Management Style in Gate Gourmet - Research Paper Example

Review of Primary Research Results - Case Study of Management Style in Gate Gourmet 0Background: The Primary Research was carried out as a part of a Dissertation Study on the Management Styles of Gate Gourmet (GG), the official caterers of British Airways, before and after the eruption and settlement of an industrial dispute in the year 2005. The aim of the study is: 'To investigate the current situation at GG based on the presumed changes that took place in the style of management following the industrial dispute in August 2005'. The broad objectives for which the research was conducted by distributing a questionnaire distributed to the employees of GG who witnessed the dispute and were employees during and after the dispute and the settlement thereof are: To review the management style as it was before the dispute in 2005 To review the changes in the organization that was resulted by the dispute To compare and report analytically on the changes in the management style before and after the dispute. The sample size was selected at 5 percent of the 881 employees working for GG during and after the dispute in 2005. This number came to 45 and questionnaires were distributed to 45 employees of GG while they were coming out after completing their shifts. This was considered necessary to achieve the objectives of the study outlined above. 2, 0 Analysis of the replies to the Questionnaire: The statistics relating to the replies to the questions contained in the questionnaire is exhibited in Appendix I. Question 1: Overall Working Conditions - Gender wise Results: The first question related to the overall working conditions prevailing in GG since the settlement of the dispute in 2005. Out of the 23 male employees surveyed 8 of them agreed that the working conditions are satisfying. While 10 of them took a neutral stand 5 of the employees mostly disagreed with the statement that the conditions are satisfactory. A graphical representation of the replies is appended below: The same question was answered by 22 female employees. Of he female employees surveyed 2 of them were appeared to be satisfied with the working conditions at GG. 12 of them took a neutral stand whereas 8 of them mostly disagreed with the statement. Question 1 Overall Working Conditions - Reply by Total Samples: For the satisfaction about the overall working conditions, out of the total sample of 45 employees, none of them agreed that they were satisfied with the working conditions. Out of the balance, 10 of them mostly agreed and 22 of the employees neither agreed nor disagreed that the working conditions were satisfactory. While 10 of them mostly disagreed 3 of them totally were not satisfied with the prevailing working conditions. The graphical representation is as below: Question 2: Organisational Value: Here the employees were asked to comment whether working with GG makes them feel that they are valued and respected. For this question, out of the sample of 45 people, none of them agreed that there is any value; 5 of the employees mostly agreed; 19 of them took a neutral approach; 19 of them mostly disagreed and 2 of them totally disagreed that they had any value or respect. The pictorial representation: Question 3: Prospects for Employee Growth: Under this question the selected employees were asked to present whether in their opinion there was any opportunity for the employees to apply for getting appointed to senior positions in GG. The answer was 'YES' by none, mostly agreed by 5, neither agree nor disagree by 24, mostly disagree by 15 and totally 'NO' by 1 employee. The graph is as shown below: Question 4: Existence of Downward Communication: The employees were asked to answer the question that whether there was any downward communication between managers and the staff in the form of regular meetings. None of the employees replied affirmatively. While 3 of them mostly agreed that there were meetings, 22 of them remained non-committal. 10 of the employees mostly disagreed to the opinion that there were meetings; again 10 of them totally disagreed to the comment. Question 5: Existence of Upward and Two Way Communications: The selected samples were given the question whether they had the opportunity to give their comments or feedback or any information to their superiors. For this question none of them replied positively; 2 of them mostly agreed that there were chances of such two way communication; 13 of the employees turned neural; 19 of them mostly disagreed and 11 of them totally disagreed that there existed any chance for communicating with the superiors. The graph is shown below: Question 6: Organisational Changes: Under this question the samples were asked to give their opinion as to whether the employees were advised of any changes in advance of making such changes. Again none of the employees replied positively. 2 of the employees mostly agreed to this; whereas, 13 of the employees mostly disagreed that they were advised of the changes. 