into real world situations and help them to enrich their knowledge, ability and understanding of the diverse managerial situations and circumstances. It also enables the managers to learn from past mistakes and conserve time by solving recurring problems quickly.
  • Optimum utilisation of resources and effective administration: The knowledge of management principles enables the managers to foresee the cause and effect relationships of their decisions and actions. As a result, it leads to optimum utilisation of scarce resources by avoiding wastage associated with a trial-and-error approach. Principles of management limit the boundary of managerial discretion so that their decisions may be free from personal prejudices and biases. This facilitates effective administration within the organisation.

Question 5. Gurpreet is running a retail mart in Varanasi to provide various types of products of daily use under one roof to the buyers. The employee turnover in his business is very high and he is perpetually on a look out for new staff. The fact of the matter is that he lacks managerial skills and assigns work to his employees on adhoc basis without letting them settle down in a specific work. This approach of his creates a sense of insecurity among the employees and they tend to leave the job very quickly. However, he is a very god fearing person and offers fair wages to his employees so they can afford a reasonable standard of living. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the principle of management which Gurpreet is unable to apply and is perpetually on a look out for new staff.
  • “He is a very god fearing person and offers fair wages to his employees so they can afford a reasonable standard of living.” Name and explain the relevant principle of management will has been brought into effect by Gurpreet.
  • Stability of Personnel: Stability of personnel is principle of management which Gurpreet is unable to apply and is perpetually on a look out for new staff. According to Fayol, “Employee turnover should be minimised to maintain organisational efficiency”. Personnel should be selected and appointed after due and rigorous procedure. After placement, they should be kept at their post for a minimum fixed tenure so that they get time to show results. Any adhocism in this regard will create instability/insecurity among employees. They would tend to leave the organisation.
  • Remuneration of Employees: According to Fayol, the overall pay and compensation should be fair and equitable to both employees and the organisation. The employees should be paid fair wages so that they are able to maintain at least a reasonable standard of living. At the same time, it should be within the paying capacity of the company. This will ensure pleasant working atmosphere and good relations between workers and management.

Question 6. After finishing her BBA degree course, Tanya gets a job of Assistant Manager in a retail company through the reference of her cousin Taruna who works in the same company as a Senior Manager. Taruna decides to guide Tanya through her experience by making her aware of the important facts about management in practice. She tells her that neither the principles of management provide any readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems nor they are not rigid prescriptions, which have to be followed absolutely. In context of the above case :

  • Identify the two features of principles of management mentioned in the above paragraph by quoting lines from the paragraph.
  • Why do the principles of management not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems?
  • General guidelines: The principles of management are guidelines to action. Since the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors, these principles do not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems. But the importance of principles cannot be underestimated because even a small guideline may help to solve a given problem.
  • Flexibile: The principles of management are not rigid prescriptions which have to be followed absolutely. They are flexible and can be modified by the manager when the situation so demands. They give the manager enough discretion to decide which principle should be used under what circumstances as individual principles are like different tools serving different purposes.
  • As the real business situations are very complex and dynamic and are a result of many factors, the principles of management not provide readymade, straitjacket solutions to all managerial problems.

Question 7. Raj and Simran are both qualified eye surgeons and good friends. After obtaining a certificate of practice, they decide to persue a career of their own choice. Raj starts an eye care centre in the city whereas Simran joins a government hospital in a small village. They meet after a long time in a party. Raj invites Simran to visit his eye care centre and she accepts his invitation. She observes at his clinic that there is a fixed place for everything and everyone and it is present there so that there is no hinderance in the activities pf the clinic. Also, Raj always tends to replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with the staff members. Later on Raj shares with her that he always deals with lazy staff sternly to send the message that everyone is equal in his eyes. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the various principles of management that Raj is applying for the successful management of his eye care centre.
  • List any two values that Simran wants to communicate to the society by taking up a job in a village.
  • Espirit De Corps: According to Fayol, “Management should promote a team spirit of unity and harmony among employees.” A manager should replace T with ‘We’ in all his conversations with workers to promote teamwork. This approach will give rise to a spirit of mutual trust and belongingness among team members. It will also reduce the need for using penalties.
  • Concern for poor

Question 8. Hritik is desirous of setting up a small factory to manufacture different kinds of eco-friendly packaging materials. He proposes to adopt a logical approach to his business rather than hit and trial method as he knows that this can result in tremendous saving of human energy as well as wastage of time and materials. He plans to adopt paternalistic style of management in practice in order to avoid any kind of class-conflict that may emerge between him and the workers. Moreover, he plans to seek the opinion of his workers before taking any important decisions and also offers incentives to them for providing valuable suggestions for the business. In context of the above case:

  • Identify and explain the various principle of scientific management that Hritik plans to apply in his business.
  • List any two values that he wants to communicate to the society by offering eco¬friendly packaging material.
  • Science, not Rule of Thumb: Taylor believed that there was only one best method to maximise efficiency and it could be developed through scientific study and analysis. This is because if the managers rely on personal judgment in attending to the work related problems, it may suffer from the limitation of a trial and error approach. Therefore, it is important for them to know what works and why does it work. For this, they should adopt scientific method to substitute the ‘Rule of Thumb or hit and trial method’ throughout the organisation.
  • Harmony, Not Discord: In the paternalistic style of management, the employer takes care of the needs of employees like a father. Taylor said that any kind of class conflicts between the workers and the managers were not good; rather they must realise that each one is important. Therefore, he emphasised that there should be complete harmony between the management and workers. To achieve this, Taylor called for complete mental revolution on the part of both management and workers by transforming their thinking. The management should share the gains of the company, if any, with the workers and at the same time, workers should work hard.
  • Cooperation, Not Individualism: Through this principle, Taylor suggests that there should be complete cooperation between the workers and the management instead of individualism. This principle is an extension of principle of ‘Harmony, Not Discord’. Both should realise the importance of each other. In order to replace the feeling of competition with cooperation, the management should not close its ears to any constructive suggestions made by the employees. Rather, the workers should be rewarded for any of their valuable suggestions which results in substantial saving in costs. Also, the workers should be taken into confidence by the management whenever any important decisions are to be taken.
  • Sense of responsibility

Question 9. ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ is company dealing in stationery items. In order to establish standards of excellence and quality in materials and in the performance of men and machines, the company adheres to benchmarks during production. Moreover, its products are available in limited varieties, sizes and dimensions thereby eliminating superfluous diversity of products. Identify the technique of scientific management which has been adopted by ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ Answer: Standardisation and Simplification of Work is the technique of scientific management which has been adopted by ‘Study Buddy Pvt. Ltd.’ Standardisation implies devising new varieties instead of the existing ones. It refers to the process of setting standards for every business activity; it can be standardisation of process, raw material, time, product, machinery, methods or working conditions. These standards are the benchmarks which must be adhered to during production. It helps to reduce a given line or product to fixed types, sizes and characteristics, establish interchange ability of manufactured parts and products, determine standards of excellence and quality in materials and of performance of men and machines. Simplification aims at eliminating superfluous diversity of products in terms of varieties, sizes and dimensions. It not only helps to reduce inventories but also to save cost of labour, machines and tools. Thus it helps to increase turnover by ensuring ‘optimum utilisation of resources. Most large companies like Samsung, Toyota and Microsoft etc. have successfully implemented standardisation and simplification.

