Conflict and Power Relations - Case Study Example

Case Study: Management Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Strategy 3 Structure 3 Environment 4 Culture 4 Conflict and Power relations 5 Issues 5 Recommendations 5 Advice 6 Introduction Printzhof Press was a printing company that published college level textbooks and was the most important part of the parent company that was Education and Entertainment Holdings Inc. (EEH). It contributed almost 35% of EEH’s 2010 revenues and 43% of the net earnings before taxes. Printzhof Press was a prestigious name in the industry with numerous authors vying with each another to be published by the company. However the company was a follower of the old school principles and was slowly losing out against other major companies who had started adopting and incorporating new ideas that complement the customers’ needs. Strategy The purpose and the competitive strategies that give an organisation an edge over the competitors are known as the strategies of the organisation. Goals are sometimes stated in the company intent that is published at the start of a year. The strategies define the action plan that is adopted by the organisation so as to efficiently allocate the available resources and achieve the goals. Thus the scope of operations and the relationship that exists between the employees, competitors and customers are defined by the goals and strategies of the company. The employee turnover rate at Printzhof Press was very low and the leaders helped to achieve that end. The sales model of Printzhof was different than its competitors. Whereas most other publishing houses had “sales rep” who were in charge of contacting different professors and customers in a wide range of disciplines, Printzhof had “publishing rep” that focused on limited number of disciplines. Thus Printzhof used the niche strategy and catered to a lesser number of disciplines. Their publishing reps made it a point to attend a number of professional events that would inform them about the latest trends in teaching and research. After detailed analysis they would get in touch with the experts who would like to develop a working relation with the publishing house. Structure Structure of a company is the hierarchical structure of the lines of authority, rights, duties and communications that exist in the same. It helps one determine the roles, responsibilities and power that exists in an organisation and the flow of information in between the different levels. It also helps an organisation identify each post, the functions that are expected from that and to whom that person holding the post would report to. This organisation structure assists an organisation in achieving the goals that have been set by the same. Generally in a centralised organisation structure the topmost layer of the management makes the decision and maintains a control over the rest of the divisions. Printzhof Press was founded by Eric Nygren in 1820 and the publishing house was built on family values. They had developmental editors who worked closely with the authors and eminent academicians who had a working relation with the company. The editors were further assisted by the “publishing reps” that were in direct contact with the existing clients and also set up contacts with new authors or professors. This particular business model helped Printzhof Press become the market leader in publishing first edition books and experienced significant growth in the industry. Environment Environment includes the elements that are not in the boundary of the organisation such as industry, customers, suppliers, government and the financial community. However the other competitors are that part of the environment that affects an organisation the most. Post the world war there was a huge shift in the educational market. Greater number of people now started attaining college degree as against the pre war period when education was limited to the elite class and the publishing houses published books according to the instructor’s wish. But with a change in the governmental regulations when a bill was passed in order to provide free college tuition to military veterans, there were major changes in the environment of the publishing press. The type of customers that the publishing house previously catered to changed as well. Whereas they previously focused on the instructors’ needs, now they had to focus on the needs of the students. Culture The underlying set of key values, norms, beliefs and understandings are reflected in the culture of the company. The cultural values of a company help to hold the company together. The ethical behaviour, commitment of the employees, customer service and efficiency portray the underlying values and norms of the company. The slogans, ceremonies, dress code and office layout of the company emphasises on the cultures of the company. Printzhof was set up on close knit family values. The employees were given considerable freedom and their bosses trusted the employees to a great extent. This helped in creating a very low attrition rate as the employees were comfortable in the working culture that the company had. There were annual picnics of the “Printzhof family” and birthdays of the employees were celebrated. The vision of the company was to promote educational excellence and be a partner to the topmost academic institutions so as to expand the horizons and minds of the society’s future leaders. Mindlessly selling books that had no quality was strongly discouraged by the publishing house. Hence the staffing policy also was in tune with the vision of the company. They hired primarily from the best schools especially from the Ivy League colleges that the business heads had also attended. They believed in keeping a healthy long term relations instead of short term relations that yielded only profits. Conflict and Power relations It has often been seen that power struggles in a company leads to destruction of personal relations and causes conflicts. It is not considered constructive to devalue or disregard someone or even put one down. Leif Nygren, the CEO of the Printzhof Press had resisted changes in the company structure even when major market changes demanded so. Robin Ash was promoted to Printzhof so as to bring about changes in the marketing structure of the company. Issues The senior management at the company resisted changes and refused to abide by the market forces. Thus it was extremely necessary to make them realise that resisting the market forces will aggravate the economic crisis of the company. The product development of the company was very weak and needed a lot of attention. As a result it was noticed that customers whose demands remained unfulfilled shifted to the competitors. The Human resource department also needed attention as the HR manager felt that the work of an HR is only limited to paperwork and refused to help in the further development of the company. In addition to the above mentioned issues there was a demand in the market that necessitated publishing houses to publish custom made books that would be course-specific for the students. Printzhof refused to publish such books as this was against the culture and vision of the company. Recommendations Robin Ash had to deal with the problems that plagued the company in a very wise manner. The company should have a more aggressive marketing strategy that would help them develop contact with more academicians. Also Printzhof does not believe in acquisitions and mergers. In the present competitive world, in order to have an edge over the competitors, the company needs to have a well-structured merger policy. Strategic alliances provide with a lot of economic benefits as it enhances the distribution channels and helps a company grow. Printzhof should also start publishing online reading material and e-books as that would help them cut down on the cost of raw materials and printing. There is also a serious issue of piracy that affects the publishing business to a great extent. Thus the company would need to invest heavily in the research and development department so as to develop technologies that would help prevent piracy. Printzhof should also consider publishing repeated editions of a book to prevent used-book retailers from exploiting the market. The literacy rate in the developing countries is increasing and thus the company should enhance its distribution channels so as to be able to tap the potential in the emerging markets and increase the revenues. Conducting market surveys in order to gain a better understanding of the customer’s demands is preferable as the company can formulate its policies accordingly. Introduction of an online library that would give access to the company’s published books, in exchange for a subscription is also advisable. This caters to the large number of readers who do not wish to buy the books, but requires the same for personal research purposes. Advice Robin as the Chief Operating Officer, who was hired to bring about changes in the marketing structure of the company, would feel hostility from the senior management as they resisted any kind of change. Hence she should deal with them in a friendly manner and present the policy changes so as to not turn the bosses against her. She also has to maintain a healthy downward communication which would enable her to motivate her subordinates into giving their best efforts. But she should also be cautious about her policies as those should not clash with the values of the company and induce any negative changes. Read More