Research Korner: Management Strategies Essays

CURRENT ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT

Current Issues in Management             Many companies are starting to monitor and manage key indicators. Substantial evidences prove that addressing such issues can directly cut cost and save money. As such, these can evaluate the application of management theory and how company are putting those in practices specifically those that can have impact on the company’s reputation. 1) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)             The corporate social responsibility concerns the social environment and a changed social contract.  Many argued that organizations must consider the societal impact of their decisions and actions. Furthermore, the organizations must act to protect and improve the welfare of the general public. The organizations must aim not only on organizational effectiveness but on existence to address the needs of society (, 2003, ).             According to  (1985), the social contract follows the obligation between the organization and the individuals, groups and other organizations, government and the society as a whole. These are set of written and unwritten rules and assumptions in a corporate manner. Such obligations discuss behaviour patterns among various elements of society.             The obligation to individual includes equitable wages, salaries and remuneration packages and suitable working conditions. In return of these obligations, the duties and responsibilities must be carried-out by the employees. The obligations to groups and other organizations require the company to compete within acceptable means. In effect, the competition must be carried-out with respect to mutual rights and obligations of trading partners and other businesses and companies. The most notable feature of governmental obligations of organizations is the existence of mutually beneficial exchange evident through tax payments and implementation of health and safety standards. Societal obligations deals with law-abiding activities of the organization like the consumer group (, 1985, ).             The underlying issues, however, are the changing values of government, business, education, religion, work force and society. Over the past 50 years, the government tended to get more powerful, more oppressive and more righteous. Many social ills are needed to be rectified and be improved upon. Businesses do have responsibility to society and likewise the society has some responsibilities to the corporate world. These obligations include: setting clear and consistent rules, keeping economically- and technically-feasible rules, making proactive rules and striving at goal-setting rules (as cited in ., 1989, ).             If the government will honestly implement and adhered to by the government and industries, there might be a possibility of a much effective relationship. As to all of this are ‘considerable talk and lip service’, the cooperation between business and government will be a big challenge.             The continuous foreign and domestic takeovers, imbalance between export and import, the high value of dollar and inflation changes the pace of the business sector and it affects the consumer behaviour and the society. However, it can be minimize through involvement of the worker-business to hep increase productivity.             The knowledge in history, geography classics and government are poorly integrated in the educational systems. Aside from this, other areas such as morals, social concepts and values and how business works reached the bottom level in recent years. Some universities and educational institutions are somewhat neglecting their purpose of educating the minds of the people.             Through judicial rulings, the work ethic and ethical-moral standards are not prospering under religious principles. The government are not realizing the impact of this on business and societal processes.             “Labor will be more demanding upon management in the future without a large influx and unless industry is able to expand rapidly”, said . (1989, ). He relates that the rapid growth of the 20-44-year-od age groups and the small growth of the population in the 1-9-year-old bracket will create serious managerial problems 10 to 20 years.             The stakeholders demand on businesses to grant their desires more than what they really need and deserve perceives the society’s need and demands from the business sector.  Immediate changes over a relatively short period will do no good to the company and eventually to the society (., 1989). 2) Business Ethics             Some major corporation faced scandals and unethical acts which lead to public distrust in one time or another. The word ethics means character or customs. As such, the organization’s codes and by-laws must convey moral integrity and values in serving the public to avoid misgivings and scepticism. However, other organizations are concern with the greater specificity, usefulness and consistency of ethics (, 2003, ).              Ethical behaviour deals with the morally-acceptable and commonly-held values which are consistent to personal perception of values. In an organization, many would question the rightfulness of different acts such as: Is it ethical to do personal business on company time? Is it unethical to ask someone to do a certain job that might not be good for their career progress? (, 2003).             Thus, we can define business ethics as perception of right or wrong in the behaviour and practices of the business. It is divided into two as normative business ethics and descriptive business ethics. A growing misconception is the difference of the two.             In business context and practices, the normative business ethics deal with establishing ethical from unethical. It concerns with “what ought to be” and “what ought not to be”. Descriptive business ethics, in contrast, is the comparison and contrasts of different moral codes, systems, beliefs, practices and values. It is learning about real occurrences in business organizations, managers, and specific industries regarding behaviour, actions, decisions, policies and practices (, 2003).             The distinction between the two perspectives must be clarified once and for all. So that the prevalence of a particular practice of a certain organization that is perceived to be true and acceptable by other organizations won’t be justified rather be corrected. Aside from this, questionable deeds of organizations will be addressed on individual, organizational, industry, societal and international levels (, 2003, ).             Another management challenge is the ‘teachability’ of business ethics and the ‘learnability’ of the employees in accordance with their personal perception and values regarding business ethics. According to , business institutions “cannot taught students something as fundamental as moral principles and ethical values as a kind of professional add-ons” (2006). What is the sense of putting ethical components on standard curriculum? What is the theoretical extent in comparison to business reality of such teachings would be?             The impact of such observation points toward the relative interconnection between business schools, business theories and business realities. The ability to impart morality and inculcate virtue to future mangers is their job. In reality, business ethics is viewed by many, including  and ten , as “sentimental common sense or a set of excuses for being unpleasant, at best window dressing and at worst a calculated lie” (as cited in , 2006).             In ’s point of view, business ethics can be taught and learned, but the choice on what they ought to do (2007) lies in the hands of the company and employees. There is an urgent need of a workplace revival and education and training in ethics and professionalism is the key.             The CEO and the senior management must consider the ethical dilemmas in the workplace. A well-written and well-communicated acceptable code can help but it is impossible to regulate non-existence of unethical behaviour. The bottom line is there is no legal requirement to behave ethically (, 2007). The challenge herein is the approach to disseminate the information about codes and to avoid concentration in a certain management level. It must be from top to bottom. If not, the result would be clogging on “continuous professional development, an open workplace culture and a clear and explicit code” (, 2007). 3) Corporate Governance             The concepts of firm and the interests it govern contribute to the understanding of the issues faced by the corporate governance. Since the term governance implies the exercise of authority, corporate governance, then, is the study of the allocation and exercise of such authority (, 2004).             