Category: Performance

Dissertation Objectives

The working title of the proposed study is Management-Employee Misalignment & Performance implications: An Empirical Study of the U.S. Steel Production Industry.

The general aim of the proposed study will be to critically evaluate how the U.S. steel manufacturing industries can benefit, productively, by aligning their overall management and business strategies to the needs and expectations of employees working in the sector, hence maintain competitive advantage. The following will form the specific objectives:

1. Critically evaluate the sources of management-employee misalignment within the industry;
2. Critically evaluate the performance implications occasioned by management-employee misalignment within the industry;
3. Critically evaluate the industrys best practices in encouraging and maintaining management-employee alignment to boost performance and profitability; and
4. Analyze and report on probable alternatives that could by used in the U.S. steel production industry to effectively link management strategies to employee needs and expectations from a human resource perspective.

The proposed study will be guided by the following research questions:

1. What organizational methodologies can stakeholders in the U.S. steel production industry use to effectively align management strategies to the current needs and expectations of employees?
2. What are the broad implications of using organizational frameworks that contribute to management-employment misalignment in the U.S. steel production industry?
3. What are the perceived and real benefits of introducing a framework that will enhance management-employee alignment in the U.S. steel production industry?

Methodology

The proposed study will employ a quantitative research design to critically evaluate the performance implications of management-employee misalignment in the U.S. steel production industry. As Hopkins (2000) observes, most quantitative studies are principally concerned with evaluating the correlation between independent and dependent variables, and are either descriptive or experimental.

In this regard, a quantitative study will best serve the interests of the proposed study by offering a workable framework through which management-employee misalignment can be correlated to performance implications.

The proposed study will be descriptive in nature because subjects earmarked for the study will be measured once (Sekaran, 2006). Primary data will be collected using self-administered questionnaires in a survey approach since the researcher is primarily interested in descriptive assessment of the relationship between management-employee misalignments on the one hand and performance implications on the other.

In this perspective, a pilot study will be carried out before the commencement of the research to validate the items included in the questionnaire schedule as well as ensure that they will effectively answer the key research questions. It is imperative to note that the questionnaires will be administered using online protocols.

Secondary data for the proposed study will be gathered by means of undertaking a critical review of related literature on the underlying theories and concepts of organizational alignment, the role of human resource departments in ensuring employees needs and demands are positively aligned to management and organizational outcomes, and performance implications triggered by management-employee misalignment.

The data collected will then be used to compare the research findings with other previous studies in the field with a view to developing plausible alternatives and recommendations that could be used in the 21^st century to form a value-added linkage between management strategies and employee concerns.

Patzer (2005) observes that secondary data by way of undertaking a review of current literature does not only avail to the researcher a re-established degree of validity and reliability to the issues under investigation, but it also provides a framework through which the gathered primary data can be objectively ascertained and recommendations made.

The population for the proposed study will comprise employees and managers from five steel production companies that will be selected during the piloting stage. The sample, however, will comprise five management-level professionals and 20 employees in each of the five companies, implying that the total sample for the study will comprise 25 management-level professionals and 100 employees.

It is imperative to note that management professionals will be sampled using purposive sampling technique, while the researcher intends to use the human resource departments in each of the selected companies to sample employees using convenience sampling approach.

According to Sekaran, participants in a purposive sample are selected based on their deeper understanding of the phenomena under study (in this case, management strategies and how the relate to employee concerns), while subjects in a convenient sample are included in the research framework by virtue of being in the right position at the right time.

Quantitative data intended to answer the key research objectives and questions will be collected from the selected companies using two sets of online self-administered questionnaires  one for managers and the other for employees.

Lewis-Beck & Bryman (2004) observes that administering questionnaires online does not only ensure anonymity and respondent acceptability, but also saves costs and affords the researcher the opportunity to collect huge volumes of data using a flexible design.

Questionnaires, on their part, are cost-effective and can be administered with ease, not mentioning that they are effective when the researcher wants to gather confidential data from the subjects (Sekaran, 2006).

Feasibility

To execute the proposed study, academic resources intended to complete the review of literature will be sourced from scholarly databases, including Academic Search Premier, MasterFILE Premier, and Business Source Premier Databases, among others.

The subjects earmarked for this particular study are reasonably likely to be willing to take part in the process since the researcher will take ample time to explain to them the nature and purpose of the study, not mentioning that the researcher will discuss with them their rights, especially the right to informed consent, right to disengage from the research process, right to withhold confidential information, and the right to privacy.

These disclosures will most definitely reinforce the subjects willingness to participate in the study. In addition, the proposed study will employ an expanded, all-inclusive time-scale (3 months after commencement) to ensure that all elements within the research framework are sufficiently covered.

Relation with Existing Published Work

The concept of alignment has in recent decades gained an important position in the broad field of strategic management. Venkatraman et al (1989) cited in Schniederjans & Cao (2009) had implicitly underlined the significance of aligning business and management preferences with the broader strategies of the organization.

Available strategic management literature denotes the importance of aligning business and management strategies with the strengths found within the organization as well as the opportunities and threats prevalent in the external environment (Dubrovski, 2009; Anisomova, 2010; Schniederjans & Cao, 2009).

Indeed, alignment of strategies from a holistic perspective is assumed to be a positive contributor to organizational and business performance, and many studies as demonstrated by Schniederjans & Cao (2009) have been conducted to reveal the association between alignment and business performance.

To offer a brief contextual background, the proposed study will limit itself to evaluating management-employee misalignment within the U.S. steel production industry.

The steel production industry operates under the manufacturing sector, and employment opportunities within the industry continue to diminish despite expanding steel production, in part, due to widespread adoption of more efficient and cost-effective technologies (WorldSteel, 2008).

However, the proposed study aims to go past the technical aspects attributed to the diminishing workforce within the industry to evaluate if management concerns, specifically management-employee misalignment, have a role to play and the performance implications of such a possibility.

The steel manufacturing industry, as is the case in other industries, is affected by a multiplicity of internal and external vagrancies, including management-employee misalignment (Tarigan, 2005). The proposed study will therefore seek to assess to what extent this particular variable affects performance within the U.S. steel production industry.

According to Schniederjans & Cao (2009), &research on alignment in the operations strategy literature can be classified under two categories: internal fit and external fit (p. 2536).

While citing Skinners (1974) definition, the authors postulates that internal fit refers to the consistency among organizations tasks, strategies, policies and practices, while external fit focuses on the need for aligning organization-wide strategy with business and corporate stratagems.

A manufacturing strategy, for instance, must be consistently aligned with an organizations business strategy for such an organization to make headway in the ever competitive business environment witnessed in the 21^st century.

But while the study of alignment of business priorities and organizational strategy in the manufacturing sector and its relationship with performance has currently become the focus of much scholarly attention (Tarigan, 2005), few studies have attempted to look at the alignment between business priorities and other functional areas such as human resources, hence the need to undertake the proposed study.

An ever increasing number of researchers and practitioners postulate that optimal benefit will accumulate if there is a fit between environmental factors and strategy in diverse contextual modes. Boyer & McDermott (1999) cited in Tarigan (2005) found that lack of alignment within the various scopes of the organization has significant effects on performance.

Indeed, Tarigan (2005) observes that &strategy must not only be well-fitted to its competitive priorities but it also must be communicated and widely understood throughout the manufacturing organization (p. 586).

His view is ingeniously shared by Christiansen & Higgs (2008), who argues that the appropriateness of an organizations strategy must be evaluated under the lens of its fit or congruence with both the environmental and contextual contingencies facing the organization.

Boyer and McDermott (1999) cited in Tarigan (2005) posited that strategic consensus aimed at aligning critical organizational and business processes can only be achieved when diverse levels of employees within an organization reaches a well thought out agreement on what is most essential for the organization to succeed.

This implies that employees form a critical component in the alignment debate and should be involved at all levels to trigger sustained performance.

However, Kennedy (2004) argues that some management strategies found in many firms either ignore or half-heartedly embrace employee needs and broader HR initiatives, especially in training and development, compensation and benefits, performance and appraisal, staff planning, retention, and other challenges prevalent in todays marketplace.

The proposed study, therefore, will seek to come up with alternatives and best practices that can be used by organizations in general and steel production companies in particular to bring employees onboard while formulating critical management strategies and priorities. Such information will inarguably consolidate management-employee alignment.

In his study on how business strategy and HR strategy can impact performance, Tarigan (2005) hypothesizes that the level of alignment of HR strategy and business strategy will obviously have a direct impact on organizational outcomes.

Companies, especially those operating in the manufacturing sector, are consistently faced with a myriad of challenges, including overcapacity, low profit margins and intense competition (Nickerson & Silverman, 2003).

Khatri et al (n.d.) notes that to effectively compete in the face of such and many other challenges, organizations need to be more attuned to their employee relationships and discover options of creating employee satisfaction, motivation and loyalty.

One of the ways that this can be achieved, according to Kennedy (2004), is by aligning management strategies and priorities to employee needs, expectations, demands and value prepositions.

However, Dubrovski (2009) counteracts that many managers, instead of striving to find a common ground that is essential to involve employees in critical decision making processes especially in issues concerning their own interests, continue to make management mistakes that cause further misalignment of organizational goals and objectives.

The proposed study will therefore also aim to extend on the current knowledge of how such management mistakes can be prevented to enhance management-employee alignment and boost performance.

According to Macaleer & Jones (2003), organization development professionals and theorists have for a long time &maintained that improvement in business performance is directly tied to good human resource planning and closely linking this plan to strategic objectives (p. 15).

Failure to align the two, as observed by Tumwesigye (2010), only leads to employee turnover, which unfortunately bears direct and indirect costs such as recruitment and selection costs, lost productivity, reduction in morale among remaining staff, costs associated with training and orienting new members of staff, and work overload, among others.

Rand (1999) add to the discussion by suggesting that most organizations fail to perform because management does not have an effective capacity to run and control the business, including aligning human resource strategies to the overall business strategy.

The above assertions adds propensity for the need to undertake the proposed study so as to come with viable ways which can be ingeniously used to align management practices to the needs and expectations of employees from a human resource perspective.

Justification for Selecting the Topic

This particular study, more than anything else, will seek to offer tenable alternatives that companies operating in the steel production industry can use to align management practices with the needs, demands and expectations of their employees. In addition, Tarigan (2005) observes that few studies have ever focussed on strategy alignment and reinforcement in a manufacturing setting.

In this perspective, the proposed study will go a long way to extend on the current knowledge, especially on how management mistakes can be prevented with an aim to not only enhance management-employee alignment, but to also boost productivity.

The current competitive business environment demands organizations to do everything within their reach so as to remain profitable while maintaining a competitive advantage (Thompson & Heron, 2005). Facilitating management-employee alignment is certainly one of the choices that organizations have in ensuring that they remain competitive. The reasons stated above informed the justification to select this particular topic.

List of References

Anisomova, T (2010). Corporate Brand: The Company-Customer Misalignment and its Performance Implications. Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 17, Issue 7, pp 488-503.