19 of them remained silent and 11 of the employees totally disagreed to the statement that they were advised in advance about the changes. Question 7: Effectiveness of Communication at Middle levels: The survey asked the employees to answer whether there was good communication between the employees and the senior staff. For this question also none of them agreed totally, while 3 of them mostly agreed; 19 of them didn't want to take any option; 18 of the employees mostly disagreed and 5 of them totally disagreed to the point that there was effective communication between the employees and the senior staff. Question 8: Style of Management: This question was related to the style of management that was being followed in GG. The employees were asked to express their views as to whether the changes affecting the employees were made democratically. The answer 'YES; by no one; mostly agreed by 5, no answer by 13, mostly disagreed by 20 and 'NO' by 7 of the employees. The graph is shown below: Question 9: Employee Recognition: The next question required the employees to give their opinion as to the recognition of their efforts by the management of GG and was there any appreciation of the efforts of the employees. For this question none of them gave a positive reply. 2 of them told they mostly agree and 21 of the samples did not take any option. 8 of them mostly disagreed and 14 of the employees totally denied that their efforts were ever recognized. The relevant graphical representation is shown below: Question 10: Employee Motivation: The next question was relating to the motivation of the employees by the management. The question was whether the management of GG ever took any efforts in motivating the employees. The answers were: No by 15, mostly disagreed by 19, No choices by 9, mostly agreed by 2 and yes by 0. The graph: Question 11: Employee Working Hours: This question expected the employees to comment that there were overtime working with additional payments. For this question the response was none of the selected employees agreed or mostly agreed. 11 of them did not take any option and 9 of them mostly disagreed with the information. 25 of the employees totally disagreed that there were any overtime with additional payments. Question 12: Job Security: Under this question the selected employees were requested to give their opinion as to the security of their jobs with GG. For the first time 4 of the employees confirmed that they feel that their jobs are secured and 10 of them mostly agreed that the jobs in GG are secure. While 17 of them did not want to take any option, 11 of the employees were mostly disagreeing on the security of their jobs. 3 of the employees were convinced that their jobs are not secure at all. Question 13: Employee Benefits: This question wanted the selected employees to express their views whether it was beneficial for them to work for GG. This question did not get a positive answer from any of the employees, while 2 of them mostly agreed that they could get some benefits. 12 of them remained neutral and 23 of the employees were mostly disagreeing with the proposition that they could get benefits from working with GG. 8 of the employees totally disagreed that they could get some benefits from working with GG Question 14: Employee Health and Safety: The last question of the questionnaire is relating to the employee health and safety. The employees were asked to comment whether employee health and safety at the workplace were given priority by GG. For this question none of the people confirmed this, while only one employee was somewhat agreeing. 8 of them wanted to remain neutral and 15 of them mostly disagreed with the statement. 21 of them confirmed that the health and safety aspects were neglected by GG 3.0 Analysis of the Findings: On an analysis of the answers given by the selected employees it appears that the management of GG never took the human resources aspect of the company seriously. Out of the 14 questions asked, only for one question 4 of the selected employees have answered affirmatively implying that the management has not take enough care about the employees and their welfare. This is evident from the fact that for the fist question relating to the overall satisfaction only 10 of them were some what satisfied and the remaining people were either mostly disagreeing to the fact that they were having an overall satisfaction or they were not satisfied at all. The same analogy applies for the question relating to the value and respect that the employees derive from the company's position. In this respect also majority of the employees were not quite positive that they derive any value or respect by working for GG. When the question of the potential for employee growth is analysed 15 people out of 45 mostly disagree which is more than 30 percent of the employees feel that there are no chances for any potential growth for them in the company. The peculiarity of the responses to this question as well as to all other questions is that majority of the selected employees did not want to express their opinion on the issues raised by the questionnaire. While this is a major limitation for the research this also somewhat vitiates the results of the survey. As regards the answers for the questions on downward and two way communications, from the answers it appears that there was no effective communication existed in the company that could have helped the company avoid the unpleasant developments. When the employees were not informed about the changes affecting them in advance it is but natural for them to get emotionally disturbed by a feeling that the management is acting against the interest of the employees. I t is difficult to expect the employees to have the maturity and understanding to look into the actions of the management with the same perspective as the top management look at the issues. This is where the management of GG erred. This is also evidenced by the action of the management trying to get some of the jobs outsourced with a different intention. But since the purpose was not explained in advance