The challenge, by and large, is the extent of authority-intervention on managerial matters and how it can affect the prevalent activities of firms and organizations. Another issue to deal with is the dispersed structure of organizational ownership (, 2004).             The separation of the equity holder and the management creates problems, according to Blair, such as: 1) the management efficiency means having enough courage to take risks, make strategic decisions and take advantage of investment opportunities and the management cannot submit every decision to shareholders affirmation; 2) the control-rights of shareholders with large total of shares has a power that must be restrained; 3) the commitment of time and resources of investors in monitoring the affairs of the organization; and 4) the reliability and accuracy of information-needs by the investors/shareholders (as cited in , 2004, ).             The power and position of both parties must be guarded to avoid abuse and taking unfair advantages over one another. The primary goal of the organization as a whole is somewhat overlooked the more as the location of authority is becoming more blurry.             The three elements that contribute to the efficiency and inefficiency of the corporate governance is the existence of strong public sector governance including a network of corporate law and securities legislation, strong internal governance practices and independent auditors who are neutral and objective-driven (, 2002).             The corporate governance deals with the role of financial performance, chief executive, top management, shareholders and board of directors. Herewith, the management threat is the responsiveness taken by each. A more balanced and responsive corporate governance system will eventually be the challenge. Since in a competitive environment, the authorities must intervene according to their position and power if the management failed to respond to economic changes and challenges ( and , 1998, ).             Another aspect to explore regarding corporate governance is the implications of globalization. The scale and scope of international business activities have significant effects on the international scene. Usually, corporate governance is practiced within individual companies and its focus is normally internal (, 2002). The readiness of such companies to engage in international economy might alter the prevalent cultures and practices of the company.  points out that the critical aspect is the increasing potential damage once the company involved itself in the international economy (2002). 4) Quality of Work Life and Quality Circles             The quality of work life (QWL) is essential for continuous attraction of future employees and retention of current employees. The QWL is a comprehensive company-wide program which aims at the improvement of employee satisfaction, strengthening of workplace learning and helping employees to have a better change- and transition-management ( and , 2006, ).               Regardless of position or status in a company, many employees are experiencing dissatisfaction towards work. This conforms to the complexity of problems as it is very difficult to isolate and identify all aspects that contribute to affect the QWL. The issues confronting the management are employer behaviour and the lives of employees before, after and during work.             QWL is a very dynamic and multidimensional concept. It is oftenly viewed as a movement, a set of organizational interventions and a type of work life by the employees. It includes concerns of job security, job sustainability, reward systems, training and career advancements opportunities and participation in decision-making ( and , 2006, ).              and  (1993) define QWL as the workplace strategies, operations and environment. It promotes and maintains employee satisfaction, improve work conditions and organizational effectiveness. The consequence to be faced by the management is the incorporation of QWL in policies, procedures, leadership style and operations. Broadly speaking, the identification of elements of QWL may be organization- and context-specific. The duty of the management. therefore, is to determine such elements which affect the efficiency and quality of work life of the employees.             The creation of quality circles in shop-floor level involves the attempt to engage employees on collective quality improvement. The small groups are consistently given advice and take decisions on immediate work procedures. , ,  and  argue that the effectiveness of such process is poorly carried-out. When, the employees realized that they really have little real influence on the organization, the employee will start to feel indifferent. Since the organizations are purely hierarchical and the principles are centralized, the process appears as an instrument for manipulating the employee opinion (1998, ).             If this is the case, the management must struggle at inculcating the sense of involvement among employees in decision-making. Another area of concern is the motivation scheme and its significant benefits directly to the employees of the organization.             Some organizations thrive at grouping of employees who meet regularly to tackle improvements within the workforce of a certain organization (, ,  and , 1998, ). The idea is the how effective a small group in voicing their concern regarding the work and their environment. Another thing to consider is the reflection of opinion of the group compared to the whole work force. Such issues regarding the quality work of life and quality circles may appear to be very broad but still they are waiting for recognition and immediate solutions. 5) Workforce Treatment and Workforce Discrimination             The work treatment and the work discrimination per se have three dimensions: the formal vs. informal, potential vs. encountered and the perceived vs. real. These dimensions transcends across all status, race, gender, and etc.              describes work discrimination as “unfair and negative treatment of workers or job applicants based on personal attributes that are irrelevant to job performance” (2001). The nature of work is very multifaceted as it can be experienced in pre- during and post-levels of work.             The framework of formal discrimination is based on institutional policies and decisions regarding hiring, firing promotion, salary deductions and job assignments. In contrast, the informal discrimination deals with interpersonal dynamics and work atmosphere such as verbal and non-verbal harassments, lack of respect, hostility and prejudice ( and , 1984).             The second dimension involves the potential and encountered discriminations. The former deals with actual discrimination in sexual orientation disclosures, for example. The latter refers to encountered discriminatory practices. However, the distinction between the two is subjectivity and objectivity viewed from neutral terms (, 2001).             The third dimension is derived from the concept occupational opportunity structures of  (1980): the ideal, real and perceived discriminations. In ideal, there is no discrimination. The comparison between perceived and real discriminations varies from perception of individuals. The neutral situation may be interpreted and misinterpreted as a discriminatory practice where in fact, the situation is just a result of misconception/misperception. 6) Transparency             Generally, transparency is critical in corporate accounting and statements. The companies must practice publicizing in order to gain and regain the confidence of shareholders and consumers in all aspects of business. The benefit of the people around and within the company is the avoidance of misleading informations and false announcements (, 2001).             The management, as policymakers, must clearly provide the people truthfulness regarding their operations and activities. In effect, the credibility of the corporate governance will be respected by the employees and the consumers.             The continuum of economic growth includes a transparent corporate governance structure. The interaction, without this, can lead to financial deficiency. In this regard, the financial transparency and the corporate governance system are the key factors to encourage investors and to create a sustainable business (, 2007).              According to  (2005), transparency scares business. The switch to a more open accounting can be daunting said , vice-president of Delta Private Equity Partners. The management struggles at the significant cost in paying consultations regarding elimination of shady schemes. The profits will be cut and may erode business competitiveness. Not all entrepreneurs, in addition, are interested in legalizing their financials.     Reference List

