Improving management with UK high performing companies - Assignment Example

Improving Organisational Performance Management body in many companies acknowledges performance and commitment as major factors that influence their success in the market. Dynamism in the market influence management approaches developed by companies. Healthy economy of a company depends on performance structure employed. Economic analysts believe that companies that demonstrate high performance embrace responses that lead to success during crisis. Response in the market is a factor that influences viability of the company in terms service delivery, which eventually influence success. Success entails commitment from investors, stakeholders, customers, and employees. Managers drive the company to this high level based on set strategy in the market. This paper is a case of W.L Gore and Bacardi & Martini UK high performance working. The urge to achieve peak performance is a drive that influences the amount of work that company employees would do (Butler, et. al. 2004:5). Case study: W.L Gore Performance Management W.L. Gore is a material company, which has demonstrated high performance in UK. The service culture of the company puts it a notch high among other companies because it has been able to command a great success. Performance management refers to a situation where the business is able to demonstrate stronger profitability and productivity above other business. Management theorists have identified service culture as a factor, which would influence the market command of a company. Service culture model addresses employee satisfaction, customer responsiveness, and commitment as return factors on investment. Research on employee commitment indicates that W. L. Gore employees commit to their assigned duties and strive to post a good result (Synergis, 2008). W. L Gore Performance management W. L. Gore operates in a highly competitive environment. This challenge demands strategic approaches that would influence product behaviour in the market. The customer’s behaviour is another factor that has influenced the company ability to adapt performance management. Customer behaviour influences management perception because the management would strive to respond the customer characteristics (Centre for Applied Research. 2005:5). W.L. conducts customer survey as a means of equipping the management with customer needs. Customer responsiveness would determine the survival of a company in the market or its exits. Understanding consumer behaviour is a mechanism that helps the company to develop management strategies, which target customers’ needs. Markets analysts believe that disparities that affect service quality would influence high performance of an organization. Balancing of management perceptions verses customer expectation is a factor that would influence the overall performance of the company. W.L. Gore approach to Performance Management W.L. Gore uses the following approaches to create an environment of performance management. First, W. L. Gore management has instituted teamwork in company performance. Production of products constitutes efforts from various departments in a company. For instance, manufacturing department has to lies with logistic department to deliver material in time. Accounting department has to settle financial constrains of the company and human resource department has to ensure satisfaction. Organisations, which demonstrate elements of teamwork, post impressive results because they are able to respond to customer demands as well as employees needs (Allen and Wilburn, 2002:56). Motivation theories attribute employee satisfaction to the amount of services they deliver to the company. Quick respond of consumer expectations ensures that company remains viable in the market. Company’s sales indicate that consumers of the company’s product are happy about the quality offered in the market. Second, W.L. Gore management has introduced employee training with a view of equipping employees with skills required in challenging environment. Advances in technology dictate dynamism in organisations because employees should respond to changes in technology by embracing the new changes. W. L. Gore has been able to conduct career development workshops as a way of equipping its employees with modern skills required in addressing demands in the market. Theorists in management attribute career development to organization performance (Sung and Ashton, 2002:136). Employees demonstrate anxiety when organizations introduce policies of structures that are new. Organization performance depends on the response of the employees in the way they handle their duties. Research shows that new policies may demoralise an employee when the management does not take the initiative of training employees about the new developments that the organisation is upgrading (Sung and Ashton, 2002:136). Career development and training improve skills of employees thus enhancing effectiveness in service delivery. Training workshops have enabled many high performing organizations to post impressive result in the market because company response to consumer and employees balances on the objectives of the organization. Third, W. L. Gore uses quality leadership to create an environment of high performance. Leadership of high performing organisation address influences, which they observe in the organisation. Commitment of the organisation leadership is evident through level of satisfaction of the employees and the financial ability of the organization (Gaurav, 2012:45). Able leadership translate organisation weaknesses into opportunities. For instance, unreliability of an organisation with respect to service delivery can turn into opportunity when the leadership of the organisation address factors, which will improve reliability. Fourth, W. L. Gore demonstrates effective service delivery and product production because it has addressed issues, which influence product supply and customer satisfaction. Able leaderships of the organization demonstrate their willingness to address factors, which would influence teamwork of the organisation. This ability has influenced performance of the company in relation with customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Leadership should address factors that demoralises employees (Gaurav, 2012:123). Some common factors, which influence employee satisfaction, include remuneration, working conditions, management structures among other factors. Management has to address these factors when it wishes to translate its performance into high performance. Challenges of Performance Management to W. L. Gore W. L. Gore has various production services because of the large number of operations it does. Handling these department require effective communication channels. Effective communication is a recipe of effective service and product delivery (Lussier and Achua, 2009:128). For instance, cable-manufacturing department rely on the effective communication between the management and department in delivering material and offering timely production in response to orders. It would be difficult for the company to achieve a given target production when its communication model has failed. Second challenge of the organization is the ability to satisfy the needs of the growing number of employees. Employees of the company are very instrumental in providing services, which would satisfy needs of the company clients. However, the company has been able to open communication avenues in order to address the need of its employees. Researchers in company performance attribute assurance to courtesy and knowledge base of employees and their attitude towards instilling confidence and trust to their customers (Sung and Ashton, 2002:9). A link between customer expectation and employee satisfaction is a factor that management of the company has been able address successfully. The third challenge of the organization is the varied needs demonstrated by its customers. W. L. Gore has consumers in various geographical locations. The demand behaviour differs necessitating the company to integrate its market according to the consumer behaviour. Clients like associating with companies, which are able to supply reliable products in the market. W. L. Gore demonstrated high degree of reliability in terms of material production to companies that it serves. Reliability stimulates customer response to products in the market (Lussier and Achua, 2009:128). The quality anticipated by the clients would influence the demand behaviour. The concern of consumers is the ability of the organization to respond to issues, which influence consumer behaviour. The response is vital because consumers are the drivers, which influence company ability to produce products. Many Bacardi & Martini UK Bacardi & Martini UK is an organization, which has demonstrated high performance in terms of customer satisfaction and employment satisfaction. The organization has been able to supply beverages in United Kingdom for a very long time. The company ability to meet the demands of its product consumers is quite effective. Analysts attribute organisation’s performance to able leadership, customer responsiveness and employee satisfactions (Maxwell, 2008:3). The gripping bite of unpredictable economy posed a great challenge to many organisations in the world. The organisation was not an exception to the difficulties registered by many organisations. Performance Management Case Bacardi & Martini UK case of performance management is due to competitive market environment, consumer behaviour, and change in technology. In response, the company has demonstrated good performance by responding to change in product taste in response to consumer behaviour. Customer response to company products shows the ability of the company to respond to consumer desires and tastes. Consumers usually influence organisation functions because they dictate the amount of product the organisation would produce and the rate of the product production. Market response of a product depends of quality satisfaction. Consumers would demonstrate quality satisfaction by increasing the ability to buy or consume a given product (Maxwell, 2008:6). Bacardi & Martini Approach to Performance Management The company has embarked on restructuring company plant premises with a view of influencing employee performance. Comfort is a factor that influence in put of an employee. Research indicates that many employees demonstrate satisfaction to infrastructure, which makes their work efficient (Leonard, & Cardy, 2011: 126). The company has demonstrated constant improvement to its infrastructure as a means of enhancing its effectiveness in the sector. Infrastructure improvement influence production target achievement. The improved infrastructure of the organisation has enabled the organisation to improve its performance. Modern infrastructure influences production because it improves efficiency in production. The infrastructure responds to consumer behaviour towards new products in the market. Modern system of manufacturing requires improved technology as opposed to old systems where technology application was minimal. The organisation developed Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as a means of monitoring performance of the company products across the globe. Monitoring product response in the market is a factor that has enable the organisation to improve its performance. Commitment of the organisation to acquire information about customer response is essential to the growth of the organization. Scaling customer’s needs with organisation product is a challenge that would influence product supply in the market. Consumer behaviour demonstrates the level of satisfaction. For instance, consumers would be willing to associate with a product that satisfies a given demand in the market. The ability of an organisation to respond to customer demand would influence its performance. Many organisations, which are able to demonstrate response to customer demands, have been able to post successful results in the market. Responding to customer demands entail branding, improving quality supplied as well as introducing new products in the market (Daft, 2007:142). Product innovation is an aspect that many organisations have demonstrated in response to market survey about consumer behaviour. The company has promoted its employee’s performance by responding to factors that influence their satisfaction. Employee response to product demand by customers depends on the ability of the organisation to satisfy the needs of its employee. Marketing department of the organization would monitor response of the product in the market before deliberating on product innovation (Sung and Ashton, 2002:123). The competitiveness of a product in the market is a composition of efforts made by all parties involved. For instance, rebranding a product of the organisation would depend on the efforts of the organisation to determine preferences of consumers and the ability of the organisation’s employees to produce the intended product. An organisation would score this aspect when parties involved discharge their duties effectively. The organisation has been able to embrace team spirit in deliberating upon company improvement structures. Improvement of organisation service or product production depends on the amount of effort that the leadership apply (Gaurav, 2012:114). The organisation has demonstrated effective communication in its organisation structure. Communication links the management and the market as well as the management and the employees. Both links are vital because they influence employees to perform in the company. For instance, effective communication in the organisation influences