Page 11 - CIMA SCS Workbook February 2019 - Day 2 Tasks

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (E3) - PRACTICE TASKS

EXERCISE 3

UPDATE

You are working at your desk when your phone rings; it is Paul Pau, and he asks you to step into
his office. As you enter, you see that Gal Yaluz is also present. Gal starts to speak:

TRIGGER

“Thanks for coming in. We have just had some bad news, and I must confess it is a bit of a shock –
none of us saw this coming. It’s rather sensitive, so I’d appreciate it if you could keep this to
yourself for the time being.

Sheila Jones, our Head of Software Development, has just announced that she is leaving Vita to go
and work for Funfitt. Not only is she going, but three senior development managers who report
into her are leaving too.

To say that this is a bolt from the blue is an understatement; Vita has always prided itself on being
an excellent employer, and we feel that this has resulted in a culture of teamwork and loyalty
from staff. I must confess to feeling betrayed and very angry. We have even suggested to Sheila
on more than one occasion that we might make her a Director at some point!

Sheila confirmed her announcement formally in a letter; I will forward this to you for reference.

This would normally be dealt with by Bibi Rainbow, our Head of Human Resources, but she is
overseas at the moment on a regular supplier audit. I would have asked Guy Lynch, our CTO to
look at it instead, but he is on honeymoon. I would therefore like your help on the following:

Firstly, what are the options open to Vita in respect of the resignations of Sheila and her
colleagues? As I say, I’m feeling very annoyed at the moment, and I need someone with a cool
head to point out all the ways in which we can respond in the immediate future.

Secondly, I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Could you please give some
guidance on steps the Board might take to ensure that, in the longer term, the chances of a
repeat incident are minimised?

Sorry for the short notice, but I’m sure you can see the importance of acting quickly. I’d
appreciate you giving your ideas to Paul within the next hour, and then we will decide what to do”

TASK
Prepare an email to Paul Pau as requested. (Time allocation: 60 minutes)

(Refer to the reference material overleaf)

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