CURRENT ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT

Current Issues in Management Many companies are starting to monitor and manage key indicators. Substantial evidences prove ...

Strategic Planning and Implementation of Sony Ericsson

Part 1 Sony Ericsson, its resources and its competencies   In 2000 Ericsson and Sony established a London-based joint venture, Sony Ericsson, to exploit the opportunities of third generation mobile systems, whose implementation had begun in Japan. Ericsson's strategies were broadly emulated by its major competitors in the world telecom industry, including Nokia, the Canadian firm Nortel, the US firms Lucent, Cisco Systems, and Motorola, and Germany's Siemens, all of whom had telecom equipment sales in excess of $22 billion in 2000. These firms all moved, although at varying rates, to outsource production to contract manufacturers. They also progressively outsourced innovation to cheaper locations (Wallach 2005).   Resources Sony Ericsson’s resources come from reliable suppliers and manufacturers.  The materials used in creating the products have to agree with the company’s greenheart process wherein most part of the product should be recyclable or harmless to the environment.   Financial The funds can either come from the parent company or from other sources like investors. The budget will be used to pay for the different expenses of the firm. The budget will be used to pay for the rent expenses, the payment for all the employees, the cost of supplies used in creating the products, the cost of electricity, the cost of office materials and other costs or expenses.   Human In providing excellent service to the clients, a company needs to have a dedicated staff that performs well and knows that the service they give to the client can help the company have a positive or negative image. The staff of the company is well trained to ensure that the best service can be given to the clients. The company makes sure that it hires promising individuals that can assist in the company’s task of reaching their goals.   Skill The personnel of the Sony Ericsson are well skilled in creating and selling their products.  The company makes sure that they hire individuals who are skilled in management, manufacturing or selling.  The company also looks for various activities that will help them improve their skill.   Competencies Core Capabilities   Sony Ericsson’s core competences include its highly advanced product, competitive products and concept of sustainability. Sony Ericsson makes use of its competences to achieve continuous growth and development   Distinct Capabilities Sony Ericsson’s distinct capabilities include its ability to create products that costs lesser than other cell phone.  The company’s product cost less but it is durable like the other company’s products.   Scope Capabilities Sony Ericsson’s capabilities include its use of sophisticated technologies to create the best product. Sony Ericsson has commendable personnel that were well trained to create the best product and provide efficient service.   5m’s Money Sony Ericsson is well funded. The funds of the company come from its profits, capital and from investors. The company makes sure that its finances are well budgeted and will go directly to the division that needs it the most.   Minutes Time is important for the Sony Ericsson. The company gives importance to time just like it gives importance to finances and human resources. The company has organized schedules that will ensure that products can be made at an appropriate time. The company makes sure that every member of the organization has a balance of work and rest.   Materials Sony Ericsson’s materials come from reliable suppliers. The company keeps the materials in reliable storage areas. The company makes sure that its materials will not harm the environment and can still be recycled.   Manpower Sony Ericsson makes sure that it hires the best personnel that have an idea on the cell phones and its related products. The company engages in online recruitment, personal recruitment and the use of third party to recruit and choose the personnel that fit their needs.   The company trains the personnel in accordance with their tasks and role. The company allows their personnel to attend seminars that will increase their knowledge on their forte. The company makes sure that the personnel are given an appropriate compensation based from their role and contribution to the firm. The company makes sure that all social benefits are received by the personnel.   Machines The company makes use of the best machinery to create the products. The company has a research division that searches for the latest technology that will help them achieve efficiency and effectiveness in creating their products.  The machines are well maintained by a special group of personnel. The company makes sure that the machines are regularly checked for problems.   Implications on Management The use of 5m’s makes it easier for the management to operate the firm. The use of 5m helps Sony Ericsson and its management to focus on strategizing and determining what acts will provide benefits to the company.  Through the 5m the management receives assistance in attaining the goals of the firm.   Current strategies of the company The company is focused on the use of sustainable products. Sustainability is said to be the act of maintaining supplies for future generations.  Supplies do have its own limitation; it will run out of stock eventually. Through the use of sustainability companies can make sure that there can be supplies for the present and the future.  Sustainability goes with the need to have green supplies. The company makes sure that it uses sustainable supplies. The company makes sure that its supply will not run out.  The makes sure that the materials they use are recyclable and will not cause damage to the environment. To maintain the sustainability of supplies the firm makes sure that parts can be recycled.   Stakeholders Internal stakeholders The internal stakeholders of Sony Ericsson include the management of the company, employees and creditors. The Stakeholders’ impact on the governance of the firm is it affects the way the company is managed. It makes sure that the company performs well according to the stake holder’s standards.  The management of the firm is a stakeholder because the company’s success or failure is conjoined with the management’s success or failure.  The employees of the firm are stakeholders because the success or failure of the firm will impact their salary and its increase or decrease. The creditors are stakeholders because they contributed a certain amount that contributes to the financial resources of the company.   External stakeholders The government, clients and potential investors are those groups that are external stakeholders to the company. The government is a stakeholder for the firm because they are the ones that checks if the company follows regulations and laws.  The government also observes for any negative effect for the company’s products. The clients are stakeholders because they are the ones that are affected by any changes initiated by the company.  The clients are the end destination for the product, thus they need to know what stages a product goes through before it reaches them. The potential investors are stakeholders because they observe the financial status of the company and use this as a basis for any transactions that they will do with the company.   Stakeholder’s strategy             The stakeholders provide assistance in running the firm. They give a little feedback on how the firm should operate. The stakeholders give their opinion on the company and the condition it faces.   Future strategy for stakeholders The future strategy for the stakeholder will focus on improving their relationship with the company. This can be done through the use of communication systems that will create a greater bond between the firm and the stakeholders. The communication strategy can be in the form of internet or other online system.   Governance Chain Corporate governance is concerned with holding to account the modern corporation, whether it is a large or small holding company and subsidiaries, listed, private, government or non-profit entity. One influential interpretation of corporate governance is to find a way to maximize wealth creation in a manner that does not impose inappropriate costs on third parities or on society as a whole. Corporate governance application requires a system of checks and balances designed to define appropriately the parameters of authority through accountability (Kakabadse 2001). The following presents the governance chain for the company. The key players include the stakeholders, board of directors and the employees. The stakeholders, board of directors and employees are the ones that will be affected by any change in management strategy.  Any changes in management strategy can affect the service given to the stakeholders. Any changes in the management strategy can alter the position and responsibility of the management team and the personnel. The beneficiaries of any change in the management strategy include the clients and the government. The clients are beneficiaries because any change in the management strategy can lead to better service to them and it can lead to the emergence of better products.  The government is a beneficiary of the change in the management strategy because they can now make business dealings with Sony Ericsson. The government can ask the company to make products that fits with their communication needs. This in turn can help the government provide better service to their constituents and deal better with outside forces.   Principal- Agent Theory The management and the employees have a principal – agent relationship wherein the managers give fair treatment of the personnel. The managers make sure that the personnel acts as agents of providing service to clients.   Employee Unions Worker Unions are vital because it gives personnel the chance to express his/her concern to other workers. The union can be used for one personnel to have better benefits and compensation from the firm. The management allows for unions and other groups that intend to unite the ideas and concerns of the personnel. The management makes sure that they respect any union that the employee has formed or joined.   Sony Ericsson ethics and Social Responsibility Corporate responsibility is a pact for the mutual benefit between society that needs business for economic and social development, and business that needs a supportive business environment. It is also a pact between capital and management in modern companies, which has been as shaken up by some recent scandals where management disregarded the bond of transparency with shareholders (Dunning 2003).   a. within Sony Ericsson Sony Ericsson has and believes in corporate responsibility. The company makes sure that it follows all laws and regulations in every country they operate in. It has procedures and processes that make sure that corporate responsibility is implemented not only in internal environment but within its suppliers and trading partners. Sony Ericsson gives much importance to their personnel; the company makes sure that the welfare of the personnel is given appropriate attention.    b. what can still be improved Sony Ericsson can improve its social responsibility by engaging in charitable works such as donation to charity or other non government institutions. They can even create a charity that will focus on a certain market. Sony Ericsson can improve its ethical standards by reviewing its current scandals and adjusting it towards the current situation.  