Christiansen, L.C., & Higgs, M (2008). How the Alignment of Business Strategy and HR Strategy can Impact Performance: A Practical Insight for Managers. Journal of General Management, Vol. 33, Issue 4, pp 13-33.

Dubrovski, D (2009). Management Mistakes as Causes of Corporate Crises: Managerial Implications for Countries for Countries in Transition. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, Vol. 20, Issue 1, pp. 39-59.

Hopkins, W.G (2000). Quantitative Research Design. Web.

Kennedy, E (2004). Bridging the Gap between Company and Employees. Women in Business, Vol. 56, Issue 3, pp. 10-15.

Khatri, N., Budwar, P., & Fern, C.T (n.d.). Employee Turnover: Bad Attitude or Poor Management? Web.

Lewis-Beck, M.S.., & Bryman, A (2004). The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Sciences Research Methods, Volume 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Macaleer, B., & Shannon, J (2003). Does HR Planning improve Business Performance? Industrial Management, Vol. 45, Issue 1, pp 15-29.

Nickerson, J.A., & Silverman, B.S (2003). Why Firms want to Organize Efficiently and what keeps them from doing so: Inappropriate Governance, Performance and Adaptation in a Deregulated Industry. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 48, Issue 3, pp 433-465.

Patzer, G.L (1995). Using Secondary Data in Marketing Research: United Sates and Worldwide. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Rand, T (1999). Why Businesses Fail: An Organizational Perspective. Emergence, Vol. 1, Issue 4, pp 97- 114.

Schniederjans, M., & Cao, Q (2009). Alignment of Operations Strategy, Information Strategic Orientation, and Performance: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 47, Issue 10, pp. 2535-2563.

Sekaran, U (2006). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. Bombay: Wiley-India.

Tarigan, R (2005). An Evaluation of the Relationship between Alignment of Strategic Priorities and Manufacturing Performance. International Journal of Management, Vol. 22, Issue 4, pp 586-597.

Thompson, M., & Heron, P (2005). Management Capability and High Performance Work Organization. International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 16, Issue 6, pp 1029-1048.

Tumwesigye, G (2010). The relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Turnover Intentions in a Developing Country: The Mediating Role of Organizational Commitment. African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4, Issue 6, pp 942-952.

WorldSteel Association. (2008). Working in the Steel Industry. Web.

Introduction

In business organizations, employees are among the most valuable organizational assets and highly determine the overall performance of any business. Many organizations despite having the abilities essential in enhancing performance have slacked due to poor input towards employees concerns.

In fact, according to Levesque (2007, p.30) employee satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction. In this line, I suggest that employee motivation is the most essential component in business. Effective HRM (human resource management) is vital for optimally exploiting creativity and accomplishing organizational as well as individual goals.

Organizational leadership must ensure appropriate integration of different activities and synchronized functioning focusing on organizational goals. Employee motivation is vital for guaranteeing commitment of human capital to the given goals. The answer to motivation is centered on the integration of individual and organizational goals.

Hence, managers have to concentrate on important HRM tasks like planning, development, evaluation and compensation. Evaluation entails performance appraisals, scheduling and recommending. This paper investigates the good characteristics of an appraisal system and how the system can be paired with compensation and benefit packages to increase employee motivation.

Good characteristics of an appraisal framework

The success of an appraisal system depends on the involvement of all parties involved. The difference between appraisals and evaluations should be clearly understood by both parties. An evaluation is aimed at objective measurement but an appraisal involves both objective and subjective measurement of employee performance within the period set for review.

Therefore, the aim of performance appraisal is feedback, improvement and assessment (Goel, 2008). The process of implementing performance appraisals is centered on three elements: the job, the employee and the environment of the business. Since these elements are interrelated and interdependent, the appraisal system must be individualized, qualitative, subjective, and focused on solving problems in order to be effective.

The system should also be founded on clearly defined and measurable values and indicators of employee performance. Because the system appraises performance rather than personality, personality aspects that are not pertinent to performance must be disregarded from the system. Some of the good characteristics of an appraisal system include the following:

Documented job analysis: the performance goals and job description must be structured, mutually accepted by and documented for both the employees and managers.

Reliability and validity; performance appraisal systems should give reliable, consistent and valid information that an organization can use even in legal ramifications (Goel 2008). If two supervisors are equally qualified to appraise a worker through the same appraisal method, their results should then agree.

An appraisal should also satisfy the requirement of validity. For instance, if a system is designed for potential of a worker for promotion, the information it gives must relate to potentialities of the worker to assume higher roles.

Communicated to employees; most workers want to know about their job performance. An effective appraisal scheme offers the necessary feedback continuously. The appraisal interview must allow both the employee and the appraiser to understand the existing gaps and plan for a better future.

So far, managers must explicitly explain their expectations on various jobs in advance of the review period. With that understanding, the employees find it easier to learn about the goals and improve their future performance.

Participatory and open; for any successful appraisal system, the employees should be involved and allowed to participate via an interview with the appraiser, for feedback. Interview discussion may involve past performance and establishment of future goals. Strategies to accomplish these goals and improve future performance should also be discussed jointly. Such involvement imparts a sense of belonging.

Employee appeal; formal procedures must be developed to give room for employees who are dissatisfied with appraisal results. They should be offered options to pursue their complaints and have them handled objectively. Primarily, performance appraisals should be used to develop employees as treasured organizational resources. The system will apparently fail when the managers use it as a whip or fail to understand its restrictions.

Supervisor training; since the performance appraisal is vital and somehow difficult, it is necessary to offer training to the appraiser on rating, documenting and interviewing. Being familiar with rating errors can enhance the performance of the rater and hence inject the necessary confidence in the supervisor to consider ratings more objectively (Goel, 2008).

Rewards; an effective appraisal system should include both positive and negative rewards in order to initiate impact. The employees use the rewards as yardstick and improve their performance accordingly.

Integrating compensation and reward packages

Designing and managing reward systems perhaps presents the managers with the most challenging HRM undertaking. Within this area of HRM, there are great inconsistencies between what the literature promises and the practical execution. At the same time, organizations encounter cycles of novelty with higher hopes as the reward networks are improved, only to experience disappointment when they fail to provide results.

From a business perspective, rewards are aimed at motivating certain behaviors. Nonetheless, rewards such as compensation should be appreciated as well-timed and connected to successful performance. This means that reward considerations must reflect on the outcome of performance appraisal in order to instill motivation.

In todays competitive environment, business organizations are increasingly establishing compensation goals based on pay-for-performance principle (Goel, 2008). It is agreed that performance appraisal are not complete without the managers tying some rewards to the efforts and performance of the employees. This principle is important in motivating employees to perform with larger effort, resulting in low-wage cost.

Pay-for-performance standard refers to different compensation forms such as incentive pay, cash bonuses, merit pays and gain-sharing plans. All of these forms seek to separate outstanding performers from the pay-for-average performers. As Goel (2008) notes, productivity researches indicate that employees output increases when a firm establishes a pay-for-performance initiative.

A number of researches and theories have been developed about how monetary initiatives satisfy and motivate workers (Perry, Engbers & Jun, 2009; Arthur & Aiman-Smith, 2001; Raghuram & Rangaraj, 2008).

Nearly, all studies on the significance of pay likened to other rewards indicate that pay is significant and constantly ranks top in the list. Merit salary increase and piece-rate incentive systems have been associated with responsible stewardship (Perry, Engbers & Jun, 2009).

Group and organizational-wide incentives such as gain-sharing plans have been associated with cooperation and fairness in organizations (Arthur & Aiman-Smith, 2001). Individual-pay-for performance initiatives have been associated with personal development (Raghuram & Rangaraj, 2008). All these suggest that a performance appraisal that involves effective rewards systems is important in motivating employees.

Conclusion

Employee motivation is a major factor than determines individual performance as well as the overall performance of an organization. Therefore, it is the role of management to design performance appraisals that are accepted by all those involved in order to enhance their effectiveness.

Such appraisals must then include the rewarding system which leads to the motivation. Although there are many reward systems, studies reveal that pay-for-performance initiatives are most appropriate to integrate with performance appraisals.

References

Arthur, J. B. & Aiman-Smith, L. (2001). Gainsharing and organizational learning: an analysis of employee suggestion over time. Academy of Management Journal. 44(4), 737-754.

Goel, D. (2008). Performance Appraisal and Compensation Management: A Modern Approach. New Delhi, India: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Levesque, P. (2007). Motivation: powerful motivators that will turbo-charge your workforce. Irvine, CA: Entrepreneur Press.

Perry, J. L., Engbers, T. A. & Jun, S. Y. (2009). Back to the future? Performance-related pay, empirical research and the perils of persistence. Public Administration Review, 39-51.

Raghuram, G. & Rangaraj, N. (2008). Formulating the concept, principles and parameters for performance-related incentives (PRI) in government. Web.

Performance management includes the steps, measures or actions taken to ensure goals are accomplished or targets are met in an organization, institution, a group etc. it may also include the process of building a product or a service. Performance management when carried out appropriately helps employees know that their efforts are recognized and acknowledged (Neal, 2002).

Performance management is a continuous process of interaction and discussion between the management or supervisor and the employees. It is a continuous communication process, which includes identifying and setting targets/goals, obtaining feedback and evaluating the results.

Effective Performance management

Effective performance management requires that a foundation be set to reward good work and motivation to the employees or workers. This can be done through:

• Explaining the link or rather the connection between individual employee works efforts with the institution or organizations objectives  The employees should understand how each persons input contributes to the organizations wellbeing.
• Focusing on setting very clear targets  Targets are the performance expectations. Targets help employees get to know what is actually expected of them and work towards it (Mannix, 2005).
• Apart from the laid down performance expectations, the employees should be encouraged to set targets for themselves. Personal targets would ensure eventual attainment of the companys target.
• Setting performance dimensions, setting work standards and use of objectives  This provides the organization or department have a concrete rationale on what needs to be done and what needs to be done away with. This provides a useful platform for the elimination of the non-important segments of work and helps maintain focus on the essential parts.
• Regular updates and discussions  This includes regular performance assessment discussions in order to identify shortcomings or problem earlier enough and devise ways of alleviating them. This may include changing the course of an operation just to avoid an indicated future problem.
• Coming up with an effective management procedure is quite demanding in terms of time and the workers  It is also a motivator, helps the organization set goals and employees abilities be recognized in relation to their target attainment.

Steps to successful performance management

Planning

Drawing a plan is very important since a plan works as the guideline and the basis of operation. Planning should be based on performance expectations, which entail results plus actions (Dick, 1992). A plan should also be written and verifiable. The written plan should be understood mutually by the employees.

Performance expectations

Results are calculated with the use of objectives, standards and targets. Actions are often measured by means of performance dimensions.

In order to perform, employees have to understand what the expectations are. They need to have an up-to date description on the job. A good job description describes the responsibilities, tasks and essential duties.

