Challenges of Rio Tinto Japan - Case Study Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2013 Table of Contents Executive summary 3 Issues 4 Causes 4 Decision Criteria 6 Alternatives 7 Solutions 7 Implications 8 References 9 Executive summary In the afternoon of March 11, 2011, Rio Tinto Japan was hit by a very strong earthquake. The earthquake struck some 520 kilometers away from Tokyo, though the effect was extremely strong for people in Tokyo. Due to aftershocks, the buildings in Tokyo, including Rio Tinto Japan premises, shook two to three times. Employees at Rio Tinto Japan were tensed and whenever the building could shake they could go under their desks with their helmets on and practically hold on to the legs of the tables. The earthquake did not only create fear among employees, but also interfered with the power system and transport system. The power lines, street lights, building lights and railway transport were destroyed. Because of fear, workers at Rio Tinto Japan had to spend the night in their offices and go to their homes the following morning. The earthquake also resulted to several uncertainties. People were wondering if there will be enough food for the next two or three days. They were also uncertain about fuel supply. People did not know how the disaster will affect fuel supply. The occurrence of the earthquake resulted into issues that are either employee related or organizational related. The major issues that could be easily identified in the case include employees’ absenteeism at work place and operational problem. This paper therefore, evaluates these issues by briefly introducing them. The paper also identifies the causes of the issues and highlights their importance to the organization, which in our case is Rio Tinto Japan. After looking at the causes, the paper evaluates decision criteria and develops a range of realistic alternatives that can address the identified issues. It then decides on a solution obtained from the alternatives and gives a justification for the chosen solutions. Finally, the gives realistic suggestions on how the chosen solutions could have been implemented by Rio Tinto Japan. Issues One of the issues that Rio Tinto Japan faced was absenteeism at work place. Absenteeism at work place is a serious issue many organizations do always face. Beesley (2012) argues that absenteeism at workplace has proved to be a big problem to managers. Therefore, it should be handled with a lot of care or else it can get out of control. In the case, Rio Tinto Japan had an issue of absenteeism at workplace. According to Dermot Vibert, an employee at Rio Tinto Japan, many employees, including him, did know what they will have to do the following morning after the earthquake. Due to this, there was high possibility that many workers will not report to their offices and recommence their duties. Another issue that Rio Tinto Japan faced is operational problem. From the case, it is clear that the workers did not know what they should come and do the following morning. The March 11 earth quake made Rio Tinto Japan to stop its operations. This therefore, made workers, Dermot Vibert included, to question if their assistance will be required the following morning. Workers questioned what they will be expected to do the following Monday morning, if they were to return to their offices to resume business. They knew that if the company is not operating, how can their presence, be of any help to the company. This therefore indicated that there was an issue with the company’s operation. Causes One of the major causes of the issue of workers absenteeism was the destruction of transport system by the earth quake. From the case, it is clear that the earth quake was so strong that it caused major problems to transport system. The earth quake destroyed traffic lights and power systems, thus making it hard for trains to function normally. This therefore posed as a threat, particularly to workers who are to report to work the following Monday morning. Good transport system is very essential for Rio Tinto Japan effective operations. With good transport system, Rio Tinto Japan’s workers will report on time, thus enabling the company to acquire prompt services. Another cause of workers absenteeism was the fear that developed among people. People were not certain about the following two or three days. They were wondering if life will be the same again the following morning. Many were questioning about the magnitude of damage the earthquake has caused in Tokyo, if there will be enough food for the next two or three days and what will happen to fuel supply. Being certain about tomorrow is very essential, particularly to Rio Tinto Japan’s workers. This is because it makes workers hopeful and energetic, thus making them to concentrate fully for the benefit of the organization. Regarding the operational problem, Rio Tinto Japan could not operate since there was no enough power for it to operate effectively. From the case, it is evident that the aftershocks of the earthquake made the buildings to shake severely, thus interfering with its power system. This therefore made it hard for it to operate the following morning. Having good power system is quite helpful to Rio Tinto Japan. Good and workable power system assists Rio Tinto in running of its machines. Another cause of operational problem was workers failing to go home, following the earthquake. This