Human Resource Management: of BMW Mini - Case Study Example

Human resource BMW mini Introduction Humans are among the most essential resources in any organization. The human resource management department in an organization must therefore ensure that they recruit appropriate employees and manage them effectively in order to safeguard the profitability desired by any commercial organization. Humans resource management is a management function mandated with recruiting effective employees and managing the appropriately in order to sustain production among other fundamental operations at the organization. During a crisis, the management must ensure that they prepare the human resource appropriately for the change (Fargus, 2000). This same is applicable the organization is initiating a change, Additionally, the management must maintain the productivity at a constant level in order to increase the success of the change or cushion the organization from incurring losses during the crisis as portrayed in the analysis of BMW mini in the essay below. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, alos known as BMW is a leading car manufacturer renowned for the manufacture of quality cars, motorcycles and engines. The company headquartered in Munich Germany enjoys an international presence with manufacturing plants in numerous countries including the United States, Germany and England among many others. The company is also renowned for the manufacture of Rolls Royce, high quality range of luxury cars and mini, small economical cars that became the company’s greatest success especially in the United States. The company implemented successful marketing and human resource management techniques in order to obtain a large market share it currently enjoys. The company began manufacturing the minis in Germany before trying new markets in Europe and in the United States. The growth of the company has exhibited effective management as the company sought to develop a substantial market niche for its different car brands including the BMW mini (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The introduction of minis required effective marketing and an equally effective coordination between the marketing and production departments in order to meet the huge demand the company anticipated with the discovery of new markets of both new markets both in Germany and of the international markets (Kotler & Kevin, 2010). This required the employees to maintain appropriate mindset in order to meet the high demand for the small car. The management of the company therefore diversified its management as it developed manufacturing plants in different countries hiring employee in such countries and maintaining appropriate mindset in order to maintain production. The development of numerous branches of the company in different nations presented numerous challenges for the company that required operative employee mindset in order to meet the increasing demand. The management met most of the challenges tactfully in order to cushion the company from incurring huge operational capital. The company hired new employees in the new markets but also used the new positions in such new countries to motivate the employees thereby sustaining productivity. Employee motivation is a vital tool used by the management to achieve the desired rate of productivity. The new markets increased the scope of the company and its market share. The company therefore opened up branches fully fitted with manufacturing plants in the United States, in Germany, England among other large economies globally. The cars retained a large share of the global market a feature that portrays the success of the managerial tactics used by the managers of the company. Motivation as discussed remains an important feature in the management of the human resource. Through effective employee motivation, the management sustains the productivity in an organization, as was the case at BMW. In understanding employee motivation, manages use two vital theories to understand their employees. Theory X and theory Y provide fundamental insights to the management of the human resource in an organization; the two theories provide managers with elaborate understanding of their employees thereby influencing appropriate management mechanisms in order to overcome the different human resource management challenges. Theory X posits that employees are naturally lazy and resent work; employees will therefore avoid work at every available opportunity since they believe that work is not only boring but also equally tiring. The management must therefore force employees to work. The management must therefore develop effective surveillance mechanisms in order to maintain the rate of productivity desired by the management. Theory Y on the other hand maintains a contradictory approach asserting that employees love their work, which comes naturally to them. The theory ascertains that employees are qualified and therefore obtain gratification in offering their services to the organization. This therefore states that the management must therefore develop appropriate structures that sustain interactivity within the organization in order for the employees to obtain clear and concise instruction from the management in order to undertake their respective duties at the organization. With reliable channels of communication, the management becomes easy as the employees readily uphold the quality standards in the organization. The theory underscores the importance of close relationship between the employees and the managers in order to develop a conducive working environment, one that encourages and motivates the employees thereby maintaining the high rate of production required by every organization (Müller, 2010). While the two theories appear contradictory, they provide managers with all the possible scenarios that may arise at an organization thereby equipping the human resource management with appropriate