to the employees in advance, they thought that the action by the management to subcontract will become detrimental to their interests, which in fact was not. Lack of communication in all directions was one of the main short-coming of the management of GG. This coupled with the autocratic style of management was responsible for the development of the industrial dispute. From the answers to the question that the decisions affecting the employees were taken by the management democratically, 20 out of 45 employees have replied mostly disagreeing. This 'mostly disagreeing' can as well be construed as not agreeing. This reply is usually given out of modesty and with the intention of not hurting others feelings. Hence we can take that 20 plus 7 employees had opined that the style of management of GG being autocratic, was not in favour of most of the employees. The questions on employee recognition, employee motivation, employee benefits including overtime payments and employee health and safety at the workplace were all answered mostly on the negative side implying that the management culture in GG was never one that takes care of the wellbeing of the employees into consideration. This is evident from the way in which the questions out of the questionnaire relating to these issues have been answered. Finally on the question of Job Security 4 people have confirmed that they feel that their jobs with GG are secure, while 11 of them only mostly disagree with the job security factor and 3 of them did not believe that their jobs are secure. The answers to this question have taken a different pattern than that of the other questions, in that a majority of the employees felt that their jobs with GG are secure for whatever reason. 4.0 Views of Male and Female Employees on Overall Satisfaction: The number of female employees disagreeing with the fact that the overall working conditions in GG is satisfying since the year 2005 is more than that of the male employees. This implies that the female employees possess more hostile views on the performance of the top management of GG. The female employees were practically dissatisfied with the working conditions prevailing at GG since the year 2005. This means that the female employees believe that the management of GG has still not learnt the lesson out of the 2005 episode and have amended their style of functioning. The reason behind such a response may be that still decisions about changes affecting the female employees are being taken by the management without informing the female employees in advance. The decisions may relate to the working hours or other terms of employment that may cause more resentment among women than the men. However the number of male and female employees that do not want to opt for giving any opinion remain almost same. There is a vast difference in the number of people mostly agreeing and lesser difference in number mostly disagreeing. 5.0 Analysis of the Overall Findings: As discussed earlier the serious limitation of this research may be found in the number of people out of the samples who have taken a neutral approach without saying whether they agree with or disagree with the statements or views to be expressed as answers to the questions in the questionnaire. In one way this attitude would have vitiated the results. But any survey would be facing this kind of a limitation some way or other. Overall the number of people who have taken a negative stand either by answering 'mostly disagreeing' or 'disagreeing' is more than that of the people who have answered the questions in a positive way. This implies that the management of GG has still to go a long way to achieve the confidence of the employees. Another reason for such a trend may be seen from the fact that the incidence of the 'walkout' and the unpleasantness relating to many other incidents happened in GG might still be green in the minds of most of the employees and because of this reason the employees involuntarily would have opted to answer in the negative. Most of the questions relating to the employee welfare are being answered negatively implying that tough there may be an increase in the general physical working conditions, there may not be any effective changes in the attitude of the ,management toward the treatment of the employees and the provision of benefits to them. Probably this caused the employees to answer these questions differently. As already pointed, out there appears to be a serious lapse in the total communication process in GG. Effective two way communication would have easily avoided the happenings of unpleasant incidents in the year 2005. But it seems that still the management of GG has not understood the benefits of an effective communication process in an efficient management of the organization. From the answers to the questions relating to communication in the organization it appears that an effective two way communication system is yet to be developed in GG. Similarly no change appears to have taken place in the style of management. The decisions are being taken still in an autocratic manner which is very detrimental to harmonious industrial relations. 