The Local Rivals of Endeavour - Essay Example

 The Local Rivals of Endeavour According to the case, foreign competitors team up with local rivals of Endeavour. This may cause increase in efficiency which are brought by low-cost partners from abroad. Because of this, competitive pressures occur maybe in the form of lower prices for services, or much better reception by the local customers because of the foreign partners' reputations. Because profits are declining due to a more intense competition in the traditional markets, Endeavour may have decided to expand overseas, and look for blue oceans. 1- How might international socio-cultural environment be a factor in these problems? The company is dealing with two important Chinese contractors. The culture of the Chinese companies may significantly be different from the national culture of the country where Endeavour is located. Aside from Mike's obvious egotistic attitude, some factors may have been part of the conflict between Mike's coordination with the senior personnel among the Chinese contractors. Dealing with Asian companies requires certain people skills that know how the differences in the culture, and these differences in the international socio-cultural environment can also play a part in Mike's offences that have caused the conflicts, then the delays. 2- How does the theories relating to judgement apply in this context with respect to the owners and their view of Mike? The theories relating to judgement suggest that when there is a certain standard, a person is being compared to that standard which influences the judgement. Mike is a star engineering student. With the owners being engineers themselves, they know the standards that Mike's talents meet which has affected their judgement. With this standard, they thought, being a star engineering student will transform into a very much valued employee—one that contributes a lot of value to the company. Mike lives up to a certain degree of very high standards. However, not knowing that such standards in the university will not transform into standards of being a great manager. There is also a point that because one of the owners view Mike as himself, the standards are further distorted. 3- With respect to Mike's project team, provide a concise analysis of what's wrong with the team and why? The team fails to work well because the group dynamics has been distorted by Mike's attitudes. In order for a team to function well, there should be some harmony among the members in the form of good communication and the huge variance of personality between Mike and the other team members. However, Mike's attitudes especially when he has been consulted for some technical things has made communication worse--when the other members bring up a legitimate problem such as in the case of the Chinese contractors, Mike becomes defensive. This leads to a 'toxic' culture in the project team—where the members' attitudes toward solving some internal issues are affected by Mike's negative attitudes and ill-temper. 4- Define all primary and key secondary problem. The primary, or the larger problem for Endeavour is its lack of HR policy in terms of conflict management, especially among its personnel. As it has been mentioned in the case, other staff members' concerns regarding their conflicts with co-workers are only brought up during exit interviews. Also, other 'turf wars' have not been addressed by the company. By not having an impartial system set up for these types of conflicts, the culture of the company becomes toxic, while the environment is less conducive to productivity as it becomes hostile. This is a major problem for the company. The secondary problem is regarding the company's performance: there have been cost overruns of $150 million. In line with this, there is no system that determines accountability for such happenings. When Ron does not abide by the norm of reviewing the report because of his inadequate judgement of Mike's ability which he used as a predictor of performance, this has lead to a secondary problem of the company. This has lead to strained relationships with contractors, such as the two Chinese contractors as well. 5- Provide a suite of at least five recommendations in a way that clearly addresses all defined source problem (So clearly demonstrate linkage to business needs) and six specifically aimed at minimizing resistance to change. For the problems: 1. Revise the company's HR policies as regards appointment of employees to certain projects, i.e. for foreign contractors, it is important to put someone who understands the national culture of the other company, and has better people and negotiation skills. 2. Set up an impartial conflict management function within the company. 3. Revise the company's policies in performance appraisals; it should be a more objective approach. 4. Invest in training this kind of star students, in human relations skills such as properly negotiating with people as well as inculcating in them the essence of being a team-player. 5. Revise the company's HR policies in terms of recruitment, not only emphasising on technical skills and academic credentials, but also job-fit and company-fit, as well as personality are integrated as variables in the process of selection. For the change management (Bartol): 1. Use a third party for the initiative, such as through consultants in order to minimise the view that the change has something political in nature. 2. Communicate the vision so that the tension due to uncertainties will be minimised. These tensions are the usual causes of resistance. 3. Powerful sponsors have to be approached in order to gain support for the vision. 4. Empower others to act out the vision. 5. Provide incentives in order to reward the changes that are happening. 6. Use sensitivity trainings--”training groups that seek to change behaviour through unstructured group interaction (Robbins 567).” 6- Provide SWOT analysis. Strengths. Endeavour's strength include the company's star university graduates, which in the technical sense can provide the company some competitive advantage. Weaknesses,. The company's weakness is its lack of formal systems as regards its HR function. HR is an important function for a company, especially a service company like Endeavour. The lack of system for such function, as usual in a classic family business can lead to huge errors such as what has happened in appointing Mike to handle a major project. Opportunities. Since the company has chosen to operate overseas, there are more business opportunities abroad, depending on the country which it chooses to operate in. Threats. One major threat to Endeavour is the increasing competitive pressures in the local market. Because of globalisation, more foreign firms partner with local rivals which eat up the profits in the local construction industry. 7- Use two motivation theories (definition and application of theories) In this case, one of the motivation theories that can be used is the two-factor theories of Fredrick Hertzberg (Robbins, 159-161). According to Fredrick Hertzberg, the two-factor theory suggests that “intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction (Robbins, 159).” These intrinsic factors are what constitutes the person's motivation. The extrinsic factors are called the hygiene factors which include “policy and administration, supervision and salary—in which case, when these factors are adequate will not lead to job dissatisfaction. This is very applicable in the case of the company. It has to set up some policies that ensure that the working environment is healthy such as setting up an impartial conflict resolution management function, in order to keep employees from being dissatisfied due to strains in work relations. The current job design, where employees are given challenging jobs already contribute to the factors that provide job satisfaction, from the two-factor theory's perspective. Another useful motivation theory is the expectancy theory of Victor Vroom (Robbins 173-175). According to the theory, “the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual (Robbins 173-175).” Project team members can expect a fair evaluation of their efforts and performance that will lead to organisational rewards, and not on the basis of a recommendation from a favoured employee such as Mike, in the case of Endeavour. This way, employees will be less dissatisfied which will result in fewer turnover in the company. Works Cited Bartol, K., Martin, D., Tein, M., & Matthews, G.. Management: A Pacific Rim Focus. Australia: McGraw Hill Company, 2001. Robbins, S. Organizational Behaviour. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Read More