skills to counter the undesirable features that may manifest themselves at an organization (Painter, 2012). The two types of employees in an organization are skilled and unskilled. The two category require effective management in order to facilitate production despite the differences the two categories may manifest. Skilled employees have the technical knowhow; the category consists of educated individuals who exhibit professionalism in their positions. They therefore love their job and obtain greater gratification by doing their work. Such a group of employees requires the approach propagated by the theory Y. unskilled employees on the other hand exhibit traits propagated by theory X and therefore require close supervision in order to sustain the profitability desired by the management. BMW understood the challenges that the large market presented the management of the company. Operations in most of its manufacturing plants are skilled but equally labor intensive. This implies that the company required skilled laborers who understood their roles at the company and the operation of the different machinery that the plants utilized in its manufacture of the numerous automobiles. Such a group of employee required effective management that incorporated the recruitment of trained individuals who would uphold the quality standards. BMW prides itself in the manufacture of high quality and equally prestigious cars, the BMW mini was a different type of car but exhibited the same attributes as many other brands manufactured by the company. As explained earlier, employee motivation is a vital aspect of human resource management. The company therefore used the large demand for its new brand as a means of motivating the several employees the company acquired. Among the key motivators in a company is the working environment. BMW strived to develop appropriate working environment for its employees by mechanizing the workplace in order to sustain the quality and the rate of production. Such a working environment is not labor intensive since the employees aid the machines in the production process. Additionally, the company had effective management system, one with minimal supervision of the employees. The employees regulated their production using stringent timelines thereby ensuring that they maintained the rate of production (Moore, 2011). Additionally, the company used the new manufacturing plants to offer opportunities for promotions thereby motivating the employees who sought to impress the management in order to obtain the desired recommendation for promotions. Promotions are effective ways of motivating employees, in increased responsibilities that come with promotions make the employees feel appreciated by the employers thereby maintaining the rate and quality of production at the company (Oliver, 2008). The new manufacturing plants in different parts of Europe and the United States were appropriate opportunities to provide long serving employees with promotions thereby motivating them and other employees. Remuneration is yet another motivating factor in an organization. Employees require a remuneration that is commensurate to their roles at the organization. BMW provided adequate remuneration to its hundreds of employees. Furthermore, the countries in Europe and the United States had effective minimum wage bills that guided the salaries of every employee in the country. BMW complied with such legislations thereby providing its employees adequate remuneration thereby maintaining the rate and quality of production of the cars most of which had ready markets in the country of manufacture. BMW adopted a bureaucratic structure of management, the structure provides for effective management of the organization through the formation of successive administrative offices in the organization. Bureaucracy is an organization management theory that majors on intensified leadership of the organization. The theory prescribes the development of several successive offices to provide a dedicated surveillance and supervision of the employees. Bureaucratic structure of organizational management provides for increased accountability and an effective flow of information within the organization. With the development of the several manufacturing plant throughout Europe and the United States, the company required an effective management structure that would facilitate the flow of information yet retain a form of autonomy for each of the branches. BMW has a definite structure with a chief executive who serves as the highest authority in the company. Successive offices in the company include the chairperson of the supervisory board, the company’s vice president and the director of design among many others. The flow of information within the company therefore follows the chronological order with the chief executive making all the decisions pertaining the company’s daily operations. The flow of information provides for effective structures to implement all the operational decisions and policies (Thomas, 2009). The top-level management carries out effective research on the several marketing and production decisions before passing the commands down to the head offices. The branch manager operate semi autonomously but liaise with the head office based in Munich, Germany. Through such effective structures, the company has developed a cohesive company. The flow of information in a company is vital in the development of a cohesive company especially in a company as large as BMW. This validates the creation of several middle-level management positions to cater for the several branches operating in different countries throughout the world. The company employed two strategic communication models to facilitate the process of communication. The upward model refers to flow of information from the junior employees to the top-level management while down ward communication model refers to the flow of information from the top-level management to the