The Alternative Solutions for Emerson Ross and Partners - Essay Example

The Alternative Solutions for Emerson Ross and Partners Executive Summary The following paper provides an in depth analysis of the Emerson Ross and Partners Case Study. The problems being faced by the company in the case have been identified and analyzed. The main problems faced by the company pertain to excessive control being handled by Emerson & Ross alone who tend to keep the other six partners of the business out of the major decision making at the company, the critical and suspicions view that Emerson and Ross have of their partners and key employees at the company, the high level of employee turnover at the company which has reached as high as 40 percent, the recent negligence cases brought to light, the lack of shared decision making with the other six parties and the lack of communication between the Emerson & Ross and the other partners and the key employees of the company. The paper goes on to provide the alternative solutions that are available to the company to rectify their problems. These solutions include not taking any step and letting the problems be as they are or alternatively increasing the communication at the company with the support of communications technology. Other alternates pertain to employing motivational programs to reduce employee turnover, and increasing their commitment to the company. Employee empowerment and a evaluation of the company resulting in the organizational change has also been suggested. The recommended solution that best solves the problem faced by the company is that of organizational change and the implementation of increased communication, collaborative decision making and employee empowerment programs. The specific strategies for implantation of these programs have been provided. Problem Identification & Analysis The Emerson Ross and Partners is primarily a partnership which has been operating in the industrial design industry. The company was initiated by its two main partners Peter Emerson and Andrew Ross. However over the period of years, the company has grown considerably which has resulted in more partners being inducted and the expansion of the scale of operations of the company in different regions of Australia. Lately the company has been facing major problems which are creating obstacles for the company in terms of its competitiveness in the market and the future growth of the company. The problems that have been identified through the case analysis pertain to control and communication issues. The two partners Emerson and Ross have been running the business for a long time and find it hard to trust the other partners to be able to run the company on their own. As a result they are obsessive compulsive in terms of managing control in the organization and end up taking drastic steps which cause discomfort and unease amongst the other partners of the business. The company has also been facing issues of high employee turnover and resentment amongst the employees of the company. This is caused due to the excessive control held and practiced by Emerson and Ross in the company. They tend to control the actions and the decision making at all levels of the management. Both partners consider it appropriate to provide specific guidelines as to how work procedures should be carried out. Andrew makes a point of emphasizing efficiency and accuracy of all work that is to be done. This is clearly highlighted to all members of staff when they are initially employed in the company. Employees and staff members who were interviewed agreed that the basic procedures and principles of Emerson Ross were efficient and that both Peter and Andrew were extremely competent. However, they spoke of certain aspects which made their jobs difficult. These aspects pertained to Peter constantly checking on them, the suspiciousness of Peter specially on his bi monthly visits to the Sydney operations of the company, the loaded criticism and lack of praise and appreciation shown by Andrew, and the fact that Andrew has the tendency to take credit of the work of the junior consultants which disgruntles the employees and provokes them to shift to the competitors of Emerson, Ross & Partners. Moreover when discussing international expansion, Emerson and Ross proposed to set up Daniel Ho as a head in the international offices in the Asia Pacific, the two partners have come to a decision amongst themselves without involving the other six partners of the business, even though they also have prominent stake in the decision making and the future of the business. Aside from this the decision was made based on the ethnicity of Daniel Ho and not on his experience, capability and his contributions towards the business. Additionally the partners have not yet communicated this decision or the proposal Daniel Ho who has been hearing of this from third parties as a rumor circulating in the company. Aside from this the Melbourne office has also faced negligence allegations in the Melbourne court which Emerson and Ross decided to settle outside of the court. Rumors circulating have it that $60,000 were used as payment to come to an agreement at the out of court settlement. However despite the factor that Emerson and Ross took this step to keep their business name form being tarnished, the same has happened as a result of rumors circulating in the corporate circles and the suspicious settlement of the case. Key Problems The key problems that are being faced by the Emerson, Ross and Partners Company are listed as follows: 1. There is excessive control being handled by Emerson & Ross alone who tend to keep the other six partners of the business out of the major decision making at the company. 2. Emerson and Ross have a critical and a suspicious view of their employees and partners and do not trust them enough to run the company independently on based on their own technical and management skills. 