Risk Management Decisions and Organizational Structure in the Case of a Development Management Firm

This case aims to analyze risk management practices of Millennium Development International (MDI) and suggest enhancements based on a theoretical framework derived from the literature while considering the implications to its organizational structure. Al-Shamiyah project in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, is used as an example to illustrate the practices of MDI. Due to a high level of risk associated with large-scale development projects, it is argued that the traditional risk management approach is not convenient to the context of these projects. Each large-scale project has a high level of uniqueness that renders benchmarks generated out of previous projects obsolete. Hence, a reactive risk management approach is being promoted. For the purpose of optimizing this approach, engaging necessary experts and securing the presence of key decision makers in the process, the formulated system defines key milestones at which risks need to be assessed and proper decisions need to be taken.

Universal HRM and the Gulf Leadership Style

This case study aims to allow students, using various business dilemmas, to explore differences in approach between the most commonly taught “universal” models of human resource management (HRM), mostly based on Western culture and practices (Brewster, Farndale, & Ommeren, 2000) and a more contingent HRM predicated on the leadership culture prevalent in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Scott-Jackson, 2008). It aims to generate discussion of strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches to leadership and HRM as well as some recognition that there is a valid, distinctive Gulf Arab Management Style that is worthy of study and provides an alternative to more commonly recognized approaches. The supporting research was carried out between January 2011 and June 2012. It was largely based on interviews with 50 Gulf Arab leaders, together with action research and advisory work in 5 large Gulf companies (including the family conglomerate forming the basis for this case).

Who Will Be Next?

This case is about a family business, Taybeh Brewing Company (TBC), with strategic and succession planning issues including the need to prepare the second generation of decision makers to take over. It covers the centralization of control and issues that arise when it is time for a founder of a company to relinquish control or share in the decision making process. It also deals with the lack of interest by the second generation to continue what others initiated as a family legacy. The business has been approached to become listed on the stock exchange, but the owners have not made a decision. By reading about the small family business, students can learn about business structure that is proper for a company’s future, the pitfalls of founder’s syndrome, and succession planning, which according to Muna and Khoury (2012) becomes imperative for the first and second generations to take seriously.

A Case of Leadership Styles

This case examines the extent to which leadership styles influence organizational effectiveness. It compares two different leadership styles in the local office of an international auditing firm and their impact on the success of the business overall. A shift in office management had a very negative impact on employee satisfaction that resulted in a high employee turnover in addition to customer dissatisfaction and, therefore, poor company performance. This situation is linked to conceptualizations of leadership. Concluding reflections explore what could have been done differently to avoid this negative trajectory, considering not only leadership style, but the overall relationship of the office to its parent organization. This case is based in part on interviews with the office employees who compared the two different leadership styles.

Proactive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategies

This case attempts to shed light on a range of issues typically encountered in the business sector in Palestine. It illustrates innovative approaches to resolving socio-economic challenges and their implications on CSR practices, communication, and organizational behavior. It examines the leading role of the private sector in forging partnerships with universities to tackle the persisting and widening skill-employability gap and lack of business competitiveness. The case explores a program initiated by PADICO and built on a competence-based model, which is the first of its kind in Palestine. The model addresses unemployment among Palestinian youth and the undersupply of relevant skills to the job market that is handicapping Palestinian businesses. Despite the fact that it is a pilot program, PADICO’s partnering strategies serve as a case in point of the shift in CSR focus, namely from building reputation and engaging in philanthropic activities to proactively engaging in issues of education and competitiveness.

The Royal Credit Bank Strategy and Transformation Program

This case discusses a strategic planning issue related to unplanned radical change. The Royal Credit Bank is the leading and largest lending bank in the Middle East. The bank suffered for a long time from bureaucracy, inefficiency, lack of productivity and misalignment with customers' needs for added value services. The Royal Credit Bank was approaching a change program of a scale and depth that occurs once in most employees’ lifetime. It would transform the bank’s business and operating models, culture, and leadership, impacting virtually every part of the organization. This had profound implications across strategy, leadership, people, and systems. This case highlights the impact of implementing large programs in an outdated banking environment where the challenge is beyond finding the solution. The real challenge was to make the solution work given the environmental issues and challenges faced by the leadership team to make things happen.

Downsizing at Paltel

This case demonstrates not only the technical but also the human aspect of the downsizing process. Paltel was faced with a situation where downsizing was its only option. This case explores the planning and implementation of the downsizing process at Paltel. The degree to which Paltel considered the impact of this decision on employees exemplifies how employee-oriented the company was. This consideration played a central role in how the downsizing process was executed. Also demonstrated in this case are the manner in which the circumstances were communicated to Paltel’s stakeholders, namely employees and the labor union and how this impacted their reaction to the situation. Paltel showed how managing stakeholder relationships and bringing key stakeholders on board with management contributed to the success of this process.

Teamwork in the Palestinian IT Industry

This case study explores the role of teams and teamwork in the IT industry in Palestine. The case company (PSC) implemented the use of self-managed, cross-functional teams in order to meet tight budgetary and time constraints for a new software product. PSC considered that the formation of these teams would contribute to improved productivity, ensure high quality outputs, while at the same time meeting the contracted deadlines. However, an evaluation of the success or otherwise of the initiative highlighted the importance of ensuring the type of team formed is appropriate to the context and culture in which the organization is situated. In addition, the case highlights the importance of management commitment to ensure a high level of cohesiveness is fostered through the proactive use of team formation and development processes.

Leadership Consciousness to CSR

The purpose of this case study is to discuss the leadership role in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and thus on the company’s competitiveness, performance, and reputation. The case highlights the adoption of CSR as a long-term strategy in a manufacturing family business located within a highly volatile country in the Arab world where awareness of CSR is not prevailing. By interviewing the owners and senior managers of Royal Industrial Trading Company, one is able to understand how they view their social responsibilities and how they insert CSR into the company’s strategy. Royal has a number of corporate social responsibility policy aims but its current disclosures do not provide a sufficient level of detail to adequately assess the social impact of their activities or link their activities to the achievement of specific stated social aims. The company is enjoying the rewards of improved competitive position, the benefit to their shareholders, and the benefit to the society at large.

Reality of Change

The purpose of this case is to describe the challenges an organization faces when a situation arises that forces it to make changes, and to illustrate possible strategies employed to manage the potential change. Vision University, decided to introduce a specialized Information System in its departments using simple computer forms. The decision was not the only one the university made to improve how the institution operates. In order to facilitate needs of the human resource department affairs, the President of the university welcomed the installation of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS). During the design and implementation of the HRIS project, resistance to the new system surfaced and continued after the completion of the project. Vision University found the resistance unfounded on the grounds that the benefits outweigh the difficulties and the employees would eventually grow accustomed to the new system.