Strategic Management Discussion Paper - Essay Example

Discussion Paper Reengineering As business fads come and go industry buzzwords are created which cause people to react in different ways. Some say that the fad is nothing more than just a passing fancy, other suggest that it is the only way to save modern companies and still others report that they have been doing the same thing for years (Watson, 2003). Reengineering is one such process where the main supporters of the process i.e. Hammer and Champy (1993) have suggested that businesses today need to combine several of their production steps to save time and manpower.

The process is supposed to save time since tasks would not have to be passed from one team to another if a cross functional team is used to handle the entire production cycle. The idea is also helped by the emergence of business information systems which allow the sharing of information between departments making cross functional teams more powerful than departmental teams alone.There are some situations where reengineering is not only a good point on the agenda, it becomes a necessity for survival.

The emerging e-business environment and the world of online sales means that not only the business models followed by companies but also the methods of doing business have to be changed (Rayport and Jaworski, 2000). The case of Apple is a prime example where the business process as well as the way sales were made by the company were changed and reengineered due to the availability of technology and the presence of a new business process (Smith, 2006). Of course there can be situations where a reengineering of a process may not be viable such as the operations of a hospital where health of the patient may be more important than simple profits or an airport where safety is often more important than efficiency.

High Turnover at Milinder RecyclingA high level of turnover at a company can be sign of many different things but given the other situations which are present at the company, it seems that there are quite a few problems at Milinder Recycling which are leading to the present situation of high turnover amongst new employees. While it is heartening to know that most of the older employees have been retained, the lack of new hires sticking it out shows that there is a significant problem with the recruitment and retention process for junior members (Welch, 2005).

The company needs to establish an orientation program as well as provide some on the job training for new recruits who can be shown why Milinder is a good company to work for. Since the company has noticed that older employees are easier to retain they can also establish a time and service based bonus architecture for employment rewards. In such a system an employee who stays with the company for a year should get a significant bonus while those who have been with the company for two years or more should be added into a benefits system which gives them more rewards for continual employment with the firm.

GE uses this process to improve and enhance retention figures with quarterly bonuses and rewards (Welch, 2005).The company could also look into problems with middle management since that could be the bone of contention for new employees who could have communication issues with middle mangers. GE faced such a situation in their international communications department and found out that low retention figures as well as the lack of new employees sticking with the company were directly connected to the relationship they had with the middle managers in the department.

The problem was not resolved until the middle manager in the department was removed from the company (Welch, 2005).Works CitedHammer, M. and Champy, J. 1993, Reengineering the Corporation, Harper. Watson, I. 2003, Applying Knowledge Management, Morgan-Kaufman. Rayport, J and Jaworski, B. 2000, e-Commerce, McGraw-Hill.Smith, D. 2006, ‘The non-stop revolutionary’, The Guardian, [Online] Available at: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/opinion/story/0,,1697348,00.htmlWelch, J. 2005, Winning, Harper.