Green Motion Values - Case Study Example

GREEN MOTION VALUES: Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy claims that “corporate values helped save Xerox during the worst crisis in our history and that living our values” has been one of Xerox’s five performance objectives for the past several years” Learning from the success story of other businesses, Green Motion Buses would be having business values catering to all the key stake holders in the company including customers, Shareholders, Management , Employees and Society. The values of Green Motion Buses are: Customer Related Values: i. Customer Orientation, Customer is always right ii. Customized Services, Green Motion buses are specialized buses which will allow the customer a greater degree of choice. The customer will be allowed to choose the specifications including components of the bus in order to have a greater level of satisfaction. Shareholders: i. Maximizing the return on Investment. ii. Increase in share prices iii. The dividends will always be paid on time Management: i. Providing un- surpassed quality ii. Gaining competitive edge in acquiring and providing leading technology Valuing Employees i. Un matched career growth opportunities ii. Gain Sharing: Returns to be shared with employees for example if the company has made exceptional profits a small percentage will be given out to employees in form of bonuses. iii. Market Competitive Compensation; The salaries would be competitive or at least at par with the market rates. Society Related: i. Green Motion will be having a separate corporate social responsibility agenda drawn up according to which 5 % of the total net revenue will be passed on to the society in form of donations to NGO’s operating to save environment. PRINCIPALS /KEY EMPLOYEES Green Motion Buses will be having a set of guiding principles to lead to the achievement of the business values. Guiding principles can be defined as “Guiding principles are the law that serves as a basis of reasoning and action, a personal code of conduct that leads, shows the way and directs the movements of your organization. A set of guiding principles has value and makes you faster only if the do the things this definition implies”(www.1000ventures.com) Considering this, it is necessary for Green Motion Buses to have a set of Guiding Principles. To formulate the below mentioned guiding principles for Green Motion, we will be taking the example of Shell Pakistan, Exxon Mobil , which are companies operating successfully in allied industries. The proposed guiding principles for Green Motion Buses are: 1. Long Term Profitability, in order to keep our shareholders satisfied with their investment, constant market research will be carried out to base long term strategic decisions on this information to ensure long term profitability. 2. Fair Competition: we will ensure that we do not indulge in mal practices or practice to minimize competition for example by maintaining a monopoly or forming a cartel. We believe in fair competition. 3. Business Integrity: Green Motion stands for honesty, integrity and fair practices when dealing with outside publics be it our customers or our vendors. 4. Political Activities: Green Motion Buses will not indulge or sponsor any political activities and would be an independent non-political entity. 5. Health, safety & security: The processes in the manufacturing would be ensured to be safe, healthy and secure for all the employees involved. Any Safety, Security or health issues will be dealt with responsibly and will be covered by the medical policy of Green Motion buses. 6. Local communities: Green Motion Buses are Environment Friendly buses. Thus, any processes involved in manufacturing, processing or distribution of Green Motion Buses will be ensured to minimize the damage to the environment. Local Communities would benefit from this approach. 7. Communication & Engagement: Regular means of communication will be established and followed in order to keep our share holders, employees, vendors, society and Banks informed of our activities. For this purpose, Quarterly reports will be published on our website and a newspaper supplement on financial year end performance of the companies will be published in the top two newspapers of the country. In cases of uncertainty, employees will be kept informed through regular emails. 8. Compliance with all applicable laws of USA. In cases, where the particular state in which we are operating has Additional laws other than Federal laws, both the federal laws and the state laws will be complied with. Key Employees: Key employees can be defined as “employees critical to the success of a business”. However, it is very difficult to identify key employees. In an article by Yap Ming Hui, published in Malaysian Business on 16th Jan 2006, four ways to identify the key employee are mentioned: Contribution to profits Business Life Cycle Value Multiple of Salary Discount of the Business In case of Green Motion Buses, the most frequent approach to identifying key employees can be used i.e. their contribution to profits. There are a multiple of reasons behind this. Green Motion Buses are in their nascent stage. Thus, putting a sales thrust is not only necessary but crucial. At this stage, the sales team and the R& D efforts are most critical. Thus the key employees in this area need to be rewarded above the market price. Also, for a newly established business, experience counts. The Key employees in our case are: Vice President Sales Sales Executive Chief Engineer Design Engineer Thus, based on this our strategy would be to “Brain Drain” the CNG industry by employing the best consultants in the industry and by offering them very competitive salaries and benefits including flexible timings. This is necessary since consultants have limited time. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Green Motion Buses has a policy similar to that of Exxon Mobil and we would not have a board of directors with a high majority of previous employees. To achieve impartiality one of our policies is to have 70% representation of Non-company experience employees. This not only adds to the diversity but the experience value of directors as well and a greater specialization as specialists from Financial, Marketing, CNG Industry, Engineering and Auditing fields will comprise the board. The suggested names for a 12 panel Board are: Proposed Board of Director for Green Motion Buses Industry Category Proposed Names CNG Industry Specialists 1. Director Marketing, World NGV Guide, NGV Communications Group 2. Director Marketing from the following companies: Orion Buses, New Flyer & NABI buses Marketing Specialists 3. Marketing Head from EKC, Landi Renzo or Tartarini. This is a close allied industry of CNG Cylinders & Kit manufacturers. A marketing head from this industry would have the inside out knowledge of the supply chain. 4. Marketing Head from Components sector proposed companies OMB valve Manufacturers, AEB valve Manufacturers, Advance Electronics Auditing Specialists 5. A consultant from Ernst & Young to ensure that the company is doing well financially 6. Director of New York, Stock exchange, Close alternates include Director Mumbai Stock Exchange, Director Nikkei and FTSE.A director from the Stocks sector would have an overview of the shares and would seek to maximize the share value of Green Motion Buses Engineering Specialists 7.R&D Specialist from the following NABI, Orion , Cummins since these are recently launched and their R & D engineers would have up to date knowledge Human Resource Consultants 8.Human Resource consultant from either of the following Reed Co. or Bayt .com Inside the Company Managements Director Marketing, Design Engineer, Director Finance, Director Supply Chain CONSULTANTS /SPECIALISTS The CEO of Green Motion Buses would be recruited externally, but from the CNG industry. He would be provided compensation starting from US $ 225,000 up to US $ 275,000 per annum depending on the individual case. Ernst & Young the leading financial consultants will be providing us with accounting specialists, who will be working 40 hours per week and will be paid at US $ 150 per hour. MANAGEMENT Considering the fact that Green Motion Buses would be having a board of Directors of a high majority of external consultants and specialists, we plan to balance it out by having a management from within the organization. Stress would be laid on succession planning and planning growth for employees within the organization. The Management of Green Motion Buses includes: The CEO, the COO, The Accounting & Finance Consultant, Sr. Information Officer, Chief Engineer and Vice President Sales. MANAGEMENT STYLE & CORPORATE CULTURE As can be seen from the non-conventional organizational chart, the management structure of Green Motion Buses will be non- conventional and open door policy will be observed through out the company. Having said that, a certain level of corporate decorum will also be kept in mind. This applied to following the hierarchy or keeping in loop the superiors while making decisions. Ruth Mc Guire in her article “ Which management Style to Use” specifies “One of the key strengths of a manager has to be the ability to use the most appropriate style at the most appropriate time” Four management styles have been identified: 1. Consultative 2. Transactional 3. Transformational & 4. Delegating In case of Green Motion Buses, the management style will be a combination of all four above mentioned styles. Consultative style would be required mostly because it is a highly specialized industry. Sometimes the mechanic might be able to identify some point which escaped the scrutiny of all the design engineers. This critical point may be necessary for the success of the product. In essence, Green Motion Buses will seek to maximize the human potential with in the organization by valuing the input of everyone. Transactional Style would be needed to reward high performing individuals and to motivate the other individuals to perform in the same way. This “Carrot & Stick” formula is best suited for management of the sales force, whose contribution is crucial to the success of organization and it is most difficult to manage a sales team. Transformational style is necessary to motivate employees from top to the bottom to perform to excel. Delegating: Delegation is necessary to filter the work at all levels and to ensure that work is not accumulated at just one work centre while others are idle on one side and some are over-performing. In case of over performing, there is a greater margin of error which needs to be reduced. Corporate Culture: Corporate Culture is defined as “something that managers have to establish and run all the way through a business, with clear values & beliefs, successful business principles & operations & a suitable emphasis on human resources and customer Satisfaction” He corporate culture of Green Motion Buses would be a result of the diverse backgrounds of the employees working at the organization. This may include respect for foreigners, mutual respect for every worker, even at the lowest level, honesty, integrity ,and appreciation. It would be encouraged to appreciate a peer, colleagues or sub ordinates extra effort towards performing any task. SOURCES Organizational Behavior, Stephin P. Robbins, Eight Edition www.shell .com.pk http://www.exxonmobil.com/AP-English/About/SG_VP_Principles.asp http://www.pharmj.com/pdf/cpd/pj_20050910_managementstyle.pdf http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/business-management/corporate-culture.php http://www.strategy-business.com/article/05206?gko=7869b-1876-9176155 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn6207/is_20060116/ai_n24909647 http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/business-management/management-styles.php Read More