The knowledge and skill requirements of the job should also be well illustrated on the job description (McCuiston, 2004). Expected performance must go beyond the description of the job. A high quality job performance is based on the range of expected outcomes and assessment of issues such as:

• The goods and services to provide
• Impact of the job on the overall organization
• How the employee is likely to interact and fit in with colleagues, the management or even clients.
• The organizational values that the employee has to exhibit
• Means, procedures or processes the employee is expected to use in the job

When focusing on performance expectations, the employee needs to know the reason for the existence of the job and know how or where the job fits in the organization. In addition, the employee needs to understand the link between the job responsibilities to the organizational mission and objectives.

Performance expectations act as the basis for communicating performance. They form the basis for assessing the performance of individual employees. An employer or a supervisor, being in charge of clear objectives and expectations that have to be attained, decides on ways to achieve success.

Written and verifiable expectations

A written plan

1. Serves as a basis for communicating on performance expectations
2. Helps employees know and understand the accepted and non-accepted outcomes.
3. Enables the employees to assess and know when they have performed what others were expecting of them. When employees discover that they have performed according to expectations, they become satisfied and even draw self-inspiration.
4. Enables the new employees know or rather understand and internalize what is expected of them. The new employees get informed about performance expectations.
5. A plan puts everything in the open thus encouraging an open relationship between the management and the employees.

Putting expectations in writing

A well-written summary of a planning discussion during the planning process provides an essential record of the mutual understanding and agreement on the expectations (Ely, 2001). Putting in writing, the expectations i.e. the expected targets/ objectives, the expected actions is important in:

• Allocation of resources
• Budget discussions
• Program prioritization

Mutually written expectations also aid in focusing feedback and minimizing complications when it comes to the time of result and performance analysis.

Verification of performance expectation

Performance expectations should be able to be verified. Early in the performance management cycle-plan the employee together with the contributions of the management should be able to point out on how and where the indicators of employee performance will be obtained.

The quantifiable expectations are the easiest to assess. However, most of the time expectations are not easily measurable. These are known as the qualitative expectations, which can basically be made verifiable through stating the criteria to be followed, behaviors to b displayed plus the target dates to meet.

It is important to find out how performance will be verified at the time when assigning the various responsibilities. This assists the employees to keep track of their performance and make consultations when necessary.

Ways of verifying performance

Performance can be verified in many ways. Some of the commonly applied ways include:

• Using specific and observable job products  This implies the tangible features, which can be easily reviewed without the employee necessarily being present.
• Use of Reports and records  Records such as attendance records, safety records, financial records and inventories are essential indicators of employee performance.
• Through direct observation of an employee performance
• Using a rating scale  This is a scale that defines behaviors at various performance levels. The rate scale measures what is called the behaviorally anchored rating scales.
• Critical comments or commendations received on the employees performance. The commendations or comments could be obtained from clients or even colleagues.
• Making use of direct observations  This is particularly possible in jobs with built-in feedbacks.

Check-In: Providing Observation and Feedback

After the performance targets and objectives are set, it is important to observe an employees performance and have regular check-ins. The check-ins is meant to provide feedback and it is upon the employer or the management to inoculate pleasant performance into an employee.

Some jobs have built in feedbacks, such as an electrician repairing a switch and the switch working. This type of feedback is immediate and hence is very effective.

As a manager, one gives informal feedback very frequently. By providing and observing detailed feedback, the management plays a very essential role in developing the employee and assisting in assuring continued success in achieving the performance expectations.

Coaching

This is a method of communication with an employee stronger. Coaching is essentially used during check-in sessions. These are the sessions to discuss with the employers not only the performance expectations but also on how to achieve the expectations in line with the organizations mission (Bacal, 2002).

Coaching aids in shaping performance and it also increases the likelihood of an employee meeting the set targets or rather the set performance expectations.

Assessment

Assessment is the final phase of the performance management cycle. Assessment provides a very important opportunity for the management to discuss or rather exchange with the employee about previous performance, assess the employees morale, and draw plans for the workers future performance targets and expectations (Zaffron, 2009).

It is always strongly suggested that employees should be assessed on annual basis but it is rather important to assess employees more frequently. In this way, it is easier to monitor progress and even acknowledge performance.

Round the office management

This is management focused mainly in the operations within the office. It focuses on activities and functioning of an office. Office management covers such areas as work manuals, work rules, hours of work, attendance and personnel files. All these should be handled appropriately and cautiously (Austin, 2000).

Delegation

This is a way of consistently providing directions and careful instructions to the workers. When work is delegated appropriately, the staff is able to learn new skills and expertise, which would help them be more productive and be self-reliant. As a supervisor, one has to assess the employees abilities to complete and accept duties assigned to them.

Managing employee reorganizations

Reorganization refers to changes, which occur in an organizations staffing, programs and resources.

How to manage reorganization

• Identify the problem.
• Examine the existing jobs and structures and determine whether they satisfy departmental goals.
• Setting up ways and means for collecting input from staff.: These include

1. Doing verbal, written, or even computer surveys
2. Establishing problem-solving teams
3. Setting up review committees

Interaction in the Workplace

Diversity in the Workplace

Workforce diversity implies the inclusion of individuals of all walks of life into the workforce (Daniels, 2004). It also acknowledges that people vary in abilities, gender, socio-cultural, age and even experiences.

The current political, social and economical events induce managers, entrepreneurs and politicians to regard diversity management as a priority of their agenda. Also apart from ensuring complete exploitation of employee abilities, proper diversity management can contribute organizational achievement through enabling access to a dynamic market

Communication

Communication is an essential tool used in performance management. Good communication can help an organization:

• Improve relationships and also instill teamwork. Communication helps conjugate staff and ensures smooth flow of information in the work place.
• To develop and improve performance and output
• Ensures an open and creative environment, information sharing enhances creativity since the staff obtain variety of information from colleagues and also from the employer or management.
• To solve its problems effectively and efficiently

Managing Conflict

Conflicts

Conflicts are basically disagreements. In conflicts, no party is wrong. In addition, in place, different groups or persons collide and this brings about disagreement (Routledge, 2009). In most conflicts, neither party is right or wrong; instead, different perceptions collide to create disagreement. Conflict is always there, it is a natural occurrence and it is up to you to stand up against conflicts professionally in order to arrive at solutions.

The outcome a conflict solving process depends on the approach. A conflict can turn out as very positive if handled positively and openly. Problem correction is a way of strengthening the work unit. A conflict in views can at times be very resourceful. It gives someone an opportunity to learn about self, learn how to explore other peoples views and even promotes productive and healthy relationships.

Resolving Conflict Situations

In order to manage a conflict professionally one must have adequate skills in communication (Nemeth, 2011). This can be achieved through creation of an open environment whereby everyone is free to air their views, talk about experiences and also state any difficulty they might be facing in executing their duties. It is important to listen to the employees views (Tally, 2000).

It is also necessary to create an open environment whereby one feels free to air views without fear of victimization of any sort. It is important to understand their plights and grievances and also to ask questions concerning their raised concerns.

When faced with employees who find it diffi9cult to resolve their own conflicts:

• First, acknowledge that a problem exists and a solution is vital. Inform yourself with the problem; get to know the root cause.
• Get to know the emotions or feelings behind the conflict since some conflicts are based on emotions and feelings such as anger. Ensure that the feelings are expressed and acknowledge them.
• Single out the problem. Learn the negative impact of the conflict on the job or on the said parties relationships, meet with the parties or rather employees differently at first and listen to each of their statements separately.
• Identify the crucial need. First, look for needs before looking into solutions. Starting with the need is a powerful tool in conflict resolution. Finally resolve to a solution that either the colliding parties or persons can live with. In most cases, it is not a matter of deciding on who is wrong and who is right. Find the common areas of agreement.
• Do follow up. This involves monitoring the proceedings for a period of time. Scheduling a meeting with the conflicting parties say after about two weeks to determine how the parties are faring is very necessary.
• Decide on the next cause of action if the problem still lies unresolved. If the existence of the conflict is detrimental to the operations of the department or organization then it is important that solutions be sought elsewhere. An external facilitator such as the staff ombudsman may be important at this stage. Conflict resolution may sometimes even involve performance appraisals, may become a coaching topic or subject to disciplinary action.

Most conflicts however always are as a result of anger. One very effective method of defusing anger is through effective listening (Coens, 2002). When anger is directed towards oneself, it is always difficult to respond definitively and decisively simply because ones emotions are always involved.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is another form or rather cause of conflict at the workplace.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

In order to effectively curb sexual harassment, there are a number of points to note.

• Always monitor and be on the lookout for any forms of sexual harassment at the workplace. Watch out for any unbecoming behaviors that may tend towards sexual harassment.
• Bring up the subject of sexual harassment at the organizational meetings or any other forms of staff meetings and express dire consequences and disapproval for the offence.
• Inform every one of the organizations policies and stands on the issue of sexual harassment. Communicate and distribute harassment policy and complaint resolution processes to all the employees.
• Let everyone know which behaviors amount to sexual harassment. You may post the official sexual harassment brochure for the entire organization to read and acquaint themselves with the policies.

Performance management cycles

This refers to any systematic approach to performance management. This basically involves the use of relevant measures and indications, regularly monitoring procedures to isolate and identify achievements and using the information obtained to rectify or modify plans (Shen et al., 2009).

Performance management cycle is represented in four stages. Planning entails identifying the performance required and ways of scaling or measuring achievement. Doing involves encouraging performance and ensuring that the performance is to the required standard. Support and development are also provided.

Conclusion

Managing performance or managing employees ensures effective delivery and attainment of a company or organizations visions (Aubrey, 1999). There is always a direct correlation between having a functional performance management system and improved business or organizational results.

The results are obtained in the form of: direct financial gains, motivated workforce and improved management control. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management indicates that Performance Management is a system or process whereby:

1. Performance Expectations are set and there is effective planning of work
2. Monitoring is done on all the aspects of work
3. There is development and enhancement of Staff ability.
4. There is rating and summarization of performance.
5. Rewards are given to the top performers.

References

Aubrey, C 1999, Bringing out the Best in People, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Austin, J & Carr, J 2000, Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis, Context Press, New York.

Bacal, R 2002, Performance management; a briefcase book, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Coens, T 2002, Abolishing performance appraisals; why do they backfire, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.

Daniels, A 2004, Performance Management: Changing Behavior that Drives Organizational Effectiveness. Context Press, New York.

Dick, G 1992, Complete guide to performance appraisal, McGraw Hill, New York.

Ely, R & Thomas, D 2001, Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity Perspectives on Work Group Processes Outcomes, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol.46, No.6, pp. 229-273.

Mannix, E & Neale, M 2005, What Differences Make a Difference? The Promise and Reality of Diverse Teams in Organizations, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 31-55.

McCuiston, V, Wooldrige, R & Pierce, C 2004, Leading the diverse workforce. Profit, prospects and progress, The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 73-92.

Neal, J 2002, Effective phrases for performance management, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.

Nemeth, C & Klein, G 2011, The naturalistic decision making perspective, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

Routledge T & Francis, G 2009, Performance management, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 123-432.

