Problem at Workplace - FedEx - Case Study Example

Name Professor Title Date Problem at Work Place Introduction Decision-making is an aspect of life is done on a daily basis. In organizations, managers are to make decisions on the next move such as to improve its human resource management strategies, to reduce the cost of operation, to embrace change, to hire or fire among others (McGuire et al. 252). With competition increasing among organization, university administrators have had to make decisions on a daily basis to strategize on gaining market advantage. For instance, FedEx adopted a strategy of sponsoring students for their university studies while requiring them to work in the institution as a way of paying back. This has been an effective strategy by the organization as a way of getting the right employees and as a way of reducing cost of hiring and selection of new employees. However, the problem has been the ever increasing number of students on sponsorship yet few vacancies. FedEx management needs to make a decision and reducing a situation where students on sponsorship are affected by limited vacancies at the institution. Therefore, this paper discusses what decision the institution should undertake about the problem. Background of the institution FedEx is an American company which deals with courier delivery services and has its headquarters in Tennessee. The Company was established in 1971 and has grown over the years and now employs up to 300,000 people who operate globally. In addition, the growth of FedEx Corporation is highly linked due to its effective HRM dubbed "People-Service-Profit" practice (Reynolds 34). In this management philosophy, people come first because they are one the ones who provide service and enhance profits. In addition, Stone has attributed FedEx Corporation exemplary performance to its effective human resource strategies such as selection, recruitment, workforce planning, training and development, job analysis and design, benefits and compensation, and performance appraisal (34). The company vision and mission has been vital in shaping up its growth based on human resource practices and financial performance. The company’s mission statement claims that ‘FedEx is a firm of the diverse cultures which serves employees and collaborates with diverse employees, visitors, partners and suppliers to provide greater financial returns for its shareowners by offering great logistics, transportation and other services (FedEx n.p). As the human resource manager, I have been tasked to get the right employees for the right job. Sponsorship program has been a good strategy for getting the best employees at a cheaper cost in the long run. However, with the weakness such as fewer vacancies for more graduates, an effective decision has to be made to improve the human resource strategy. The roles of a human resource manager include the following; Recruitment and selection - The process involves getting the right students for FedEx based on their courses and performances. Training and development - providing training during employment is importance for sponsored students to understand the policy of the organization. The human resource manager also deals with employees’ relations and solves arising issues. Section 1 - The problem, its nature scope and impact In the 21st century, the organizations have had several decisions to make due to competing interests (Parker & Fischhoff 3). Organizations have become capitalistic in nature, hence decisions are made with profit in mind. Williamson argued that while some decisions have helped the organizations gain competitive advantage over its rivals, others have been disastrous and led to tremendous failure (279). One of such situation is where an organization has a special program for students called (sponsorship) in which a contract is signed the organization and student. The contract stipulates that once students graduate, they are committed to work with the organization, basically to pay back the sponsor-study allowances the organization paid for them. However, this year, when a huge number of sponsored students graduated from university, there were very limited vacancies for them. The situation has been recurring for the last five years since the company has expanded its sponsorship from just few universities to several. The situation has not only affected the students, but also the organization. For instance, some students who have often missed a vacancy to work because of limited openings. Students who missed chances to work as earlier promised not only suffer psychologically, but also feels cheated. On the other hand, the situation also affects the company. Fed Ex uses the sponsorship program to market itself as a company which implements corporate social responsibility. However, many graduates not getting the opportunity to work, the program now receives negative feedback which could affect the company’s image. In future, many students might refuse to enter into a contract with the company. Other qualified may refuse to apply to work with the company because of perception that their knowledge and skills might be underutilized. Also, if the problem is not resolved it could lead to duplication of roles. With few vacancies, yet many graduates, the company will have many employees performing same roles. Teena & Sanjay established that duplication of roles lead to frequent organizational conflicts (41). Many students are also lowly paid because they are giving back the funds which were used to educate them in the university. As such, most of them are less motivated thus are likely to post dismal results. Section 2- A. Gathering and interpretation of information to identify possible solutions to a problem The solution collected from sponsored students’ logbook provides a comprehensive picture of the whole sponsorship strategy. The logbook shows a situation where most of sponsored students who are employed by the company, sharing the same roles and responsibilities. However, some experts think that since these students mingle a lot during the work, they could influence each other to write the same activities in their log books. The research about the sponsorship has also been collected through survey. In the survey, few students were interviewed about the sponsorship and almost the same feedback was given. Majority of the students believes that strategy does not give them enough experience and skills they need to work in a 21st century organization. Most of the students complained of the few vacancies yet many students. The survey also engaged the head of human resource department at Fed Ex and his response was that the program had its weakness just as the strengths. One of the weaknesses is that the high number of graduates makes it difficult to effectively engage also the candidates. The HR manager also admitted that some of the graduates are less motivated because of low pay due to need for payback. Shaughnessy, Zechmeister and Jeanne pointed out that the survey is efficient because its saves time and money as only a sample of the population is interviewed (164). The date gathered can be used to improve the sponsorship problem at FedEx Corporation. Section 2B - The summary of the options providing facts and evidence Solving this problem needs several options to be considered during decision making. Simon’s Model of Decision Making can be used to analyze the problem and provide various options before it is finally resolved (Williamson 280). This model composed of four phases including intelligence, design, choice and implementation (Williamson 280). The intelligence phase comprises on assessing the atmosphere for a condition which needs decisions