The Main Way of Agrium Company - Assignment Example

 In 1931, the company came into existence under the name Consolidated Mining, and Smelting Company Limited (COMINCO), and in 1995, it changed its name to Agrium Inc. This company is the major supplier of farming products, and services, not only in North and South America, but also around the world. On the global stage, Agrium Inc provides wholesale and marketing services of its products, namely special fertilizers, farming nutrients, and industrial products. The company mainly supplies fertilizers in North America. This company has its headquarters in Canada, a place called Calgary and it has a branch in Colorado, America. This is where the retail office is found. In the past years, the company has seen it’s an expansion in its operations throughout the world. In 1969, in Vanscoy, the company opened a potash company, and it later developed Fort Saskatchewan Company in Alberta. This was to increase the revenue stream of the company through potash exportation. After 1995, the company acquired Nu West, and West Farm industries, to continue it expansionist policies, and by 2011, Western Canadian Fertilizers, Purcell technologies, Astaris production and Unocal nitrogen fertilizers came into control of the company. The company policies are extremely ambitious, and they aim at controlling virtually all aspects of agricultural production. These policies are within a structure of strict financial discipline which is the main goal of Agrium Company. The company has a tendency to encourage its employees to advance within the surroundings of the establishment as it finds ways of transforming the organization into an extremely friendly place to work in. Organizational Chart, Mission, Vision, Core Values: Mission and Vision of the company: The mission of the company is to produce, and sell farming nutrients such as phosphate, potash and nitrogen. The company manufactures, and sells fertilizers in North, and South America and across the world. The vision of the organization is to be a leading supplier and producer of agricultural products across the world. The company aims to reach farmers of oil seeds, grains, and crops, and thus enhance their productivity. The company aims to provide crop protection services to growers in order to help in achieving better crop yields, and, therefore, producing, and supplying crop nutrients directly to farmers. Through its advanced technology, the company aims to produce an environment friendly fertilizer for farming, and developing consumer lawns, and golf turf. Core Values of the Company: The company believes in expansionism. The company values business growth, and as a result it has opened branches in all over the world. For example, it has branches in Australia, United States of America, Chile, and Canada. The company values financial transparency while conducting business with its clients or dealing with its employees. For example, it is against the company’s policies to manipulate prices of agricultural products while working with rival companies. The company values creating a good working environment with the society, it has helped researchers develop effective crop management tools. Their staffs directly work with growers advising them on proper crop management procedures, and approaches. The Organizational Chart: Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer. Executive Vice President, Operations Executive Vice President, International Development Executive Vice President, corporate development, and Chief Risk officer President, Retail Business Unit Senior Vice President, Human Resources President, Agrium Advanced Technologies Business Unit. Senior Vice President and President, Wholesale Unit Vice President, Corporate Development, and strategy Vice President, Retail Canada and Pacific North West Region Vice President and Treasure Senior Vice President and Chief legal officer Vice President and Corporate Controller Vice President, Retail East Region Corporate Secretary.. Description of Organizational Problem Found and Its causes: The organizational problem found in Agrium Inc is communication. In- effective communication is a major reason for the fall of a company. Communication problems in a company can cover the entire hierarchy of leadership to the lowest members of staff. In an organization, there can be a lack of communication down the structures of leadership, and up the structures of leadership. For instance, poor communication from the manager on how a specific policy needs to be implemented can arise in the policy not being implemented effectively as per the manager’s intentions. For example, the company wants to hire new staff, when the manager communicates the initiative to his assistant, and because of poor communications skills, his assistant does not take in the instructions, and; therefore, recruitment of new staff does not take place. Poor communication in an organization can disrupt every constructive policy that an organization undertakes. No matter how good, and strategic a vision is, it will not take the company to a higher standard if it is misunderstood or in-appropriately communicated (Cummings and Worley, 2009). In Agrium Company, communication problems arise due to the following reasons, The company has a diverse structure of leadership; therefore, employees or the management might not know where a source of communication emanates from. The process of initiating policies is tiresome and takes a while in the company, therefore, while faced in an emergency situation; a manager at Agrium Inc will have to wait for the feedback from his superiors which might take long due to the bureaucracies involved. Due to high number of senior officers, employees might be confused on where to air grievances and in which offices to submit their proposals. For instance, In Agrium inc, there is an office for Vice president, Chief financial officer, and Vice president, human resources. Employees might be confused on who handles their economics amongst the two offices. The company has numerous affiliate organizations all over the world, and effectively communicating the company’s policies becomes a problem. Recommended interventions and reasons for choosing the interventions: I will recommend the organization to improve on its communicative policies. In order to improve on them, the organization needs to follow the following steps. The management needs to make a decision on the kind of information system it needs to be improved. Non-Verbal, Verbal or writing are to be considered. This is because each of this aspects communication are important to the company’s productivity. The company needs to put into operation meetings where all manner of employees will share their thoughts. This is to create a sense of ownership, and loyalty amongst the employees towards the company. The company needs to share the corporate vision, and strategy with all its employees. This will enhance efficiency in communication since the employees will work hard to improve on their communication skills. The company needs to be undeviating on the organizations correspondence, and their actions and words need to be precise. This will seal loopholes of mis-interpretation of the company’s policies. The company needs to initiate compulsory classes to all its employees on effective communication skills in order to improve their communicative capabilities, and thus enhance the productivity of the company. Expected sources and types of resistance, the methods you would use to overcome them, and your reasons for using those methods: In introducing communicative change in Agrium Company, the following are the expected sources of resistance. Senior members of the administration. Middle level managers who feel that introducing communicative changes is undermining their works. Junior employees who have served in the organization for a long period of time. Ways and means which I intend to overcome the above problems are, Involve the senior management staff in developing the company’s communication policies. I will educate the middle level managers on the importance of improving communication within the organization. Those who have a negative attitude towards the change will be fired. Involve all the staff in introducing communicative changes within the organization, encouraging them to give their recommendations, and suggestions. Conclusion: For Agrium Company to become a global leader in supplying farming products, it has to act, with immediate effect on the communication problems that affect the company. The organization needs to streamline its command structure into units where policies can be communicated efficiently to the junior members of the staff who are the main implementers of the policy. References Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization development & change (9th ed.). Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Read More