Tally, G 2000, Effective phrases for performance management, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.

Shen, J, Chanda, A, DNetto, B, & Monga, M 2009, Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 235251.

Zaffron, L & Steve, D 2009, Performance Management: The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

Acquire Physical resources

It is arguably evident that physical resource acquisition is vital in ensuring business growth and expansion. In addition, valuable resources play an integral role in helping the business to establish competitive advantage over its competitors (Alkhafaji, 2003). This implies that businesses should constantly revise their physical resource acquisition methods in accordance with the business level strategies, business goals and the available financial resources at the disposal of the firm.

This helps in eliminating instances associated with financial constraints on the organization primarily due to asset acquisition. The business should strike at maintaining a balance between the finances used in the acquisition of the physical resources and the working capital of the business. In addition, the firm should categorize its critical resources that are essential in ensuring business continuity and growth in the long-term (Bartol & Tien, 2008).

Currently, the methods used for the acquisition of physical resources within The Office Assistant include purchasing, finance lease, operating lease and rent, which have been chosen depending on the type of physical resource. Finance lease, sometimes referred to as capital lease, is an instance of commercial arrangement that businesses can use to raise the finances required to acquire physical assets instead of using a genuine rental.

In this context, The Office Assistant selects a physical resource, which is then purchased by the lessor or the finance company (Daft & Marcic, 2010). As such, The Office Assistant uses the acquired physical resource during the lease period and makes subsequent installments regarding the use of the physical resource.

In the end, the financing company recovers a significant portion of the cost of the physical resource and the interests due to rentals incurred by The Office Assistant. The Office Assistant on the other hand has the alternative of acquiring ownership of the physical resource depending on the agreements through payment of the last rental and the bargain option purchase price (Drucker, 2007).

An operating lease on the other hand serves to acquire the physical resource for short duration of time; however, The Office Assistant will not have any ownership rights over the physical resource. The alternatives available when the duration of operating lease ends could be equipment renewal, restoration and purchasing the asset at its present market value.

Purchasing as an acquisition method implies that The Office Assistant has full ownership rights of the asset. Renting on the other hand involves payments for temporary use of a physical resource that is owned by another party (Durbin & Doerscher, 2010). The following Table 1 shows an analysis of the different types of physical resources and the recommendations on whether to change or not to change the acquisition method.

Monitor and review operational performance

Review strategy

Performance evaluation of the operational plan is needed in order to determine the effectiveness of the plan in meeting the business goals of The Office Assistant and facilitating the strategic business expansion of the enterprise (Grant, 2005). The operational plan is in line with the strategic business growth of increasing its sales services by 10 percent in the following years and to introduce new services such as graphic design (Hubbar & Beamish, 2011).

The operational plan to be reviewed also outlines the additional physical and human resources required for the expansion of the business in the following year. The Key Performance Indicators identified in this operational plan include mileage of the delivery van that should be analyzed on a daily basis to assess the extent of sales delivery.

This serves to eliminate potential cases associated with misuse of the firms resources by the employees. Another Key Performance Indicator outlined in the operational plan is the frequency of equipment hire for out of office business operations; this will entail an analysis of the volume of usage of the printing and photocopying papers (Nigel & Kraemer, 2004).

New market penetration is also another key performance indicator that will serve to evaluate whether the additional physical and human resource is justified in accordance with the strategic plan to expand the business in the following year.

The volume of work for the graphic designer, the number of calls that the business receives from its existing and new clients and the profit margin are also part of the Key Performance Indicators since they are used in evaluating whether the business has attained goals and objectives after the implementation of the operational plan to expand the business in the following year (Parmenter, 2011).

The review of the operational plan should be conducted after its implementation and should be done periodically in order to monitor the specific key performance indicators that are being met, those that are not, and their respective trends.

This approach plays an integral role in adjusting the operational plan to meet the business goals and objectives. As a result, the review will significantly entail gathering information from the employees of The Office Assistant and reviewing its performance in accordance with the already established business goals and objectives of the operational plan (Sampson & Daft, 2009).

Consultation strategy

Consultation strategy has the principal objective of gathering relevant information to facilitate the review and monitoring of the operational plan that was developed. It is important to take into consideration the fact that the consultation strategy should involve employees in the firm who are directly related with the outlined key performance indicators.

A comprehensive review will involve gathering information from all the employees at different organizational levels after the implementation of the operational plan (Thill & Courtland, 2011).

The sales representatives will be consulted in order to determine if there are any changes in the sales volume of the firms key products after the expansion of the business by 10 percent. An increase in the sales volume implies that the operational plan was effective in meeting the business goals and objectives of the expansion.

The employees who are responsible for administering services associated with photocopying, printing, packaging and posting services and equipment hire will be consulted in order to determine whether there is an increase in the service activities. This serves to evaluate their performance against the objective of increasing services delivery by 10 percent during the following business year by June 2012 (Williamson, 2003).

The employee in charge of the vehicle operations will be consulted in order to determine whether the delivery van is playing its role in enhancing service delivery as outlined in the operational plan to enhance services growth by 10 percent. The senior management team will also consulted in order to evaluate the core aspects of business performance such as changes in the profit margin, detailed reports concerning the productivity of the newly hired employees to enhance services section of the firm.

The management will also be consulted to produce a report detailing the consumption of business resources such as printing papers and inks, the trends in the sales and whether the introduced service of graphic design would have a positive reception by the potential customers (Wheelen & Hunger, 2008). The review of the operational plan will also consult with the implementation to determine the scope, risks and milestone achieved.

Reporting template that could be used to report on the performance of the operational plan

1. Tracking the achievements of the milestones regarding the time variable
   1. List the milestones achieved and those that have not been achieved
   2. Risk assessment of the milestones that have not been achieved
2. The budget scope of the operational plan
   1. The physical and human resources that have been acquired in time
   2. The physical and human resources that have not been acquired in time
   3. Risk assessment associated with the physical and human resources that have not been acquired in time
   4. Physical resources that may be needed during implementation and were not detailed in the operational plan
3. Completion of the milestones according the plan detail
   1. Acquisition of physical resources
   2. Acquisition of human resources
   3. Effective use of the physical resources
   4. Productivity of the human resources
   5. Achievement of the business goals and objectives
4. Achievement of the Key Performance Indicators
   1. Profit margins
   2. Mileage of the delivery van to assess the volume of service delivery
   3. Successful market penetration
   4. The volume of work for the graphic designer
   5. The number of calls that the business receives from its existing and new clients
5. Evaluations of how the physical and human resources are used in the organization.

Recommendations

The identified areas of non-performance in the operational plan for The Office Assistant include ineffective use of the firms resources; non-productivity of the employees; and poor personnel management and workforce planning. Non-productivity of the employees is evident in the case whereby the customer feedback forms have been developed and not implemented.

Poor work force planning and personnel management is evident for the case of where the budget wages are constantly overspent to cover the wages of the staff when attending induction. In addition, most of the employees under Karen are part time and casual work and only work during the afternoon, weekend; they therefore cannot attend the session (Bartol & Tien, 2008).

Recommendations to address the identified areas of non-performance

Ineffective use of the firms resources

Resources are central to the success of the organization; in fact, they facilitate the execution of every business processes and contribute towards the effectiveness of the functional units of the business such as sales management, marketing and distribution. Owing to the fact that the operational plan relies significantly on the addition of both human and physical resources to the firm, strategies should be devised to ensure that the only the resources that are needed to meet the business requirements are acquired (Bartol & Tien, 2008).

In order to ensure that resources are used effectively within the firm, it is recommended that periodic reporting to be undertaken by the employees who are left in charge of the resources. With this regard, the employees who deal with equipments such as the printers, photocopiers, motor vehicles and computers are required to submit periodic reports regarding the status of the equipments and any cases of upgrades that are needed.

Resource consumption should serve to reflect the levels of profit margins for the firm. It is also recommended that the senior management should set policies aimed outlining the consequences associated with ineffective and unproductive use of the firms resources.

Potential consequences could range from suspension of the employees, salary cuts to recover the losses imposed and job losses for employees who have been caught engaging in an unproductive consumption of resources. This approach serves to ensure employee accountability and responsibility towards the resources that have been allocated to them (Daft & Marcic, 2010).

Another strategic recommendation that can be used in ensuring that there is economic, productive and safe use of the firms resources is to ensure that physical resources are only approved for use by the senior management.

Business cases associated with the hiring of equipment should only be approved by the senior management, who have the responsibility of resource allocations, after which the employees using the resources are accountable and submit reports regarding how the resource was used and the need for upgrades and maintenance practices.

Accountability and responsibility should be of ultimate importance when using the firms assets. As such, the use of the organizational resources should be aligned only with the achievement of the business goals and objectives of the firm (Grant, 2005).

Non-productivity of the employees

Productivity is primarily concerned with the management of resources towards the achievement of the objectives in a timely manner without compromising on quality and quantity. This implies that it is evaluates the output relative to the input, implying that the productivity is mainly determined by the efficiency of the operations that aim at transforming the input to output.

Basically, productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Employee productivity should be reinforced using efficiency. The applicability of efficiency in driving productivity focuses more on the effective and timely use of the organizational resources in order to produce output (Drucker, 2007).

Time management plays an important role in the prioritization of organizational resources towards goal-oriented actions; this helps in increasing the output and ensuring that there is optimal usage of the input resources such as labor, capital and so on. In addition, efficiency through time management means that goals and objectives are achieved within the anticipated time frame, hence eliminating any bottlenecks that may be a hindrance in the effective undertaking of the business tasks.

In the present business context, process efficiency and automation are one of the most vital elements that organizations can deploy in order to ensure that they remain competitive. Process efficiency and automation are core organizational tools that can be used to foster productivity during the execution of the business level and corporate strategies.

Automation and process efficiency plays an important role in ensuring that business processes are executed in an effective manner that does not impose time constraints and ensures that the input resources are mainly used for their intended purpose (Durbin & Doerscher, 2010).

Personnel management and workforce planning

Personnel management and workforce optimization are also aspects of management that are directly related to organizational efficiency. Personnel management can be viewed as the process of acquiring and sustaining a productive workforce. It is an important aspect of management and is primarily concerned with the planning, organization, assimilation and maintenance of an organizational workforce for the principal purpose of fostering productivity.

The main objective underlying personnel management is to establish a productive labor force and allocate production resources in order to form a production process that is efficient in terms of cost, scale and technical efficiency. Personnel management is directly related to workforce planning, which primarily entails the allocation of input resources, time and labor in accordance to the desired goals and objectives in order to ensure that there is increased productivity within the organization.

This will eliminate instances associated with understaffing, unavailability of input resources and lack of employee productivity. In addition, workflow optimization and personnel management are vital tools in ensuring that there is workflow and process efficiency (Daft & Marcic, 2010).