c. alternatives philosophy Aside from the use of corporate responsibility and ethics, Sony Ericsson can make use of the fair competition philosophy wherein the company will make use of strategies that will be just and fair. The company will refrain from committing acts that are demeaning to fairness in the telecommunication industry. The company will refrain from engaging in unwanted acts against other cellular phone companies.   d. Freedmanism Freedmanism is the belief in ideas such as Deontology, Utilitarianism, Teleology, Egoism and Ethical relativism. Deontology is the philosophy that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of intentions or motives behind action such as respect for rights, duties, or principles. Utilitarianism is the belief that the worth of an action is determined by its contribution to overall use of that action. Teleology is the belief that things are designed for or directed toward a final result.  Egoism is the idea that people should do that they think satisfies their self interest. Ethical Relativism is the belief that ethical ideas do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths. All the ideas under Freedmanism relates to different characteristics of the personnel. The limitation of Freedmanism revolves on the contrasting characteristic of each belief under it. Deontology, Utilitarianism, Teleology, Egoism and Ethical relativism each have a characteristic that contrasts the other, the use of it under one philosophy can create confusion and does not help in making one productive and efficient.   The management strategy that will be changed Expanding into additional segments, after reaching an acceptable market share position in the primary market is a prudent option. The common strategy is to penetrate with either line extensions or technology applications. It is an acceptable and logical move for a market leader particularly in a flat market. It's only advisable though if sufficient resources are available to penetrate the new segment and, providing sufficient management attention and resources are available to vigorously protect the primary segment (Paley 2006). The target market of the company involves almost all sectors of the society. The company aims to provide mobile products to young or old, boy or girl. The company as much as possible aims to reach all walks of life. This target market is a good source of income. The company has different strategies that can cater to the taste and appeal of such markets.  The change in management strategy will focus on increasing the market of the company. In increasing the market the company will need to make sure that the stores where its products are located will be in the most profitable places. The distribution stores for the products should be in places where clients can easily see the store and they can be encouraged to visit the store and buy products.  The distribution store should make sure that competition in the location they want to put up the branch will not be too heavy. The market of the company can still be expanded to accommodate the elder people market. The company can consider such clients as a different segment that should receive a different kind of product. They should also provide a different kind of mobile products for such market.   Part 2 Tradeoffs The change in strategy would help the firm gain more clients and increase its income. The change in strategy would help the firm improve its status in its industry. The potential problem with changing the strategy is a situation wherein the firm would lose control over its current markets. The new market would keep the company busy and may cause it to neglect the older markets.   Nature of People   Purpose Ambitions and objectives are formulated at three levels. For the long term, guiding objectives are important. For the short and medium term, a system of measurable objectives must be created. Finally, the actual missions are the concrete translation of those objectives to the social players involved (Keijzers 2004).  Communication is a key element of establishing focus, because employees usually perform better and accomplish more when they understand their role and how it relates to the bigger picture (Zwell 2000).   In setting the objective a clear picture of the internal and external environment was used by the firm. The environment showed the firm its weak points or problem areas. Through knowing its weak points the company was able to plan for future possibilities and future plan of actions. After the company knew its weak points it was able to create the objectives by determining the weak points or problem areas that should be given top concern and priority.  The company engaged in constant communication to determine what will be their objectives. To further identify the nature of the objective of the firm the lynch polygon will be used. Lynch’s Polygon of purpose Timing Sony Ericsson’s plan for change should begin as soon as it has enough funds and resources to introduce the change. The company cannot wait for too long before it introduces the change because the new strategy might not fight the future situation.   Innovation Sony Ericsson is one company that has proven its innovativeness through combining cell phones with walkman functionality.  The company can use such innovativeness to create more products that will be accepted by the market. Value Added The innovative nature of Sony Ericsson adds value to their products. If the company wants to show that they have value then they need to prove it by creating more innovative products and services.   Survival Survival in the telecommunication industry can be achieved by innovation and the use of appropriate strategies. Sony Ericsson is already innovative, it just needs to make sure that it will use appropriate strategies or make new strategies to continue to survive in a competitive cell phone industry.   Growth One goal of Sony Ericsson is continuous growth. The company has already risen from its humble beginnings but it still wants to reach better heights. To do that the company needs to focus on the new strategy and defend itself against competitive traps.   Brand Apart from each other Sony and Ericsson has created a name for themselves in their respective industries. Together they have become one of the biggest cellular phone companies. With proper use of marketing strategies and the use of unique packaging, the company can still create a more unique brand that can create a huge impact on the cell phone industry.   Leadership Sony Ericsson has good leaders that have guided them from their birth up to this day. The current and former leaders have helped the company make a name for itself in its field.  The leaders of the firm are one reason for its success and they are the ones that can truly guide the company to its objectives.   Stakeholders The stakeholders are a vital group that contributes to the success of Sony Ericsson. Their guidance and assistance have helped the firm achieve its current status. Without the stakeholders the firm will lose its focus and will do things unnecessary for its survival.   Value and Lifestyle The company has achieved its current status because it was able to maintain its value at the same time it introduced new trends that increased its value. The company has achieved a household status and is becoming a need rather than a want.   Knowledge Sony Ericsson values the gathering and use of knowledge.  The company makes sure that through its research and development division it gathers the data that it needs to survive its environment. The company uses knowledge to innovate its products and services. Time Time is of the essence. All planned actions of Sony Ericsson should be implemented so that the company can reap its benefits and initiate changes if there is such a need for it.  The company cannot afford to delay the implementation of the new strategy since the new strategy was only made for the current situation of the firm.   Company Mission   Evaluation An innovative organization must be led by a leader who develops and aligns the organization with the mission and vision, develops and maintains trust, ensures that coordinating and communicating occur, and encourages creativity and learning (Oden 1997).At the heart of the innovative culture lies the vision of the leader. This vision includes the broader sense of who the company is, why the company is doing this work, why it's important, the promises they have made to customers, and the code of conduct (Cook Jr. 2000). The mission and vision should definitely be consistent and supportive, but they will not be exactly alike since they serve two different purposes (Kanji 2002). Sony Ericsson’s mission statement concentrate on making sure that the company will produce the most attractive products.  This mission statement fits well with what the company is doing and showing to the public.  This mission statement can still be used to achieve the company’s overall goals.  Sony Ericsson has partly achieved its mission because it has created a wide array of eye catching products that are globally competitive and full of innovation.   Evaluation of mission statement against the five elements   Innovation   The mission statement of the firm has innovation as its core. The company innovates to achieve its mission. In every aspect of the firm, innovation is the concept deemed as most vital.   Brand The company has made sure that it is known all over the world. The company has established itself on various parts of the world. This coincides with the firm’s mission of having a global identity.   Growth The firm already has fully developed and grown it can be seen through its global brand. Sony Ericsson’s worldwide fame proves that the firm has achieved some basic goals and it has matured from its initial identity.   Stakeholders The company works with the stakeholders in achieving growth and development. The stakeholders boost the company for it to achieve its goals and compete well in its industry.   Value and Lifestyle Sony Ericsson wants to be attractive. They have achieved this mission through producing unique products that catches one’s attention.   References Cook Jr., WJ 2000, The art and science of holistic strategy, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.   Dunning, J 2003, Making globalization good: The moral challenges of global capitalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.   Jones, G 2005, Multinationals and global capitalism: From the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, Oxford University Press, Oxford.   Kakabadse, A 2001, The Geopolitics of governance: The impact of contrasting philosophies, Palgrave, New York.   Kanji, GK 2002, Measuring business excellence, Routledge, London.   Keijzers, G 2004, Government and sustainable development, Routledge, New York.   Nielsen, RP 1996, The politics of ethics: Methods for acting, learning, and sometimes fighting with others in addressing ethics problems in organizational life, Oxford University Press, New York.   Oden, HW 1997, Managing corporate culture, innovation and intrapreneurship, Westport, CT, Quorum Books.   Paley, N 2006, The manager's guide to competitive marketing strategies, Thorogood, London.   Wallach, B 2005, Understanding the cultural landscape, Guilford Press, New York.   Zwell, M 2000, Creating a culture of competence, Wiley, New York.