Question 10. Anshul owns a small scale factory where utility items are prepared from waste material like paper mache items, paper and cloth bags, decorative material etc. Over the past few weeks, he was observing that the productivity of one of his very efficient worker, Ramdas, is going down. So he decides to probe into the matter and confronts Ramdas one day. On being asked, Ramdas shares with Anshul that he has deliberately slowed down in his work as many of the less efficient workers often pull his leg saying that there is no need for him to be more efficient when everybody is being paid at the same rate. Taking a lesson from this insight, Anshul decides to implement an incentive bonus plan so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. In context of the above case:

  • Name and explain the incentive bonus plan that Anshul may implement so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers.
  • State any two values that Anshul wants to communicate to the society by setting up a special type of business.

Answer: Differential Piece Wage System is the incentive bonus plan that Anshul may implement so as differentiate between efficient and inefficient workers. Differential Piece Wage System is a performance based wage system which was introduced by Taylor so as to distinguish between the workers who were able to achieve the standard or performed above standard from those who performed below standard. For example, it is determined that standard output per worker per day is 10 units and those who made standard or more than standard will get Rs. 40 per unit and those below will get Rs. 30 per unit. Now an efficient worker making 11 units will get 11 x 40 = Rs. 440 per day whereas a worker who makes 9 units will get 9 x 30 = Rs. 270 per day. According to Taylor, the difference of Rs. 170 should be enough for the inefficient worker to be motivated to perform better.

Question 11. Swaraj is running an office furniture showroom. Most of his clients are businessmen and they prefer to buy goods on credit. Keeping this in mind, he has given the power to the sales manager, Mr. Bhardwaj, to offer a credit period of only 20 days, while negotiating a deal with a buyer. On a specific day, Mr. Bhardwaj finds that if he can offer a credit period of 30 days as an exception to a prospective buyer, he is likely to finalise a highly profitable deal for the business. So Mr. Bhardwaj requests Swaraj to grant him additional authority for offering a credit period of 30 days in the interest of the business. But Swaraj refuses to extend his authority and as a result, the deal is not finalized. In context of the above case:

  • Can Mr. Bhardwaj be held responsible for loss of the deal? Why or why not ? Give a suitable reason in support of your answer.
  • Also, explain the related principle.
  • No, Mr. Bhardwaj cannot be held responsible for loss of the deal in the above case as he was not given the necessary authority to carry out his responsibility. There is an imbalance in authority and responsibility.
  • The name of the related principle is Authority and Responsibility. Authority is the right to give orders and obtain obedience by the virtue of one’s position in the organization. Responsibility is the obligation of a person to carry out the assigned task to the best of one’s abilities and skills. There are two types of authorities, namely the official authority, which is the authority to command, and personal authority, which is the authority of the individual manager. Authority is both formal and informal. According to Fayol, there should be balance between the authority given and responsibility entrusted to an employee so that he is able to carry out the assigned task. Any kind of imbalance in authority and responsibility is not good for the organisation. If the authority granted to an employee is less than what is required, he will ineffective in doing his work. On the other hand, if the authority delegated to an employee is more than what is required, he may tend to misuse it.

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The Lean Post / Articles / Lean Management Case Studies Library

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Lean Management Case Studies Library

By Chet Marchwinski

May 16, 2014

Learn how a variety of businesses and organizations used lean management principles to solve real business problems. We’ve arranged the examples in 16 categories to help you find the ones right for your environment.

Lean Management Examples from a Variety of Businesses

The following case studies of lean management principles in action show you how a variety of real businesses solved real business problems under diverse conditions.

We’ve arranged the stories in 16 categories to help you find the examples you need. There is some overlap. For instance, a “Lean Manufacturing” case study may also appear with “Privately Held Companies.”

Lean Manufacturing

  • Logistics, Supply Chain, and Warehousing
  • Lean Material Handling
  • Job Shops (Low-volume, High-mix Manufacturing); Tool and Die
  • Lean in Government
  • Lean Healthcare
  • Lean Accounting
  • Lean Construction
  • Lean in Office and Service Processes
  • Lean in Education

Problem Solving

Pull Systems

Culture Change

People Development

Privately Held Companies

Maintenance

Many of the executives who took part in these transformations are interviewed in LEI’s Senior Executive Series on Lean Leadership . After reading the case studies, be sure to get their personal perspectives on leading change. (Feel free to link to this page, but please respect the copyrights of LEI and journalists by not copying the articles.)

Are you doing something new or notable in the practice of lean management? Let us share what you learned with the lean community. For more information, contact LEI’s Director of Communications Chet Marchwinski at cmarchwinski at lean dot org

Thrustmaster Turns Around

Learn how Thrustmaster of Texas successfully adopted lean thinking and practices to make sustainable improvements in a short period of time, and how other manufacturers of highly engineered, low-volume products can follow their lead using the Lean Transformation Framework.

Lean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer

SunPower’s lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North by combining lean principals with those of the “circular economy” to launch what it is calling a CLean Transformation.

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle” After a medical device maker took a hit to margins to fight off global competition, it rebuilt them by lifting its lean operating system to a higher level and keeping it there with a “golden triangle” of sustainability.

Followup Story:

Manufacturing Balancing Act: Pull Versus ERP

In this follow-up to “Sustain Your Lean Business System with a ‘Golden Triangle,’” a case study about Phase 2 Medical Manufacturing, the company needs warehouse space to keep pace with sales growth spurred by the lean transformation. Instead, it expands a pull system by connecting the plan-for-every-part database that underpins one-piece flow production with ERP, typically associated with big batch production.

Cultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner If you are in the “appreciation business”, you have to live it in your own workplace. For O.C. Tanner that meant a lean transformation had to show the company appreciated and wanted people’s problem-solving ideas. Here’s a report on that effort, including what worked and what didn’t.

Lean Partnership with Dealer Network Helps Vermeer Reduce End-to-End Inventory on Top Sellers

A lean transformation had taken heavy-equipment manufacturer Vermeer away from batch manufacturing, but batch ordering by dealers was delaying how quickly they got equipment like brush chippers. Learn how it  began converting its domestic industrial-line distribution network to lean replenishment, improving service to end customers and improving cash flow for Vermeer and its dealers.

Herman Miller’s Experiment in Excellence At Herman Miller, the lean management effort helps it build problem solvers as well as world-class office furniture. And as this case study shows, lean practices also helped it weather a brutal recession.

Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation Rigorous problem solving creates basic stability in a machining intensive facility.

A Journey to Value Streams: Reorganizing Into Five Groups Drives Lean Improvements and Customer Responsiveness An approach to creating a value -stream culture centered on autonomy, entrepreneurialism, and lean principles.

Change in Implementation Approach Opens the Door at EMCO to Greater Gains in Less Time A relatively quick, intensive project accelerates the rate of improvement and creates a showcase facility for spreading lean concepts.

Creating the Course and Tools for a Lean Accounting System A lean accounting implementation fills the frustrating disconnect between shop-floor improvements and financial statements.

For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving After taking a lean tools approach to change, management re-organized the transformation around problem solving and process improvement to create a culture that engaged people while boosting performance.

Knife Company Hones Competitiveness by Bucking the Status Quo An iconic family-owned company turns to lean manufacturing to reduce costs by at least 30% to keep its U.S. operations open.

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies with Tools and Dies After a failed first try at just-in-time production , a company transforms tool maintenance, design, and fabrication to create a solid foundation for a second attempt.

Seasoned Lean Effort Avoids “Flavor-of-the-Month” Pitfall A look at how one company’s approach to what new tools it introduced, in what order, and how it prevented each new technique from being viewed as a “flavor of the month” fad.

Shifting to Value-Stream Managers: a Shop-Floor Revolution Leads to a Revolution in Plant Organization

Two years into a lean transformation, the low-hanging fruit has been plucked and progress has started to slow. Read how a Thomas & Betts plant recharged the transformation and reached higher levels of performance by using value-stream managers to span functional walls.

Using Plan-Do-Check-Act as a Strategy and Tactic for Helping Suppliers Improve

At Medtronic’s Neuromodulation business unit, the plan-do-check-act cycle is used on a strategic level to guide overall strategy for selecting and developing key suppliers as well as on a tactical level for guiding lean transformations at supplier facilities.

back to top

Logistics, Supply Chain, and Warehousing How a Retailer’s Distribution Center Exemplifies the Lean Precept “Respect for People,” and Reaps the Benefits

To make sure training engaged and resonated with people after previous attempts at a lean transformation faltered, LifeWay matched lean management tools and principles to its Bible-based culture and language.

Lean management case study series: Lean in Distribution: Go to Where the Action Is!

Starting with daily management walkabouts and standard work , this distributor had laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come, just two years after its first kaizen workshop .

Putting Lean Principles in the Warehouse

Executives at Menlo Worldwide Logistics saw an opportunity to leapfrog the competition by embracing lean in its outsourced warehousing and receiving operations.

Lean Thinking Therapy Spreads Beyond the Shop

A company expands the lean transformation from the shop floor to international distribution, domestic shipping, and product development.

Sell One, Buy One, Make One: Transforming from Conventional to Lean Distribution

Large inventories to cover fluctuations in demand once characterized Toyota’s service parts distribution system — but no more. Here’s how one DC made the switch.

Material Handling

Following Four Steps to a Lean Material-Handling System Leads to a Leap in Performance

Creating the critical Plan for Every Part was one step in a methodical four-step implementation process to replace a traditional material-handling system.

Low-volume, High-mix Manufacturing; Tool and Die

The Backbone of Lean in the Back Shops

Sikorsky managers apply the lean concept of “every part, every interval” (EPEI) to level the mix in demand and create flow through a key manufacturing cell .

Landscape Forms Cultivates Lean to Fuel Growth Goals

With single-item orders 80% of the time, a low-volume, high-mix manufacturer decided single-piece flow cells were the best way decided the best way to add new products without having to constantly reconfigure production.

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies with Tools and Dies

After a failed first try at just-in-time production, a company transforms tool maintenance, design, and fabrication to create a solid foundation for a second attempt.

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

The “ inventory ” of mail already is paid for, so moving it faster doesn’t improve cash flow as in lean manufacturing. But Canada Post discovered that traditional batch-and-queue postal operations could benefit from lean principles.

Lean Thinking in Government: The State of Iowa

This story examines a kaizen event at a veterans home and more broadly at the lean effort in Iowa government.

Lean Thinking Helps City of Chula Vista with Budget Crunch

Goodrich Aerostructures’ Chula Vista plant introduces city government to lean thinking and practices so in order to maintain municipal services without resorting to further cuts in the workforce.

Using Lean Thinking to Reinvent City Government

Grand Rapids, MI, turns to lean principles to consolidate operations, eliminate wasted time and effort, and streamline to improve productivity while providing the quality of service that residents want.

Transforming Healthcare: What Matters Most? How the Cleveland Clinic Is Cultivating a Problem-Solving Mindset and Building a Culture of Improvement

The Cleveland Clinic reinvents its continuous improvement program to instill a problem-solving mindset and the skillset to solve everyday problems among the clinic’s thousands of caregivers.

View from the Hospital Floor: How to Build a Culture of Improvement One Unit at a Time

In order to do more and improve faster, the Cleveland Clinic is rolling out a methodology for building a “culture of improvement” across the 48,000-employee hospital system as this followup to the above story shows. Here’s how it works according to the people making the changes.

Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste

Dentistry is a job shop that Dr. Sami Bahri is out to improve fundamentally for the benefit of patients through the application of lean principles.

Lean management case study series: Pediatric Hospital in Tough Market Pegs Growth to Lean Process Improvement

Lean improvement projects at Akron Children’s Hospital have saved millions of dollars, increased utilization of expensive assets, and reduced wait times for patients and their families.

Lean Design and Construction Project an Extension of Lean Commitment at Akron Children’s Hospital

Input from nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, and patient parents heavily influenced design decisions..