Coaching plans

Coaching is increasingly becoming an important business process aimed at enhancing employee performance and retaining talent. In the context of The Office Assistant, coaching plans primarily serve to develop the skills of the employees (Drucker, 2007). The following paragraphs denote the core elements that make up the coaching plan to develop the skills of an individual.

Conduct an assessment of the individual that is to be coached

This mainly involves carrying out a comprehensive assessment on an individuals strength, capabilities and any weaknesses relating to communications skills. The instructor can assess the individual using structured interviews, a written assessment that makes use of the question-answer approach, personality tests or using all of the above methods.

Ensuring that the individual has an understanding of what is expected out of her position

This is involves a review of the job descriptions and specifications for the job position that the individual has in the organization. It is also important to inform the individual the reasons why he/she is undertaking the coaching program, with a particular emphasis on the coaching need identified. The instructor has to establish the goals of the plan together with individual being coached in order to outline what is expected of both the instructor and the person who is undertaking the coaching program (Daft & Marcic, 2010).

Making sure that the individual holds commitment towards the coaching program

In this phase, collect the data regarding the individuals commitment in reaching the goals of the coaching program identified. It is vital for the instructor to ascertain that the individual is willing for the coaching to be fruitful. Commitment is reinforced by:

1. Adopting a learner-centered approach, whereby the individual participates actively in most of the coaching process.
2. Constant evaluation of the progress of the coaching program towards the achievement of the established goals and objectives of the program
3. Persistent practical assessments to monitor improvements and the interests in undertaking the program

Develop an action plan that has been customized to address the identified coaching needs

This entails the development of an action plan, together with the individual being coached on the specific areas that he/she must work on during the course of coaching. Address the identified coaching needs one after the other and not in a simultaneous manner which may turn out to be ineffective (Thill & Courtland, 2011).

Concrete steps and evaluation should be established basing on unit timelines so as to determine the phase of the coaching progress. At the end of each step, an evaluation of the goals is undertaken to see the progress before moving on to the next step of the coaching process. It is important to note that the individual cannot be allowed to move to the next stage if the goals of the previous stage have not been met. A step by step approach and evaluation is preferable if the coaching program is to be fruitful.

Week 1:

Coaching need: interpersonal communication skills.

Goals

1. The individual should be able to introduce and express oneself without fear
2. The individual should demonstrate excellent interpersonal communication skills and interpersonal relationship skills such as negation and conflict resolution.

Week 2:

Coaching need: presentation skills.

Goals

1. The individual should be able to make presentations relating to his job position in the company in a group of at least 10 individuals without notable difficulties
2. The presentations made should be precise and lacks ambiguity
3. The individual should be able to defend his propositions regarding the concerns that are raised in his/her presentation.

Week 3:

Coaching need: efficiency in task performance.

Goals

1. The individual should be able to make timely submissions of tasks assigned to him/her
2. The individual should be able to complete the tasks assigned to him/her without simple errors and in time.

Week 4:

Coaching need: decision making skills.

Goals

1. The individual should have mastered core concepts of rational decision making at the individual level
2. The individual should be able to participate actively in group decision making.

Establish strategies that are used in measuring the progress

This is done through setting up discrete goals that are evaluated after the completion of each phases of the coaching process. Variables that can be used include test scores, change in behavior and an increase in efficiency.

The individual under coaching should be accountable for maintaining contact with the instructor and consulting with other parties if needed. Outsider involvement should be as minimal as possible and should only entail issues that are related to coaching process. Privacy of the individual should be maintained at all times when possible.

Establish a reward scheme for achievement of goals

Rewards and punishments should be developed as a motivator for the individual involved in the coaching program. This entails working the individuals personality and encouragement of the potential benefits to his/her career after achieving the goals outlined in the coaching program.

Rewards scheme could include aspects such as better working environments, increased working conditions and potential benefits such as career enhancements. Punishments could range from the risk that the individual places himself in when he does not undertake his tasks in an efficient manner.

References

Alkhafaji, A., 2003. Strategic management: formulation, implementation, and control in a dynamic environment. London: Routledge.

Bartol, K. & Tien, M., 2008. Management, A Pacific Rim Focus. New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Daft, L. & Marcic, D., 2010. Understanding Management. Kentucky: Cengage Learning.

Drucker, F., 2007. Management challenges for the 21st century. New York: Butterworth Heinemann.

Durbin, P. & Doerscher, T., 2010. Taming Change with Portfolio Management: Unify Your Organization, Sharpen Your Strategy, and Create Measurable Value. Texas: Greenleaf Book Group.

Grant, R., 2005. Contemporary strategy analysis. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Hubbar, G. & Beamish, P., 2011. Strategic Management  Thinking, Analysis, Action. 4th ed. Australia: Pearson.

Nigel, M. & Kraemer, K., 2004. Review: Information Technology and Organizational perfprmance: an integrative model of IT business value. MIS Quaterly, pp.282 322.

Parmenter, D., 2011. Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing,and Using Winning KPIs. New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons.

Sampson, D. & Daft, R., 2009. Fundamentals of Management. New York: Cengage Learning.

Thill, J. & Courtland, L., 2011. Excellence in Business Communication. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Wheelen, T. & Hunger, D., 2008. Strategic Management and Business Policy: Concepts and Cases. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Williamson, D., 2003. Strategic management and business analysis. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Introduction

For any company to fulfill its obligations to stakeholders, the companys top management must design a rapport between the company and the staff members, which will meet the dynamic needs of both the staff members and the top management. The company expects the staff members to carry out their duties in a reliable manner within the set parameters agreed in their contracts signed with the company.

The company expects the staff members to work with minimum supervision, to take initiatives and to acquire new skills in the course of their work.

On the other hand, the staff members expect the employer to grant them favorable pay, safe working environment and just treatment at all times as agreed by the two parties and as guided by any regulations or statutes relating to employer-employee relation.

Background Information

From a small ground-handling business with five employees, Dnata is today the fourth largest air services provider in the world with over 20,000 staff members spread in the five continents of the world (The Emirates Group, 2022).

The company specializes in ground handling, cargo, travel, and catering in the 38 countries in which they offer their services. Dnata belongs to the Government of Dubai though it operates independently and has its headquarters in Dubai (The Emirates Group, 2022). The name Dnata is an acronym for Dubai National Air Travel Agency.

It has created a niche for itself in the air services business and has received several awards that attest to this. The company scooped the prize for the Worlds Leading Air Travel Service provider in the Words Travel Awards, Ground Handling Provider of the Year in the Aviation Business Awards and Middle Easts Leading Tour Operator in World Travel Awards (The Emirates Group, 2022).

Problem of the Study

The reward management model is a crucial part of any modern companys infrastructure since the company must operate through making maximum use of the employees. As such, staff satisfaction and the reward model are crucial factors for a company to realize its goals.

In the recent past, there have been several cases of industrial actions by Dnata staff members and the staff strike at Geneva airport by Dnata staff members in 2012 is still vivid. Such industrial actions are contagious and can spread from one workstation to another. They disrupt services and hurt the reputation of the company. They affect the profitability of the company too.

With this in mind, the company has the obligation of preventing such industrial actions from taking place.

Research Questions

The study relies on the assumption that Dnata can prevent such industrial actions and boost the morale of its employees by putting in place a proper reward system that will cater for the needs of the employees. The following are the research questions: How does reward model assist to achieve organizational goals and avert industrial actions? Are rewards within a company able to boost employees performance? Lastly, which is the best reward model for an organization?

Research Methodology

The study will include both qualitative and quantitative approaches to ensure that all the necessary information is in place for thorough analysis to yield informed conclusions. There will be a review of available literature on reward systems backed by the findings of this study. The study will administer questionnaires to acquire quantitative data while face-to-face interviews will yield qualitative data.

Limitations of the Study

It will be hard to approach Dnata employees because of the nature of their work. In addition, the staff members work in 38 countries and this presents a difficulty in reaching them.

Expected Results

The study will provide reasons for the industrial actions by the company staff and recommend to the company on the necessary steps for the company to avert such industrial actions in the future. The analysis from this study and the available literature will enable the researcher to make objective conclusions and recommendations to the company.

References

The Emirates Group. (2022). Our Brands.

Business simulation is a process by which entrepreneurs single out the requirements needed in the business and then develop solutions that can satisfy these needs. The analysis is important since it ensures that a companys resources are utilized in the most effective ways so as to achieve the goals of the company.

This implies that, business simulations lead to reduced cost of production and other operations while on the other hand, increasing the profit margin (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 3).

There are aspects considered while analyzing a company. These factors include the history and the experience of the company, its objectives, market (target market), competition, financial status, and future plans among many other factors (Blais 2012, p. 39). This paper analyzes Prestige Motors Company on these various aspects.

History and Experience of Prestige Motor Company

Prestige Motor was formed 6 years ago by a group of automobile experts it is a locally based company. From the time this company was formed, it has been dealing in a wide range of executive vehicles. These models include PR-1, PR-2, PR-S1, PR-X2 and PR-M8. The company solely conducts its markets research as well as the marketing of its products (Leeds Metropolitan University 2009, p. 1).

The companys many years of experience make it one of the best car dealers in the entire region. It offers the best services to its customers and as a result, has been able to retain very many customers. Prestige Motor has a staff consisting of professionals of high caliber.

The company offers some of the most attractive deals in the area. It is located at a convenient point making it very easy for the customers to trace it. In addition, it offers other services such as the sales of used vehicles. It accepts various forms of payment, a factor that could be considered as an advantage to the customers (Thomas 2008, p. 281).

Objectives

The main objective of Prestige Motor is to ensure that it offers the best services to its customers. For that reason, the company strives to produce the best and most modern car models.

To support the main objective, the company has developed other objectives. They include ensuring Prestige safety, improved information processing, developing models that are energy efficient and adoption of scientific advances (Carkenord 2008, p.13).

Prestige Motor through its researchers has been able to bring to the market cars that have sensors. Sensors are devices that detect drivers exhaustion and other factors that may interfere with the drivers attention. This is a move geared at improving safety of the drivers while on the road.

The move has dramatically reduced the occurrence of accidents that were initially caused by Prestige cars. Currently, the research team is working on a strategy to develop other safety systems such as those that detect developing dangers such as oncoming traffic and wind around prestige vehicles (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 186).

The company has achieved its first dream, transiting from electrical cars with power control machines to the ones with sensors. The company plans to produce cars with GPS that are voice-activated. In addition, these new makes will have emergency communication devices together with cell phones (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 191).

The company has succeeded in building an energy saving car models. In fact, it is the first company to produce a hybrid car in the region. This hybrid car is a product of semi-conductor power device know-how.

At the moment, the company is looking for strategies that would enable it develop models with lower fuel consumption. There is also an ongoing research to establish cars with alternative energy sources such as solar cells (Carkenord 2008, p. 17).

The research team is working on a plan to develop more efficient engines that consume less amount of fuel and which produce less noise. These models will be developed using engine vibration and stimulated airflow technology. The company also plans to make vehicles that are more aerodynamic based on mirror vibration and wind throb technology (Carkenord 2008, p. 35).

