Mitigating Employee Risks in Philips, Manila - Case Study Example

Case Study: Philips Name: Institution: Case Study: Philips Management, with respect to human resource, is considerably significant in any organization irrespective of its scale. Contrary to the conventional assumption, human resource management is as important as any other function within a company’s value chain. Normally, organizations face internal and external barriers that restrict them from gaining maximum payoff. These barriers usually arise from structural constraints, which affect the performance of employees. Examples of these limitations constitute effects from the external environment such as tax fluctuations and influences from the internal environment such as employee-to-employee conflict. In the case of Philips plant based in Victoria, issues such as insufficient quality control, underprivileged labour relations and a low morale anxious workforce affected the productivity of the company restricting it from achieving maximum profitability. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that similar problems do not affect the Philips plant based in Manila. Overview of Philips, Victoria Accordingly, the plant based in Victoria faced several crises especially within its internal environment. Generally, an organization’s internal environment constitutes the facets and entities within the firm that define employee behaviour (Beers, 2008). Unlike the external environment’s elements, management is capable of controlling any unfortunate events or possible risks within this surrounding. Examples of these aspects constitute the corporate or organizational culture, employees and the administration itself. Indeed, this particular branch experienced a number of issues associated with its employees in the recent past. These problems comprised insufficient quality control, underprivileged labour relations and a low morale anxious workforce, which concerned the management considerably. In addition to this, the subsidiary faced a yearly labour turnover amounting to 120 percent, increasing labour and capital expenses as well as massive tariff reductions. Therefore, in order to mitigate these uncertainties, the management in Philips decided to adopt the resourceful approaches employed in its parent company based in Holland. Concerning this, the company organized protracted discourses with its employees and their respective unions. The outcome of the meeting was the harmonized decision to integrate a significant work-restructuring scheme. Regarding this particular framework, radical alterations had to undergo imposition especially on work techniques, the social and physical environments as well as the decision-making processes within the factory. The reason for this excessive modification was due to the discouraging nature of the traditional production lines and the work cycle, which lowered the morale of the employees. Hence, the adoption of a new work system created effective platforms for modifying the old assembly lines therefore boosting employees in general. In addition to the alteration on the production lines, the management also embarked on a massive restructuring design. Much of this design focused on the creation of cleaner, appealing, safer and comfortable plant layouts. Furthermore, there was implementation of more abatement gadgets, augmented lighting, and temperature control and ventilation devices. Apart from changes to the physical environment, the management also concentrated on modifying the employees’ social environment. This is because the previous surrounding imposed negative effects on workers and thus, affected their productivity levels. In view of that, employees gained the permission to refurbish their workshop, the company purchased photographic murals and pot plants and it allowed the staff to receive coffee breaks as regularly as they wanted. Moreover, the respective factory plant abandoned the conventional pyramid organizational scheme by replacing it with a matrix structure that enabled effective problem resolution and augmented communication. Mitigating Employee Risks in Philips, Manila Undeniably, the likelihood of the plant based in Manila to gain similar issues such as those experienced in the Melbourne plant is high. Regardless of the similarity innate in issues affecting a firm’s internal environment, every surrounding poses its particular set of constraints and opportunities that can affect the organization’s productivity. Therefore, to guarantee awareness of such elements in Manila, it is important to conduct analysis of this particular plant in order to ensure that the limitations that affected the Melbourne factory do not arise. Strategic business analysis involves the research and assessment of business objectives, visions, goals and strategies of a firm in order to recognize the anticipated future. It involves the evaluation of current organizational structure, guidelines, opportunities and application framework in order to establish a business case study for modification (Williamson, Cooke, Jenkins & Moreton, 2012). Concerning the plant in Manila, the respective technique is important since it is capable of identifying the issues that may affect it and thus, prevent any unfortunate event from occurring. Issues Affecting the Manila Plant In view of this, from the analysis of the prior plant, it is evident that the work design imposes a significant impact on the Manila plant. As mentioned, the issues affecting the internal environment in the Melbourne plant made it difficult for employees to achieve the required level of productivity. A similar instance also applies to the plant based in the capital of the Philippines. Accordingly, the organizational surrounding of the employees may actually present the same problems that affected the plant based in Australia. One such issue comprises the environment of the workplace. Accordingly, the workplace may derail employees from guaranteeing maximum payoff. This is because some elements may affect the workers negatively. For instance, factors such as insufficient feedback or extreme workload may actually have a negative impact on the morale of the employees. For a new plant such as the one based in Manila, it is possible to experience such factors. This is because the factory, being relatively new, may require employees