Strengths and Weaknesses of the Urban Lending Solutions - Research Paper Example

 Urban Lending Solutions and being a HPO Company Table of Contents Organisation Overview 2 Problem Statement 3 Literature Review 3 Problem Analysis 4 Solution 5 Conclusion 6 References 8 Organisation Overview Urban Lending Solutions is a Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) based in Pittsburgh. The company has offices in North Carolina, Charlotte and Broomfield. The organisation primarily provides “real estate information products” (Urban Lending Solutions-a, n.d.) to the mortgage industry.

The company is said to provide the best products and services with the help of the best quality staff. It is known for providing quality services since its very inception. When it comes to quality, people can count on the company without hesitation. The company provides services such as home retention, title, settlement services, closing, underwriting due diligence, residential valuation and appraisal’s services. Being a member of the “Mortgage Industry Association of Australia and Plan Australia” (Urban Lending Solutions-b, n.d.) the company seeks to offer the best solutions to the clients.

It is an extremely fast growing company. It was founded by Charles Sanders, who is also the CEO of the company. The company has become the most preferred ‘Tier 1 lender’ from among the top lenders of the nation. This has been possible because of the technology it uses, the staff, and its vendor database which had resulted in supreme customer satisfaction. It is true that the company is growing fast, but it is not enough organised. It is also characterised by lack of culture. The company was started with a group of friends who did not have the required academic credential.

This project tries to identify and bring forth the problems that the organisation is facing and provides suitable recommendations to counter them. Problem Statement The company has been growing at such a rate that many of the top companies cannot keep pace with it. The CEO, Charles Sanders has realised the loopholes that plague the mortgage industry. He thinks improper checks along with other illegal practices have led to the downfall of the country. Despite the mortgage industry crisis, the company could maintain sustainable growth for a long time.

It became the fifth fastest growing company in Pittsburgh. It earned massive revenues between the years 2007 and 2009. Some people have blamed this rapid growth for the problems that the company faces. It has ruined the company’s culture and has made it extremely unprofessional. There is a surprising lack of rules and compliance in the organisation. It has also become disorganised and lacks morale. Lack of proper managerial structure has been responsible for the high rate of turnover for the company.

This project tries to provide suitable strategies in an attempt to enhance the functioning of the company and make it a high performance organisation. High performance organisations (HPOs) work in a manner that make employees perform to the best of their ability resulting in sustainable and high performance output. This results in the creation of high quality work life. Literature Review High Performance Organisations (HPOs) have certain common characteristics. The management of such organisations focus on the quality of work and increases employee’s participation in that work.

The management seeks to uplift quality consciousness with the help of practices like Total Quality Management. Organisations try to form ‘quality circles’ and teams responsible for improving the quality. HPOs also use the most updated and flexible technologies for producing customised products for particular market niches. Moreover, HPOs emphasise more on the involvement of employees and their participation in the decision making process. Employees of these organisations are also empowered to make decisions in cases where they interact with the customers.

They are considered to be problem solvers. It is a common practice in HPOs to decentralise the decision making and involve workers in running the business (Kalleberg, 1996, 115). Secondly, these organisations also have a very different and distinct kind of work culture. The most important being the reliance of the management on the team members. Teams remain self directed and carry out their tasks in their own way. “The “team based” production model of HPOs relies on the frontline workforce as the main source of competitive advantage and continuous improvement” (Kalleberg, 1996, 116).

This has an advantage. It reduces the company’s task of laying down the job description. It encourages ‘job rotation’ and helps in deploying the employees in different tasks of the organisation. Further, teamwork promotes combined efforts and the feeling of shared purposes. Thirdly, organisations adopt such human resource practices which focus on quality, teamwork and employee participation. Finally, HPOs maintain industrial relations relying more on consultation than confrontation. Status differences between the workers and managers are reduced considerably in HPOs.

The business is run efficiently through proper coordination between labours and managers (Kalleberg, 1996, 116). Problem Analysis It has already been said that the organisation is characterised by an unprofessional and unorganised culture, whereas HPOs are characterised by extreme professionalism where employers are least likely to intervene in the working of the employees. Thus, at present what the organisation must seek to achieve is complete coordination between employees and the management.

Only then will it be able to rely on the working of the employees. Growth of the organisation has not been even. Some have been able to benefit from the company’s success while some have not. As have been said, the company was initiated by a group of friends. They are the only ones who enjoyed the fruits of the accomplishment of the company. The employees, who have been the sole factor behind the company’s success, have been ignored. This is quite unlike the HPOs, where employees are given the maximum significance.

Growth should be sustainable than being rapid because rapid growth does not sustain for long. This is true for Urban Lending Solutions as well. Extremely rapid growth has somehow misled the company in the wrong direction. It is easy to grow fast but extremely difficult to sustain the position. Solution The most important problem facing the organisation is the lack of rules and its compliance. First and foremost it is to be ensured that the organisation is structured systematically. The work processes must be followed systematically to ensure the best output from the employees.

The management must also be organised. Unless the management works systematically, the employees will not work in compliance with the management. Application of human resource management practices is the key in bringing out the best from the employees. The job of every employee must be described explicitly. It must come as written statement comprising of the content of the particular job. It must also contain the attributes that an employee must possess to do the job (Cushway, 2003, p.2). The organisation must also seek to incorporate the latest technologies and practices.

Technology keeps changing and it is the duty of every organisation to keep in pace with the ever-changing technology. It is true that organisations have changed dramatically in the last few years. They are now more open to the challenges offered by the changing economy. Urban Lending Solutions needs to select strategies to counter these challenges. HPOs use the latest technologies in order to bring people and technology together to uplift the performance (Schermerhor, 2006, p.24). Another important issue is to get the employees involved in decision making.

This can be achieved by attaching value to its human assets. The company must empower members to use their talents fully and advance in their personal and organisational performance. It also needs to “mobilize teams that build synergy from the talents of members and that have the freedom to exercise self direction and initiative to maximise their performance contributions” (Schermerhor, 2006, p.25). Finally the organisation should focus on achieving the vision and targets. It must operate in such a way that creates value for the employees.

This can be achieved through wages, promoting satisfaction and development. There should always be an incentive and reward system for the employees (Schermerhor, 2006, p.26). The company must arrange employee orientation programs. Conclusion From the above discussion it is evident that transforming a traditional organisation to a high performing organisation is not an easy task. It requires commitment from the employees as well as the employers. Urban Lending Solutions has the advantage of making profits and working with efficiency.

What is required is a certain degree of coordination between employees and employers. Employers must have faith in the working of the employees and invite them in the decision making process. This will not only help to achieve transparency between management and employees, but also improve their participation in work. It is worth noting that having the best employees is not enough unless the organisation is able to get the best out of them. References Cushway, B. (2003). The handbook of model job descriptions.

Kogan Page Publishers. Kalleberg, A. L. (1996). Characteristics of High Performing Organisations in the United Sates. Organizations in America: analyzing their structures and human resource practices. SAGE. Schermerhor. (2006). Organizational Behavior. Wiley-India. Urban Lending Solutions-a. (No Date). About Urban lending Solutions. About Urban lending Solutions. Retrieved on October 12, 2010 from http://www.urban-ls.com/company.html. Urban Lending Solutions-b. (No Date). What we do. Urban lending Solutions.

Retrieved on October 12, 2010 from http://urbanlending.com.au/whatwedo.html.