to be made (Augier & March 2004). In this stage, the researcher, marketer or manager identifies the problems or opportunities, collects information, establish goals and define an evaluative criteria. In this situation, the problem, fewer vacancies with more graduates. In the design phase, solutions are designed which outlines the problem or opportunity (Augier & March 76). Alternative resolutions are also created that can be used to solve similar problem. In his choice approach, Simon argued that the survival of human being relies on his capability to make better decisions in the uncertain and ever-changing environment (Williamson 284). There are several options or solution available to FedEx Corporation with current problem. The first option is expansion. The expansion of a company means opening new outlets or branches to provide services. The expansion creates new positions and departments which can accommodate more graduates (Teena & Sanjay 45). This strategy is beneficial because the company can increase its product awareness and profits. Furthermore, FedEx Corporation would benefit from low cost of operations because it pays low salaries. Another option is collaborating with other companies. FedEx Corporation might need to partner with other companies which will allow some of the graduates to work in their organization and acquire some skills needed in the market. Another option is to stop this program. In this option, the company is likely to lose in two ways. One, it will not benefit from cheap labour or low cost of operation. Two, stopping the strategy means stopping its CSR practice which could affect its image. The reason attributed to this is several students may not get the opportunity to study due to lack of school fees. FedEx Corporation could be perceived as a company which does not care for the social welfare of the society. Section 3 - Applying simple decision making techniques to evaluate options to arrive at the best solution To get the best solution, various factors of the simple decision making technique such as cost, time, ‘buy in’, aligned, customer and quick wins are evaluated. The options are weighted to get the best solution. In this case, the first option is expansion. This option provides the companies with more vacancies to place graduate students. However, the cost of expansion particularly in a new city or country is very high. The company will need high capital to set up a new branch, market the new outlet and pay salaries. Expansion also takes time because the company needs to look for funds and carry out market research before the actual exercise. Option two is collaborating with other companies. This is the best option for FedEx Corporation because it does not incur high cost and time. Partnership does not take more time as expansion. Similarly, the partner can be convinced to pay the graduates. Option three is not the best because stopping the program means FedEx Corporation will need to hire new employees at a high cost, a process which also takes time. The company is also likely to have a bad customer review on the basis of CSR. The fourth option (doing nothing) is the worst option. This option incurs high cost and time. Students will not likely to enter into a contract with FedEx Corporation due to ineffective program hence it will finally die. The options can be summarized as follows. Factors cost Time ‘Buy in’ Aligned Customer Quick Win Total Weights 5 4 4 2 1 3 Option 1 15 10 7 4 6 5 47 Option 2 2 3 15 8 10 12 50 Option 3 10 8 3 5 0 0 26 Option 4 12 10 0 3 0 0 25 Plan, Monitor and review of the implementation and communication Even though the program plan is aimed at making the company competitive at the market, some practices are risky because they might fail the company from achieving its set objectives. The program will be monitored after every one month to observe if it achieves the desired results. The effectiveness of the operation will be monitored and individual graduate evaluated based on the performance. In this program, major communications to graduates will be done through the use of internet, mobile phones (SMS), and the website. The decision to use these communication strategies is based on the advancement of such technologies in the business. Smart Objectives: Having the right and effective employees in the market by 2020 Strategy: Recruiting Graduates Tactical Coordinating Instruction Critical Tasks Constraints, Risk and Dependencies Detailed Actions and Responsibilities Resources Review date Date due Product testing Low Budget Testing of the products, monitoring Calculator, computer 1 July 2017 2018 (January1st –January 31st) Promotion The program does not achieve results Promoting the brand, communicating results Burners, pens, T-shirts and notebooks 1 July 2017 Six months (1st feb-31 Jul) Section 4 - Monitoring and review techniques could be used to evaluate outcomes Monitoring and review such as observation of the result will be used. Observation makes the manager know what a graduate has gained during the training. Observation is enabling the manager to know the area they are supposed to improve. The program effectiveness can be reviewed in term of financial projection. If the financial performance improves, then the sponsorship program is effective. One of the risky scenarios is that projected results for program turn out to low. The situation has repercussion for the company because it force the management to abruptly allocate more funds towards sponsorship hence denying other projects funds. To correct the scenarios, emergency funds should be allocated towards plans. Another monitoring can be using employees evaluation. The evaluation enables the company to have the employees with the right skills. It also enables the company to improve the skills through training. Conclusion The research offers an insightful impacts of decision making not only FedEx Corporation but also any other modern organization. It holds that the success of every company depends on the quality of decisions its managers make. This paper has analyzed one of the human resources used by an organization, FedEx Corporation. While the strategy has been successful in contributing to education and human resource management, it also has its challenges. The problem depicts a situation where major are often confronted with the need to make decisions. In decision making there are always more options in making decisions. However, for the manager to make a better decision, managers must surround themselves with experts and consult widely. Works Cited Augier, M, & March, J. Models of a Man: Essays in Memory of Herbert A. Simon. , Cambridge: MIT Press. 2004. FedEx. Official website. 5 Oct. 2012, http://www.fedex.com/us/. Accessed 21 January 2017. McGuire, D, Thomas, N., Garavan, S. K, Saha, A, & O'Donnell, D. The impact of individual values on human resource decision-making by line managers. International Journal of Manpower, vol.27, no.3, 2006, pp. 251 – 273. Parker, A. M, & Fischhoff, B. Decision-making competence: External validation through an individual-differences approach, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol.18, 2005, pp. 1-27. Reynolds, M. Companies with HR Best Practices. Hearst Newspaper, 2016. Shaughnessy, J, Zechmeister, E, & Jeanne, Z. Research methods in psychology (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2011, pp. 161–175. Teena, B, & Sanjay, S. SHRM: alignment of HR function with business strategy, Strategic HR Review, vol.13, no.4/5, 2014, pp.34-47. Williamson, O. Herbert Simon and organizational theory: lessons for the theory of the firm”, in Augier, M. and March, J. (Eds), Models of a Man, The MIT Press. Cambridge, MA, 2004. Read More