PBI 6013/ PBI6023

CASE STUDY 1

Read the following situations and answer the questions that follow.

Situation
After graduating from college, Mark found a job as a customer service representative at Maybank in
Shah Alam. His working hours are from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. However, he has been arriving late at
work recently. On one occasion, his Branch Manager caught him arriving late and demanded an
explanation. Mark explained that he could not wake up on time and that he was not a ‘morning’
person. After a long lecture, his Branch Manager gave him a warning letter and told Mark that he
took tardiness very seriously. Two days later, the Branch Manager caught Mark arriving at work half
an hour late.

(i) Do you think that the reason given by Mark for being late is reasonable? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(ii) If you were the Branch Manager, what would you do? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iii) If you were Mark, what would you do? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iv) How can the issue of punctuality be addressed or improved?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
1
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

CASE STUDY 2

Read the following situations and answer the questions that follow.

Situation
Ms Linda had just started the meeting for 15 minutes when Sam came into the room without
acknowledging her or saying anything. She stopped her meeting and demanded an explanation from
him. Sam, who sounded annoyed, told her that he was late because he had to take his breakfast
first. On hearing this, Ms Linda reprimanded him. As she was giving him a lecture on punctuality,
Sam suddenly walked out of the room angrily.

(i) Do you agree with Sam’s actions? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(ii) What should Sam have done instead?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iii) If you were Ms Linda, how would you handle this situation?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iv) Provide 2 (TWO) other possible actions that Ms Linda could have taken in this case. State
your rationale for each action.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

CASE STUDY 3

Read the following situations and answer the questions that follow.

Situation
Daniel is the Head of the Computer Department. One of his employees, Cindy, has been absent from
work rather frequently. However, she has been able to finish the office with medical certificates
from various non-panel clinics. However, Daniel has been informed by other employees that some of
the clinics Cindy visited are notorious for selling medical certificates.

(i) What do you think Daniel should do? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(ii) Provide 3 (THREE) possible actions that Daniel could take against Cindy. State your rationale
for each action.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iii) Medical certificates from non-panel clinics should not be accepted. Do you agree with this
statement? Why?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________ 3
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

CASE STUDY 4

Read the following situations and answer the questions that follow.

Situation
Daniel has been working as a Sales and Marketing Executive for half a year. Part of his job requires
him to travel frequently to acquire sales and market the company’s latest products. For his travelling
expenses and claims, the company will reimburse him after he returns from his sales trip. Last week,
he was on a sales trip with Mark, who has been working for the company for five years. After the
trip, Mark told Daniel that he would claim an additional 25% on top of his travelling expenses, and
he expected Daniel to do the same so that it would not arouse any suspicious from the
management. Daniel was uncomfortable with this. However, after talking to some of his close
colleagues, he found out that they have also been adding additional expenses to their claims.

(i) If you were Daniel, what would you do? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(ii) Provide 2 (TWO) other possible actions that Daniel could take. State your rationale for each
action.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(iii) If you are representing the management to curb over-claiming, what would you do?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

CASE STUDY 5

Read the passage below.

One for All and All for One?

Sandy watched as three of her classmates filed out of the conference room. Then she turned back to
the large wooden table and faced her fellow members, a student and three faculty members, of the
university’s disciplinary committee.

The three students, Joe, Brian and Lisa had just concluded their appeal against a plagiarism
conviction stemming from a group project for an international marketing course. Sandy, who
happened to be in the class with the students on trial, remembered the day the lecturer, Dr. Anis,
had asked Joe, Brian and Lisa, along with the group’s leader, Paul, to stay after class. She happened
to walk by the classroom a half hour later to see four glum students emerge. Even though Paul had a
chagrined expression on his face, Joe was the only one who looked completely shattered. It did not
take long for word to spread along the ever-active grapevine that Paul had admitted to plagiarising
his part of the group paper.

At the hearing, the students recounted how they had quickly and unanimously settled on Paul to
lead the group. He was by far the most able student among them, someone who managed to
maintain a stellar GPA even while taking on a full course load and holding down a part-time job.
After the group worked together for weeks analysing the problem and devising a marketing
plan,Paul assigned a section of the final paper to each member. With the pressure of all those end-
of-the-semester deadlines bearing down on them, everyone was delighted when Paul volunteered
to write the company and industry background, the section that typically took the most time to
produce. Paul gathered everyone’s contributions, assembled them into a paper and handed out the
final draft to the other members. They each gave it a quick read. They liked what they saw and
thought they had a good chance for an A.

Unfortunately, when Dr Anis confronted them, Paul readily admitted that he had pulled the section
he had contributed directly off the Internet. Pointing out the written policy he had distributed at the
beginning of the semester stating that each group member was equally responsible for the final
product, Dr Anis gave all the four students a zero for the project. The group project and presentation
counted for 30 per cent of the course grade.

Joe, Brian and Lisa maintained that they were completely unaware that Paul had cheated. “It just
never occurred to us Paul would ever need to cheat,” Brian said. They were innocent bystanders, the
5
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

students argued. Why should they be penalised? Besides, the consequences were not going to fall
on each of them equally. Although Paul was suffering the embarrassment of public exposure, the
failing group project grade would only put a dent in his solid GPA. Joe, on the other hand, was
already on academic probation. A zero probably meant he would not make the 2.5 GPA he needed
to stay in the business programme.

Even though she could see the merits of both sides, Sandy was going to have to choose. If your were
Sandy, how would you vote?

Adapted from: Daft, RL 2010, New era of management, 9th edn,

Mason,OH, South-Western Cengage Learning.

Answer the following questions.

1. (a) If you were Sandy, what would you do?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

(b) What other possible alternatives does Sandy have, apart from your response above?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you think it was fair for Dr Anis to give all four students a zero for the project?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of assigning group projects to students at
tertiary institutions?

(a) Advantages

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

(b) Disadvantages

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6

_____________________________________________________________________
Page

Case Studies
PBI 6013/ PBI6023

4. If a similar situation happened at work where one employee in a group committed

plagiarism in a group project, what would be an appropriate action to take against him or
her? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

5. Provide 3 (THREE) ways on how the issue of plagiarism can be solved at tertiary education.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

7
Page

Case Studies