Essentials of Strategic Management - Case Study Example

? [Business Case study] CASE No The use of the manager to gather the information aboutthe overall increased effectiveness of the organization shows Appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry is about knowing what the best part of your organization is and then working on it to improve it further. When Tom Harrison had arrived the university and was looking for the methods or ways to improve the overall effectiveness of the organization rather finding out the weaknesses and working upon them. The focus on the overall increase in the efficiency of the organization will help in the long term in the form that there will be increased and improved productivity and the employees will be engaged in work in a far more productive way. The association of the idea of working as the team to the NASCAR races, is an example of sense making when the employees have associated the concept of the quick team work as the NASCAR team. Keeping up with this fast paced world is becoming an uphill task for the companies due the recession and economical crisis that has plunged the business and the employment rates. Though we are suffering problems like underemployment and unemployment, the current employees problem are being over looked for they are over stressed. This in turn has put a lot of pressure on the present work force which not only affects their mental health but also is a source of putting the long term success of the company at stake as well. There are numerous contributing to this state for the employees, namely the crisis, and the fear of losing one’s job. Keeping in view the present economic situation in mind different surveys carried out find the worry of money as the prime cause for such states of the employees. People, especially the less hiring of human resource people have arisen as a result more work is required from the limited people. This has in turn caused frustration in the employees and a lot of them have started seeing counselors. Increased work load by the firms and their expectation regarding the work to be picture perfect has led to increased absenteeism and affected the employees psychologically. (Merkle, Judith A.) The term work-more economy is what is being applied these days describing the working conditions in the firms. Further, the employees do not want to spoil their relation with their employers for again the fear of losing the job. The reputation, productivity, working environment, employee and employer relation has all been drastically changed owing to the pressure cooker type environment due to recession. To overcome all of this many organization have started a new program to assist the employees. This new initiative is known as the Employee assistance program, what this program offers is a wide range of help to the employees. Further, it has been made a confidential process for no employee can know what other is taking help on. This is because to ensure the employee that they can share their problem without the fear of being ridiculed. These problems include marital troubles, anxiety, drug issues, work and family balance, personal development and growth and career related problems. (Jonathan E. DeGraff (21 February 2010)). The good thing about this service is that it is available throughout the day and for the whole week with numerous help lines and people there, to assist you whenever you want it (Debb, 2006). There are even no charges, and all of your personal information is safe without any danger of it being leaked. Every firm has developed its own assistance program. This step has proved better work force and increased productivity. The effectiveness of the workplace and the rejuvenation of the employees had been beneficial to improving the environment as well as the production. It has put a stop to disputes and has increased retention of employees. This has opened doors for employment in certain large firms there are two departments for the look after of employees. This initiation will prove extremely helpful in the near future in turning the young work force into productive employees. The strategies that are designed by the HR department of any company are the basics of any organization and it is important that they are designed keeping in view the mission and vision of the organization. There are times when the firm needs to redesign its own policies, but it is highly advisable that the firm should design it keeping in view the current targets. Whenever a firm designs a policy that is not related to the policy that the firm has it will face quite a lot of issues that lack goals and hence lack in productivity (Debb, 2006). CASE NO. 2 It is very important that if any change is being created in the working practice by the management then the employees should be taken into confidence and after gaining confidence from the employees the practice should be established. The practice of swipe cards for clock in time should have been first introduced to the employees as a notion and then after their general agreement implemented, this would reduce the threatened feeling that the employees felt (Leigh, 2011) There has been no discussion with regards to the employees, their needs, their motivation and their growth. The best way to meet the targets and stay competitive in the industry even when there is general slump is to have a great understanding with the employees (Leigh, 2011). It is very important that company should have an exact plan for the change to take place. If the Change is not properly designed or planned then the company faces in the long run. There are many a times quite a lot of issues if the change is not planned properly. It is highly important that the message related to the change is communicated properly and the employees should be informed properly about the impending change so that they adopt it. If the change is not communicated properly then the employees usually offer resistance. Resistance is usually in the form of not working properly or not responding and then the administration will face quite a lot more tension as they will not be able to communicate their vision ((Debb, 2006). SWOT analysis has to be done by the management and then their task is to develop strategies considering the findings of the analysis; by having the image of the ultimate aim in their mind they can then design strategies that will guide and help. The strategic HRM function of the company wants the employees to gather and utilize a large amount aggressive form of knowledge skills for the serious kind of competition that is out there in the world today. The other function is related to employee motivation, as employee motivation is highly necessary to achieve the organizational tasks that have been defined by the organization. Strategic HRM makes sure that the employees remain up to date about the current business situations, and thus this also