“Pulling” Lean Through a Hospital

A thoughtful rollout of lean principles in the ER and eye-opening results created a “pull” for lean from other departments.

Best in Healthcare Getting Better with Lean

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, stresses to doctors that the lean effort is aimed not at changing the moment of care, the touch moment between doctor and patient, but the 95% of the time when the patient is not in the doctor’s office

Fighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes

Cross-functional team design and implement a lean process to dramatically increase the number of patients with brain and bone metastases receiving consultation, simulation, and first treatment on the same day without workarounds or expediting.

Massachusetts General Looks to Lean

A proton therapy treatment center, for many adults and children the best hope of beating cancer, applies lean principles to increase capacity.

New Facility, New Flow, and New Levels of Patient Care: The wait is over for patients at the Clearview Cancer Institute in Alabama

Physicians and staff have tirelessly reengineer processes and patient flow to eliminate as much waiting and waste as possible.

The Anatomy of Innovation

At a hospital in Pittsburgh, the emerging vision for the “hospital of the future” is described as giving the right patient, the right care, at the right time, in the right way, all the time.

Creating the Course and Tools for a Lean Accounting System

A lean accounting implementation fills the frustrating disconnect between shop-floor improvements and the financial statement.

Knife Company Hones Competitiveness by Bucking the Status Quo

An iconic family-owned company turns to lean manufacturing to reduce costs by at least 30% to keep its U.S. operations open.

Office and Service Processes

The “inventory” of mail already is paid for, so moving it faster doesn’t improve cash flow as in lean manufacturing. But Canada Post discovered that traditional batch-and-queue postal operations could benefit from lean principles.

Lean Landscapers

At an Atlanta landscaping company, lean practices are making inroads into a service industry in unusual yet fundamental ways.

LSG Sky Chefs Caters to New Market Realities

Business at airline caterer LSG Sky Chefs dropped 30% when airlines cut flights after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Sky Chefs responded with a rapid launch of a lean initiative.

leveraging Lean to Get the Oil Out

Aera Energy LLC, a California oil and gas company,  relies on lean principles to improve key processes, including drilling new wells, repairing existing ones, and maximizing the number of barrels of crude pumped each day.

Columbus Public Schools Use Process Thinking to Improve Academic Achievement.

Columbus, OH, public schools, experiment with lean tools and process thinking to remove wasteful activities that don’t help them help students learn.

Lean Inroads into Alabama Academia

How the University of Alabama in Huntsville integrated lean concepts throughout its industrial engineering curriculum.

Linking Lean Thinking to the Classroom

Value-stream mapping is one of many activities included in the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS), an academic program designed to link high-school classroom learning to the skills needed in college and business.

Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation

Rigorous problem solving creates basic stability in a machining intensive facility.

For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving

After talking a lean tools approach to change, management re-organized the transformation around problem solving and process improvement to create a culture that engaged people while boosting performance.

Toothbrush Plant Reverses Decay in Competitiveness

The rapid introduction of a lean system, beginning with just-in-time production and pull, helps a highly automated Midwest plant fight off overseas competition by reducing lead times and inventory while augmenting the plant’s advantage in service.

A Journey to Value Streams: Reorganizing Into Five Groups Drives Lean Improvements and Customer Responsiveness

An approach to creating a value-stream culture centered on autonomy, entrepreneurialism, and lean principles.

Making Lean Leaders — Ariens internship program develops lean and leadership skills

Besides making snow-blowers, mowers, and string trimmers, Ariens Co., of Brillion, WI, makes lean leaders.

Starting with daily management walkabouts and standard work, this 84-year-old, family-owned distributor laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come, just two years after its first kaizen workshop.

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle”

After a medical device maker took a hit to margins to fight off global competition, it rebuilt them by lifting its lean operating system to a higher level and keeping it there with a “golden triangle” of sustainability. You’ll recognize two elements of the triangle right away: visual control and standardized work . The third, accountability management or a kamishibai system, is probably less well known but just as critical.

Cultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner

If you are in the “appreciation business”, you have to live it in your own workplace. For O.C. Tanner that meant a lean transformation had to show the company appreciated and wanted people’s problem-solving ideas. Here’s a report on that effort, including what worked and what didn’t.

Lean Thinking in Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Takes Wing at FedEx Express

A major check that used to take 32,715 man-hours was cut to 21,535 hours in six months. That translated into a $2 million savings, which dovetailed with the company’s emphasis on reducing costs during the recession.

Construction

Input from nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, and patient parents heavily influenced design decisions—from incorporating emergency room hallways that protect the privacy of abused children to the number of electrical outlets in each neonatal intensive care room.

Virtual Lean Learning Experience (VLX)

A continuing education service offering the latest in lean leadership and management.

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case study examples for principles of management

About Chet Marchwinski

Chet has been a humble, unwashed scribe of the lean continuous improvement movement since books by Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo first hit North America in the 1980s. At LEI, he contributes to content creation, marketing, public relations, and social media. Previously, he also wrote case studies on lean management implementations in…

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Management: Theory and Practice, and Cases

  • A novel-based series of books is incorporating the "hero's journey" classic story structure along with the creation of associated fictional case characters designed to engage readers in the dimensions of human behavior, decision making, and judgments in carrying out the work of the modern corporation.

Author Abstract

This working paper reports on a major Harvard Business School project designed to enhance MBA and practicing executives in case learning. The work is built on the foundation of HBS field cases employing the monomyth "hero's journey" classic story structure along with the creation of associated fictional case characters designed to engage readers in the dimensions of human behavior, decision making, and judgments in carrying out the work of the modern corporation. A most fortuitous event in starting the project was the engagement of our research assistant who has a theater academic background and experience as a scriptwriter and director at a repertory theater. Shannon O'Connell noted that our collection of field cases on learning to become a successful functional manager had the potential to be organized into an executive's "hero's journey." This set off a process: (1) completing our field cases to encompass the issue domain of an IT functional manager; (2) recrafting the cases from multiple industries to include one industry; (3) integrating the key characters of monomyth hero's journey; and (4) writing the case dialogue for the protagonist, Jim Barton, hero's journey. The result was our novel-based Harvard Business Press book: Adventures of an IT Leader (2009). In our Adventures book, we experimented with mechanisms to facilitate active learning such as Jim Barton's "living whiteboard," whereby Barton kept a running list of ideas associated with a set of evolving principles of IT management. Another mechanism we used to facilitate reader/student introspection was end-of-chapter/cases Reflections. Also, we experimented with audio versions of book chapters in the classroom. We went on to continue Jim Barton's hero's journey in a second Harvard Business Press book using the same novel format but a different industry and executive context: Harder Than I Thought: Adventures of a Twenty-First Century Leader (2013). The book focuses on CEO leadership in the global economy and the fast-changing IT-enabled pace of business. We extended the mechanism of Barton's living whiteboard to interludes in the book of simulations and avatars to explore CEO decision making.

