Becton Dickinson Corporate - Case Study Example

Strategic Human Resource Management: Becton Dickinson (A) Corporate Report Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Corse Code and Name: University: Date of Submission: Strategic Human Resource Management: Becton Dickinson (A) Corporate Report Table of content 1. Executive summary 2. Introduction 3. Becton Dickinson (A) Corporate strategy 4. Problem identification 5. Data analysis 6. Conclusions 7. Recommendation 8. Alternatives 9. Alternative Analysis 10. Ethical issues 11. Conclusion 12. List of reference Strategic Human Resource Management Becton Dickinson (A) Corporate: Report Executive Summary Following the analysis on the Resource Management Becton Dickinson case, I have come to the realization that there are several problems in the function. This report provides an overview of current situations and what ought to be done. The report outlines several problems including ineffective function, poor human resource development and lack of required infrastructure, among others. Data analysis assists in understanding the problems and developing alternatives to solve them. From the data analysis, alternatives are developed and analyzed on how effective they can be. The report also provides several recommendations for the new human resource management vice president. Ethical issues including fair compensation and employees’ development are provided. Lastly, a conclusion providing an overview of the whole report is given. Introduction Business organization management is an essential but a complex process. Managers are crucial in ensuring that their organization remains functional and moving towards achievement of goals. An organization may have all what it takes to succeed in its undertaking, but fail as a result of poor management. It, therefore, calls for the application of skills, knowledge, and experience. This report presents Becton Dickson case study analysis; issues such as its history and profile, problems or issues of concern, recommendations, and ethical issues outlined. Becton Dickinson (A) Corporate strategy Becton Dickinson was founded in the year 1897, to operate in the medical and diagnostic business. It is a manufacturing company, whose operations take place from all over the world, while its head office is in New Jersey. At first, the company concentrated in internal United States market for its production and supply of goods and services. Following its success in the market, the company expanded its operations into the international market. Europe was the first international market that Becton Dickinson corporate exploited in its expansion strategy. As a result of complexity in managing both the local and international market, Becton Dickinson splinted its management into international and domestic market. This strategy was implemented in the years 1970s, when the United States and international market fell under different management. This was particularly to ensure that the organization was in a position to manage its operations, based on characteristic and circumstances in each market. This strategy best fitted the company; it was in a position to utilize local resources in each market more efficiently, than the whole market management strategy (Arthur 1992, pp. 670-687). However, operating in the international market marked the starting point for Becton Dickinson problems. Becton Dickinson was known for its human resource management philosophy. The philosophy component included statements such as never fire an employee, reward royalty, and discourage misconduct among the employees. At this time, the company had a competitive, working environment according to many employees and job seekers. However, there were three main weaknesses in the human resource management in the organization. First, high ranked positions when fell vacant by any reason, they were filled by new employees (Graeme, Storey & Billsberry 2005, pp. 52). There was poor management development initiative in the organization. This was demoralizing to existing employees, particularly those who were experienced enough and with potential to take up positions. Secondly, it was not easy to perform performance appraisal, and hence poor performance remained unnoticed and unaddressed. Thirdly, there was restrictive mobility within the organization. As a result, there were minimal inter-functional interaction, and hence employees lacked the general understanding of the organization, making them inflexible. Problem identification In 1981, Ronger Kern rose into the position of the vice president of human resource management; he proposed and implemented a lot of changes in the department, and human management process as a whole. For the first time, Becton Dickinson started the application of human resource management functions, including compensation, reward, benefits, training and development, among others (Taylor, Beechler & Napier 1996, pp. 959-985). However, before the end of a decade, the organization started experiencing human resource management problems and resistance. Employees complained that the system introduced was no longer at their favor, and that it never responded to most essential needs they had. Some of the functions were accused of been ineffective and slow to respond to their demands. Kern’s human resource management model was termed by many employees as unrealistic, unresponsive, and less effective in competition compared with how it used to be before. It is from this point that everyone in Becton Dickinson, particularly managers, were of the view that Ronger Kern had totally failed to manage human resources in the organization. Many employees had developed counterproductive behavior, which endangered the performance of the organization. The other problem with Becton Dickinson’s human resource management strategy in this time was its strategy of acquiring experienced