design or product innovation. A company may fail to perform because of communication breakdown (Allen and Wilburn, 2002:69). Management of the organisation must explore areas, which will hamper effective communication. Studies show that employees who demonstrate satisfaction believe that communication in their organisations is a factor that influences their satisfaction. Leadership of an organisation get information from employees. The information obtained is crucial in improving structures of the organisation. The company demonstrate commitment and creativity of the organisation step up from the relationship that workers have embraced in the organisation. High degree of teamwork is an area that the organisation has embraced. Employee of the company has shown that employee satisfaction is a factor that has contributed to the performance of the organisation. Studies on employee satisfaction indicate that satisfaction of the employee translate to work in put (Phillips, and Gully, 2011:132). Many employees are willing to work with minimal supervision when the work they do satisfy their needs. It means that organisation output would depend on motivating factors that it directs to employees. Motivation is a tool that many organisations have embraced to influence work output of the employees. Employees need assurance from the organisation that the effort they in put in the company would not go in vain. Rewarding employees is an aspect that the organization has adopted as a method of increasing esteem to performance. Organisation leadership has to show ability to respond to changes in the market. Resource allocation in an organisation would influence performance. Each management level requires resources in order to operate. Timely resource allocation influence service delivery. For instance, production department must be able to acquire resources required in the department if the organisation is dreaming of fulfilling its goals. A delay in resource allocation would slacken operation of the organisation in various departments. Infrastructure development is vital to organisation performance. The infrastructure required in a given organisation department should be available. Employee satisfaction does not only depend on the remuneration they receive for the service they offer, but also condition associated with working environment (Phillips and Gully, 2011:148). Work conditions that risk employees’ life would demoralise employee to offer poor services. Studies show that factors touching on safety, comfort, and food quality influence production standards of the company. Bacardi & Martini UK faces the challenge of meeting varied needs of its customers. The company has responded to this challenge by demonstrating that food quality of the beverages respond to the demand preferences of many consumers. Consumers are keen to gauge taste factors of a product, which would influence product behaviour in the market. The concern of the management of the organisation is to influence dependence model between employees of the organisation (Daft, 2007:98). Balancing the model leads to customer satisfaction because employees directly influence the product that the company produces. Management of the organisation has to demonstrate positive leadership attributes if the employees have to steer the company to high level. Suggestion Organisation performance should satisfy the intended consumers and the employees of the company. The case of W.L. Gore and Bacardi & Martini UK indicate high performance because of a number of factors that their management has been able to address. The organizations have demonstrated that teamwork would influence work out put of the companies. Various departments coordinate to achieve the goals of the organisation. Coordination entails addressing issues, which influence employee and customer satisfaction. Employees’ comfort and safety would influence the amount of work the employee would be willing to inject to the organisation. Organisation resource allocation should be timely in order to provide an opportunity for various departments to discharge their mandate. Demoralised employees may fail to deliver a market demand or respond to customer behaviour. Product innovation is one of the means of responding to the changes in customer behaviour. Organisation leadership has to scale its communication link in order to address various needs of employees. Customer responsiveness would determine company performance in the market. In conclusion, organisations, which demonstrate high performance work, address factors that influence employee satisfaction as well as customer responsiveness. W. L. Gore and Bacardi & Martini UK have embraced performance management in order to respond to competitive market and consumer behaviour. The response of these companies includes addressing employing satisfaction as well as enhancing management skills in order to improve productivity. Bibliography Allen R. D. and Wilburn, M. 2002. Linking Customer and Employee Satisfaction to the Bottom Line: A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing the Impact of Customer and Employee Satisfaction on Critical Business Outcomes. Wisconsin: ASQ Quality Press. Butler, P. et. al. 2004. High Performance Management: A Literature Review. Available from http://www.tlrp.org/project%20sites/Learningaswork/High%20Performance%20Management.pdf. [Accessed 8 April 2012] Centre for Applied Research. 2005. Action Learning-Improving Organizational Performance through Team Learning. Available from http://www.cfar.com/Documents/ALearn.pdf [Accessed 8 April 2012] Daft, L. R. 2007. Organization Theory and Design. New York: Cengage Learning. Gaurav, K. 2012. Drivers of Employee Satisfaction and Attrition: A Quantitative Investigation. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Leonard, B. & Cardy, L. R. 2011. Performance Management: Concepts, Skills, and Exercises. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Lussier, N. R. and Achua, F. C. 2009. Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. New York: Cengage Learning. Maxwell, G. 2008. Case Study on Work-Life Balance in Large Organizations. Available from http://www.shrm.org/Education/hreducation/Documents/Worklife%20Balance%20Case%20Final_SW.pdf. [Accessed on 8 April 2012] Phillips, M. J. and Gully, M. S. 2011. Organizational Behavior: Tools for Success. New York: Cengage Learning. Sung, J and Ashton, D. 2002. High Performance Work Practices: linking strategy and skills to performance outcome. Available from http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file9338.pdf. [Accessed on 8 April 2012]. Synergis. 2008.Case Study. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Selects Adept Document Management & Workflow to Achieve Global Design Collaboration. Available from http://www.synergissoftware.com/clients/case_studies/wl_gore.php. [ Accessed 8 April 2012] Read More