...Downsizing Downsizing has been used as a change management strategy by many organizations and government agencies beginning in the 1970s. It began as a way to deal with organizational and economic issues that that threatened the success of a company. It eventually became a popular strategy to restructure organizations during the 1980s. As downsizing changes corporate design, it affects millions of employees all over country (Gandolfi, 2008). Although manufacturing, retail, and service industries have the largest numbers of downsizing, it occurs in all industries, both private and public. According to Cascio (2003), statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that in 2002 there were about 15,000 mass layoffs consisting of 50 or more personnel, affecting almost two million employees. There were similar results the prior year. It was reported that 85 % of the Fortune 500 firms downsized between 1989 and 1994 and 100 % were planning to do so in the following five years (Cameron, 1994). Reasons for Downsizing There are a number of reasons that organizations decide to downsize. According to Kirschner, (1996), “Globalization, consolidations, computerization, and divestment have resulted in dramatic changes in employment.” These factors created a new workforce and employment mindsets. Global business added additional competition for organizations. The continuing developments in technology allow higher production rates for companies and global business can run more...
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...superiors that my department must be downsized and have to prepare my team members of the changes. I have researched various motivational methods that would be an asset for me when implementing the changes to my team members. According to Robertson 2011, “Downsizing is the act of reorganizing the structure of a company to fit the needs of customers. Although it doesn’t always involve reducing staff, downsizing does bring about substantial eliminations.” Upper management has left it up to the managers of the department to come up with a plan that would assist employees to accept the changes. I believe that employees would be confused on what the changes are going to be exactly and will become concerned about their future. When individuals begin to become stress with work-related changes their performance begins to decrease, because they are worrying more about the change then the actual duties they need to be completing. The importance of motivation is that it “creates conditions under which other people feel continually inspired to work hard and perform to the best of their abilities.” (Lombardi, Shermerhorn & Kramer 2007.) As a manager, who is informing employees that they might lose their jobs because of downsizing, I must motivate them to continue to do their duties to the best of their abilities and to keep on fighting. The reason the employees need to continue to press on is because we aren’t the only team in this department and every manager has to downsize. I don’t...
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...Objective: The case in hand draws up a picture of a large corporation in the middle of a downsizing phase. However Crutchfield Chemical Engineering faced concerns apart from the downsizing. Particularly in reference to the motivation levels and performance of all the five R&D teams. According to the survey conducted by McKinty which gauged the daily intrinsic motivation of each team member across all the 5 teams by using a set of qualitative and quantitative questions. There was a sharp difference between two elite technology development teams in terms of creativity and motivation, mostly attributed to the efforts of respective team leaders, Lumen possessing a transformational leader whereas Absorb had more of transactional leader . After ten days’ worth of electronic daily diaries collected from all individuals of the two teams, the study enlightens about team leader behaviours, team member thoughts and behaviours, team dynamics, and project progress. Relating to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs When we relate the performance of the Lumen team to the motivation theories, we can see that the team derived from their work confidence, sense of achievement and respect for each other. They also felt a sense of belonging and were empathetic about each other’s emotions. The work challenges enhanced their creativity and hence increased their motivation levels. Conceptualizing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Lumen team’s belonging and esteem needs were fulfilled and they were moving into...
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...Introduction In 2009 Pacific Brands reviewed operations throughout its manufacturing sites across Australia. As a result they took the decision to lay off 1850 employees as it wound down the majority of its local manufacturing. The following text will look the contributing factors that influenced this decision and the effects of organisational behaviour made to the remaining work force. In addition when consider how to move forward, Pacific Brands must consider what steps to take to motivate its surviving workforce and the impact that wider environmental factors have on the organisations ability to effectively manage change. Question 1 In many organisations the ability to manage change successfully and transform organisations in an increasingly turbulent world will be a defining factor between those who succeed and those who fail. However, understanding how as individuals or groups such as a workforce transition though any period of change is vital to its successful implementation When exploring human reaction to change Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (Scire 2007) identified five stages people go through to process an event of significant change more commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief. Whilst Kubler-Ross related the grief cycle to experiencing tragedy and loss associated with death or terminal illness her model can be applied to any period of significant trauma such as job loss or in the case of Pacific Brands the significant reduction in its workforce. The Heart of Change...