Paper Information

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  • Working Paper Publication Date: September 2013
  • HBS Working Paper Number: 14-026
  • Faculty Unit(s): General Management
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Course Resources

Assignments.

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The assignments in this course are openly licensed, and are available as-is, or can be modified to suit your students’ needs. Selected answer keys are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ensuring they are shared only with authorized and institution-affiliated faculty and staff.

If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), the assignments will automatically be loaded into the assignment tool.

Sun City Boards Assignments and Discussions

Half of the written assignments and discussions are based on a case study, whose focus is a fictional high-end surfboard company, Sun City Boards, which is also highlighted in the Why It Matters and Putting it Together in Module 3: Planning and Mission. Many of these assignments take the form of asking students to give Tom, the company’s inexperienced owner, advice about how he can run his business more effectively. The Sun City Boards assignments create a common framework for applying knowledge and skills developed through the course, encouraging students to demonstrate mastery of the content through real-world tasks and work products.

Alternate Assignments and Discussions

The other half of the written assignments and discussions use a variety of approaches, depending on the subject and learning outcome being assessed; many ask students to go beyond course content to form connections between research topics and what they’ve learned in class.

Using Assignments

We recommend assigning one discussion OR one assignment per chapter, rather than all of them. Some instructors prefer to stick with the Sun City Boards theme throughout the course; others like to use some of the alternates along the way. You can view any assignments or discussions below or throughout the course.

You can view them below or throughout the course:

Rubric for Assignments

There is also a sample rubric to assist you in grading. Instructors may modify these guidelines or use their own.

Open Pedagogy Assignments

Open Pedagogy Assignments are assignments in which students use their agency and creativity to create knowledge artifacts that can support their own learning, their classmates’ learning, and the learning of students around the world. (See this  peer-reviewed article  for more details.) All of the assignments can be created with a cell phone camera or any video recording device, Google or Word documents, and your learning management system.

Discussions

The following discussion assignments will also be preloaded (into the discussion-board tool) in your learning management system if you import the course. They can be used as is, modified, or removed. You can view them below or throughout the course.

Rubric for Discussion Posts

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  • This discussion invites conversation on race, which might require additional monitoring and involvement from instructors. This blog post from the Choices Program at Brown University contains links to helpful resources to facilitate talking about race in the classroom: "Approaching Race in the Classroom, Actively" ↵
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Welcome to Principles of Management , an OpenStax resource. This textbook was written to increase student access to high-quality learning materials, maintaining the highest standards of academic rigor at little to no cost.

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About Principles of Management

Principles of Management is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the introductory course on management. This is a traditional approach to management using the leading, planning, organizing, and controlling approach. The table of contents of this book was designed to address two main themes. What are the variables that affect how, when, where, and why managers perform their jobs? What theories and techniques are used by successful managers at a variety of organizational levels to achieve and exceed objectives effectively and efficiently throughout their careers? Management is a broad business discipline, and the Principles of Management course covers many management areas such as human resource management and strategic management, as well behavioral areas such as motivation. No one individual can be an expert in all areas of management, so an additional benefit of this text is that specialists in a variety of areas have authored individual chapters. Finally, we all made an effort to present a balanced approach to gender and diversity throughout the text in the examples used, the photographs selected, and the use of both male (odd-numbered chapters) and female (even-numbered chapters) when referring to generic managers or employees.

Pedagogical Foundation

We have taken a structured approach in the writing of the chapters that reduces inconsistencies throughout and makes selecting topics to match the course syllabus easier for faculty.

Exploring Managerial Careers. Each chapter starts with a profile that describes a manager and illustrates how the content of the chapter is vital for a successful managerial career.

Consistent, integrated learning. Targeted learning outcomes are listed at the beginning of each chapter and then repeated throughout the chapter. The learning outcomes connect to the text and the additional resources that accompany Principles of Management . After reading each section, students can test their retention by answering the questions in the Concept Checks. Every learning goal is further reinforced by a summary at the end of the chapter.

Hundreds of business examples to bring concepts to life. This book is designed to speak to the typical student. We have done a lot of research about student needs, abilities, experiences, and interests, and then we have shaped the text around them. We have used experiences both inside and outside the classroom to create a book that is both readable and enjoyable. We believe that the real applications found throughout every chapter set the standard for readability and understanding of key concepts.

Learning business terminology, made easy. As students begin to study management, they will explore new words and concepts. To help them learn this language, we define each new term in the chapter, display the terms in bold, and offer a complete glossary at the end of the book.

Applied Features

Rather than provide a dry recitation of facts, we illustrate concepts with contemporary examples. In addition to the in-text examples, we have several boxed features that provide more extensive examples in areas of importance in today’s business environment. Each of the boxed features described below includes a series of critical thinking questions to prompt the student to consider the implications of each business strategy.

Ethics in Practice. Ethics in Practice features demonstrate how businesses are responsible not only to the bottom line, but to providing goods and services in a responsible manner.

Managing Change. The turbulent business climate requires companies to adapt their business strategies in response to a variety of economic, social, competitive, and technological forces. The Managing Change feature highlights how businesses have altered their business strategies in response to these forces.

Catching the Entrepreneurial Spirit. This feature highlights the challenges and opportunities available in small businesses and other entrepreneurial ventures.

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  • Project Management

Top 15 Project Management Case Studies with Examples

Home Blog Project Management Top 15 Project Management Case Studies with Examples

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Having worked for more than 9 years in the dynamic field of project management, I would strongly refer to real-world case studies as invaluable resources for both budding and experienced professionals. These case studies provide critical insights into the challenges and triumphs encountered in various industries, illustrating the application of project management principles in practical scenarios.   I have curated the case studies as a part of this article in such a way that it delves into a selection of compelling project management case studies, ranging from the healthcare sector to infrastructure and technology. Each case study is a testament to the strategic planning, adaptability, and innovative problem-solving skills necessary in today's fast-paced business environment. These narratives not only highlight past successes but also offer guidance for future projects, making them essential tools for anyone eager to excel in project management.

What is Case Study?