Strategic Planning and Implementation of Sony Ericsson

Part 1 Sony Ericsson, its resources and its competencies In 2000 Ericsson and Sony established a London-based joint venture, Sony ...

Strategic Human Resource Management in Subway Sandwich Restaurant

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN A SUBWAY SANDWICH RESTAURANT   The world’s famous subway sandwich restaurant franchise system in the world that is independently owned and operated by various entrepreneurs.  Franchisees established their own human resources strategies and policies and implement their own employment rules and policies.  The Subway sandwich restaurant chain is increasing tremendously, and still continues to boom with new marketing opportunities in shopping center, mall and free standing  locations.  Other franchisees locate their own Subway chain to hospitals, colleges, sports arenas and airports.  The Subway chain has been in every part of the globe.  And, most of these franchise stores are located in the United States and others are located in other parts of the globe. The company has innovative and efficient Subway developers, field staff and leasing specialists from different parts of North America.  The Subway chain has an effective marketing and operational system that helps in promoting their products as well as in increasing its wide range of consumer base.  Subway restaurants have unique restaurant concepts, and do not need a wide and spacious location.  The Subway restaurants are flexibly operating anywhere.  In addition to that, Subway restaurants have different marketing concepts and designs as well as various strategic locations such as Jeep assembly plant in Ohio; you can also find it in a new car showroom in California.  In the same manner, there is also a Subway sandwich restaurant in a church in New York.  Other consumers can also eat healthy sandwiches while inside the laundry and tanning salon in Wisconsin.  There is also a chain store inside the High School compound in Detroit, and the best thing is, the students can earn college credits for operating a Subway sandwich restaurant inside the university.  You can also find a floating Subway sandwich restaurant aboard on a river boat in Germany.   And, there is still a plan to try to put a Subway sandwich café to satisfy the food needs of the employees in the office buildings and large establishment and huge commercial buildings.  The menu will include the baked goods and frozen coffee drinks.  The Subway café concept will be designed as a combination of sandwich shop and coffee bar that is located in a cozier environment for coffee break.  (http://www.hr.com/en/communities/subway%C2%AE-world-headquarters-selects-ultimate-softwa_g5rg5kop.html)   The Subway restaurant chain is presently the world’s leading submarine sandwich store franchise that has 32, 200 locations in 90 countries worldwide.  It started our in Milford, Connecticut.  At the same time it has also regional operation in Amsterdam, Beirut, Brisbane, Miami, Singapore, India, and in the United Kingdom.  And, because of its excellent performance worldwide, it has been recognized as number one Global Franchise sandwich restaurant in the globe.  More than that, the Subway restaurant has been providing its employees an outstanding strategic human resources management, recruitment, strict compliance to attendance management as well as performance supervision among its employees.  Payroll and talent and performance solutions have been also in the company’s top priority.  These are all the strong evidences that Subway restaurant has been recognized as having excellent human capital management solution for over the years now.  In fact, Subway‘s headquarters uses payroll service bureau in its US-based chains. All its human resources capital will be centralized already through the help of UltiPro; this is a most complete solution that meets all the human resources management system of Subway sandwich restaurants worldwide.  Currently, Subway has its outstanding strategic and systematic transactional human resources management system for the most advantageous workforce performance and productivity among its employees.  (http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/human-resources-management-h-r/215128-organisational-structure-subway.html) Furthermore, Subway sandwich restaurants are a fast food franchise, but they prepare and serve healthy and fresh food for their customers but in a reasonable price that everyone can afford to buy and eat.  In fact Subway has its new great “Five dollar foot long” campaign in a very affordable cost.  They have sandwiches that are loaded with fresh veggies.  They really make great sandwiches, they are generous with toppings, and the employees are keen to details.  The employees are really giving excellent customer service.  After all, Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily caters submarine sandwiches, salads and personal pizzas.  The specialty sandwich that the restaurant has is the Chicken Pizziola sandwich; this is a 6-inch sandwich that made of nine-grain wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers and cheese.  In Subway, the customers may choose the bread, toppings and condiments for the sandwich they order.  And, healthy sandwiches are being prepared in front of the customers. This restaurant chain has been dominating in the world market since 1995 through its employees’ hard work and high quality food products.  (http://renegadehr.net/case-study-hr-practices-subway/)  References: (http://www.hr.com/en/communities/subway%C2%AE-world-headquarters-selects-ultimate-softwa_g5rg5kop.html) (http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/human-resources-management-h-r/215128-organisational-structure-subway.html) (http://renegadehr.net/case-study-hr-practices-subway/)

Strategic Human Resource Management in Subway Sandwich Restaurant

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN A SUBWAY SANDWICH RESTAURANT The world’s famous subway sandwich restaurant franchise system in the wo...