junior employees. Downward flow of information facilitates the flow of commands from the top managers who make the decisions and pass them down in form of policies. The effectiveness of the communication model ensures that the company operates as a cohesive whole with each of the several branches undertaking specific policies depending on the market demand in the regions. Upward flow of information is an equally important aspect of operations in the organization. The organization must have effective structures of obtaining feedback and the thoughts of the junior employees in the organization. Junior employees are among the most fundamental resources in the organization and the organization must therefore adhere to their demands through effective collection of feedback and consider such in the policies they make. This implies that the organization must develop effective methods off gathering the information from such category of employees. BMW has an effective structure that perpetuates interaction between employees and the management. The development of numerous bureaucratic offices within the branches of the organization ensures that the management obtains the thoughts and feelings of the employees. This creates a motivated workforce as the management easily considers the thoughts and feelings of the junior employees a feature that motivates the employees thereby revamping the production of the company (Thomas, 2009). Managerial communication refers to management function that facilitates communication both among the managers and between the managers and their juniors in a company. It presupposes the transfer of instructions and decisions in the organization. Communication is, therefore, an important resource of management. Organizations safeguard their channels of communication owing to the fact that information is a fundamental asset in every company. The types of communication in an organization include interpersonal and organizational communication. With most organizations currently opting for diversification and franchising, communication becomes an important operations tool. BMW requires effective and constant communication with its various outlets and the headquarters in Germany. Among the communication scenarios that may arise in such an organization, there is the need of verification of the sales documents by the managers at the headquarters. While the company still manufactures the mini brand, the market for the same has decreased a feature that has destabilized the position of the company and its numerous employees. The company carries out dedicated market researches in order to determine adequate market for its products especially in the dynamic market. The demise of the market for the small cars opened ways for the company to discover new markets throughout the world. The company has produced several car brands and diversified its market to regions in Africa, Asia and South America among other regions the company had not ventured into before. By diversifying its products, the company has retained its market share thereby cushioning its employees from the job cuts that had threatened the position of hundreds of the company’s employees (Homburg, Sabine & Harley, 2009). BMW portrays effective human resource management. The company has managers who understand their managerial roles and functions. The managers have succeeded in developing a cohesive company that operates as a unified whole. Systems theory of management approaches an organization as a system with several elements that work in unison in order to achieve the profitability desired by the organization. A company like BMW is a perfect system with several components including the several branches and departments within the company. The departments must work in close liaison in order for the company to sustain its longevity in the market. The company has managed to develop a cohesive operative structure as the entire department heads work in liaison as the information flows effectively within the organization thereby facilitating the efficient operation of the company. In retrospect, BMW typifies effective management especially in the face of a crisis. The effective flow of information within the company facilitates the efficient operations within the company. Additionally, the company has effective human resource managers who portray professionalism in the manners in which they handle the employees within the company. Besides the conducive and equally competitive working environment, the managers have adopted several mechanisms of motivating the employees in order to facilitate the efficient operation of the company. References Fargus, P. (2000). Measuring and improving employee motivation. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Homburg, C. Sabine, K. & Harley, K. (2009). Marketing management: A contemporary perspective (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons. New Jersey, U.S. Kotler, P. & Kevin, K. (2010). Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Moore, F. (2011). Identity, Knowledge and Strategy in the UK Subsidiary of an Anglo-German Automobile Manufacturer. International Business Review, In press, available from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593111000436 Oliver, N. et al. (2008). A Systems Perspective on the Death of a Car Company. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 28 (6): 562 – 583. Müller, C. (2010). Employee motivation an incentives at Apple: Do incentives really help to motivate employees?. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag. Painter, R. et all. (2012). Cases and Materials on Employment law, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Pickton, D. & Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated marketing communications (2nd ed.). London: FT Pearson. Thomas, K. W. (2009). Intrinsic motivation at work: What really drives employee engagement. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Read More