3. The company has been facing negligence charges ruled by the Melbourne Court which have effected the reputation of the company despite steps taken by Emerson and Ross to settle the dispute outside of the court. 4. The company has been facing high levels of employee turnover with the Perth office reporting the highest employee turnover rate of 40 percent. The departing employees are taking their knowledge, expertise and skills to the competitors of Emerson, Ross and Partners. 5. Emerson and Ross are not considerate about the working conditions and environment of the employees. When the issue regarding load of work and overtime hours was brought up by the employees, the two partners lectures the employees about it being their duty to work hard at all times of the day, without showing appreciation of the work already conducted by the employees. 6. Emerson and Ross have not formally communicated the placement of Daniel Ho to the South Pacific Asia regional office in Hong Kong and have not taken his input regarding the decision which shows the authoritative control they have over the business and on the other six partners of the company. Alternative Solutions The alternative solutions that are available to Emerson and Ross for solving the highlighted problems pertain to the following. Emerson & Ross can decide to not take any step or initiative to solve the problems that have been identified through case analysis. However this is not a recommended as the company will face much larger problems of lack of motivation and commitment by the other partners and the employees of the company which will work against the business and its future goals of expanding in the international market. A proper technology based communication system can be set up between the partners of the company and the key employees of the company. This communication system can help the employees and the partners communicate with each other, influencing the concept of open speech and collaborative decision making in the company as well as integrative control in the organization on part of Emerson and Ross which is not claustrophobic for retraining on others. Motivational programs can be launched to address the problem of decreasing motivation of the employees of the company and the high turnover. This motivational program can include increased responsibility for the employees, appreciation shown by the partners for their work as well as a reward based compensation program which commends the employees on their hard work and commitment and provide them with extrinsic as well as intrinsic motivational goals to work for. “Motivated employees play a key role in organization success, and past research indicates a positive association between perceptions of empowerment and motivation. A prominent model put forth by Spreitzer (1995) suggests that two major components of control systems will positively affect employee feelings of empowerment—performance feedback and performance-based reward systems.” (Drake et al., 2007) The commitment of the employees can also be addressed by initiating a meeting with the employees and the partners. “External commitment--or contractual compliance--is what employees display when they have little control over their destinies and are accustomed to working under the command-and-control model. Internal commitment occurs when employees are committed to a particular project, person, or program for their own individual reasons or motivations. Internal commitment is very closely allied with empowerment.” (Argyris, 1998) A sequence of one on one meeting can be held, where Emerson and Ross should take input form the concerns of their employees and the comments of the partners. Then corrective steps where applicable should be taken by Emerson and Ross to engage the other partners and the key employees of the firm in devising the future business plan for the company and recognizing the commitment and the effort of their employees. Another solution that can be implemented by the company is to increase employee empowerment while changing the organizational culture at the company. A new attitude towards business scan be employed which focuses on increase communication, integrative control, and on the feedback provided by ALL the partners of the company in making key decisions for the business. Emerson and Ross should empower their employees to let them work independently. Recommendation The recommended solution that can be employed to solve the problems that have been identified through the case analysis is to bring change in the organization culture and the working conditions at the company and to increase collaborative decision making which takes into account the opinions of all the partners of the company. The base line is that Emerson and Ross need to implement employee empowerment in their company while changing their attitude towards business to bring about a change in the culture of the organization “The economic benefits claimed for involvement in work organization are most often benefits to the organization from greater individual effort and effectiveness via increased commitment, job satisfaction and clarity about goals.” (Fenton-O'Creevy, 2005) A new attitude towards business scan be employed which focuses on increase communication, integrative control, and on the feedback provided by ALL the partners of the company in making key decisions for the business. Emerson and Ross should empower their employees to let them work independently. The current business strategy employed by the two partners is that of bureaucratic leadership which is not feasible for a dynamic and developing organization in today’s environment of business. “In that era, managers told employees how to do their jobs and monitored them constantly. But in organizations operating in dynamic and highly competitive markets, managers cannot spend all of their