Resources and Capabilities of McDonald

Resources and Capabilities of McDonald Introduction As one of the leading companies in the world and invading every country, there is no doubt that McDonald is the leader in fast food industry. This fact has been proven for so many years and this will not happen if the company did not apply any strategies with their resources and calculating their capabilities. The strategy may come in planning in the business setting. The process of developing and maintaining the goals and capabilities is reflected to its changing marketing opportunities. The corporate strategy lays in their institutional mission, supporting goals and objectives, an appropriate implementation (2007). Resources and Capabilities of McDonald For the company, the strategy is concerned with matching a firm’s resources and capabilities to the opportunities that arise in the external environment. The resources and capabilities of a company are considered as a strategy. The increasing emphasis on the role of resources and capabilities as the basis for strategy may come in to two factors. First, the industry where the firm belongs became unstable and so the internal resources and capabilities of the firm are given more focus in formulating strategies. And second, the combination of the resources and capabilities of the firm became the superior competitive advantage and profitability (2007). The connection between the resource and capabilities of a firm in the area of business makes a competitive advantage. It is because the capabilities and resources allow the organization to create value and gain some form of advantage from the rivals. The capabilities and resources may include the degree of business cycle literacy of the top of management team; deployment of various forecasting resources; a facilitative organizational structure that facilitates timely acquisition, processing, and dissemination of macroeconomic information as well as timely decision making relative to rivals; the observable application of a set of business cycle-sensitive management principles; an a supportive organizational culture that supports the firm’s management activities (2005). Capabilities as Routine McDonald applied an essential step in translating directions and operating practices into capabilities. The idea of routine in every McDonald such as operating manuals that provides precise directions for the conduct of every activity. In the continuous practice or repetition, the operating manuals are referred in the course of day-to-day operations, the tasks become a routine. In addition, this allows the McDonald’s outlets worldwide to produce the standard fast food products. The successful firms used the knowledge as part of the fundamental transformation in their enterprises. Moreover, the McDonald’s and other companies pioneered the transformation through systematization which is appropriate in their processes ( 2007). If the routines develop learning by-doing, and this was supported by the knowledge, then, the idea of systematization is easy. The idea of systematization underlies in the capability of the standard operating procedures of one company to disseminate in all over the outlets or branches the McDonalds may have. The business system that the company has is guided by the operating procedures and training manuals that governs the operation and maintenance of each restaurant. The idea of systematization presumes that the firm can more fully articulate the processes as part of its capabilities. With concern of knowledge management, McDonald’s companies are primarily implementing the McDonald’s system. The essence of systematization of knowledge is followed by every outlet with a detailed set of rules. Therefore, the operating practices became part of every employee and given a thorough attention from the management through the training programs. Resource-Based View Corporations are different; most of them have the ability to undergo the risk of rapid changes. And in their recognition to the human resources and investments, corporation still have the ability to create cooperative and productive behavior, despite of the massive agency and organizational costs. The resource-based view approach enables the firm to have unique resources and capabilities and used as an advantage to excel in the marketplace. This influential approach defines the capabilities as the firm’s core resources, which makes the firm as a whole. The capabilities lie within a firm’s infrastructure, reflect both the firm’s human resources and routines which is most of all, difficult to duplicate or replicate by the competitors (2008).   Conclusion Some corporations are good on what they do and some thinking creatively to acquire remarkably good. The strategies applied by different firms, although different, starts on what the corporations must do and enable them to learn what is necessary. In some other case, the corporations give way to the existence of the corporate resources and capabilities that can e harnessed for admirable objectives. As McDonald faced new challenges, the system for managing the knowledge, emphasizing the product development and sharing the system made a success in food improvement, teams, and corporate goals.

Resources and Capabilities of McDonald

Resources and Capabilities of McDonald Introduction As one of the leading companies in the world and invading every country, there is ...

