Tesla Human Behavior Management - Report Example

Executive Summary

Managing human behaviour is one of the most difficult tasks facing global organisations. Employees of these organisations come from varied cultural backgrounds with different values and behaviour. However, the way employees are handled and their interactions are crucial in the achievement of the set goals and objectives of the organisations. Global companies need to develop organisation structure and cultures that will ensure the human resource adhere to the set values and customs in fulfilling their tasks and in decision making. Lack of effective corporate culture, values and customs would possibly result to catastrophe consequences that will harm productivity and competitiveness in the ever changing market. It is therefore imperative for such organisation to adopt corporate culture and organisational structure that can effectively handle employee needs that would ensure self actualisation and satisfaction. This report provides a critical analysis of the Tesla Motors Inc organisational structure and its culture. The report has also described and analysed a recent lawsuit by an employee against the company regarding racial profiling, harassment and discrimination of African Americans. By using the lawsuit as a case study, the report develops models and theories that when implemented will help the company solve its current issues and promote unity and productivity. The recommendations of the report will help the organisation improve its service delivery, increase innovation and ultimately promote the competitiveness of the company in the automobile industry.

Introduction

Objectives of the Report

Tesla Motors Inc. Is one of the leading manufacturers of sustainable energy devices and equipment based in Pato Alto, California. The company has specialised in production of electric battery vehicles using Lithium ion technology, home photovoltaic cells and solar roof tiles and panels. The company has a global coverage providing sustainable energy solutions to clients in Europe, Africa and Asia. Being a leading multinational company, the organisational and management structure of the company plays a significant role in maintaining its worldwide establishment. However, despites it’s clearly define structures, the company has encountered issues of dissatisfaction among its workforce claiming to be racially discriminated and profiled in undertaking their day to day tasks.

This report is based on a law suit filed against the top management of the company regarding racial profiling, discrimination and harassment of African Americans in the various company structures. Such a case represents deep flaws in the organisational structure of the company which could lead to severe consequences in productivity and returns on investments. The first part will provide a description of the organisational structure, strategies and the core values of the organisation. This will also include description of the complaint filed in court. The second part will use the lawsuit as a case study where organisational models and theories will be applied to solve the issues facing the organisation that will result in optimum productivity. Finally, Tesla will be provided with recommendations which when implemented will improve the efficiency of its workforce and thus increase it returns on investments.

Background Information and Facts about Tesla Motors Inc

Immense contribution of the automotive industry on green house gas emissions resulting to climate change lead to development of strategies that will ensure production of clean energy automotives (Mathews, 2013). Increased awareness on the effects of global warming on climate led to ideas of developing energy efficient and clean energy automotives that will not use petroleum fuels. Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpening, Elon Musk and JB Straubel founded the Tesla Motors Inc which started producing electric cars that did not use petroleum energy (James, 2015). This was after General Motors destroyed the first set of electric motor vehicles developed in 2003. The company began by producing sport vehicles and later develop vehicles for the mass market which would provide a spring board for the mass production of electric vehicles (James, 2015). Growing awareness on the importance of adopting clean energy solutions and sustainable development led to fast growth of the company as its product gained a global acceptance (Lukerman, 2016).

The company fits produced the Roadster which used the AC motor for ignition, powering and traction. In 2008 the company launched Tesla Roadster which was the first automobile to use lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 200 miles per charge. The company experienced good success where by the end of 2012, the company sold over 2200 Roadsters in over 30 countries. The company has since grown its workforce having over 30000 employees with 25000 based in the United States. There are series of investors who invested over 55 billion US dollars to ensure the success of the organisation. However, the company has been faced with a lot of issues which has hampered its success and progress. Despite the challenges the company has diversified in scope of operations by initiating production and manufacture of other sustainable energy devices and equipment such as Photovoltaic cells, solar roof tiles and solar panels (Knies & Leisink, 2013).

To ensure success of the organisation in providing sustainable energy solutions, the organisational structure of the company is based on the core values of the company aimed at creating competitive and efficient human resource with the ability to develop innovative products in the automobile sector (James, 2015). The corporate culture of the company is a representation of the values and customs that all employees are expected to adhere in making decisions and general workplace behaviour (Lukerman, 2016). Through its organisational structure, Tesla Motors Inc encourages its employees through empowerment to look for ideal solutions that will keep the company competitive in the automobile sector. The company is focussed in helping its employees to be innovative where they come up with ideas and solutions to ensure progressive improvement in delivering its services and achievement of its goals (Čudanov & Jaško, 2012). It has now been in the DNA of the company to retain high value employees who have ensure continued success in production of electric automotive devices and other related equipment.

It is through the organisational culture of the company that it has been able to produce advanced electric vehicles that have outshined automobiles using the internal combustion engine (Pai & Krishnan, 2015). Tesla success is based on six key features in its organisational culture stated as; speed, doing the impossible, progressive innovation First Principle reasoning, thinking like owners and Being ALL IN. Speed has helped the employees of the organisation to swiftly respond to changing trends in the automobile market. This has increased resilience of the company to emerging issues and challenges in the automobile sector (Ozbilgin, 2015). The corporate culture make employees to think the impossible that has enabled the company come up with new solutions by employment of unconventional procedures in automobile design.

Through progressive innovation, the company has been able to develop new electric vehicles using cutting edge technology thus maintaining its competitive edge in the market. In addition, the First Principles approach has helped the organisation to identify root problems and come up with solutions (James, 2015). The organisational culture also encourages the human resource to approach activities of the company as if they were their own company (James, 2015). Moreover, Tesla organisational culture has been set in manner that encourages unity among its workforce. This is in the We are ALL IN feature that minimises conflicts among employees which brings out the best out of the employees. Accruing maximum benefits from the workforce has significantly helped the company in remaining competitive in the automobile industry (Narasimhan, Graham & Wang, 2011).

Conclusion

It is important for multinational companies with a global coverage to respect and uphold the rights of its employees. Despite the fact that they are working for the company employees have a right to self actualisation which is important in their efforts to be successful in life. Although it is very challenging to provide individual support to employees, ignorance of employee need can result to severe consequences to the organisation success. To prevent and stop such issues, it is important to develop and implement pragmatic solutions that must be incorporated in the organisational structure of the company. This will require the development of clearly defined processes that will guarantee consistency in handling of employee complaints and needs and relevance of the justice system of the company. The organisational structure and culture of the company needs to be analysed and the litigation case be analysed to identify key areas that require improvement. A model should be developed and implemented that will ensure non-tolerance to discrimination. This will automatically help progressive development of the company and continued success in the automobile industry.