Desired State of the Organization - Assignment Example

School: Topic: GAP ANALYSIS Lecturer: Current of the organization All organizations are set up with specific goals and visions that are pursued from short term to long term basis. Duff (2010) however lamented that it is not in all instances that these goals and visions are realized. When there are limitations in the real outcomes of the organization’s productivity as against what was desired to be achieved, there becomes a performance gap created (Aguinis, 2013). In order to address the gaps and ensure that the organization gets back to winning ways, a gap analysis is recommended. Such gap is what Motorola has been exposed to for a very long time as a global competitor in the mobile phone sector. Currently, Motorola has been on a declining verge for its total assets, operating income, revenue sales, and profitability (Motorola Solutions Inc., 2014). These outcomes have been noted by analysts to be the outcome of a collective set of organizational inadequacies which have been within the ranks of the organization for several years now (Literral, 2008) Desired state of the organization As a corporation which once used to be a global leader and strong competitor in the mobile phone industry, the desired state of Motorola was for it to continue recording growth both in terms of market capitalization and market size. The rationale for this positioning is that as an advantage of globalization, the use of modern technological tools such as mobile phones in transacting basic businesses and commerce has been increasing tremendously. This has given room to several companies in the mobile phone industry which did not use to be known as major global firms to take advantage to strategically grow and expand their business horizon (Literral, 2008). Based on the business principle of brand equity therefore, it was expected that Motorola would continue to compete effectively in this industry rather than be heard in the news for most appalling reasons that it has currently been heard for. Existing performance deficiencies within the organization As noted by Chau (2008), performance outcomes within organizations are a process rather than an event. What this implies is that the variables and factors that lead to an organization recording a certain level of performance is not something that happens overnight. Rather, it happens as a gradual process that is achieved through the collective efforts of all human resource within the organization. In the case of Motorola, most experts have blamed the current state to performance deficiencies that have come about as a result of poor innovative reasoning by employees (Literral, 2008). As the mobile phone industry is at the center of the technology sector, it is expected that employees in this industry will be those equipped and gifted with the skill of innovative reasoning and initiative implementation. This has however been absent at Motorola, creating major performance deficiencies as employees of the organization only produce average or medieval performance. Existing resources and organizational capabilities Despite the performance deficiencies that have been named above, there are major resources and organizational capabilities which were expected to be used as human capital advantage for the company. In the first place, the company before its dramatic fall in sales revenue in 2008 had very huge operating capital, which was a major financial resource for the company to operate and compete strongly against most new entrants who had come into the business around the time. Secondly, the company operated with a very large human resource base comprising over 40,000 employees globally. With such staff strength, Motorola was expected to have a very strong human capital representation across the globe. In terms of capabilities Motorola was known to be one of the world’s most research and development (R&D) oriented companies, equipping its workers with a lot of training and capacity building (Literral, 2008) Alternatives that are available to close/eliminate the gap. With the gap known to have been caused largely by lack of innovation on the part of employees, despite the training and capacity building programs available within the company, it is expected that alternatives will be taken to address the problem. One of the major alternatives is for the company to have a thorough overhaul of its human resource base. The rationale for this suggestion is that in a diversifying market, there are chances that the qualifications, skills and experiences based on which the employees were selected are no longer the ones that the job market requires. Having an overhaul would however ensure that new brains and hands come on board who have received the most current and modern forms of training and qualification that rightly meets the quest of the market (Aguinis, 2013). The second alternative is for the organization to consider its approach to systems and processes. The overall systems and processes in place at Motorola are expected to align with what meets modern requirements for the mobile phone business environment. Performance management strategies available to the organization in working toward its desired state As far as performance management strategies are concerned, it is expected that Motorola will adopt the use of key performance indicators (KPI) as a means for measuring the level of performance within its outfit. Through the use of KPI, it is expected that the company will come to terms with some of the individual and group deficiencies that have commonly faced it in the performance of roles (Duff, 2010). What is more, using KPI will enable the company the measure the extent of its performance deficiencies as associated with specific individuals and departments. This way, it will be possible to design and assign very specific solution based interventions that address the weaknesses found. What this means is that the KPI will in itself serve the purpose or role of gap analysis for the company to know how far it has fallen and how deep it needs to orient itself for growth. Selection of solution Motorola made a move by dividing its company into two so that the flow of work can better be categorized. This approach has been in existence but the company’s problems continue to exist. In the light of this, a solution based on strategic business alliance or networking is required. The rationale for this solution is that it will help the company address its external gaps whiles the alternative of employee overhauling will cater for its internal gaps. The plan to role this out will be to look for new target segments in emerging markets where the products and services of the company will be considered as relatively new and a novelty. After this, key industry players whose works are related to the mobile phone business such as telecommunication companies must be searched in these markets. Once the possible partners are known, there ought to be sufficient research to select the best partner who will aid in the strategic alliance program. The use of KPI can be repeated as a post implementation metric after 3 years of such strategic alliance in an emerging market. References Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Chau Sum, V. (2008). The relationship of strategic performance management to team strategy, company performance and organizational effectiveness. Team Performance Management, 14(3/4), 113117. Duff, A. (2010). Its all about the results. Director, 64(2), 68-72. Motorola Solutions Inc. (2014). EDGAR Filing Documents. Retrieved March 14, 2015 from http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/68505/000006850514000005/0000068505-14-000005-index.htm Literral, M. (2008). Motorola sees sales drop. Retrieved May 14, 2015 from http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/140317/motorola/motorola_sees_sales_drop.html Read More