A case study refers to an in-depth examination of a specific case within the real-world context. It is a piece of content that sheds light on the challenges faced, solutions adopted, and the overall outcomes of a project. To understand project management case studies, it is important to first define what a project is . A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, aimed at achieving a specific goal or objective. Case studies are generally used by businesses during the proposal phase. However, they are also displayed on the websites of companies to provide prospects with a glance at the capabilities of the brands. It can even serve as an effective tool for lead generation. In simple words, case studies are stories that tell the target audience about the measures and strategies that the organization adopted to become successful.

What is Project Management Case Study?

A project management case study is a piece of content that highlights a project successfully managed by the organization. It showcases the challenges that the organization faced, the solutions adopted, and the final results. Keep reading in order to explore examples of successful project management case studies.

Top 15 Project Management Case Studies and Examples 

Are you looking for some examples of PMP case studies? If yes, here are some of the best examples you can explore. Let’s dive in!

1. Mavenlink Helps Improve Utilization Rates by 15% for BTM Global

The case study is all about how Mavenlink helped BTM Global Consulting to save hours of work and enhance utilization with resource management technology. BTM Global Consulting offers system development and integration services to diverse clients. The challenges that the company faced were that tools like Netsuite OpenAir and Excel spreadsheets were not able to meet the customization needs as the company grew. It impacted their overall productivity.

In order to overcome the challenge, the solution they adopted was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was that it increased the utilization of the company by 10% and enhanced project manager utilization by 15%. It also reduced resource allocation work from 4 hours to just 10 minutes.

2. Boncom Reduces Billing Rate Errors by 100% With Mavenlink

Boncom is an advertising agency that collaborates with different purpose driven brands to create goods worldwide. The challenge was that the company relied on several-point solutions for delivering client-facing projects. However, the solutions failed to offer the required operational functionality. An ideal solution for Boncom was to adopt Mavenlink. The result was that the billing rate error got reduced by 100%. Accurate forecasting became possible for Boncom, and the company could generate reports in much less time.

3. whyaye! Reaches 80% Billable Utilization with Mavenlink

whyaye is a digital transformation consultancy delivering IT transformation solutions to businesses operating in diverse sectors. The challenge was that whyaye used to manage resources and projects using tools such as emails, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Excel. However, with the growth of the company, they were not able to access project data or gain insights for effective management of the projects . The ultimate solution to this challenge was to make a switch to Mavenlink. The result was an increase in the utilization by 6%, doubling of new clients, tripling of the company size, and seamless support through business growth.

4. Metova Increases Billable Utilization by 10% With Mavenlink

If you are looking for a project planning case study, Metova can be the right example. Metova is a technology firm, a Gold Partner of Microsoft, and an advanced consulting partner of AWS. The challenge was that the company handled several projects at a time. However, its heavy dependence on tools like Google Sheets limited the growth capabilities of the organization. So, the company looked for a solution and switched to Mavenlink. The result was that it was able to increase its billable utilization by 10%, increase its portfolio visibility, and standardize its project management process.

5. Appetize Doubles Length of Forecasting Outlook with Mavenlink

Appetize is one of the leading cloud-based points of sale (POS), enterprise management, and digital ordering platform that is trusted by a number of businesses. The challenge of the company was that its legacy project tracking systems were not able to meet the growing needs of the company. They experienced growth and manual data analysis challenges. The solution they found was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was an increase in the forecast horizon to 12 weeks, support for effective companywide scaling, easy management of over 40 major projects, and Salesforce integration for project implementation.

6. RSM Improves Client Satisfaction and Global Business Processes with Mavenlink

RSM is a tax, audit, and consulting company that provides a wide array of professional services to clients in Canada and the United States. The challenge of the company was that its legacy system lacked the necessary features required to support their work- and time-intensive projects and delivered insights relating to the project trends. An ideal solution to this challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better to risk mitigation in tax compliance, improved client-team communication, templatized project creation, and better use of the KPIs and project status.

7. CORE Business Technologies Increases Billable Utilization by 35% with Mavenlink

CORE Business Technologies is a reputed single-source vendor self-service, in-person, and back-office processing to the clients. It offers SaaS-based payment solutions to clients. The challenge faced by the company was that its tools like spreadsheets, Zoho, and Microsoft Project led to a hectic work schedule owing to a huge number of disconnected systems. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of team productivity by 50%, time entry compliance by 100%, and enhancement of the billable utilization rate by 35%.

8. Client Success: Health Catalyst Improves Business Processes and Increases Consistency in Project Delivery with Mavenlink

Health Catalyst is a company that delivers data and analytics services and technology to different healthcare organizations. The firm provides assistance to technicians and clinicians in the healthcare sector. The challenge of the company was that the tools like Intacct and spreadsheets that is used for project management were not able to provide the required data insights and clarity for better project management. It also limited effective resource management. The solution was to embrace Mavenlink. The result was better resource forecasting, enhanced interdepartmental communication, consistency in project delivery, and better resource data insights .

9. Client Success: Optimus SBR Improves Forecasting Horizon by 50% with Mavenlink

Optimus SBR is a leading professional service provider in North America. It offers the best results to companies operating in diverse sectors, including healthcare, energy, transportation, financial services, and more. The challenge was that legacy software tools that the firm used gave rise to project management issues. The company was not able to get a real-time revenue forecast or gain insights into its future financial performance. The solution that the company adopted was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better data-driven hiring decisions, efficient delivery of remote work, and enhancement of the forecasting horizon by 50%.

10. Client Success: PlainJoe Studios Increases Projects Closing Within Budget by 50% With Mavenlink

PlainJoe Studios is an experimental design studio that focuses on digitally immersive and strategic storytelling. The company has a team of strategists, architects, and problem solvers to create value for the clients. The challenge of the company was that the manual processing of the company affected its ability to grow and manage the diverse project effectively. They lacked clarity about their project needs and profitability. The solution to deal with the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was an enhancement in the billing rates by 15%, better project closing within budget by 50%, better data insights for the success of different projects, and a faster shift to remote work.

11. Client Success: RPI Consultants Decreases Admin Time by 20% With Mavenlink

If you are looking for an example of one of the best software project management case studies, then RPI Consultants can be the ideal one. RPI Consultants offer expert project leadership and software consulting services for enterprise-level implementation of solutions and products. The challenge was that the task management solutions adopted by the company gave rise to a number of complications. It resulted in poor interdepartmental transparency and time-consuming data entry. The ultimate solution that the company embraced was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was a rise in the utilization rate by 5%, lowing of admin time by 20%, better forecasting and resource management, and a single source for gaining insights into the project data.

