World of Work Silver - Organizational Awareness - Coursework Example

 Background As a college or university student, it is very essential to use time reasonably to equip oneself for the world of employment. With little or no preparation at all, it is very likely that the failure will come sooner or later in some form. There are many things to do to ensure we more than prepared for the field of work (Barney, 2010). One among the many is organizational awareness. Organizational awareness is the ability to understand organizations in order to gain insight about a specific organization. Subsequently, the awareness will enable an individual to show why he or she is right for a specific organization (Barney, 2010). To be prominent in today’s competitive graduate job market, it is important to show something extra. A graduate, therefore, not only needs enthusiasm, knowledge, and skills, but also an insight, understanding and awareness of how a specific organization or organizations work (Gross, 2009). Organizational awareness ensures that you are knowledgeable about the sector and organization you are considering as an employment option. It provides insight about how organization functions, its environment of operation and its customers. I would like to work with the engineering sector, particularly in the automobile industry as a mechanical engineer. The United Kingdom (UK) has numerous automobile companies. The automobile sector in UK is very active and innovative with seven popular vehicle manufacturers, nine coach and bus manufacturers, eight major premium and sports car producers and seven mainstream cars manufacturers (Barney, J. 2010; Pierini & Eckert, 2008). Additionally, UK has eight formula one teams; thirteen R&D centers; and over 100 expert brands and cubbyhole manufacturers. According to Pierini and Eckert (2008), some of the best premium rewarded and sports cars manufactured in UK are Bentley, Aston Martin, Daimler, Lan Rover and Jaguar, Lagonda, Lotus, MG Mini, McLaren, Morgan, and Rolls-Royce. UK automobile industry is generating over 1.5 million vehicles and 2.5 million engines annually (Gross, 2009). Additionally, the UK automobile industry exports around 75 % of its production that makes UK the largest exporter of cars in the world (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). How Organizations Work Among the many best premium and sports cars manufacturers in the UK, I would like to work for the Land Rover Company (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Gross, 2009). The company is commonly known as Jaguar Land Rover. Land Rover is a premium brand of the British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) that specializes in four-wheel-drive vehicles (Thomson, 2008). JLR, with its headquarters in Whitley-Coventry, was obtained by India's Tata Motors in 2008. The origins of Jaguar and Land Rover can be traced back to 1922 from making motorcycle sidecars (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Thomson, 2008). The two companies earned reputation in the post-WW II and even became suppliers to the UK military. Their reputation developed in the 1950s through to 1960s when Land Rover developed the Range Rover (Thomson, 2008). By 1968, Jaguar merged with BMC (British Motor Corporation) that later became part of British Leyland and included Rover. With a growing demand for recreational off-roader cars, the Rover (under Jaguar) developed the Range Rover in 1970 (Gross, 2009). The new car became so popular that Land Rover was made a separate company in 1978 (Thomson, 2008; Ford Motors, 2009). Since then, Jaguar and Land Rover have developed a culture and reputation of making iconic luxury cars to both the British and global markets (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). In 1980s Jaguar split from the British Leyland, and became independent again, before being purchased by in 1989 by America’s Ford. Meanwhile, Germany’s BMW bought Land Rover in 1994 and expanded the range further by introducing the Land Rover Freelander. Land Rover then opted out of BMW and joined Jaguar under Ford in 2000 (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). The two companies became closely linked, and even shared engineering facilities and knowledge in the first decade of the millennium. In 2008, Tata Motors, India’s most large and comprehensive automobile manufacturer, bought the two companies from Ford (Thomson, 2008; Ford Motors, 2009). Tata officially merged them as one company in 2013 under the name Jaguar-Land Rover. Sales and profits of these companies have risen year on year. The two brands have a reputable culture with quality and efficiency with more exciting chapters in their histories still to be written (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Thomson, 2008). The company is enormous in UK and dominant in Europe. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is the parent company of the Land Rover but is currently owned by India’s Tata Motors as from 2013 (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). The company has 386 executives and is managed by a CEO, Ralf Speth, who is a director at Tata Motors and reports to the CEO of and Board of Tata Motors as well as the Board of JLR. Under the CEO, there are different General Managers of design, brands, marketing, sales, retails operations, advanced design and a managing director who oversees all the other management functions. In 2012, the company introduced a new position for General Manager Cherry-JLR China after entering the Chinese market (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). External Environment JLR is operating in a very competitive European, Asian and Chinese automobile industry (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). The global automobile industry today is facing more pressures than it used to do in the past. JLR has faced many economic successes as well as difficulties with the recent one being laydown of one manufacturing plant in the UK. While JLR is currently employing 14,000 people in the UK, closing down of one of its factories lead to many people losing their jobs. The rationale behind the closure was the high manufacturing cost (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). JLR is also still facing very unfavorable economic conditions as it is trying to reduce the cost where possible and deliver excellent customer service and value at the same time. Even though this placed a dent in its social image, the car manufacturer has a huge social following especially with its Freelander and Range Rover models coupled with the luxury Jaguar models (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). The worldwide society is evolving towards a progressive de-carbonization of the economy and better fuel efficiency (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). This has induced important changes in the car and automobile sector. There are numerous new technologies in the EU, invented to substitute fuel to better guard the environment. However, none of them is yet a priority (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). These technologies are still somewhat in the R&D stage, but some companies have already successfully launched their ‘eco-friendly’ vehicles. JLR must look for a team of very qualified researchers and engineers who will be ready to take the challenge. I understand the technological trends in the mechanical engineering and its demands, and I am ready to take the challenge (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). Customer focus within JLR In the current automobile industry, brands are steadily striving to maintain market shares or ‘scrap’ some more. The global automobile industry today is producing fantastic levels of customer utility and service. Intense global consumers' competition is the prime mover for this increment in customer value and service (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). JLR has had a reputation with its explicit and high regard to its customers. The company has an enormous customer base in the global market (Pierini & Eckert, 2008). Since its emergence JLR understands its customers’ needs of class, value, status and comfort. In September 2014, JLR established mobile apps on the Android platform, in its efforts to further enhance its customer service experience (Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). Due to their efficiency and associated class, JLR models are always in high demand worldwide. The company has broken its sales records and received double figures percentage profits over the past few years indicating how much value they receive in their customers’ minds (Pierini & Eckert, 2008; Jaguar-Land Rover, 2014). In June, Clancy (2014), in the daily telegraph reported ‘High demand kept JLR on its toes as its booming authority could be hindered by a lack of engineers. I understand the market and their customer loyalty. I also understand their value for their consumers (Clancy, 2014). As a mechanical engineer, I also value their manufacturing prowess in the automobile field. I would like to fill the engineering shortage and raise JLR’s flag even higher because in JLR the flag is always higher both in customers’ and competitors’ perspectives (Ford Motors, 2009). References Barney, J. (2010), “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage.” ‘Journal of Management’ Vol. 17 (2), pp. 99–120. Clancy, R. (2014, June 29). High demand keeps Jaguar Land Rover on its toes - Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/10934229/High-demand-keeps-Jaguar-Land-Rover-on-its-toes.html Jaguar-Land Rover. (2014). International Customers. Retrieved from http://www.fleetbusiness.jaguarlandrover.com/gl/en/international-customers/ Ford Motors. (2009). “Tata Motors enter into Definitive Agreement with Ford for purchase of Jaguar Land Rover.” Press release. Gross, S. (2009). “End-of-life vehicles management in Europe: driving the change: Cases of Sweden and Germany”. IIEE, Lund University Pierini, M & Eckert, V. (2008). “Strategy-based approach to eco-design: Application to an automotive component.” International Journal of Vehicle Design. vol. 6, pp. 156-171 Thomson, R. (2008). “Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jaguar.” Press release Read More