Human Resource Management at Levi Strauss & Company - Assignment Example

Student Name> Human Resource Management-Case Studies Levi Strauss & Company: Levi Strauss received a letter from a tailor from Nevada Jacob Davis in 1872. Jacob used to buy rolls of cloth from Straus’s dry good company and Davis told Strauss in the letter that he used metal rivets to strengthen the construction of the overalls (trousers of strong material usually with a piece extending up to cover the chest) he made. Jacob wanted to get his technological invention patented but he could not afford so he requested Strauss to join him as a partner and so he did. They got their invention patented in 1873 and the famous Levi Strauss & Company was formed. Levi’s is well known for its classic jeans and pure ethical management. The company’s mission statement supports their ideals, “The mission of Levi Strauss & Co. is to sustain responsible commercial success as a global marketing company of branded apparel”. The Company’s aspiration statement was also crafted on similar ideals. The company’s ethical management is not limited within the company because they make sure that these ideals are present in all their business dealings in more than 50 countries around the world with more than 500 cutting, sewing and finishing companies. Cultural difference can always pose a problem to stick to their ideals of ethical management so the company makes sure to form partnerships with only those companies that are compatible with the company and have common standards, ethical management and ideals. Apart from this they make sure their partners are socially responsible and are involved in environment friendly business practices. They also made sure that their partners agreed to comply with company standards and ideals like in the field of employment they made sure their partners agreed to pay prevailing wage rates, demand less than 60hrs of work per week, and not employ children under 14etc. The company held contractor evaluations to make sure that their partners are complying with their ideals and standards. Levis has been a member of Business for Social Responsibility which is an alliance of companies that share their clean and successful businesses practices through educational programs. Levis was the only company that gave insurance benefits to employees’ unmarried domestic partners (live-in relationships) in the 1990’s. But when Levis was facing hard times they had to downsize employees in their companies worldwide. They put a halt to production in North America. They also hold a social audit of their organization including partners to check due compliance to their values and standards. Answers: 1) Yes, because there will be a guarantee that they will be a transparent company so they will be honest enough to give the right amount to shareholders when they make a profit. 2) Pros (all liberalist customers and employees will prefer Levis and the company can have loyal customers especially teenagers since times have changed) and cons (the hardliner customers and employees will boycott the company) But Levis’ target market is the youth so their policies are well balanced. 3) Being young and a liberalist I will go for Levis due to its liberal policies and ethical management. Aligning HR with the Business at SBC: Mike Mitchell left the Bank of Montreal to join the North American Branch of Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) because they were paying him more and Mike wanted to take a career risk in the hope that it would help him achieve greater success. If he is successful then he would be a magnet for the companies and this will increase his career opportunities. His seniors at SBC supported him in his effort and he accepted the new job as a challenge. The parent company of SBC wanted a clearer vision statement to be more competitive in the market in the 1990’s. They wanted a vision that focused on serving to their customers with high-quality products. The North American branch was comparatively independent so the implementation of this vision came to this branch slowly and Mike was given the responsibility in the Human Resource department for its implementation. Mike’s experience in the Bank of Montreal (Canadian branch) helped him in this pursuit since he was still known as a businessman working in the HR department. He wanted to change this image so he shifted to another bank and the typical HR department and its policies were too narrow, conservative and claustrophobic for him because he believed in a more interactive and open environment which was against these rules. Although he was warned that SBC’s HR department worked in a similar fashion but he took up the challenge and the new vision he had to implement was an exciting task for him. He was sure he will bring about the desired change in the HR department although he was prepared it will be slow and gradual. Mike jotted down four aspects to reposition and customize the HR department. These were gathering information ( he gathered information from the customers and inquired about what the customers received from the department and also what the customers believe is the ideal would be plus also how to implement it. Mike also learned everything other companies were doing with this department. He also inquired from the HR department about what they believed was the ideal to serve their customers the best way and also how they believed a positive change could be brought into action.), developing agendas (the HR department developed agendas or plans for eradicating any discrepancies or differences in how they were operating currently and what they were about to implement to bring a change. The vision was understood and plans were developed to complement it so all they needed now was approval from top management and line managers for implementation), implementing the agendas (The HR staff discussed the plans and agendas with the customers and also convinced the line managers and now they were about to implement a program that was more customer-oriented and interactive. They had to provide all the customers expected and implementation begun after this convincing period) and evaluating and revising (they conducted customer appraisals and allowed the customer (line managers) to appraise the program and they tried to meet all expectations. The program was reviewed internally as well and continuous improvements were their main aim). Overall, this new program and vision had its implications on the HR department in positive and negative ways. It also had implications on the line managers or customers in a positive way. The program enhanced benefits from the partners as well for the company and the implementation was a success. Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Domestic and global competition has become fierce and also a major threat since 1980’s and the leaders at Forest Products Company (FPC) and its parent company Weyerhaeuser Corporation realized it a later stage when they studied the current situation in the industry. They had the right strategies to deal with large companies and commodity lumber businesses that posed a competition. But now the industry’s situation has changed and the businesses have changed so has the competition become more fierce since the new competitors are no more old monolithic (something large and powerful that acts as a single unified force) organizations. Now competition came from small mills that were into lean productions systems and posed ruthless competition plus they produced customized products and services that pose cutting edge competition to other firms. The product lines for these firms were flexible and could be changed when required. These firms were run by a single entrepreneur and had no unions plus they produced at lowest-costs to gain cost-leadership and they were highly market-oriented. FPC still had to learn to deal with such competition to survive. FPC was on the brink of going out of business so they had to consider alternatives that would help them survive. Charley Bingham, CEO of FPC gathered his top managers and they decided that the company needs to go through massive reorganization and restructuring. According to the CEO the strategy change would be from 80% dependence on sales from products sold as commodities in 1982 and by 1995 they decided they wanted to reverse the proportions. The reorganization strategy at FPC led the parent company Weyerhaeuser decentralized its operations and decision making process in the company. The parent company had three units and FPC was one of them, they were given the autonomy to take their own decisions and bring about any change they desired. Bingham thought that now they must bring FPC up to the competing standards of the industry so they created 200 profit centers and each centre was responsible for its own bottom line or operations. Restructuring was the right option but the employees at FPC were suffering from a major inferiority complex that resulted in low morale, low self-confidence and negative thinking. Pessimism was a hindrance in growth. The employees did not trust themselves to bring about the desired change. They had lost faith. Horace Parker, director of executive development at FPC, helped the top management understand that along with reorganization a total transformation was required to bring the company on the right track. Everything including the corporate culture, knowledge base, skills level, style of leadership and team orientation had to be changed to bring a positive result. Parker was not sure where to begin since the company has 18000 employees all over United States. Answers: 1) Parker should start with the branch or unit he has his office in since as the saying goes charity begins at home and then he can go further with the ones that needed his help the most. He can have workshops and seminars to inform and teach the workers also to bring up their morale and bring about the desired changes in culture, knowledge etc. 2) Parker can by off-the-shelf programs because they have been tried and tested so he will know the chances of success. Read More