Case Study

Jenny is an HR manager at Company XYZ who has worked for this volatile organization for 10 years. Jenny grew up in a conservative family in the Midwest and believes that “hard work” pays off. She comes from a family that prefers to only drive American-manufactured cars and she currently drives a Chevrolet Impala that was handed down to her by her uncle. Furthermore, many of her family members served in the US military and her son is currently stationed overseas in a war zone. Over the years, she successfully implemented many policies and procedures at Company XYZ that she is very proud of. Her goal is to be promoted to Vice President of HR at Company XYZ.

Jenny has a weekly meeting with the CEO (Jasjit Singh) to review different HR initiatives such as recruitment and retention efforts. Jasjit is originally from India and is very clever and strategic with his decision-making. At her recent meeting, she learned that Company XYZ is not doing well financially and certain cuts need to be made. Jasjit asks Jenny to create a plan for helping the organization become more profitable and to present her action plan at their next weekly meeting. Based upon her training and education, Jenny prepared a plan for laying-off 10% of the employees which will help the organization save at least $2 million each year. Also, she believes that if most employees are able to work from home, the organization can potentially save $3 million each year because all of the money that will be saved from overhead. She believes that Jasjit will be flabbergasted with her action plan and creates a detailed PowerPoint presentation for her upcoming meeting.

On the day of the meeting, Jenny presents her PowerPoint presentation to Jasjit and he is somewhat impressed but makes the following remark, “We need to save at least $10 million a year in order to survive” and that her plan “is not sufficient.” He further suggests that “outsourcing to India” is what would help the organization significantly along with laying-off 25% of the employees who are lowest on the seniority list. Jenny is upset but is unable to voice her disapproval to the CEO.

As Jenny returns to her office, she decides to call her old college professor who specializes in Human Resource Management to ask for some advice. Jenny explains to her professor that it is not fair that American employees are getting laid-off and that “underqualified people” in India will be getting jobs. Her professor is quick to recommend conducting a CAGE Distance Analysis because that may portray some unwanted distance that may cost the company millions of dollars. She thanks her professor for the advice. Jenny has a lot to think about and does not know if she can work for an organization that is willing to terminate American employees in order to hire cheaper labor overseas.

Your responses should be thorough if you want full credit. A total of 300 words or more.

Case Questions

1. Generally speaking, are you for or against outsourcing overseas? Justify your response.

2. Generally speaking, what are the pros and cons to outsourcing overseas?

3. Should Jenny focus on her own job and career at Company XYZ or should she challenge the CEO based upon her own personal values and principles? Justify your response.

4. What are some potential problems with outsourcing to India? As a hint, air pollution is getting worse in India according to the 2014 Yale University Environment Performance Index (EPI). Currently, India ranks 174 out of 178 because of its potent and toxic air pollution.

5. What are some alternative solutions to this case study so employees do not have to be laid-off? Ultimately, what can Company XYZ do to save money? Jenny already suggested a work from home policy and laying-off 10% of the employees.