12. Client Success: CBI's PMO Increases Billable Utilization By 30% With Mavenlink

CBI is a company that is focused on protecting the reputations, data, and brands of its clients. The challenge that the company faced was that the solutions used were unable to meet the growing needs of the organization. The systems were outdated, data sharing was not possible, and time tracking was inconsistent. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better interdepartmental alignment, enhancement of time tracking to support business growth, an increase in the billable utilization rate by 30%, and detailed insights for a greater success of the projects.

13. Client Success: Butterfly Increases Billable Time by 20% with Mavenlink

Butterfly is a leading digital agency that provides digital strategy, website design and development services, and ongoing support to businesses across Australia. The challenge was that the different legacy systems used by the agency limited its capability of effective project management and reporting. The systems were time consuming and cumbersome. In order to deal with the challenge, the solution was to make a switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of billable time by 20%, fast reporting insights, enhancement of productive utilization by 16%, and better Jira integration.

14. Client Success: TeleTracking Increases Billable Utilization by 37% With Mavenlink

TeleTracking Technologies is a leading provider of patient flow automation solutions to various hospitals in the healthcare sector. The challenge of the company was that it used different systems such as Microsoft Excel, Sharepoint, MS Project, Jira, and Netsuite. The use of a variety of solutions created a number of challenges for the company. It had poor forecasting capability, an insufficient time tracking process, and unclear resource utilization. The solution was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of time tracking compliance by 100%, rise in hours to date by 18%, and enhancement of billable utilization by 37%.

15. Client Success: Taylors Improves Utilization Rates by 15% with Mavenlink

This is a perfect example of a construction project management case study. Taylor Development Strategists is a leading civil engineering and urban planning organization in Australia. The challenge that the company faced was that the systems that it used were not able to support the growth of the business. There were a lot of inefficiencies and limitations. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better global collaboration, an increase in the utilization rate by 15%, consistency of timesheet entry, and in-depth insights relating to utilization and project targets.

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Start Creating Your Project Management Case Study

Not that you have a detailed idea about project management case studies, it is time to prepare your own. When doing the project management case study exercise, make sure to focus on covering all the important elements. Clearly stating the challenges and the solutions adopted by the company is important. If you want to get better at project management, getting a PMP Certification can be beneficial.

Case Study Best Practices and Tips 

Want to prepare a project management case study? Here are some tips that can help. 

  • Involve your clients in the preparation of the case study. 
  • Make use of graphs and data. 
  • Mix images, texts, graphs, and whitespace effectively.

Project Management Case Studies Examples

Hospital el pilar improves patient care with implementing disciplined agile.

If you are looking for an example of one of the best hospital related project management case studies, then Hospital El Pilar can be the ideal one. Hospital El Pilar is a private hospital in Guatemala City, Guatemala, that provides comprehensive care to patients in various medical specialties. The challenge was that the hospital’s application development team faced several obstacles in managing and delivering projects, such as unclear priorities, a lack of visibility, little interaction with users, and competing demands. The solution that the team adopted was to use Disciplined Agile® (DA™), a flexible and pragmatic approach to project management that optimizes the way of working (WoW). The result was improved project outcomes, increased user satisfaction, greater transparency, and more trust from stakeholders and customers.

British Columbia’s Ministry of Technology and Infrastructure (MoTI) gets its principal corridor for transportation up in 35 days

Reconnecting Roads After Massive Flooding (2022) is a case study of how the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) used a project management approach based on the PMBOK® Guide to restore critical routes after a catastrophic weather event. It is one of the examples of successful project management case studies you can look into. The challenge was that an atmospheric river caused severe flooding, landslides, and bridge collapses, cutting off the lower mainland from the rest of Canada2. The solution was to prioritize the reopening of Highway 5, the principal corridor for transportation of goods and people, by creating scopes, work breakdown structures, and schedules for each site3. The result was that Highway 5 was reopened to commercial traffic in 35 days, despite additional weather challenges and risks4. The construction project management case study we discussed demonstrated the benefits of flexibility, collaboration, and communication in emergency response.

Case Study Template 

To create a well-crafted and highly informative case study template in the realms of project management, you should start by providing a brief overview of the client's company, focusing on its industry, scale, and specific challenges. Follow with a detailed section on the challenge, emphasizing the unique aspects of the project and obstacles faced. Next, you might want to describe the solution implemented, detailing the strategies, methodologies, and tools used. Then, you would need to present the results, quantifying improvements and highlighting objectives achieved. Finally, please conclude the case study with a summary, encapsulating key takeaways and emphasizing the project's success and its implications for future endeavors. By following this structure, you can present a comprehensive yet concise analysis that is ideal for showcasing project management expertise and insights. You can also refer to the template for crafting a better case study on project management – Template for writing case studies.

By now, you must have gained a comprehensive knowledge of preparing a project management case study. This article elaborately explains the significance of real life project management case studies as vital tools for demonstrating a company's expertise in handling complex projects. These case studies, showcasing real-world scenarios, serve as compelling evidence of a firm's capability to navigate challenges and implement effective solutions, thereby boosting confidence in potential clients and partners. They are not only a reflection of past successes but also a lighthouse guiding future project endeavors in the discipline of project management within the fields of construction, pharmacy, technology and finance, highlighting the importance of strategic planning, innovation, and adaptability in project management. If you are aspiring to excel in this field, understanding these case studies is invaluable. However, you would also need to learn from project management failures case studies which would provide a roadmap to mastering the art of project management in today's dynamic business landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

1. how do you write a project management case study.

In order to write a project management case study, keep everything brief but mention everything in detail. Make sure to write it with clarity and include graphs and images. 

2. Why is a case study important in project identification?

It is important to highlight the story of the success of your company and your clients.

3. What are case studies in project management?

A case study in project management is the success story of how effectively a company was able to handle a specific project of the client.

4. What should a project case study include?

A project study must include information about the client, how your company helped the client in resolving a problem, and the results.

5. Which are the best-case studies on project management?

The best-case studies on project management have been listed above. It includes BTM Global, Butterfly, Boncom, and more.

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Developing Leadership and Management: Case Study on Moneyball

This essay about the film “Moneyball” explores innovative leadership and management strategies in the context of professional sports. It follows Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, as he revolutionizes player evaluation using data analytics, challenging traditional methods. Beane’s resilience, adaptability, and strategic partnerships with analytics experts exemplify effective leadership principles. The film illustrates the importance of innovative thinking, overcoming resistance to change, and managing strategic partnerships in achieving success. Beyond baseball, “Moneyball” offers valuable insights into leadership, analytics-driven decision-making, and organizational change applicable across various industries.