time ensuring that everyone is doing what is expected. Neither is it realistic to think that managers can achieve control simply by hiring good people, aligning incentives, and hoping for the best. Today's managers must permit employees to initiate process improvements and new ways of responding to customers' needs--but in a controlled way.” (Simons, 1995) The strategies that can be employed for increasing employee empowerment and communication in the company while investing organizational change is to take the input of the employees about their concerns. These concerns can be addressed by decisions made on strategic level by all the partners of the company. Additionally technical systems can be implemented to support the organizational change of the culture and the way the operations are conducted in Australia and for at the future regional offices of the company. These tools can be used to increase communication between the partners and the key employees as well as eliminate the rumors circulating in the company, The first step that can be taken by Emerson and Ross is to come clean about their future plans for the business with the other partners of the company and its key management. This includes the future expansion plans and the imminent placements of the people at the international regional offices. When it comes to employee empowerment a study indicates “employees do not recognize the term "empowerment" nor do they reference the term "power" in relation to themselves. However, they are able to relate to associated concepts, notably "personal responsibility" and "control over their work". Empowerment for the employees was found to operate as a continuum, as the extent to which employees seek empowerment varies considerably. The innate feelings that employees have with regard to empowerment enable an insightful understanding of what empowerment means and the employee response to it.” (Greasley et al., 2008) Implementation The steps that can be taken to implement the recommended solution pertain to first getting the feedback form the employee and the partners about their concerns, and how they suggest they can be eliminated or addressed. Then cumulative decision can be taken by ALL the partners of the company regarding the steps that can be employed for the rectification of the issues and problems and the concerns highlighted by the employees. Employee empowerment can be conducted by providing them with increase authority along with the responsibility to make their own decision for their work. Required training can be provided to the employees in order to make them more efficient at their jobs and to provide them motivation to go further in their specific careers with the company. “On one side, the benefits of training accrue only to the extent that employees contribute to the organization. Thus, a firm should take into account how it expects a training program to affect employee effort as well as employee turnover.” (Glance et al., 1997) Aside form this creatively has to be encouraged while beauracratic control part of Emerson and Ross has to be restricted for the growth and the development of the company. This can be supported by investment of technology based capital into the business which will enable the communication in the company to be more open and free flowing while still enabling the partners to exercise relevant level of control on the operations in the company. “Beliefs systems communicate core values and inspire all participants to commit to the organization's purpose. Boundary systems establish rules and identify pitfalls. Diagnostic control systems allow managers to ensure that employees are meeting goals efficiently and effectively. And interactive control systems enable top-level managers to focus on strategic uncertainties.” (Simons, 1995) References Argyris, C., 1998, ‘Empowerment: The Emperor's New Clothes’, Harvard Business Review; May/Jun98, Vol. 76 Issue 3, p98-105, 8p, 2 color, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=2&sid=a9fcc4dd-92b6-4f70-912f-e8ddf6a43a2c%40sessionmgr2&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=547147 Drake, A.R., Wong, J., Salter, S.B., 2007, ‘Empowerment, Motivation, and Performance: Examining the Impact of Feedback and Incentives on Non-management Employees.’, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Vol. 19, p71-89, 19p, 4 charts, 3 diagrams, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=102&sid=41ba37a1-3932-4cca-b731-0e5df440855b%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=23952103 Fenton-O'Creevy, M., 2005, ‘Employee involvement’, Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior, p1-103, 102p, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=102&sid=6f56e1a7-be5d-4aa9-9bc9-879e5f4d48dc%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=14720309 Glance, N.S., Hogg, T., Huberman, B.A., 1997, ‘Training and Turnover in the Evolution of Organizations’, Organization Science, Vol. 8 Issue 1, p84-96, 13p, 3 diagrams, 3 graphs, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=102&sid=063b24f9-2747-48ef-a187-c9f97a6d24cc%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=5170793 Greasley, K., Bryman, A., Dainty, A., Price, A., Naismith, N., Soetanto, R., 2008, ‘Understanding empowerment from an employee perspective: What does it mean and do they want it?’, Team Performance Management, Vol. 14 Issue 1/2, p39-55, 17p, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=2&sid=564c293b-061c-4053-b429-9322157d92e0%40SRCSM1&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=31865114 Simons, R., 1995, ‘Control in an Age of Empowerment.’, Harvard Business Review; Mar/Apr95, Vol. 73 Issue 2, p80-88, 9p, 1 chart, 1 diagram, 4 color, available at http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=b2044eb8-1251-4203-8df7-2dbbab6e9a0e%40sessionmgr7&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=9503281996 Read More