You are required to submit two case study reports. The two cases are listed as the required materials of this course. The main text of each report should be 10 pages in length. The report is due on Week 4, February 3, 2013 on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. No submission is allowed after the deadline. You should submit each report with the NSU ,cover sheet. Submission without the cover sheet will not be graded.
Case #1 Performance Management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc. by Michael Beer, John B. Bingham (2012)
Source: Harvard Business Publishing Briefcases 14 pages. Publication date:Jul12, 2012. Prod. #: 913501-PDF-ENG
Vitality Health Enterprises, a medium-sized firm that manufactures health and personal care products, has experienced six straight quarters of strong revenue growth. Jaes Hoffman, the new Senior Vice President of Human Resources, fears that the chain of success is shifting the company’s focus away from effective performance management. Recently, Vitality has been faced with increasing turnover among the company’s talented research scientists that may be due to a performance management system that leaves top performing employees slighted by the practice of uniform ratings. In an effort to retain top employees, the company institutes a forced distribution model of performance rankings, moving from an absolute ranking system to a relative one. Hoffman and his performance management evaluation team must assess the practical and strategic effectiveness of the new system and present their findings and recommendations to the Board.
The main text should include two sections, besides introduction and conclusion:
• Section One: A summary of the case and identification of the problem proposed by the case.
1. How effective has Vitality’s Performance Management System been?
2. Should Vitality use continue to use the normal/bell-shaped grading distribution?
3. How should Vitality manage those who ranked consistently at the bottom of the distribution?
4. If you were in charge of improving the Performance Management System at Vitality, what changes would you make?