case study

Case study: supply and demand
The aim of this case study is to examine how the ideas and techniques for self-management you read about can be used and adapted to fit personal circumstances. In this case – the story of Asma, a mother of two young children returning to paid employment – you will be asked to think how the ideas might be useful to her in managing her return. You may be asking why a decision to go back to paid work is being discussed in the context of a course about management. You may know that one of the definitions of management is to cope with, to deal with, to handle, to manipulate. By considering Asma's case study, we want you to think about how she copes with significant changes in her life, in other words, how she manages them.
Supply and demand: Part 1 – Asma's decision
I'm a mother of two children, Anees who is aged eight and Fiza who is five. I've been married to Umair for twelve years. Before Anees was born I trained as a secondary school teacher. I worked for about four years, mainly teaching health and social studies, including vocational A levels. Since then, I've been a full-time mother and homemaker. I've really enjoyed spending time with Anees and Fiza, but I have always promised myself that I will get back into teaching when Fiza was old enough. My husband, Umair, always thought this would be a good idea, although as a quantity surveyor he works long hours and sometimes has to work away from home on new projects.
We now live in Castletown in the English Midlands. Umair's family have lived in this area since the 1970s, but I was brought up in London. I really get on well with them, especially his mum. She's been a widow for a few years and she is in very good health. She spends a lot of time at the local gurdwara [a Sikh temple] and remains an active member of the community. She does like me to call in when Umair is away.
This September, Fiza started in the reception class at primary school. A couple of weeks into the school term I noticed an advert for a teacher supply agency which specifically mentioned that they needed specialists in health and social care subjects.
You won't believe how much I thought about that advert as I got on with things until Umair came home. After the children had gone to bed, that evening we had a long discussion about the issues around my going back to work.

Figure 8 Job advert
This activity asks you to analyse Asma's task of returning to paid employment using the transformation model diagram drawn in Figure 9. Copy the diagram onto a blank piece of notepaper and then do the following tasks:

Figure 9 Asma's decision: a transformation model
1. From your reading of the case study so far, identify the goals Asma might have. List these under the ‘Outputs’ heading to the right of the box in Figure 9.
2. What ‘resources’ does Asma have to help her achieve these outputs? List these under the ‘Inputs’ heading on the left of the box in Figure 9.
Discussion
What sort of output did you identify? It should really be securing a supply teaching post. Of course, it is possible that other goals might have been established. Asma and Umair might have decided that they wanted a third child or that they wanted to focus on Umair setting up an independent quantity surveying company. However, for the purpose of this case study, let us suppose that they did decide that Asma should resume her career.
What inputs did you suggest? Remember that these should be resources that Asma can draw on.
My list included:
Asma's teaching qualification her teaching experience her increased time availability
Umair's support possibility of family support.
End of discussion