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...CHAPTER ONE: CHAPTER TWO: * Strategy is a planned process whereby organizations can map out a set of objectives and methods of meeting this objectives. * Corporate strategies is a company-wide strategies that are concerned with the long-term view of the organization * Business strategies focus on one line of business; building a strong competitive position * Three corporate strategies (Restructuring, Growth and Stability/Maintenance) * Strategy is like a game plan in sports or an airline’s flight plan. It is important to have a plan that moves towards goal achievement, however, there must be flexibility and adaptability to adjust to internal and external environmental factors * Mission statement: an articulation of the purpose of the organization and the value it creates for customers * Vision: Defines the organization’s long-term goals. The vision statements asks the questions “Where are we going?” * Value Statement: the basic beliefs that govern individual and group behaviour in an organization. * Michael Porter’s Model * Low Cost Provider Strategy: Low cost - in demand in the market * Broad Differential Strategy: High cost - in demand in the market * Best Cost Provider Strategy: Low/High cost - in demand in the market * Focus Niche Low Cost * Focus Niche Broad Differentiation * Competitive Advantage - the characteristics of a firm that enable to earn higher profits that its competitors * Tangible Assets - easiest to value and the only ones that ...
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...Downsizing and Restructuring: A Scenario in Malaysia as Dell Malaysia Offers VSS to 700 Penang StaffsUNIVERSITY OF MARA TECHNOLOGY MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 24rd April, 2011 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT 1 HRM 730 VIDYAMALA BINTI MOHAMAD 2010153603 Contents Abstract 2 The Arguments 4 Are downsizing legal? 4 Why firms keep repeating downsizing? 5 Why firms didn’t achieve their goals after downsizing being implemented? What has goes wrong? 7 What roles does government play in the downsizing issues? 7 The Conclusions 9 References 10 Abstract Downsizing in Malaysia has been implemented a quiet time ago. The firms that using this kind of approach in Malaysia were the foreigner company (under the FDI). During the world recessions as happened in 1997 and 2009, recently. For my personal experienced, my brother in-law has accepted from Black and Decker, Kuantan Plant in 1997 and my husband has accepted from Pepsi Co. Malaysia in 2006. Downsizing became a new trend and not limited to foreign company, even the local company have also used this approach. As in 2000, Telekom have retrenched 4000 staffs. The mergers of several local banks in 1997 have affected a few hundred more. As reported from the statistics of Retrenchment Management Office at the Human Resources Ministry’s Labour Department show that 19, 325 workers, 12, 627 of them locals, were retrenched by 624 employers between October, 2008 and mid-March, 2009. And...
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...g Downsizing: Layoffs/Closings [pic] | | | | |Top of Form | |[pic][pic][pic] | |Bottom of Form | | | | | |Introduction | |Leadership Examples | | | |Business Importance | |Sample Policies | | ...
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...SWOT 6 3. References 9 4. Annexures 10 8.1. Annexure A: PESTEL analysis 10 8.2. Annexure B: Porter’s Five Competitive Forces 11 8.3. Annexure C: SWOT analysis 12 1. Introduction The Employee Benefits operational plan sets out the short-term objectives for the business unit (also referred to as company) for the next 12 months. It aims to identify what needs to be accomplished in order for the company to meet its strategic objectives and it does so by identifying and outlining those activities that need to be implemented. 2. Context The following section provides background for the focus, decisions made and activities selected in the operational plan for Employee Benefits. 1.1. Environment An environment analysis focusses on the external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organisation (Peters [sa]). PESTEL is a common macro environment analysis tool which looks at factors from political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal aspects and Vitez (2014) explains that such a macro environmental analysis helps create a strategy that leverage as many of these external factors as possible to the company’s advantage. The PESTEL analysis for Employee Benefits has identified the following major external factors which need to be considered by the company: Table 1: Macro factors Aspect | External Factor | Comment | Economic | Money supply | Typical group benefit programs require the employer and/or employee to...