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION IN BAY APPAREL LIMITED

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION IN BAY APPAREL LIMITED                                                                         Introduction             Conflict inevitably arises in the workplace because of the individual uniqueness in perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and behavior of the different members of the organization. These differences may catalyze non-accommodation of other peoples’ beliefs resulting to misunderstandings or even to violence. Differences that lead to conflict may be based on personal or work related differences. Personal conflicts in the workplace can range from personality clashes such as one employee preferring a quiet work environment while another employee works best with music to attitude problems such as an employee spreading rumors against another employee that irritates the person subject of the rumor and even to personal hygiene such as an employee who declines to consider personal cleanliness or neatness in the workplace that irks another employee. Work related conflict can results from competition in promotions with one candidate holding the belief that the person promoted is less qualified then he is or cutting in line in the queue to use the photocopy machine or the differences in opinion on the perceived effective means of accomplishing a group or collaboration project. The negative consequences of these conflict situations then adversely affect the aggregate operations and performance of the business firms so that the decisive action or intervention by the organization to a potential or actual conflict is necessary.             However, not all business firms have the capability or competency to deal with conflict either because of the perception of the conflict as non-significant or the lack of tools or means to address the problem. In some instances, the organization even becomes aware of the conflict when this already arises instead of preventing workplace conflict.     Executive Summary             Conflict is an inevitable occurrence in all organizations and it is the efficiency in the application of conflict resolution methods and processes that determines the degree of optimization that the company derives from conflict resolution.             There are different types of conflict based on the nature of the conflict, parties involved and scope of conflict. Under the nature of the conflict are relational and task conflict. Relational conflict comes from differences in individual values and perspectives of the parties involved such as religious beliefs and work attitude while task conflict pertains to differences in belief over the manner of accomplishing a task or addressing work problems. Generally, relational conflicts diminish organizational performance while task conflict enhances group performance. Relational conflict also influences task conflict. Under the parties involved are personal, intragroup and intergroup conflicts. These conflicts are neither good nor bad per se because it is the result that determines this. Under the scope of the conflict are internal and external conflicts, with the former referring to conflict with the organization while external conflict involves conflict with parties not part of the organization. In Bay Apparel Limited, relational conflict, intragroup conflict and intergroup conflict, and internal and external conflict commonly occur.             Generally, two sources of conflict arise, which are personal cognitive processes—such as discontent and resentment and organizational factors—lack of uniform standards for human resource management and conflict resolution. In Bay Apparel Limited, organizational factors dominate the causes of conflict because the difference in management systems of the US and HK groups catalyze conflict.              Overall, conflict management methods include avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. These apply depending upon the context of the conflict situation. In the case of Bay Apparel Limited, the most apparent method used is competition that involves pitting one perspective over another and derivation of a winning perspective. While this works in situations requiring the provision of strong support for competing perceptions. The utilization of this method alone leads to the discontent of members whose opinions always lose out that could affect cooperation or participation in group tasks.             Thus, while the current organizational system of Bay Apparel Limited successfully addresses interpersonal conflict and external conflict, the company needs to improve its methods in meeting intragroup and intergroup conflict to derive optimum results from its working groups. This could be achieved through the context-based utilization or combination of the methods as well as the establishment of a common core management strategy for the company to dispel employee perceptions of management strategy disparity. Literature Review Organizational Conflict Conflict pertains to the perceived or actual difference that may influence outcomes or actions believed to be important (2003). This implies that conflict is based on the manner that differences are perceived and acted upon by individuals in human relations. Overall, conflict involves six elements. First is its inevitability since there will always be disagreements arising from individual unique characters. Second is the nature of conflict as not classifiable under the dichotomy of good or bad because it is the consequence of the conflict that determines the goodness or badness of the conflict. Concurrently, this element involves the determinants danger and opportunity. Danger results to bad results while opportunity to resolve conflict leads to good results. Third is conflict as a process of constantly making choices on the next step of dealing with differences. Fourth is conflict as requiring the exercise of energy whether action is taken or not because of the continuous process of decision-making. Fifth is the existence of feeling and content because conflict involves not only the reason for the conflict but also the emotions that arise in the situation. Sixth is the character of conflict as swaying from proactive to active. More proactive individuals have a lesser propensity to be involved in violence while a reactive person would likely become violent in the situation. (2000) Types of Conflict In the case of organizations, a number of conflict classifications arise.  (1990) found that organizational conflict has task related and relational aspects.  (1997) proposed that organization conflict fall under affective—linked to interpersonal relationships or substantive conflict—related to the group task or project. Relative to the influence of conflict on the organization, (1992) provides that the members of the group differentiate between relational and work related conflict and the occurrence of one over the other have different effects and there is an adverse relationship between relational conflict and productivity as well as group satisfaction Relational conflicts meddle in the accomplishment of tasks because the members of the group become engrossed with the minimization threats, the maximization of power, and the efforts to develop cohesion instead of targeting the demands of the task.(1999) add that relational conflict diminishes interpersonal understanding and goodwill among the group members that prevents the efficient completion of the task If most of the time is spent on dealing with interpersonal aspects instead of on the informational and technical aspects of decision-making then task completion suffers. Moreover, the conflict also makes members of the group irritable, resentful, negative or uncooperative. In serious relational problems group functioning worsen.  In considering the different types of conflicts based on the parties involved. Conflicts can involve two individuals, members of a group, organizational units, or organizations. Again, the conflict may be relational or work related.             Interpersonal conflict refers to the evident struggle arising between a minimum of two interdependent parties perceiving differing goals, scarcity of resources, and other party interference relative to the opinions of others. The definition means that there are several factors intervening in the conflict. One is the express nature of the clash in perception differences so that there is communication between or among the parties. Another is the intervention of perceptions in the cognitive processes of the parties, which means that based on their perception there are differences in their respective perspectives that may even be conflicting. ( 1991) Intragroup conflict pertains to the conflict arising within a work group that involves any two or more members.  (1995) provide two kinds of intragroup conflict, which are task and relational conflicts. Task conflict refers to the perceptions over the disagreement existing among different individual group members regarding the content of group decisions or actions and encompassing differences in views, ideas and opinions. In the course of group discussions, members of the group may differ in opinion over the manner of allocating resources, procedures to use, and understanding of facts. Relationship conflict in intragroup relations finds expression through animosity and annoyance emanating from differences in personal taste, familial values, and even religious beliefs.             These forms of intragroup conflict have personal and organization consequences. As shown in the study by  (2001), relational conflict negatively affects the affective reactions of group members such as trust and satisfaction.  (1997) proved that relational conflict affects the work climate or environment and decreases the team effectiveness. Task conflict relates positively to quality in ideas emanating from the members of the group and the innovativeness of the various group members (1996).. (1999) adds that task conflict leads to the prevalence of constructive debate with the group members airing and defending their respective views and ideas that could result to the acceptance of group decisions (1996) as well as the aversion of groupthink (1994)             Thus, intragroup conflict is not detrimental to the organization per se because the negative effect depends upon the type of conflict occurring. If the group experiences relational conflict, this could adversely affect the performance of the entire group but if the group feels the existence of task conflict, this could lead to improved group output.             Intergroup conflict pertains to the infractions among individuals and groups emanating from the dynamics of intergroup interdependence, political determinism and diversity (2003). This indicates that intergroup conflict pertains to the manner that individual members of a group or different groups deal with their interdependence such as the necessity of consulting the other members of group in decision-making, directing the actions of the other members or influencing the movement of the group, and the differences among the individual members and between the groups.             Moreover, intergroup conflict emanates from the spillage effect of both interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict (1991). This means that personal differences can translate into intergroup differences in instances when the interpersonal issues of members of a group or different groups become intertwined with intergroup dynamics. Sources of Conflict             Generally, there are common sources of conflict among different people. Most of the time conflicts arise when a person feels that his comfort zone has been violated. A comfort zone pertains to the limit of a person over acceptable or safe factors. Conflict arises when the person feels that the comfort zone has been violated or when the person is forced to move outside of the comfort zone limits. The initial emotions or feelings that the person feels upon the violation of or movement away from the comfort zone constitute conflict. (2003) The degree of emotions experienced by the person during this time then determines the extent of conflict expression or response. This means that conflict comes from the manner that a person internally processes deviations in emotional and intellectual state.             