to be extra vigilant in order to ensure that their growth rate is high enough to ensure profitability within the first financial period. Hence, employees may work under impossible deadlines in order to ensure that workloads undergo completion in a short period. In addition to this, a new market may also pose constraints in terms of the retrieval of information. Usually, organizations carry out market assessments in order to provide enough data for the creation of beneficial strategies (Collings & Wood, 2009). Therefore, for the respective plant, the information that it possesses may be insufficient enough and may restrict workers from exercising their full potential. This may lower the morale of employees and further affect their productivity and in turn, the profitability of the company. Still on the workplace environment, the organizational culture may also affect the employees negatively. Usually, the surroundings evident in a factory plant are usually standardized. This means that they are generic and common. Furthermore, much of the culture within factory plants advocates for the imposition of a monotonous environment. Such monotony poses a detrimental impact on the employee since it does not provide them with the opportunity to exploit new possibilities. Furthermore, monotony restricts the creativity of a worker. Based on this, workers may lack the incentive to engage in activities that may improve the workplace and boost their confidence with their respective occupation. Therefore, if the management continues to exercise a culture of monotony within the organizational environment, it may reduce the motivations of employees and deter them from exercising maximum capabilities within their particular obligations (Gomez-Mejia, 2013). Another issue that may affect the Manila plant comprises job and work design. Indeed, the Melbourne plant also experienced a similar issue based on the framework of the employees’ jobs. The same notion also applies to the Manila factory. The implementation of a monotonous work design may lower the morale of employees. For instance, the utilization of traditional production lines may restrict autonomy among employees. In addition, it will only encourage the furtherance of a bureaucratic structure that rewards employees on a piecework basis, rather than mutual effort (Ubius & Alas, 2009). Consequently, the utilization of such job designs will only discourage employees from brainstorming and working together. This will result in low levels of efficiency among employees and in overall; discourage the plant from attaining the required profitability. The organizational structure is also a factor that will pose an impact on the Manila plant. Usually, an organizational structure determines the roles that each employee possesses within an organization. Most firms employee vertical organizational frameworks. Such structures typically define the separation of powers among employees by encouraging a hierarchical archetype. Based on this, workers normally do not gain the opportunity to interact with their employers. This hierarchical model is common in bureaucratic organizations, which place emphasis on power and position rather than group dynamics (Zhang, 2010). Hence, for Manila plant, the organizational structure will affect the employees negatively. If it does not endorse teamwork such as the matrix organizational structure, then it restricts innovation and team building among employees thus posing an undesirable implication on the employees’ tenacity. Recommendations Coinciding to the mentioned issues that will distress the Philippine plant, certain recommendations are significant in negating these problems. Foremost, the management can encourage productivity by providing employees with sufficient feedback concerning their respective duties. The availability of sufficient information will encourage workers to engage in activities that will ensure productivity. For instance, through the utilization of the SWOT Analysis by the management, the employees will be able to understand the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that may affect the organization. In addition to this, the management may also provide them with an opportunity to brainstorm and generate ideas that may endorse the strengths and opportunities and mitigate the weaknesses and threats. Secondly, the management can also guarantee the advancement of a variable organizational culture. For instance, it can provide employees with the incentive to create a workplace that caters to their social and emotional needs. The management can also adopt an effective job design based on an efficient organizational structure that endorses workmanship and teamwork among employees in order to yield the best results. Conclusion In conclusion, the involvement of management in ascertaining morale among employees is important for any organization. Using the Philips case as evidence, the management was able to apply internal processes that encouraged the employees to increase their productivity. A corresponding notion also applies to the Manila plant. By understanding the issues that may affect the workers, the management can concentrate on implementing morale-boosting activities that will affect the staff positively in relation to job or work design. Such activities, which involve the provision of sufficient information, elimination of a monotonous organizational culture and a bureaucratic organizational structure, will ensure productivity. References Beers, C. (2008). Determinants of innovative behaviour: A firm’s internal practices and its external environment. Houndmills, BA: Palgrave Macmillan. Collings, D. G., & Wood, G. (2009). Human resource management: A critical approach. New York, NY: Routledge. Gomez-Mejia, L. (2013). Managing human resources. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Limited. Ubius, U. & Alas, R. (2009). Organizational culture types as predictors of corporate social responsibility. Engineering Economics, 1(61), 90-99. Williamson, D., Cooke, P., Jenkins, W., & Moreton, K. M. M. (2012). Strategic management and business analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis. Zhang, J. (2010). Employee orientation and performance: An exploration of the mediating role of customer orientation. Journal of Business Ethics, 91, 111-121. Read More