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...Implication of Downsizing to the Employees, Communities, and families of the Employees OMM 640 Keanon Alderson June 13, 2011 In an organization there will be times where certain decisions have to be made whether bad or good. The decisions will affect the company, stakeholders, and the employees in one way or another. Changes can come from many different factors. It can be changes to improve the company, compete with the competition, or the economy. Now and days the changes that many companies are making is changes due to the economy. Companies are looking to save money. Companies are cutting back the matching of the 401K, cutting back on employees hours, and some companies are even shutting down all together. We will be taking a look at how a wealthy popular car company, Chrysler, has filed for bankruptcy in this economic downturn which in turn has an effect on employees, the community, and the families of the employees. In the past two years America has been hit pretty hard economically. Gas prices have risen to almost 5.00 a gallon in some states. Peoples light bills have been as high as 500.00 or more. People have lost many jobs and can’t find a job because so many employers are cutting back to try and save what’s left of their company. Many homes are being foreclosed because people can’t afford to pay their house note because they don’t have a job or because there were cutbacks on their commission. Its many factors that have played a part in why the economy...
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...spans Wall Street, online retailing and private equity, recalls that “the mindset of the company was ready for the challenge: it was ‘Batten down the hatches’. We sold the healthcare business and we started the process of developing a digital response. But the way the market shifted was dramatically faster than we had anticipated or than I’d ever seen”. (Hill, 2012) 2. How would you evaluate Kodak's handling of the forced downsizing that it had to implement? Downsizing is the systematic reduction of a workforce through an intentionally instituted set of activities by which organizations aim to improve efficiency and performance. (Appelbaum, 1999, p. 536). It means a permanent reduction of workforce through diverse means and changes on different level that affect the workforce. Corporate downsizing is often the result of poor economic conditions. Downsizing is mostly undertaken on the part of the management of an organization and designed to improve organizational efficiency, productivity, and/or competitiveness. (Gandolfi, 2009) Although downsizing is undertaken by many firms to reduce costs but it hardly happens. Companies that simply reduce headcounts, without making...
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...remain or become globally competitive while facing challenges within today's economy is a challenge for all types of companies and organizations. When faced with struggling budgets outsourcing and or downsizing are often seen as the only possible solutions for businesses to stay afloat. Trying to maintain competitiveness while downsizing and or outsourcing brings about additional challenges for human resource management organizations. Containing Human Resource Costs During Economic Challenges The current economy brings challenges to every level of a corporation, including human resource management. Maintaining an effective budget is not always easy and becomes even more difficult with the strains of an economic crisis. While the elimination of unnecessary materials and or processes may help in curtailing costs and spending, it is not always an easy task; and an even more difficult task involves the elimination of actual jobs. As companies are faced with having to cut costs, eliminating jobs is sometimes an unfortunate solution. Human resources management is defined as the process of managing human talent to achieve an organization's objectives (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). Being able to effectively execute the process of human resources management relies on several factors. Being able to compete, recruit and staff globally; embrace new technology; manage change; manage talent; respond to the market and contain costs are imperative to a successful human resources management...
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...Integrated Case study AN ANALYSIS OF THE CASE: BEIERSDORF AG: EXPANDING NIVEA’S GLOBAL REACH Sasipim Viriyajaroen STUDENT ID: C0346RCRC1013 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Masters’ degree to the London School of Commerce, for the degree of Master in Business Administration (MBA) Supervisor: Dr K V Shenai September 2014 ICS: BEIERSDORF AG: EXPANDING NIVEA’S GLOBAL REACH Contents page Acknowledgements Executive Summary Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Case brief 4 Chapter 3: Problem statement and Analysis 9 3.1 Statement of the problems in the case 3.2 Relevant literature review 3.3 Proposed plan of analysis 3.4 Sources of data 3.5 Ethical issues Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings 19 4.1 An assessment of the current position 4.2 Alternative future scenarios 4.3 Resource Constraint Evaluation Chapter 5: Proposed solution to Problems 32 5.1 Integrated discussion of the analysis 5.2 Recommendations and proposed plan of action 5.3 Critical assumptions to the analysis 5.4 Implications for stakeholders 5.5 Limitations of the study, scope for further research Chapter 6: Application to another case 38 6.1 Description of the comparator company’s situation 6.2 Testing the recommendations on the comparator company Appendices References Acknowledgements The making of dissertation period is one of the most...