employees. These employees were hunted from other companies in the same field. According to managers in the organization, new employees should come prepared and ready to start performing with immediate effect. This was a deficiency in that, every company’s employee from wherever they came from, had their own way of doing things, and hence they needed time to learn and adapt to the changing environment. There was a poor induction function in the organization; this may result into a mixed handling of issues at the organization, and hence lack of direction and focus in the organization (Price 2007). The most adverse result of this is that employees lacked unity of direction, and hence synergy was not realized. Becton Dickinson never developed its own workforce through the recruitment of fresh graduates and campus internship training. This was as opposed to many successful multinational organizations. Data analysis Lack of human resource management infrastructure was the other significant problem facing Becton Dickinson Corporation. The company was experiencing challenges in its worldwide business as a result of economic recession and reduced sales. The company recorded declined profits by the end of 1980s. To survive and improve in the future, the top management had agreed to change their corporate strategy. As a result, the company redirected its focus into its strength in the healthcare business, as it strategized on gaining competitive advantage in the market. It was to their surprise when the top management realized that, despite their efforts to develop the strategies, the human resource management had not put in place the required infrastructural support to the strategies (Schuler 1992, pp. 18-32). As a result, the team proposed the introduction of strategic human resource management. Kern was forced to leave the department, while Jim Wessel took over, as he was termed as experienced and understood both the corporate along with human resource management strategies. Alternatives Based on the above analysis, there are three conclusions and recommendation that the new human resource management vice president, Wessel, should come to uphold. First, the human resource management structures and functions should be reshaped. The people working in human resource management departments are not aware of the new corporate strategies, and hence they may hinder their implementation. The traditional human resource strategy applied the administrative approach, which may not hold in the modern world and changes, in the business world. There are no signs of proactive and self initiative from the human management department, and hence there is the need to change the whole system (Barney & Wright 1998, pp. 31-46). The department cannot be consulted in any way, as far as business development is concerned. This should not be the case; the department needs to be at the fore line in business strategic development. Secondly, it is clear that there is poor managerial development in the organization. When key individuals are being hired, there are no means of tracking their records and what value they may add to the organization. This individual, according to the system, comes from outside the organization; there are no strategies to develop employees to take up management posts from within. In addition, restricting mobility of both managers and juniors’ stake into their functional stations and the department is questionable, and a non-informed strategy. It restricts employees and their managers from acquiring broad knowledge and skills to work in different units. The cross-functional movement is restricted, and hence there is zero unity among units in the organization. Thirdly, it is essential for Wessel to understand the importance of employee’s compensation and benefits in the organization. To enhance their support and reduce counterproductive behavior, employees should be rewarded for their services based on the company’s ability and market situations. Their support is crucial for the achievement of strategies put in place by the organization. The compensation based on centrally controlled and formulated scheme does not fit in the situation and needs in different localities, within the international market. Evaluation of alternatives Reshaping human resource functions unit is essential, but should be carried out in a systematic manner to avoid confusion, and to enhance smooth transition from the current ones. Wessel should take time to plan and implement the reshaping process effectively. Managerial development is along term alternative in which Wessel should first take time to understand his employees, their potential, and talents. From this point, he can then embark on a step by step development plan for every employee, as he identifies those who can take managerial posts when needed. Employee’s compensation is one of most sensitive part, particularly concerning employees, Wessel, has no option but to incorporate both internal and external factors in coming up with acceptable compensation programs. Recommendation The above conclusion brings us into three main recommendations. First to enhance achievement of corporate strategies proposed, the human resource management should add two functions. These functions should be fully funded and supported in all ways possible. These functions include the human resource and development, along with compensation units. The organization development unit should be headed by a well experienced and knowledgeable individual. This individual will facilitate coordination between corporate strategy, and, human resource skills and capacity development (Hambrick & Fredrickson 2001, pp. 51-62). The compensation unit is immensely essential in enhancing employees’ support to the organization. The head of this unit should have knowledge of developing the most appropriate compensation and reward system to the organization. Secondly, Wessel