i

LJNIVERSITYOF COLOMBO,SRI LANKA

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE
Unit
and Mid-careerDeYelopment
Postgraduate
MasterofBusinessAdministration(SemesterI I - Firsthalf) Examination-Augtrst' 2008

MBA 537-Human ResourceManagmenl

Tbree(03)Hours
AnsweronlyI9!8.(q0 questiors'ircludingthefi$t question.
Questionone(01)is compulsory
printedin four(4)pages
Therearefive (5) questions

companyand it wantsto
l. T-tel is a Thai based(hypothetical)telecommunication
expand its operation in the Asia-pacific region. According to Mr. Vice Roy,
'1he group has set aside
ManagingDirector of T-Tel BusinessCommunications,
$400 million to expandits overseasoperationfor its growing baseof intemalional
custorners".
Ofthis. $30 million was iovestedin 2007to establishfive new overseas
ofncesin cities suchas Sydney,Mumbai,Jakarta,KualaLumpurand Colombo.
Currentlytheir Colombooperationhas 25 staff members. In 2009, T-tel plansto
expandtheir network in Colombo with a $150 million investmentto servethe
domesticand corporatemarkets.The currentexpansionmay requirea workforceof
500 from the lechnical,CustomerCare,Salesand Marketing,Finance,I{R and
otherscategories.75 percentofthem will be basedin Colombowhile otherwill be
stationedin 4 Drovinciallocations.

If you are the HumanResource

Directorof T-Tel Sri t_anka,
whal do you
thinkabouttheHR implications
ofthisnewinvestment?
(5 Marks)
Howdo youplanto dealwiththeaboveimplications?
(25Marks)
III

T-talhasbeendecided
to outsource
someworklikecustomer
installation
and
maintenance
work,driving,security
andjanitorialscfvices.
Brieflyexplain
whyorganisation
needsto oulsource
suchfunctions.
(t0 Marks)
(Total 40 Marks)

2. The training departmentof WAN

Ltd., is under pressure.Training has a bad.

reputationamongthe managers,supervisors and employees,J.hecoursesare
nor

up-to-dateand tend to be rheoreticalwith liltle emphasison directjob applicarion.

Line managersgenerallyfeel that sendingworkers for taainingis waste
a
of time
andcompanyresources.
Assume that you arethe newly appointedTrainingManagerofthe
company.
i

How shallyou approachtheproblem?

(10Marks)
Whatrccommendations
would you make to nsure
thattrainingis

effective

and relevantat WAN Lld.?

( l0 Marks)
(20Mark)
3. Sumudhuand MaheshSamarasinghe
are identicaltwins. The) have had many
similarities
in life. Bothwentto thesameschoolandpassed
examinations
moreln a
similar manner.They graduatcdthemselves
from the sameuniversjtyin Civil
Engineering
with similargrading.Thetrprojecland researchinterests\r!.ere
also
identical.
Upon graduation
theyjoined two separate
engineering
organizations
as

Tratncc
Engineers.
After 3 yearsin the professionthey startedcomparingtheir salary
packages
andfoundthatthereis a significantdifference
in theirsalaries.
Botharc

puzzledas to how with similar individualcompetencjes

andjob descriptions,
there
is a significantdifferencein their salaries.
As a mastersstudent,as weil as a friend of both of them,explain the reasonsfor
thesedifferencesusingthe WageMix.

(20 Marks)

4. "Through global surveys HR professionalhave come across many similar

OrganisationalrelatedHR issrresand challengesthe {orld

has to face". Someof

themaregiven below.
TalehtManagement
LeadershipDevelopment
ManagingworkJife balance
Ageingpopulation

Briefly explainthem by describingeachwith examplesand the remedialactionsthe

organisations,
industriesandotherstakeholders
shouldtaketo fhcethesechallenpes
(5 Marksfor each)
(Total 20 Marks)
5.
EmployeeSafetyand Healthare importantareasfor peoplemanagers.
a)

Name lour safetyhazards.( 4 Marks)

b)

"Femaleworkersaremorevulnerableto workplacehazardsthantheir
malecounterparts'Discuss
(6 Marks)
this staiement.

Aftec Ltd was ohcea very successfulcomputerassemblingcompany.Since

2008, the statc has steppedup strictly enforcing laws under the intellectual
propertyact to curb computersoft ware piracy.This hasaffectedthe business
and the companyhas decidedto ciosedown one of iis plants.Therc are 17
employceswho will lose theirjobs as a result.The companyhas drawn up a
Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in consultation with rheir HR
Consultants.15 employeeshave alreadyagreedto acceptthe packageand
moveon. 2 employeesrefuseto acceptthe package.

a)

what is the lawapplicable

to facilitatethisprocess?
(2 Marks)

D)

To rvhomcouldyoureferthisissueunderthelaw?
(2 Marks)

c)

(legalandnonIegal)to solvethis issue?

Whataretheoptionsavailable
(6 Marks)
(Total20 Marks)