made the company not to operate the following day since workers slept in their offices and went home the following morning. Having effective workers is crucial to any company’s success. The success of the organization normally depends on performance of the employees (Mayhew, 2013). Having ineffective or less workforce will imply inadequate attainment of the company’s business objectives, which will results to a company becoming unsuccessful. Therefore, the presence of energetic and effective workforce is essential as it assist the company to achieve its business objectives. Decision Criteria Decision criteria or factors refer to specific measures that a person will employ so as to determine the best choice out of the alternatives. It is believed that in order to undertake a thorough work, one has to determine a number of factors relevant to his or her decision (Moriarity, 2008). According to Moriarity (2008), it is also essential to rank the factors according to their importance. Therefore, the best criterion to be employed in the Rio Tinto Case is the realism criterion. In this criterion, the maximum and minimum payoffs of all decision alternatives will be determined. The pay offs for each decision alternative will be compared and ranked according to their importance. The last step will then entail choosing the best alternative among those ranked. It can be noted that workers decided not to go home and stay within Rio Tinto premises until the following morning. This was quite a good decision to make as it had a greater pay off than other alternatives. The other alternatives that workers had were to either go home or report to the nearest humanitarian agency for assistance. However, the alternatives were too risky and uncertain, thus making them to have less pay offs. Alternatives Among the issues identified, such as workers absenteeism and operational problem, several realistic alternatives that address the issues can be developed. One of the alternatives, particularly of solving workers absenteeism, is immediate provision of information to workers regarding the magnitude of the damage, the disaster has caused. This will not only make the workers be less fearful, but also assure them of the normal progress of the company’s business operations. Workers will be able to assess the situation outside and take a risk of going home so that they can report tomorrow at work, thus solving the problem of absenteeism. Another alternative of solving absenteeism problem is booking guest houses for workers for them to comfortably relax and report to work the following morning. In order to address the operational problem, one of the alternatives is to make use of other sources of power such as generators, in powering electrical machines and equipment in the company. This therefore will assist the company to continue with its normal operations even if the power systems have been interfered with the earthquake. Another alternative is to assure workers that the company business operations will continue as usual regardless of the disaster. Solutions Among the alternatives provided, the best solution for workers absenteeism would have been immediate provision of information to workers regarding the magnitude of the damage, the earthquake has caused. It is quite clear from the case that many employees of Rio Tinto Japan did not go to their home due to lack of information regarding the earthquake. Many of them were not able to tell if the earthquake will strike again. Workers were also worried that the earthquake might have caused major distraction, which will make their going home impossible. This therefore made them to spend their night in the company’s premises and leave for their home the following morning, thus making majority of them to be absent. However, if the company could have promptly communicated to its workers regarding the impact of the earthquake, they could have left for their home that very day and report to work the following, thus solving the problem of absenteeism. Regarding operational problem, the best solution, among the alternatives, would have been to make use of other sources of power, such as power. This would be of great help since the company operations will continue running regardless of power system damages caused by the earthquake. Implications Immediate provision of information regarding the magnitude of the earthquake is an essential step to take so as to solve workers absenteeism. Therefore, to attain this, the company could have responded immediately through its disaster preparedness team and immediately collect information regarding the magnitude of the earthquake impact. They could then immediately communicate to the staff. This could have made the staffs to be informed and avoid spending night in their offices. Making use of other sources of power is also an essential step that Rio Tinto Japan could have employed in solving operational problem. This could be done by immediately fixing a standby generator that will assist in powering all the machines and equipment within the company’s premises. References Beesley, Caron, 2012, 7 Tips for Controlling and Preventing Employee Absenteeism. Mayhew, Ruth, 2013, Importance of Employee Performance in Business Organizations. Moriarity, Kevin, 2008, Making Decisions - Specifying Decision Criteria. < http://ezinearticles.com/?Making-Decisions---Specifying-Decision-Criteria&id=910918 > Read More