the report will address the management problems facing CAR, present potential solutions that Meg can use, and then offer an implementation plan which will be justified while pointing out potential problems Meg might face in implementing the plan. At last, there will be a scope for further research and recommendations.
CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS and SOLUTIONS at CAR COMPANY Name: Hanh Hong Nguyen Module: Management Principles and Practices Tutor: Mr David Mankin Submission Date: Sep 11th ,2017 Confidentiality: I have read, understand and adhere to the Policy on Relationships between the University of Essex Online, Students and Employers Academic Integrity Statement: I have read and understood the Academic Integrity guidelines for Kaplan Open Learning and the University of Essex, and declare that this assignment conforms to all of the rules and regulations contained therein Word Count: I have fulfilled the stated assignment word count I am aware that if I exceed the word count limit/range, by more than 10%, that my assignment grade will be reduced by 10% grade points pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Table of The Contents Executive Summary This report inspects the current state of CAR Company and investigates the possible internal change and leadership management issues that hinder the performance and success of the organisation The report approaches these two subjects by keenly exploring the role of employees and how poor management of the employees affects the well-being and image of the business After exploring the issue, the report offers a direction of handling the current state of CAR and how the new CEO Meg can avoid any unforeseen challenges pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Introduction Employees play a significant role in any company and their presence as well effectiveness is undeniably apparent Management of the employees plays an important role in influencing their performance which reflects in the corporate excellence However, many companies today still fail to understand that employees are vital resources who are the backbone of the business A lot of studies have been carried out to learn how to manage employee performance and as Hawkins (2009:42) mentioned, employees need to be continuously motivated to perform and commit to working as a way of driving the business to success Therefore, to successfully achieve performance management within any business, the core understanding should involve knowledge of the various factors that influence employee attitude and commitment In this case, Meg has been appointed to a company that has failing system of employee and leadership management The sales of the enterprise are dropping and in addition to this, the company is losing its partners and employees to the competitors With the introduction of new competition from China, it is important that Meg finds a solution soon before the company ceases to operate Innovation, employee management, and leadership are some of the problems that Meg has been facing since arriving at CAR This report will first conduct a literature review on employee and leadership management as they are the main aspects of increasing performance of the business After this, the report will address the management problems facing CAR, present potential solutions that Meg can use, and then offer an implementation plan which will be justified while pointing out potential problems Meg might face in implementing the plan At last, there will be a scope for further research and recommendations pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Literature Review Employee Management Employee management closely relates to performance management Performance management is the modern approach to employee appraisal which is a process that increases employee performance that improves the chances of business success (Bacal, 2011:21; Kleindienst, 2017:35) Performance management encompasses the achievements of the business regarding the set goals (Barnes and Radnor, 2008:90) Though performance management from a broad perspective is commonly related to economic outcomes, the achievements of these goals are through contributions of individuals within a company and, therefore, cannot be defined without understanding the role of the employees (Houldsworth and Burkinshaw, 2008:72; Cole, 1994:131) Understanding the employees is the role of the human resource management, as it is important to influence and motivate the employees at work Some of the factors that must be considered when managing the employees are employee attitude and commitment (Cooper, 2003:69) Employees with a positive attitude often give their all at work and stay committed to the company’s policies (Retowski and FilaJankowska, 2013:128) According to Gupta (2015:103), the positive company’s turnover is a result of highly committed employees and this reflects how the practices of the business are achieved Committed employees consider themselves an integral part of the organisation and anything that threatens the organisation threatens their safety as well (Shahid and Azhar, 2013:250) Hanafi (2016:843) explains that such employees autonomously involve themselves in the corporate practices to ensure achievement of the business goals, hence, ensuring success pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Leadership Management Leadership and management must always go hand in hand despite the idea that they are not the same thing However, they are necessarily linked and, additionally, the two are complimentary Northouse (2016:3) defines leadership as the never-ending process whereby an individual inspires others to achieve a common goal Leadership management, therefore, is the process whereby one applies necessary knowledge and skills in handling the available resources towards the common goal (Jago, 1982:329) A leader who is also a manager must have a clear understanding of who he or she is as well as his or her capabilities Besides, the leader needs to understand the junior staff and the proper ways of communication in situations There are various types of leadership and not every style is applicable in every environment; leadership management, therefore, allows an individual to understand what style fits a particular group and environment as a way of fostering success within the company Some of the factors affecting leadership management include culture and climate (Babalola 2016, p.940) Every company has a distinctive culture dictated by the combination of past and current leaders Climate, on the other hand, relates to the feel of the firm, individual, and group perspective and attitude of the staff (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2007:127) Though culture is a rooted experience and practice of the company, climate relates to the current system of management and leadership regarding the employees Kouzes and Posner (2017:88) explained that in business, a great leader should be able to challenge the existing processes, inspire the staff to have a shared vision, give others an opportunity to participate, and be a role model even in trivial times (Rowe and Guerrero, 2016:75; Clarke, 2011:422) Leadership management should carefully follow the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which explains that needs motivate every individual; this theory helps managers understand how to satisfy the needs of the staff to motivate them (Robbins and Judge, 2007:36) In doing so, the organisational leaders and managers can retain the employees while motivating the employees to see the company’s vision and work towards the common goal pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Managerial Problems and Implementation Solutions Identification of the Problems The case study of managing change highlights some problems, both internal and external Megan arrived at CAR as the new CEO and within the first couple of months she noted that sales were dropping, highlighting a problem in the sales department Following this, she noted the company’s significant partners were joining the competitors and this indicates a managerial issue The previous CEO told Meg that he tried to initiate change within the organisation, but he failed, meaning poor employee management As competition arrived, it brought external problems as the company started losing most of its clients to the Chinese company because of its failing business model showing lack of focus on the vision and mission of the enterprise Lastly, the company was losing most of its best employees to the competitors, highlighting poor human resource management practices One of the challenges that Meg faced was deprived organisational relationship, as most of the senior members and staff did not trust her As highlighted from the explanation, the company was mainly failing because of poor managerial practices that hindered organisational performance Employee management is one of the key roles of an organisation, as employees drive the sales and help in building and promoting the company image However, in this case, the employee-employer relationship seems to be the significant factor leading to a drop in the sales, poor performance, and resistance to change as experienced by the previous CEO The main reason for this can be poor leadership styles that affected the culture of the organisation A leader is solely responsible for inspiring, motivating, and reminding the company’s staff about the vision and mission of the company Nevertheless, poor leadership styles set a bad example for the junior team and discourage their commitment, as they develop a negative attitude towards the management When employees develop a negative attitude towards the company, they fail to commit themselves as seen in this case study The staff stopped going the extra length to push the sales of the company while others were discouraged and left the organisation, leaving pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen inexperienced staff to handle critical areas of operation, therefore, resulting in the production of inferior products that cannot compete in the market In turn, this slows down innovation as witnessed in CAR The problem affecting CAR is not only limited to employee management, but extends to relationship management and business strategies as well Relationship management refers to the strategy that promotes a continuous level of engagement between the firm and its consumers as well as the business-business relationship (Cousins, 2007:379) The focus of relationship management relates to financial and investing aspects of a company as a way of identifying and enhancing sales and services Additionally, relationship management also affects the internal sphere of a company, particularly if it affects the leaders and investors of the organisation People want to invest and consumers want to relate to a company that understands their needs and is quick to respond to external forces smartly (Wessling, 2002:145-190) Since the introduction of the competition within its operational market, CAR responded negatively by not being flexible to embrace innovation It is critical to have a business model that maintains a level of communication between consumers, other businesses, and partners The relationship between the right business model and the key concepts of the business strategy are useful in planning and managing any business (Bower, 2001:948); this, however, is not an aspect evident at CAR The company does not have a viable business model that can help it in dealing with competition and enhancing innovation; at the same time, the company lacks a strategy what would promote performance management In the end, the business lacks a proper vision Potential Solutions to the Problems In the business world today, there are constant changes, particularly relating to technology and innovation of products and services and this only means that there is a need for organisations to assess how they handle the employees The previously presented problems mainly relate to the failure of CAR to promote performance management properly The best approach to this, therefore, is to understand the various agents of employee motivation as a driver for the desired change One of the primary goals of change is to increase employee productivity Employees need to be constantly motivated to feel like they are appreciated and part of the organisation Tripathi (2012:3) mentioned that the core foundation of productivity is high-performing and innovative employees To achieve this, the company needs to hire and retain exceptional employees who can see the vision of the company and remain self-motivated There are various ways that the management can enhance the efficiency of the employees through changing the practices of the company; such include favourable working hours, giving bonuses and tokens of appreciation, and having open communication channels that can help employees communicate about ideas affecting their well-being Also, the employees need to pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen have effective managers and leaders capable of setting and executing a direction and this is because organisational leaders are responsible for defining the direction and roles of the workforce through coaching and motivation The type of leadership that one chooses influences how employees respond to the organisation’s policies Bacal (2011:56) explains that management is about doing things right while leadership pertains to doing the right things It is, therefore, critical that Meg understands the different leadership styles and selects one that will perfectly fit in the CAR’s culture At this point of desperation, the right style of leadership should be able to motivate and influence the workforce as well as promote teamwork across the management The two best options would either be democratic or laissez-faire style of leadership, as they possess the qualities needed to foster the right culture of teamwork and allow the employees to provide ideas that can help promote the desired change Implementation Plan for Change The best implementation plan of change is one which engages the employees during the time of alteration and transition Georgiades (2015:10) mentioned that employee engagement is understandable as to how employees handle their emotional state and their behavioural reaction in a particular work environment The previous CEO Bob might have failed in implementing change because he never considered the role of the employees during the time of change and solely focused on the goals of the change As already mentioned, employees are the backbone of any success The first step of this plan is to understand the direction and vision of the company (Dibella, 2007:85) Doing so would help the management remember the reason as to why the company started, in addition to what has helped the business obtain a competitive advantage prior to its fall Understanding the vision would contribute to planning the direction as well as to realising the necessary resources that can help CAR restore the relationship it previously had with the public The following step is to understand the emotional state of the employees to understand employee engagement; this would entail understanding the focus, passion, and motivation of the workforce (Brazzel, 2014:263) After having this knowledge, Meg will have to employ tactics that would motivate the employees to whatever it takes to resurrect the reputation of CAR Furthermore, realising behavioural management will help set lucrative bonuses and tokens which will attract a competitive and experienced workforce The most famous theory at this point is the ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ that will help Meg develop a system of understanding the needs of the employees The idea is to motivate the employees to attain organisational goals while achieving personal goals (Pettinger, 2012:323) pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen In short, the first part of this can be explaining to the employees the challenges they are facing in the company After this, the management can tailor a culture which will motivate the employees to commit to the plans of the goal However, it is very critical that when instituting this culture, both sides of the employer-employee relation are keenly considered so that the one hand is not favoured over the other In turn, this will create an open communication channel and foster trust across the organisation Identified Challenges In implementing change, it is not guaranteed that every individual will be receptive to the presented idea and, therefore, better planning entails looking ahead on what might hinder changing efficiently Anticipated barriers help in avoiding them before they develop into a significant problem that will affect the general plan According to the case study, Meg was not familiar to most of the executive members and they gave her the feeling that she cannot be trusted On its own, unfriendliness from the organisational members stands as the first challenge that Meg would face and this would lead to lack of consensus It is highly likely that not everyone would support her idea of corporate and organisational change The decision to execute change should start from the top-level management and, therefore, everyone needs to be on board (Waldersee and Griffiths, 2004:428) However, in this case, there is a chance that other members would oppose her ideas and hinder the progress to change The second barrier would be poor communication Failure to communicate the plan and need for change properly would encourage rumours and fear in the company, especially if the change entails downsizing some of the workforces The feeling of uncertainty when the message of change is poorly communicated may leave the employees feeling like they are not part of the decision and company The last challenge would be facing employee resistance Not every employee will be comfortable with the plan of change and, hence, they will become uncomfortable with the new management (Lilley and Mckinlay, 2009:131) This will cause unsettlement, as change is disrupting their familiarity The other reason behind employee resistance would be the idea of relearning their roles in the workplace pg CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Scope for Further Research This report has presented groundwork for preparing and planning for change within an organisation by offering background information on the various factors that affect corporate excellence and employee performance There is, however, still work that needs to be done and this relates to relationship management Despite altering how the organisation works, there is a need to understand how the clients and partners will be gained back, especially after the company performed poorly in the market Recently, after the introduction of the competition in the market, customer perspectives have been altered and it is important to understand the necessary marketing strategies that will help the company gain competitive advantage pg 10 CAR Company Report - Hanh Hong Nguyen Conclusion This report has identified the significant managerial issues that resulted in the downfall of CAR and, at the same time, the obstacles that hinder the desired change within the company Some of the challenges as noted are misunderstanding the external forces that cannot be controlled, like the introduction of the Chinese company in the market However, the main problem affecting the performance CAR is poor employee management which in turn makes the employees less motivated to work and stay committed to the company’s policies and vision The performance and efficiency of the employees are dependent on the managerial practices that influence employee attitude towards the organisation Therefore, for Meg to help the company recover its previous competitive advantage, she will first need to change the managerial practices to motivate employee attitude and commitment to CAR as well as attract new talent pg 11 CAR Company Report - 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