Business Analysis of Oaktree Mills - Case Study Example

Case Analysis: Oaktree Mills Introduction In different organizations, some issues threaten the operations sothat failure to address them may result to great losses. The most important thing is to identify the specific persistent issue that poses the risk to the progress of the business and therefore, determine the best way to address it so that to save the company from failure. Often, the organization that has a problem is required to identify it, determine the areas of weakness, and develop both short term and long term strategies to completely deal with it. This ensures that the operations of the business in the organization recover from the failure they could have started to experience when the problem is realized. In that case, the implementing team will need to make the necessary recommendations to the organizational management about the things that can help, on a long term bases, to avoid a repetition of a similar circumstance. Identification of issues facing Oaktree Mills The Oaktree Mills is one of the greatest meat processing companies in North America and it has emphasized on delivering quality products and services to the people. In the process of delivery of services, Oaktree Mills experienced a misfortune, which exposed the failure of some of its departments. Doctors in some hospitals in North America recommended a number of people to be hospitalized and diagnosed them with a disease that they traced back to the meat products of the Oaktree Mills Company. This meant that there needed to be an immediate action that the company had to take to address the matter so that it may not cause even greater trouble to the public who consumed the products. To save the situation, the company communicated to its suppliers so that they may recall all the products they had presented to the market during a certain period and withdraw danger from customers. This was to prevent further damage than was already caused by the meat products of the company, which some people had eaten. However, the events at the Oaktree Mills did not only show the things that were surrounding the meat products disease but also they exposed other areas of weakness in the operation of the company that its management had neglected. Some of the things that came to be realized during the events were the mode of cleaning the machines that were used to prepare the meat that was packed and presented to the market. In addition, they opened up the collapsed communication system in the Oaktree Mills Company. Although there were plans in place to address the issue of cleaning the machines, the issue of communication remained a great problem because through use of social media, one of the company employees could communicate information that was working against the effort of the company’s management to restore the confidence of its customers. In Oaktree Mills Company, a communication director continually updated the public of the process of recovery of its services. Through the communication from the responsible individual, the company’s customers would interact with the management so that they could get the information that could elaborate the progress of process of recovery and ensure that they are able to discover when the meat from the Oaktree Mills was ready for consumption. The communication was regularly done through the social media until the time one of the employees of Oaktree Mills started to post countering information that threatened the credibility of the information of the company’s representative to its customers. This problem could potentially send a mixed signal to customers because on one hand, the management was giving a certain kind of information but on the other hand, another person, who had good information about the company, was giving information that countered that of the management. This effect meant that one of them was offering the wrong information and to most company’s customers, it was likely to assume that the management has a plan to defend its business and therefore, it was attracting them. The information of the employees could be believable just because the customers could argue that she was concerned about them and wanted to save them from the evil business minded plan of the organizational management. This would mean that customers were very likely to believe the information of the employee more than they could to one from the management. The events in the company meant that there was a communication issue that needed to be settled to contain the potential damage it could have to the business operation of the Oaktree Mills. This is because sending contradictory messages to the public could not help to inform the customers on the availability of the products of the company, as they would always be concerned about the negative statement that could have been released to them even from an incredible source. Oaktree Mills needed a strategy that would help them to contain the damage that was coming from one of their own, an employee. Analysis of the issues at Oaktree Mills Oaktree Mills had a communication director who could constantly communicate to the public about the progress that it had made in addressing the issue that had faced it in the past weeks. The communication director worked closely with the senior management so that he could present the standpoint of the company and the achievement it had made from the time it started implementing the plan to recover from the setbacks. The communication that the director gave to the public had to be approved by the senior management before it reached the public and therefore, it represented the position of the company’s management concerning the issues that they were facing (Conrad & Poole, 2012). When the issues of tweeting came to the notice of the communication director, he discovered how the policies of the company had neglected the importance of the responsibility, pertaining transfer of information that each individual had as an employee in the Oaktree Mills. The communication about the matters of the company showed that the employee, who was communicating to the public through tweeter, had the freedom to express her opinion about the situation of Oaktree Mills in its recovery from the issues it had encountered. However, because of the sensitivity of the company matters, there was a need to control this freedom of expression especially with a consideration of the things that could happen to the company’s operation if the things expressed worked against it. The Oaktree Mills Company lacked an elaborate policy on the way to contain arbitrary communication by any employees about its business operation especially when it is not in their job description. The communication director and the human resource manager lacked the way to curtail the communication of an employee who was tweeting contradictory information because there were no organizational regulations that are to contain the situation (Shaw, 2011). The kind of communication witnessed in the Oaktree Mills indicated lack of cooperation between for all the employees in the company and their leaders. This is because the employees ought to have received the communication from the management who could have taken time to update them and convince them even before it presented the same to the public. This would have been a good way of communication in which all the employees would be able to express their concerns about the situation facing the company and support the director in what he said (Harris & Nelson, 2007). Another thing that arises from the communication of the issues by the communication director and the employee is the business ethics. This is because when the organizational management and the employee presented contradictory information, there were concerns that someone could be giving force information. This issue of business ethics arise because if all stakeholders were integral and were giving true information, they ought to present similar information regardless of the matter at hand and the difference in rank in the organization (Shaw, 2011). Recommendations The Oaktree Mills management should formulate and implement a policy in communication to determine who has the responsibility to pass any information to the public at any time. Through such a policy, anyone who is unauthorized to communicate for the company will be prevented from publicizing issues that face it. The Oaktree Mills needs to establish teams and forums that will convene all employees in the company and give them updates about the issues that they are encountering in the process of their operation. Through these teams and forums, the management will be able to address the concerns of the company employees so that they will be able to communicate similar information. This will help to reduce any form of contradictory comments and updates about the company in the social or other media through which employees and other stakeholders can use. Oaktree Mills needs to punish severely all individuals who contravene the requirement of the policy on communication that they implement so that the standard of discipline all employees can be maintained high. This will ensure that there is accountability in communication that is based on facts that represent the position of the company in specific issues. References Conrad, C. R., & Poole, M. S. (2012). Strategic organizational communication: In a global economy. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Harris, T & Nelson, M., (2007). Applied Organizational Communication: Theory and Practice in a Global Environment .New York, Taylor and Francis, LLC. Shaw, W. H. (2011). Business ethics. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Read More