should put into place strategies through which the human resources department will interact with all other units in the organization. This will enhance an understanding between all units in the organization. In addition, the participants in the human resource department should be trained on how to enhance friendly relationship between the units. The cohesive interrelation allows employees to express their views, ideas, needs, and expectations. This assists the human resource management unit to acquire firsthand information necessary for the formulation of management strategies fitting their needs. Thirdly, job rotation and inter unit meetings should be enhanced. Job rotation as a concept, allows an individual to move from one section of operation to the other, or from one department to the other. This will assist in developing a pool of all round individuals, particularly those who are potential for the top management posts. Inter unit meetings enhances socialization in the organization, as well as cohesive work environment. The employees understand each other as they meet to discuss issues affecting their performance at the workplace, and in their private lives. The other essential recommendation concerns training and development of employees. It has been demonstrated that, in Becton Dickinson, there are no training and development programs. With the changing business environment, employees play a significant role in business adaptation to these changes (Hambrick & Fredrickson 2001, pp. 51-62). These employees will, therefore, need to be informed and flexible to enhance the required change. Training ought to be based on the necessity for additional knowledge and skills, necessary for the development of internally required talents in the organization. In this case, the organization will develop its own management team, instead of hiring newcomers. Eventually, the organization will achieve the objectives of its overall strategy, as the human resource capacity acts as a significant ingredient (Schuler 1992, pp. 18-32). Lastly, performance appraisal is essential to enhance quality work and achievement of organizational objectives. As a process, it involves predetermination of goals and objectives for a given task. This may be done as the year starts or a given task; actual performance is then measured and compared with the set goals and objectives. At the end of the year or a task, the deviation between the two sets is established, and investigations launched to establish the reasons. Employees should be provided with timely feedback concerning their performance (Monks & McMackin 2001, pp. 57–72). Those who perform excellently are rewarded accordingly, while underperformed are assisted on how to improve their performance in future. This acts as a motivating process, as well as a means to establish the value added by an individual employee. Its results can be used to establish who among the employees are talented, and has the potential of taking are up higher ranks in the organization. Ethical issues There are two ethical issues coming up in the Becton Dickinson case. First, it is clear that the company despite its growth into a multinational has poor employee compensation and reward systems. This can be termed as unethical business undertaking. Employees ought to be compensated fairly on the grounds of the organizational ability and market conditions (Price 2007). The second ethical issue in this case concerns the acquisition of individuals from other institutions to take up managerial posts, whereas there are several potential and qualified individuals within the organization. This is unfair to existing employees, who can develop counterproductive behavior against the organization. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident from this report that changes in organization and human resource management environment, has a significant effect on how employees should be managed. Ronger Kern does not realize this, and hence ends up failing to implement the required changes. It is, therefore, recommended for human resource management team, not only in Becton Dickinson, but in any other organization, to embrace change necessary to avoid the problems experienced in this case. Reshaping of human resource management functions, improving training and development programs, and reviewing employees’ compensation, will be of enormous importance to the new vice president. Observing ethical issues such as fair compensation and fair employees’ development programs, are essential. List of References Arthur, JB 1992, “Affects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover,” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 670-687. Barney, J & Wright, PM 1998, “On becoming a strategic partner: The role of human resources in gaining competitive advantage,” Human Resource Management, spring, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 31-46. Graeme, S, Storey, J & Billsberry, J 2005, Strategic human resource management: theory and practice, Sage, California. Hambrick, DC & Fredrickson, JW 2001, “Are you sure you have a strategy?” The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 1-62. Monks, K & McMackin, J 2001, “Designing and aligning an HR system,” Human Resource Management, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 57–72. Price, A 2007, "Employee Involvement, Employee-Centred Management and Empowerment," Adapted from Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 3rd edition. viewed 26 July 2007 . Schuler, RS 1992, “Strategic Human Resource Management: Linking People with the Needs of the Business,” organizational dynamics, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 18-32. Taylor, S, Beechler, S & Napier, N 1996, “Toward an integrative model of strategic international human resource management,” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 959-985. Read More