How it works

The 2011 film “Moneyball,” based on Michael Lewis’s book of the same name, serves as an excellent case study for exploring innovative leadership and management strategies in the face of adversity and limited resources. The story follows Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, as he attempts to assemble a competitive team despite a significantly lower budget than larger market teams. Beane’s approach, driven by data analytics, fundamentally challenges traditional methods of player valuation and team building in Major League Baseball (MLB).

At its core, “Moneyball” illustrates the power of innovative thinking in leadership and management. Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, is faced with the challenge of having only a fraction of the budget of baseball giants like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Traditional scouting methods would not suffice to build a winning team within these financial constraints. Beane’s solution? Leveraging underutilized statistical data to evaluate players differently from his competitors. This method, known as sabermetrics, prioritizes on-base percentage and other statistics over more traditional metrics like batting average and RBIs. Beane’s strategy is a departure from the norm, highlighting his role as a transformative leader willing to take calculated risks.

Beane’s leadership style in “Moneyball” is characterized by resilience and adaptability—qualities essential for any leader facing change or resistance. Throughout the film, he encounters significant skepticism and opposition from his own scouting team and other stakeholders in the Athletics organization. They are entrenched in the traditional ways of doing things and view Beane’s reliance on statistics and algorithms as impersonal and flawed. However, Beane’s confidence in his vision allows him to challenge the status quo and persist with his strategy despite these challenges. His approach demonstrates an important leadership principle: the courage to pursue a vision, even when it goes against conventional wisdom.

Moreover, the collaboration between Beane and Peter Brand, a young Yale economics graduate portrayed by Jonah Hill, emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships in leadership. Brand brings the technical expertise in analytics that Beane needs, while Beane provides the leadership and managerial acumen to apply these insights effectively. Their partnership is a testament to the potential of combining diverse skills and perspectives to innovate and solve problems. This aspect of the “Moneyball” story illustrates how effective leadership often involves recognizing one’s limitations and complementing them with the strengths of others.

Finally, “Moneyball” is a study in managing change and overcoming resistance. Beane’s innovative methods disrupt not only his team but also the broader baseball community. His success forces other teams to reconsider their approaches, leading to widespread changes in how players are valued and teams are constructed in MLB. This outcome highlights a key aspect of leadership: the impact of a leader’s vision and methods can extend far beyond their immediate organizational context, influencing industry standards and practices.

In conclusion, “Moneyball” provides rich insights into leadership and management within the framework of professional sports but has implications far beyond. Billy Beane’s story is a compelling example of how innovative thinking, resilience in the face of resistance, strategic partnerships, and effective change management can coalesce to overcome limitations and achieve success. For leaders and managers in any field, “Moneyball” underscores the importance of analytics in decision-making, the courage to challenge outdated methodologies, and the ability to inspire and implement profound organizational change. Through this lens, Beane’s journey is not just about baseball—it’s about redefining what is possible with the resources at hand.

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    Management principles are the guidelines for decision-making and behaviour (in present as well as future) for the whole organisation. They are general, broad and flexible in nature. Techniques are sequential in nature, rigid and are like procedures. Scientific principles are rigid, have universal validity and are unchangeable in nature.

  13. Management: Theory and Practice, and Cases

    Management: Theory and Practice, and Cases. by Richard L. Nolan. The author reflects upon his diverse experiences throughout his career with the benefits and challenges of case method teaching and case writing. The case method is undergoing tremendous innovation as students in the twenty-first century engage in learning about corporations ...

  14. Management Principles Are What? A Case Study of the Application of the

    MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES ARE WHAT? A Case Study of the Application of the Concept-of Management by Objective FRED E. CASE University of California, Los Angeles Muse's recent reassertion of the universality of management principles raises the interesting question of why this defense should be necessary.' Perhaps some of the trouble arises because:

  15. Assignments

    Module 1: Introduction to Management. Assignment: Evaluating Sun City Boards. Assignment: Primary Functions of Management. Module 2: History of Management. Assignment: Sun City Boards' Management Style. Assignment: History of Management. Module 3: Planning and Mission. Assignment: Creating a Plan for Sun City Boards.

  16. Case Studies

    Principles of Management case study questions and answers nature and significance of management mark questions mega ltd manufactured water heaters. in the first. Skip to document. ... marketing, financial etc. for example, chief operating officer, chief finance officer, vice president (marketing) were present to discuss how to deal with the ...

  17. Preface

    About Principles of Management. Principles of Management is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the introductory course on management. This is a traditional approach to management using the leading, planning, organizing, and controlling approach. The table of contents of this book was designed to address two main themes.

  18. What Is Case Management? Definition, Process, and Models

    The case management process. Case management is a collaborative process in which a case manager works with clients to ensure they obtain the proper health care in the most cost-effective manner. This is what the process typically looks like: 1. Screening: The case manager reviews a client's medical records, medical history, and current ...

  19. 15 Real-Life Case Study Examples & Best Practices

    To ensure you're making the most of your case studies, we've put together 15 real-life case study examples to inspire you. These examples span a variety of industries and formats. We've also included best practices, design tips and templates to inspire you. Let's dive in!

  20. PDF Core Concepts and Principles of Effective Case Management: Approaches

    This document, produced by the Concepts and Principles Sub-group, aims to provide a concise description of the concept of case management and the basic ideas or rules that explain, outline or provide guidance on how case management is used and the role of the social service workforce. The Concepts and Principles Sub-group was co-chaired by ...

  21. Top 15 Project Management Case Studies with Examples

    The result was an increase in the utilization by 6%, doubling of new clients, tripling of the company size, and seamless support through business growth. 4. Metova Increases Billable Utilization by 10% With Mavenlink. If you are looking for a project planning case study, Metova can be the right example.

  22. PDF Case Studies- Chapter 2 Principles of Management

    The various natures of principles of management highlighted above are: 1. Mainly Behavioral. The workers were trained about the machines as the management realized that management was all about the relationship among workers and their proper handling of the machines. 2.

  23. Developing Leadership and Management: Case Study on Moneyball

    Essay Example: The 2011 film "Moneyball," based on Michael Lewis's book of the same name, serves as an excellent case study for exploring innovative leadership and management strategies in the face of adversity and limited resources. The story follows Billy Beane, the general manager of