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...Asia Pacific Management Review (2003) 8(1), 27-42 The Practice of Corporate Downsizing during Economic Downturn among Selected Companies in Malaysia Junaidah Hashim* and Anizah Abu Bakar** （received September 2002;revision received November 2002 ;accepted January 2003） This paper examines the organizational strategies and the effects of corporate downsizing in Malaysia. It reports the results of a survey of 30 Malaysian companies that engaged in downsizing during the economic downturn. Three research questions are probed: 1) What are the general strategies used by companies to downsize, 2) What are the difficulties faced by companies during downsizing implementation, and 3) What are the impacts of downsizing on organizations. The findings show two main strategies are used for downsizing: work reduction and work redesign. The most serious impact of downsizing is organizational ineffectiveness. Keywords: Corporate Downsizing; Malaysia; Economic Downturn 1. Introduction The Asian economy downturn occurred recently is probably deeper and broader than many previous economic downturns. As a result, big organizations began actively trimming corporate staff, slashing management layers in addition to widespread cutbacks and lowering cost to give value to the customers. The assumption underlying organizational performance and effectiveness in the last decades were bigger organizations are better organizations, unending growth is a natural and desirable work process, organizational adaptability...
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...Technology: Self-checkout lanes hurting the economy and customer satisfaction During the 1900’s America was recognized as a national powerhouse with a strong economy that offered citizens careers and economic stability. Today, we are fighting unemployment and recovering from an unstable stock market. Although many factors have impacted the economy since then, one factor that goes unnoticed is the growth in technological advancements and how it is directly affecting employment rates and customer satisfaction. Machines used to be basic, and controlled by people, but since technology has progressed machines are now capable of performing jobs solely on their own. Police officers are being replaced by camera lights, cashiers by self-service checkout machines, and operators by automated voice recognition machines. Technology, more specifically self-checkout machines are directly affecting our economy; it’s eliminating jobs and leaves customers feeling unsatisfied. The problem with today’s technology is that it is self-reliant, such as the CHEC software program which runs all IBM self-checkout machines. IBM mentions on their website how it “Offers retailers a totally integrated self-checkout solution that can effectively manage and help lower total cost of ownership (TCO).” They are trying to appeal to managers that the total cost of operations will undeniably decline if you buy their product. Aside from lower total cost of operations these machines have their advantages and disadvantages...
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...CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1. Background of the study Restructuring is A general term for major corporate changes aimed at greater efficiency and adaptation to changing markets. Spin-Offs, Recapitalisations, Strategic Buyouts and major management realignments are all developments frequently associated with corporate restructurings (Financial & Investment Dictionary, Barron’s, 2000). The verb restructure has one meaning: to reconstruct or form anew or provide with a new structure. Restructuring is significant modification made to the debt, operations or structure of a company. This type of corporate action is usually made when there are significant problems in a company, which are causing some form of financial harm and putting the overall business in jeopardy. The hope is that through restructuring, a company can eliminate financial harm and improve the business. (Investment Dictionary, Investopedia 2002). Restructuring is a method of raising organisational efficiency by questioning every stage of key operational processes to see if they still achieve what is required of them in terms of cost, quality service and speed. Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of partially dismantling and reorganizing a company for the purpose of making it more efficient and therefore more profitable. It generally involves selling off portions of the company and making severe staff reductions. Restructuring is often done as part of a bankruptcy or of a takeover...
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