enables them to work for the betterment of the organization and struggle to provide the best possible efforts for themselves and the company so that they can achieve the goals that have been assigned to them. Decisions made by the management will help determine the strengths and the weakness of the company; this also helps the company be aware of the problems and issues and helps them take appropriate measures to remedy any problems that might come. It makes sure that the rights of the employees are not trampled and they are the first priority of the organization as the organization progresses forward. It is highly important to keep the employees happy, as the organization cannot succeed if the employees of the organization are not happy with the work environment, the current tactics may create a burst of success but then it will not be long term and hence the survival of the organization will be in jeopardy (Jones, 2009). There are five steps involved in strategic management, i.e. to decide the mission and goals, should analyze the external threats and benefits and the opportunities that are existent for the firm, should also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the firm internally, choose strategies that help build company’s strengths and tone down the weaknesses and lacking of the company and try to make use of the apparent opportunities that are therein the outside world of business. The strategies should be relevant and pertinent to the business structure of the organization and in final step top management has to implement the selected and approved strategies (Heller, 2008). All human beings learn both through education systems (formal ways) and through daily activities (informal ways). Learning is a subjective process where all peoples are responsible for their own learning process. Background environment, culture, government rule, religion, society habit affect on people’s personal trait. Rasmussen implies that original place where learning takes place leads on the selective attainment of values, knowledge, and abilities. Moreover, interpretation variation from each learner impacts on their learning preference. Therefore, each person has dissimilar learning inclination from one to others. In addition, a learning style, closely tied with learning strategy, is an infinite and unstop changing attribute within humans’ nature. Behavior changes as results of learning preference alteration from time to time also demonstrate peoples’ personal development due to their changing surrounding. Therefore, proper training and briefing should have been carried out to the employees then the situation would have been quite different. CASE NO. 3 According to the belief of Gerard and Teurf, dialogues are the best way to bring about organizational transformation. According to them if there is proper communication then the employees are willing to listen and adopt the change process that the organization wants to bring. According to their theory, if a dialogue with proper facilitation to both the parties is carried out then the employees are more willing to learn and adopt to the newer strategies that are being offered to the employees in lieu of the change process that is being taken place. In this case if the employees are informed about the whole thing then they will respond in a better way. The employees and the management when both are settled in such a way that they are ready for a proper dialogue then they will both keep aside their already formed perspectives and will look at the situation from the point of the other and then decide how to take action. This way they will be willing to look at the alternative as well and then decide what is the best course of action that should be adopted to help and benefit the company in the long run. To keep the workers content the corporation tries to put in the maximum they can, as today the main differentiation is created through the workforce, therefore the company tries to create benefits and better opportunities for the employees. The employees are made partners in the profit sharing scheme by making them owners of stocks, this makes the employees that they own the company and hence they will be more responsive and productive in the work they will be doing and make sure themselves that they do not procrastinate. This kind of loyalty always produces the best of the results for the company and increases employee engagement and this helps in the long term goal orientation of the company (Leigh, 2011). It is also important for companies like Tyco who are operating worldwide to make sure that they are culturally sensitive while they are operating and have due consideration for all their employees as this will cause quite a lot issues. Especially when the company has already earned a bad name, the employees are already apprehensive about their own job positions, and at this point and time they might feel that they are being neglected because of their nationality, cast or color and therefore it is the duty of the organization that the employees are assured about equal treatment. Also, it is important for the new board of governors and the management to design and formulate the new strategies or plans keeping in mind that they are not a cultural violation to any country in which their employees reside or the company is itself functioning (Deb, 2006). To make sure that the employees are motivated in the right way, the better way for organizations to improve the situation would be to be aware about their personalities and as well as the learning styles that they have. This way implementing any new strategy or brining about any new developments in the organization could be done through these tests that would have been conducted earlier. It is a fact that the best way to manage and develop employees by knowing them properly. If the organization is aware of the capabilities and the shortcomings of its workforce it can decide policies and design strategies keeping in mind the employees. This kind of pre-hand knowledge also helps increase employee productivity and increases the efficiency of the organization and creates effectiveness in the running of the organization as well. References Charles J. Fombrun, Noel M. Tichy, Mary Anne Devanna (1984). Strategic human resource management. 1st Edition. John Wiley and Sons. Hill Ch., Jones G. 2009. Essentials of Strategic Management. Hill Ch., Jones G. 2009. Strategic Management Theory Robert Heller (2008). SWOT: Assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business with SWOT analysis Richards, Leigh. (2011) Fundamentals of Management & Organizational Behavior. Organizational Behavior. Tapomoy Deb (2006). Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management. 2nd Edition. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary. (2005) Principles of Marketing. 12th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall. Read More