6.0 The Findings and the Literature Review: While this paper made a review of the available literature on the various facets of management it discussed the process of communication within an organization as an essential part of the management process. The review also indicated the necessity of having an effective two way communication process as well as the utility of the meetings and other ways of communicating within the various levels of the organization. The failure of the management of the company GG is a typical example of an organization that does not give importance to the process of communication. By doing the same mistake of not communicating properly within various levels of the organization, the company had to face the industrial dispute. An effective communication process is the first thing that the management of GG attends for an overall improvement in the organizational success. Secondly the section on styles of management in the literature review discussed the existence of different styles of management one of them being autocratic style of management where the decisions are taken by the management unilaterally without the participation of the employees which many a times may prove detrimental to the growth of the organization. In GG one may find the style of management typically following the autocratic style. The literature review also discussed the humanistic style of management where the employee welfare is of utmost importance. But what appears from the answers is that the management of GG has totally ignored this aspect of the management which is vital for the growth of any organization. Analysis of Interviews with Individuals: This part of the paper analyses the replies given by individuals for questions asked to them on the issue of the industrial dispute in GG. The analysis of the first interview: Interview with Ian Newal: When asked about the communication process within the company, Ian Newal opined that there was good communication and regular meetings will result in good industrial relations. It is often for the employer to decide the kind of relationship he wants to maintain with the employees by establishing the required communication. In GG according to Ian Newal, there was no downward communication. Ian Newal is of the view that the company GG is trying to protect itself from the court case and hence is not open in its approach to media which will not do much good to the company's position in this case, as it will lead to negative publicity only. When asked to comment about the statement in his article "is win-win just a pie in the sky, the reply was that by putting pressure on GG, BA forced GG to reduce costs in some way. Though he didn't mention this in his report, perhaps this is the reason GG went ahead and sacked so many people, so that the cost is brought down. Interview with Jacqui Zinkin Westminster University: When asked about the style of management, the reply was that what GG followed was neither principles nor diplomatic. GG only followed an autocratic style of management The management had never been innovative in its thinking. The only way they found to make good the losses was to cut the costs by whatever way including reducing the staff without any thinking on the repercussions. According to Jacqui Zinkin the approach was primitive and lacked modern thinking. He was not sure whether GG changed its style of management even after August 2005 and for brining any changes the priority should be to recoup the financial losses and that would obviously change the management's attitude towards workers. It is the case with many companies that reduction in the employee costs by downsizing the employee strength. GG also applied the same principle when pressurized by BA for the cost reduction. Interview with Tony Kent: Tony was asked to comment on Business ethics on the action of GG dismissing a mass of employees. The answer was straight that it was unethical as it was unfair on the part of GG to have acted in a way which doesn't sound ethical for the company. On the question of legality, may be such action can find a legal acceptability but for sure the act was immoral. Any civilized society would condemn the behaviour of GG. When asked whether 'moral' attitude on the part of the employer is important the reply was that though the moral standards differ from employer to employer it is important as it leads to more employee motivation, job satisfaction and positive attitude among employees. It also helps a lot in promoting equality and increases the fairness on the part of the employer. He also opined that BA by renewing its contract with GG, BA could possibly have reduced its ethical status to some extent. Although he lacked knowledge about humanistic style of management he was of the opinion the people should be regarded as individuals and following a mechanistic style of management would not do any good to the employees though. 7.0 Conclusion: Thus from a detailed analysis of the findings, because of the fact that for most of the questions, the answers have taken a negative impact it appears that the management in GG is still to learn its lessons fully to steer the company towards success. Although it appears that there is some improvement in the overall physical working conditions a lot remain to be improved in the areas of communication process, style of management, employee welfare, health and safety and employee motivation and recognition. Appendix I Questionnaire Findings The numbers in the boxes refer to the numbers of GG employees' choice of answer. Total of employees surveyed: 45 Gender 1 .Overall working conditions at GG are satisfying since the strike in 2005. 1st question answered by Male workers (total of 23 surveyed) Results of male only: Mostly agree: 8 Neither A nor D: 10 Mostly disagree: 5 1st question answered by Female workers (22 total females surveyed) Results for female only: Mostly agree: 2 Neither A nor D: 12 Mostly disagree: 8 Read More