The Market for Prestiges Products

The company produces vehicles that only suit the need of the customers. This implies that Prestige Motors vehicles are manufactured according to the specifications of its researchers. The researchers provide the details that conform to the ones they gather in the fields. As a result, these vehicles are being produced to match customers specific need. The company has widened its market locally and globally (Carkenord 2008, p. 39).

The company has discovered that, emerging economies purchase more cars than the economies that are already developed. For that reason, the company has been directing most of its marketing efforts to developing countries and very little, to developed ones.

As a matter of fact, these emerging economies constitute more than 60% of the entire market for Prestige products. To ensure that these emerging markets are retained, the company manufactures relatively cheaper vehicles since most of these people are just average earners (Carkenord 2008, p. 30).

The company relies on target marketing. All its marketing and adverts are directed to specific prospects, people who are likely to purchase the companys products. The importance of target marketing is that, it saves money and time. The marketing strategy ensures that all the marketing efforts and resources are directed to the right people. The strategy is also known to yield good outcomes (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 35).

The companys main challenge is the companies which offer similar products but at a lower price. Even though, their products are of lower qualities, the fact that their products are cheaper hinders Prestige products from penetrating the market of the developing regions.

Citizens of developing countries prefer to buy cheaper auto-mobiles in order to save money. They pay a lot of attention to cost thereby assuming the quality of a product (Carkenord 2008, p. 36).

The Companys Financial Statement

Other Financial Statements of the Company

Target Promotion

Data retrieved from Leeds Metropolitan University 2009 Web

The company has made a total sale amounting to 2378.74 sterling pounds. This was possible following the effective marketing and advertisement strategies it employed during the selling processes. The cost incurred while making the sales totaled to 2084.49 sterling pounds.

The costs were far much less than the actual sales. As a result, the company recorded a pre-tax gross profit of 291.34 sterling pounds. Compared to its competitors, Prestige Company recorded relatively high gross profit. This implies that this company is competing fairly well in the motor manufacturing industry (Blais 2012, p. 109).

The company has a gross margin of 12.24 sterling pounds. Gross margin is the difference between the cost of production and the sales revenue. The companys margin is positive indicating that the companys revenues surpassed the cost it incurred in producing these cars.

In essence, this shows that Prestige Company is faring well in the industry. This is also reflected in the companys fixed overheads and total overheads. The companys total overheads amount to 159.81 sterling pounds and fixed overheads sum up to 563.85 pounds (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 99).

Since the company is still new in the motor manufacturing industry, there are some hidden expenses that it has to meet. These expenses have great impact on the operating profits. As a result, the company has recorded a bad operating profit of -345.86 sterling pounds.

It is obvious that ones the operating profit is affected, post tax profit and sales margin will be affected as well. The companys sales margin is -14.54% while the post tax profit is -690.53. If the company was an old one, these hidden expenses, which drastically reduce the gross profits, would be minimized. Still, the companys trend shows that, it will be able to avoid such expenses in due course (Blais 2012, p. 112).

The company still depends mostly on financial institutions in order to finance its operations. The revenues obtained from sales of the cars are not sufficient to cover all the expenses. For that reason, the company has been forced to dig deeper to its bank savings, to finance some of the operations.

The companys overall bank balance is -680.64 and 313.25 as the outstanding loan. In turn, this has affected the total profit, reducing it to -768.37. Still, the companys management has been effective enough to prevent the effect from spreading to value of stock. The value of stock is maintained at zero (Carkenord 2008, p. 42).

Even though the company has been able to maintain the value of stock at 0.00, it is evident that the company is in dire need of other sources to help it finance its operations.

The management is currently working on a plan that will see the company finance most of its operations from its own revenues. This strategy will assist in ensuring that the company avoids unnecessary debts that negatively affect its profits (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 102).

The company does not have many assets. Its assets in monetary value amount to 855.22 sterling pounds. These assets are sufficient enough to run the company. However, the company plans to add more assets under its expansion program.

Probably, the small amount of the assets and reduced bank reserve has resulted in the company not being able to return value to the share holders and the assets. The total funds for share holders are recorded as -268.37 sterling pounds whereas the percentage of return on assets is -1538.45 (Blais 2012, p. 114)

The companys current ratio of 0.24 indicates that the company is still incapable of meeting all its short term liabilities using the short term assets. It is a common knowledge that the ratio determines a companys ability to offset its short term liabilities.

The lower the current ratio the more incapable the company is of meeting majority of its short term obligations. This also applies to the quick ratio. The companys quick ratio is less than one. This implies that it still requires some interventions in order to be able to meet its short-term obligations (Blais 2012, p. 115).

The company has recorded an interest cover of 587.93. Unlike the quick and the current ration, the interest cover is a bit encouraging. This cover determines the companys profits adequacy in comparison to the interests it incurs on its debts. The cover is large enough and this shows that Prestige Company is able to pay all its interests using the profits it obtains from the sales (Cadle, Paul & Yeates 2010, p. 107).

There are five models of cars manufactured in Prestige Company. These models include PR-1, PR-2, PR-S1, PR-X2 and PR-M8 having workforce of 1500, 1500, 250, 250, 500 respectively. These models sell at 62000, 62000, 50000, 65000 and 50000 respectively.

The fourth model has the highest gross margin of, 19.13%. For that reason, the company plans to increase its labor force and the number of units produced, this move will increase the companys sales. The move will also include increasing its market share from 0.50% to more than 2.60% (Leeds Metropolitan University 2009, p. 1).

Recommendations

Firstly, Prestige Company needs to increase the number of the shareholders. The current investors that the company currently has do not contribute enough money that can finance all the operations of the company. As a result, the company operates at a very low quick and current ratio.

This is particularly dangerous since the company cannot fully finance its current liabilities using the current assets such as sales. Therefore, increasing the number of shareholders will automatically increase the amount of money that the company will reserve for any uncertainty (Thomas 2008, p. 272).

The management of Prestige Company needs to re-examine the total number of employees that serve at the manufacturing level. The number of units of a model needs to reflect the market share of that model. For instance, the model PR-M8 has been accorded smaller workforce whereas it has a bigger market share.

Therefore, it is recommendable that the models, which sell most be accorded bigger workforce. This will increase the number of units produced thereby increasing the sales of that particular model (Thomas 2008, p. 274).

Lastly, the current prices of Prestige models are slightly higher given that the company is new in the industry. People rarely purchase expensive cars which they have very little knowledge about. Therefore, it is only proper if the prices are slightly cut and the promotional activities for the models should be increased. This will have the effect of attracting more customers, which in turn will increase the sales volume (Thomas 2008, p. 275).

References

Blais, S 2012, Business analysis: best practices for success, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.

Cadle, J, Paul, D & Yeates, D 2010, Business analysis, British informatics Society, Swindon.

Carkenord, BA 2008, Seven steps to mustering business analysis, J. Ross Ft Publisher, Lauderdale, FL.

Leeds Metropolitan University 2009, Business analysis and practice: x-stream. Web.

Thomas, SJ 2008, The journey to improved business performance, Industrial Press, New York, NY.

XYZ motor company is a medium-sized public corporation. The corporation is a United Kingdom-based motor vehicle manufacturer and financier with global sales of about $170 billion. A review of the corporations culture and organization reveals that the company has a brilliant record of social performance.

However, radical changes should be made to make the corporations business viable, profitable, and sustainable in the long run. In the last financial year, the corporation recorded a loss of $3 billion in its manufacturing division. Nonetheless, the loss was compensated by a profit margin of $5 billion made by its finance division.

The corporation employs about 6,000 people in its production, administration, and research departments. The corporation has been in operation for the last 50 years. During this time, XYZ Corporation has acknowledged the presence of trade unions.

The union representing professionals in the manufacturing and mechanical sector is the largest in the corporation. The general workers union follows this union. The corporations unions are so influential that they act as a benchmark for negotiations over pay for the entire industry and, more so, for the general workers segment.

The global overcapacity in the automobile industry has had a significant impact on the corporations operations. Nearly all the principal motor companies are minimizing on production and reducing the number of employees. Consequently, most companies are coerced to close some of their operations or downsize them. Similarly, XYZ Corporation finds itself in a similar situation.

The company is obliged to close down its manufacturing operations. However, beyond compliance with minimum legal obligations as regards consultation and redundancy payments, the corporation is not under any obligation to make additional social provisions targeted at reducing the effect the economy or downsizing size of their staff (Lawrence & Weber, 2010).

Primary stakeholders refer to a group of people most impacted by the results of any given project whereas secondary stakeholders are individuals not directly affected by the outcome of a project. Nevertheless, this group has an interest in the project.

Their principal function is to offer aid to the primary stakeholders. XYZ Corporation intends to announce its plan to close its motor manufacturing operations. The project is expected to last three years. The closure is effective from December 2015. The major primary stakeholders affected by the closure would be plant managers, and the trade unions members.

Therefore, the company seeks to establish an advisory board appointed to supervise the process of reorganization, retraining of staff, and retrenchment. Moreover, the corporation will also involve trade union officials at the district level. Finally, the local authority, development agencies, and expertise in councils will also be engaged in the project (Lawrence & Weber, 2010).

As the chief executive officer, I intend to enhance voluntary retrenchment and early retirement packages. Moreover, employees will be provided with a wide array of training prospects.

In line with this, the administration is strengthening the training framework in collaboration with relevant agencies since we expect a majority of the workers to take advantage of career training (Lawrence & Weber, 2010). However, we are also considering the availability of vacancies in other sectors of the corporation where some of the workers can be redeployed.

The corporation also intends to make a long-term commitment to the manufacturing site. We intend to invest $150 million in a diesel engine firm. This facility is expected to create about 1,200 jobs. In our case, the government can be perceived as the secondary stakeholder.

Consequently, there is pressure from the government on the administration, to ensure that actions taken do not contravene corporate social responsibility. In addition, the government indicates that such actions should reduce the level of contribution to the local economy (Rivera, 2012).

In this regard, XYZ Corporation aims to make more contribution to the local economy through the project. Moreover, the corporation realizes the importance of remaining committed to fulfilling its social corporate responsibility (Rivera, 2012).

The corporation intends to contribute towards development of expertise in the local region. The nearby local authority regions are among the most deprived in the country. In this case, the regions comprise of a large proportion of semiskilled and low-skilled workers.

Moreover, the region has a diverse minority ethnic population. The corporation is also aware of the prospect of its location. The government intends to invest heavily in the region on housing and infrastructure. Accordingly, we plan to collaborate with secondary stakeholders including the London development agency, London expertise council and two local institutions of higher learning (Lawrence & Weber, 2010).

Several other institutions are also willing to ensure that we have a wide scope of business associations in the region. The overriding objective is to establish a centre for excellence in engineering and manufacturing. In addition, the corporation will establish a business incubation centre, which will be rolled out to new enterprises.

The chief mission of the centre for excellence will be to offer a wide variety of engineering and manufacturing courses, which will vary from basic to professional training. Consequently, the cooperation of existing staff in taking up vocational training will be the initial step towards establishing the center of excellence. The corporation intends to hire some of the members as trainers, once they acquire professional accreditation.

Nonetheless, considerable drawbacks are expected during the restructuring process. For instance, we expect extreme resistance from the well-established trade unions. The same is expected from secondary stakeholders. Therefore, the corporation has an enormous task of convincing the stakeholders that the intended changes are necessary.

Moreover, the excellence and business incubation centre is anticipated to encounter financial constraints. Cost overruns with regard to operation cost and capital expenditure is expected. However, in order to harmonize the budget and ensure the long-term survival of the project, XYZ Corporation intends to invest at least $8 million in a period of five years. These funds will be sourced from the London development agency.

The corporations projection is that, in the end, the excellence and business incubation Centre will offer training to diverse apprentices and a wide array of courses through the two institutions of higher learning. Moreover, the focus is to move from low-level professional training to higher profession in engineering, business studies and manufacturing courses.

The vision of the Centre is to endeavor to tackle the effects of restructuring in economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse regions (Rivera, 2012). Despite the fact that XYZ corporation intends to develop the fundamental idea, stakeholders, both local and secondary, will be adequately consulted.

These consultations will be either directly or indirectly in relationship to the project. Collaboration with institutions of higher learning will supplement the objective to offer unique prospects for students. This will enable them to pursue professional training from fundamental level to graduate level.

Consequently, the corporation will achieve its corporate social responsibility commitment through improving the living standards in the deprived region (Rivera, 2012). Moreover, XYZ Corporation looks forwards to experiencing a turnaround from making loses to profitability.

References

Lawrence, A., & Weber, J. (2010). Business and Society (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Rivera, J. (2012). Business and Public Policy: Responses to Environmental and Social Protection Processes (Business, Value Creation, and Society). Cambridge: England: Cambridge University Press.

Summary Report from Mike Kamarck to Wendy Kouba

Summary

The bread and butter so to speak of our companys operations are the various patents that our various departments have developed which have brought in billions of dollars in revenue over the years. Ranging from human to animal healthcare, the companys products have diversified over the years, which have helped us to penetrate various markets resulting in multiple sources of possible revenue.

However, our operational platform has always been a race against time given the limitations associated with pharmaceutical patents which enable rival companies to create their own generic versions after a set number of years. It is due to this that the company is experiencing several setbacks in our major markets as it deals with the emergence of cheaper generic rivals.

This has affected the revenue streams of the company resulting in the need to cut costs in order to remain viable. So far, the company has been successful in reducing operating expenses by an estimated $40 million through the development of mini-Ts in the 16 first wave sites of the company.

While this can be considered as a victory for implementing cost-effective operations, the fact remains that the reduction was only 20% of the target of the company. In order to continue to remain viable in the face of an increasingly competitive market, the cost of company operations needs to be reduced by at least $200 million over the next year.

The current operational strategy of the company focuses on leveraging economies of scale by having multiple product factories located in various global regions (25 factories in total). Due to differences in local taxation, minimum wage as well as the general business environment, this has enabled Wyeth to operate at a far lower rate of expenditure as compared to focusing operations in a single western economy.

Furthermore, the diversified locations are advantageous for the company from a supply chain standpoint since this prevents the entirety of operations from being affected should a particular natural disaster impact a particular location (ex: the 2011 tsunami that impacted the factories of Toyota and Mitsubishi in Japan).

However, despite lower operational costs and a sufficiently diversified supply chain, this is still insufficient in enabling the company to reduce operating costs by $200 million. In order to determine what can be done to reduce the operating costs of the company, an outside consulting firm was brought in to evaluate current operations to determine what we may have missed when it came to reducing costs.

Based on the analysis of the consultants, it was determined that while the current operations of the company itself are efficient, there is room for improvement when it comes to the human resources of the company. It was determined that a re-evaluation of the current HR practices of the company was necessary in order to reduce costs.

The consultancy firm elaborated more on the proposed methods by explaining that there are several strategies that Wyeth can employ in order to reduce operational expenses and even increase efficiency at the same time. The activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Incentivised employee operations

The concept of incentivised employee operations focuses on the use of extrinsic rewards in order to bring about greater employee efficiency and performance while at the same time removing stumbling blocks to operations that would normally go unnoticed (Finn, 2005).

Intrinsic rewards in this particular case come in the form of monetary bonuses or promotions that the company would give based on the employees level of performance.

Performance in this case can be measured through the use of a variety of metrics whereby the company creates a set of operational goals that employees have to meet and creates stretch goals that they could possibly accomplish which would result in the aforementioned rewards.

Stretch goals in this instance come in the form of the employee exceeding their sales quota, finishing a set amount of reports or evaluations within a certain span of time as well as other similar operations that are common within the company.

Through the use of a metric based system of evaluation and reward, employees would have a greater level of incentive to work harder and this would improve company operations without having to hire more employees to increase the amount of work being done (Finn, 2005).

Furthermore, another aspect of the metric system is that this would allow the company to monitor the performance of each employee resulting in better evaluation practices which would result in the termination of inefficient and unproductive employees that would be nothing more than deadweight to the company.

It should also be noted that the same system of metrics can also be applied to the upper management of the company wherein the performance of managers and executives of the company would be based on a series of set performance goals.

While the same rewards and promotion system would exist, putting this system in place should help the HR department in evaluating the performance of managers and executives where previous methods of evaluation would be left up to personal interviews and outside performance evaluations which could be misleading.

This would help tremendously in streamlining the operations of the company in such a way that the company could save money by retaining employees that are able to meet the performance goals of the company while terminating those who are simply a drain in resources.

It is expected that through the implementation of such a system, the company could save as much as $50 million in operational expenses that normally go towards inefficient and ineffective work practices.

CARE System for appropriate problem escalation

Another of the potential performance applications that would enable the company to save money and increase efficiency comes in the form of the CARE trouble ticket and escalation system.

Utilised by companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile, CARE is an internal trouble ticket system that would enable employees to call an employee care hotline or utilise an employee trouble ticket system in order to immediately escalate identified problems within the company.

As explained by Kubota & Da Rosa (2013), one of the main financial drains in a company often comes as a direct result of certain problems remaining unsolved that result in a backlog of operations that continues to escalate until it becomes a major problem.

Problems with equipment, delivery system, supply chains as well as assortment of other possible concerns are only some of the problems that arise in major corporations. In order to resolve such an issue and to take the pressure off of the shoulders of managers, an internal problem ticket system can be implemented wherein employees can immediately point out a problem based on a series of options given (Whittington, 2000).

They can elaborate on the type of problem, how this impacts company operations and the urgency needed in order to resolve it. It is at this point that a ticket number is generated within the company after the problem has been submitted which is then subsequently sent to the appropriate department for it to be resolved.

Before a ticket can be closed the department in question must write a short description on the ticket indicating what was done to resolve the problem with the employee who sent the ticket confirming that the problem has been resolved prior to the ticket being closed.

A problem ticket that has not been resolved for a specific portion of time is immediately flagged by the system and escalated to the higher ups in the company in order for an explanation to be demanded from the department whose role is to resolve the issue as to why the problem has not been fixed.

If the department where the ticket was sent cannot resolve the issue with the tools that they have at their disposal, the ticket is then escalated to the next department in the corporate ladder where they have more tools at their disposal. It is through such a process of problem tracking and escalation that potential issues within the company can be immediately resolved resulting in lower operating expenses.

Shift to Contractual Workers

Another of the proposed changes comes in the form of shifting some of the blue collar staff within the various global factories of the company to contractual workers. The reasoning behind this suggestion is to lower expenses related to healthcare, taxes, as well as assorted benefits that are normally given to long term employees of the company.

The problem with the current setup is that the company needs to be more flexible in its operations in relation to how the market changes based on consumer demand. Since one of the main issues that the company has to deal with is waning sales of some of our drugs under patent, it goes without saying that it is illogical to continue to produce the same amount of a product when the demand has been cut considerably.

It is due to this that shifting the factory workers from permanent to contractual employment will enable the company to reduce or increase resources as need be while at the same time maintaining a sufficient workforce to continue to produce its products. While such a decision may not be taken well by the various workers unions, the fact remains that it is a necessity given the current circumstances of the company.

The following proposed activities have not yet been implemented within the current operational structure since they are to be vetted, examined and then subsequently approved by the new VP operations manager.

Do note though that they are merely recommendations from an outside firm and are not necessarily absolutes when it come to the potential strategies that can be implemented by the company in order to meet its target goal of an additional $200 million in savings.

However, based on an examination of the needs of the company and the current methodologies that have been recommended, they seem to be plausible means of resolving the companys current issues.

Recommendation report form Site MD to Wendy Kouba

Summary

Taking into consideration the current state of the company, one possible means of resolving the current issues surrounding the need to save money in the case of the companys Montreal site is to lessen the current employee churn rate for highly valued workers. Employee churn rates refer to the amount of employees that enter the company versus the number of employees that leave due to an assortment of reason.

The inherent problem with employee churn rates is that the company winds up spending a significant amount of money when it comes to having to train new employees to replace the ones the left.

It should also be noted that there is a distinct drop in operational effectiveness once an employee leaves and there is also the potential that all the time and effort that the company placed in training such an individual would go to waste if they are hired by one of their competitors.

As such, through the implementation of better employee engagement strategies that focus on retaining company employees, Wyeth will be able to reduce its employee churn rate and would thus contribute towards reducing the amount of money wasted.

Objectives

The objectives of this proposed project are quite simple:

1. Implement a method of employee engagement that satisfies employees to such an extent that they would want to stay with the company.
2. Reduce employee churn rates.
3. Lower costs associated with training new employees.

Mini-transformation Plan for Employee Engagement

Implementation of Intrinsic Strategies for Employees

Intrinsic strategies for employees focus are somewhat different from the rewards based extrinsic strategies that were previously advocated in the earlier message. Instead of rewarding employees via financial means, intrinsic strategies focus on creating a means of satisfaction for employees wherein they enjoy working for the company.

This is far more effective as compared to a monetary based strategy since not only is it free to implement, but it also enables the company to create a better internal company culture.

Proposed Methods

Allowing social media usage

One of the current problems associated with many company operations is that they dissuade employees from utilizing social media while they are in the workplace.

What these companies fail to realize is that engagement through social media is often one of the primary methods by which people stay connected with each other. By removing this means of communication, this creates resentment among the employees resulting in a greater likelihood of them leaving the company.

Work from home program

One of the experimental programs that has become progressively popular with many Fortune 500 companies as of late has been the implementation of a work from home program for many of a companys managerial and executive staff.

The basis behind such a program is that various aspects of a managers or executives job can be done remotely from home and this means that they do not necessarily have to be in the office in order to do their job. By implementing such a program, not only does this increase employee morale, it also helps to reduce costs associated with utility expenses.

Creating an atmosphere of open communication and engagement

Another issue, often cited as the reason why an employee left a company, is the oppressive atmosphere and lack of positive communication between ordinary employees and managers. By addressing such issues through a change in internal business culture, this would go a long way towards retaining employees.

Conclusion

In this report what has been presented is a means by which the company division in Montreal can reduce costs associated with employee churn rates. What is advantageous about the potential changes is that would not take significant amounts of money to be implemented and can be done fairly quickly.

While this would not entirely resolve the $200 million in expected cost reductions, it should be noted that the average cost of training associated with a manager exceeds $10,000 or more with executives in the company requiring HR costs of $120,000 and above per director.

Given the fact that the company has multiple executives and a multitude of managers, these costs add up over time resulting in the need to ensure that the company continues to retain its investments in the various employees that it hires.

Recommendation report from site QH to Wendy Kouba

Summary

In this report, a focus on the use of non-discriminatory approaches in performance appraisal is to be advocated due to present day issues related to discriminatory practices when it comes to differences in evaluating men and women for the same type of job. One of the best methods of performance appraisal that is non-discriminatory to women is the use of metric based methods of evaluation.

The metric approach is actually quite simple, the company sets a series of performance metrics in relation to performance goals and the quality of the work expected by the company out of a particular individual.

For example, in the call centre industry metrics are often used to examine the length of a call (customer service representatives need to address an issue within a certain span of time), whether the issue was resolved and the overall quality of the interaction. These factors are in turn compared to a chart detailing performance levels and where a certain individual falls on them.

Objectives

From the perspective of this report, the following are the main objectives necessary when it comes to proper performance appraisal:

1. Non-discriminatory approach.
2. Fair analysis.

Mini-transformation Plan for Employee Evaluation

Within the context of methods of non-discriminatory evaluation, a metric based system works best since it is not gender biased. It focuses primarily on performance and how well an individual measures up to the needed performance output set forth by the company.

Another way of looking at metric based methods of evaluation and how they would be a more appropriate means of employee appraisal is to examine it from a promotion based perspective. Going back to the example of the call centre industry, it can be seen that in call centres such as Convergys, promotion is based primarily on how well an individual conforms to the set metrics of the company.

There is no discrimination or favouritism, rather, strict guidelines and contractually based promises are given wherein if a particular individual were to adhere to a set performance level over a predetermined level of time, they would be automatically promoted towards the next tier of operations based on availability.

Such a practice would be ideal for women since it eliminates possible issues related to gender biases or politicking within a company.

Conclusion

By putting such a policy in place, this helps to reduce instances of discrimination within the company which could lead to lawsuits or the employee leaving due to the what they perceive as a negative environment for employment.

Reference List

Finn, W. (2005). Resolving the performance problems of companies. Competency & Emotional Intelligence, 13(2), 47-48.

Kubota, F., & da Rosa, L. (2013). Identification and conception of cleaner production opportunities with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. Journal Of Cleaner Production, 47199-210.

Whittington, M. (2000). Problems in Comparing Financial Performance Across International Boundaries: A Case Study Approach. International Journal Of Accounting, 35(3), 399-414.

Evolution From a Low-Quality Product to a Challenge to Caterpillar

Through the leadership of the firms CEO, Ryochi Kawai, Komatsu made deliberate efforts to increase clients satisfaction, vertical integration, and total quality management practices. The firm sought to provide innovative solutions to problems and reduce costs incurred while, at the same time, was focusing on future growth. The institution also explored strategic human resource practices to ward off any predatory tendencies by the rival giants Caterpillar and Mitsubishi, who posed the danger of poaching the best talents from the firm.

According to Hamel and Prahalad (63), the firms programs in research and development programs won many accolades all over the world at the time. The firm also instituted a well-integrated business process that was geared towards efficiency that was also put in place. As such, the firm could cut on any unnecessary cost and optimize on gains.

Deteriorated Performance in the Mid-1980s

In the 1980s the construction sector was hit by contraction of income, occasioned major price wars by the industry players. At the same time, the appreciation of the Japanese yen and the trade frictions of the decade of the eighties were also major setbacks to the income of the company. I think the CEO did well trying to secure the firm other than focusing on the profitability of the firm in the short term.

Problems Solution by Mr. Tanaka

Tetsuya Katadas initial action at Komatsu was to reverse the declining income at the firm. He focused on a strategy that moved away from the traditional way of catching up and surpassing competitors, which he referred to as bureaucratic and one that was anti enterprise. He focused on a non-competitive approach to the market, which geared to dialogue more. He regionalized production and reduced any dangers that could be occasioned by the appreciation of the yen. He further entered into a joint venture with a U.S. Dresser focused on the firms 3G project of growth, global and group-wide. The firm was also able to diversify effectively. Katadas takeover strategy was appropriate to the firm since it decentralized management and production, bringing in new economies of scale (Hamel and Prahalad 67).

New Cultural and Behavioral Objectives

In my view, Tanakas new charge at the firm was above board. His strategy to make Komatsu an intensive technology firm at the time was one of the major pioneer efforts by large companies. His diversification strategy from the construction sector to hardware and software was a prudent approach for the firm (Hamel and Prahalad 68). Engaging in a wide range of business activities is critical for business organizations to avoid detrimental effects in case of a market halt in one line of business.

His cultural objectives and corporate objectives geared towards globalism, and they were, in effect, excellent approaches for the firm to become global. With the level of business integration evident in the current business environment, I would give Tanaka a B+ in his effort to revive the firm at the time.

Works Cited

Hamel, Gary, and Coimbatore Prahalad. To revitalize corporate performance, we need a whole new model of strategy. Harvard Business Review 22.1 (1989): 63-76. Print.

Summary of the assigned article

In the modern world, customers tastes and preferences are changing tremendously. Businesses, therefore, have been forced to adopt automated manufacturing systems. The systems come with diverse benefits and receive rapid adoption. Manufacturing companies receive better performance by adopting the automated system. However, for the company to improve its performance they have to measure it. The basis for measuring performance is that automated manufacturing systems are extremely complex and costly as well. Performance measurement is the primary element for bettering performance. It identifies, troubleshoots as well as civilizes the production systems.

Both the productivity and flexibility act as the major differentiators of performance in trying to embrace the rapid growth, manufacturing as well as marketing an increasing product range for the ever-changing needs of an active marketplace. It is very essential for every business to know that in order to better their operations they have to adopt automated manufacturing. The performance measurement in conjunction with monitoring and incessant productivity enhancement of manufacturing systems has played a significant role compared to their level of investment and cost of operation.

Key learning points

• In both the article and the unit, an automated manufacturing system contributes to increase output. An increase in production enables the company to have a better bargain in the sophisticated marketplaces.
• Reduced labor cost is another key learning point. When the labor cost is low, the company has the advantage of producing at a minimal cost of production, thus maximizing their profits.
• Improving safety is another strong point to understand in the article as well as in the unit. The organization needs to ensure the safety of both the products and employees who are involved in handling the products. The introduction of automated manufacturing in the production sector has helped to provide safety.
• Another crucial point is consistency and quality. Consistency in production allows the continuous production of a product in the business with similar features. Quality also remains constant in all products that are similar to one another.
• In addition, the lead-time reduces. It helps minimize the duration between the commencement and the end of the production process. The organization is, therefore, in a better position of meeting the demands of customers as soon as they arise. It hence breaches the gap between supply and demand.
• The reduction of the ramp-up time involved in mass production fully reduces in both the article and the unit. Goods that used to take ages to provide because of bulkiness are now easy to produce. Customers do not have to wait for long anymore to get such products. It is unlike in the past before the introduction of automated manufacturing systems.
• Lastly, there is complete freedom from relying on the availability of skilled labor. Skilled labor used to create a challenge for the company as there was a shortage of qualified personnel in various sectors. In addition, the compensation needed by those considered skilled by the company was too high. This had the effect of increasing the cost of production and minimizing the organizations profits. The high cost of production that resulted in the process of compensating the workers is now something form the past since the businesses have shifted to the automated manufacturing systems.
• It is ideal for businesses to know that industrial automation has the effect of quality improvement reducing the cost of manufacturing as well as being flexible to adapt. In addition, it provides the capacity to act in response to the demands of the market. This occurs because of the rising pressure from the manufactures to be able to shift swiftly from manufacturing one product to manufacturing the other without having to revamp their lines of production afresh.

Relevant statements to the session

It is worth for every manufacturing to note that performance measurement (PM) is the gateway to improving productivity. It acts as a tool for identifying and finding solutions to the problem as well as bettering the manufacturing systems. Therefore, without it, management will find it difficult to run the organization since they will be relying on individuals who are prone to making errors. Zairi in his quote of 1994 looked at measurement as the cause of improvement. He went further and gave comments that businesses that endeavored to assess eventually emerged as the winners in securing a better place in the market.

This is because an organization may not be in a position of understanding where its strengths, as well as weaknesses, are until they assess. After assessing, the business will know the areas to concentrate more, hence directing the needed resources towards those specific areas. He went on to elaborate that measurement encourages inquisitiveness, cross-examination, and challenging the manner in which things occurred.

Critical analysis

According to the proponents of automated manufacturing, it improves understanding of the product, ensures a strong focus, and builds trustworthiness within the organization. Performance measurement, therefore, is a highly significant aspect of the operation. It is required in order to develop the organization towards development, provide a road map to growth, and in ensuring that all the present efforts are directed toward meeting the planned goals of the organization. The proponents also assert that performance measurement improves control since well-organized performance measures show those accountable for specific results or problems.

The pros also argue that Performance measurement is a sign of growth and gives a sense of the companys present position, more so where it is headed. However, the opponents of the system, on the other hand, argue that the automation of manufacturing encourages short-termism. This has the effect of promoting minimization of inconsistency other than regular improvements. The opponents of automated manufacturing systems also argue that the systems are extremely complicated and costly.

Practical implications

Modern performance evaluation depends on the utilization of performance measurement systems comprising various metrics. The metrics undergo a careful selection to suit the requirements of the organization. The managers of every organization need to adopt this advanced performance measurement. This will enable them to allocate more time on weak areas before the problems are out of hand. The current performance measurement is a clear indicator of organizational activities.

This will allow those managing production to establish one to one connection between the activities they undertake on the business premises and figures in the monthly regular cost statement. The current performance management is multi-dimension, hence looking at various different viewpoints of production at one time. It is not like the old systems that looked at one area at a time therefore, consuming both time and resources of the organization, which would have otherwise, been directed to other relevant areas.

Learning reflections

It is important for every organization, which is intending to join the manufacturing sector to embrace advanced performance measurement. Embracing the current system will allow the organization that is currently in place and the emerging ones, to remain relevant. In addition, it will withstand the challenges brought up by large companies that have adopted such systems in terms of competition. It will also allow them to meet the customers changing demands without having to change all production lines.

This is because the automated manufacturing system is flexible, therefore no need for beginning the whole process afresh. This puts the organization on the safe side in terms of both resources and time. Moreover, it will not lose its customers in the process. Finally, the organization will achieve its goal and be able to enjoy the benefits of scale.