Another common source of conflict is the feeling dissatisfaction resulting from being dissatisfied or unsatisfied about work place factors. When these feelings results to discomfort, conflict may arise. ( 2003)             All forms of sources of conflict are explained by the natural propensity of people to return to the original state of contentment. This tendency is referred to as homeostasis or the state of balance where individuals derive contentment and satisfaction. The tendency can translate to the resolution of the conflict or resistance to resolution. (2003) There are instances in interrelationships when deviating from the status could result to an improvement in performance and well-being that leads to creation of a different point of equilibrium. These sources of conflict could either improve or diminish the state of the individual and this could also lead to organizational conflict. Results & Analysis   Organizational Conflict   In the case of Bay Apparel Limited, there are three major two types of conflict encompassing both relational and work related conflict, which are regional conflict arising between the US and HK teams, interdepartmental conflict arising between or among the different working departments, and employee-employer conflict arising between the employees and the top management of the company. The relational conflict between the US and HK teams arise from the differences cause by a language barrier and cultural variance that affects their management practices that results to conflict when one team asserts its management practice over the other that poses resistance to the imposition. Relational conflict between the US and HK teams arise in decision-making on cost and price. Hong Kong is in charge of production, merchandising and sampling while US team takes charge of marketing, design and customer service. The work-related conflict exists when the HK team prioritizes cost efficiency while the US team highlights design and marketability that may involve higher costs. In Hong Kong, a bureaucratic mode of management is applied that results to low levels of transparency.  Due to this organizational management style, conflicts often arise between the merchandising and servicing departments when the servicing department cannot keep up with the processing of documents by the merchandising department or the merchandising department does not deliver it reports on time for to facilitate speedy processing. The conflict arising between the two departments of Hong Kong Bay Apparel Limited constitutes work-related issues.             The conflict between the employees and top management constitutes work-related differences. Employees hold the perception that their compensation and contributions constitute an amount relative to their US office counterparts. They feel undervalued, unrecognized and unfairly treated. Some of the policies of the HK office are also disliked especially with regard to the performance based solely on sales so that top grossing teams hold more favor with top management but other circumstances are not considered so that the high sales may not even be due to the efforts of the team but due to shifts in the market or decisions made by the US office that influences the performance of the HK team. Top management on the other hand perceives its management style as effective in achieving the goals of the company so that it refuses to recognize the opinion of employees or disregard their perceptions all together. In the long run, employer-employee conflicts relating to human resource management issues would result to a decline in performance or increase in the cost of allaying the discontent of employees or letting go of old and hiring new employees who are mostly inexperienced. In Bay Apparel Limited, external conflict also arises between the company and its vendors or suppliers covering price, quality, and delivery dates. The conflict arises due to the differences in the valuation of the two parties. The vendors or sellers may value their products with a higher amount relative to the offer of the company or the vendor may require more time to deliver products relative to the schedule of the company in meeting the needs of its consumers. In this instance, if each party sticks to their respective opinions, there is a possibility that they would not be able to reach an agreement resulting to the failure of the vendor to sell it products and the company to purchase products demanded by its US and international market. Types of Conflict             In the case of Bay Apparel Limited, there is no apparent interpersonal conflict between any two or more interdependent parties within the US and HK offices or between any one or more parties in the two offices. This means that there are no personal issues between and among any of the members of the organization that arise independently or cause other conflicts to arise. This works for the organization because interpersonal conflicts can be damaging to the company and permeate the accomplishment of tasks especially when the parties avoid conflict and fail to discuss their differences and worst blame each other for the work failures that may arise from their interpersonal conflict. The development of competition among parties engaged in interpersonal conflict could lead to violence to the detriment of the organization. Sources of Conflict             In Bay Apparel Limited, internal sources of conflict commonly affect the dynamics of organizational conflict such as in the area of 1) goal and time incompatibility; 2) overlapping authority; 3) task interdependencies; 4) evaluation and reward system incompatibility; 5) resource scarcity; and 6) inconsistencies in status. Goal and time incompatibility as a source of conflict is linked to the differences in the objectives of the US and HK group because of their different tasks as well as due to the management culture differences of the two groups. The US group applies western management strategies while the HK group applies bureaucratic management systems. Overlapping authority becomes a source of conflict when the managers of the US and HK group are not able to agree on what management direction to pursue, when the differences in opinion emanates from their personal values, beliefs and experiences on what works for the company. Task interdependencies create conflict when the US and HK group are following schedules but the completion of tasks depends upon the input or preliminary task completion because of the differing priorities of the two groups. If the groups are not able to effectively link their schedules, then conflict would probably arise with one group demanding the other to prioritize a task and the other group believing that their schedule works better. Incompatibility in evaluation and reward system becomes a source of conflict when the members of the different working groups compare human relations systems. The HK group feels undervalued and insufficiently rewarded from comparing the performance evaluation and reward system in HK and the US resulting to the preference for the US system. This creates resentment on the part of the HK group towards top management in the HK office and even towards the US group for offering an HRM system that the HK group perceives to be better than their system. Resource scarcity creates conflict when the HK or US group develops the perception that the other group gets a bigger share of resources and this exceeds their resources needs when the other group is struggling with its share. Inconsistencies in status support the development of conflict in instances when there are differences in the perception of one group over the relative status of the other group. In the case of the HK group, it holds the perception that the US group considers the HK group as holding a lower status because their recommendations and reports were not given sufficient consideration.             Regardless of whether the perceptions of the US and HK group or the individual members are based on facts and actual events, the relative differences in perception still creates conflict. Based on the information provided by the HK group, the six organizational factors are deemed as the sources of conflict for the company.   Conflict Management Strategies             (1974) introduced a relationship dynamics that also constitute methods for organizational conflict resolution. The first method is avoidance, which involves dodging or denial of the conflict. This applies best in instances that involve insignificant issues, incorrect timing or parties who are emotionally charged. The resolution is delayed but when this reoccurs as a significant and timely issue with the parties capable of rational thought, then other modes of conflict management applies. The second method is accommodation, which involve one party disregarding personal issue to satisfy the concerns of the other party. This method downplays differences to give way to harmony so that this applies best in instances when relationship preservation constitutes the priority. However, if this method is overused, parties may experience repressed anger or resentment from sacrificing their perceptions for another’s welfare.  The third method is competition, which pertains to the advancement of one party’s concerns relative to the issues of the other party. This method works best in crisis situations where a decision needs to be made immediately. However, if used regularly the method would lead to dissatisfaction on the part of the other group members or groups because their perceptions are undervalued or ignored. The fourth method is compromise that works in situations when the parties find leeway for giving up aspects of their position without entirely giving up their position in the conflict. This works in situations when finding a middle ground that is amenable to all parties is achievable. The fifth method is collaboration, which involves the respect for the values, competencies and expertise of other parties in the conflict so that the parties cooperate towards the development of a resolution to the satisfaction of all the parties. This method promises effective results but applying this involves adequate time.             Based on the characteristics of the conflict experienced by Bay Apparel Limited and the conflict management strategies discussed above, the common conflict management method arising between the US and HK groups is competition. This is expressed through the perception of the HK group that their reports and recommendations communicated to the US group are not being considered. If this is true, a difference in the report and recommendations of the US and HK groups results to the prioritization of the former of its reports and recommendations. However, this may not necessarily be the intention of perception of the US group. It should be considered that the US group controls the decision over the designs to be manufactured or ordered by the Hong Kong office because it is in charge of marketing and sales to end consumers. It is then based on the design decision of the US group that the HK group identifies the best supplier and production deals to meet the design demands. This best supply deal may not necessarily be lead to optimum cost efficiency because of the consideration of the design demands. If the US group insists on designs different from the cost effective designs recommended by the HK group, this does not necessarily indicate that the US group ignores the reports of the HK group because it is just playing its role of determining marketable designs. Since the insistence of the US group of its design decisions results to a negative perception on the part of the HK group that handles production cost decisions, there is need to consider other conflict resolution methods that addresses the concerns of the HK and US group to dispel any perceptions of unfair treatment or deviations in status. Perhaps the best method for Bay Apparel Limited is collaboration that involves the cooperation and participation of the US and HK groups since the conflict require the clarification of the perceptions of the various groups. This is timely since the US group may be unaware of the perceptions of the HK group and the HK group may not know about the intentions of the US group. Moreover, effective communications is also necessary to facilitate the conflict resolution process and clear up the issues arising between or among the parties. In the case of intragroup and interpersonal conflict, collaboration still proves to be a fitting resolution method since there is need for conflicting parties to meet and discuss the issues. The top management of the HK office may not be aware of the sentiments of the employees over their unfair treatment and undervaluation when comparing the HRM systems in the US and in HK. Without knowledge of the sentiments, top management may misinterpret the conflict as a renege on the part of the employees and suppress their communication efforts instead of addressing HRM concerns. With regard to the conflict arising between the HK group and vendors/suppliers, the conflict resolution method applicable is competition because of the nature of the market. The clothing manufacturing industry in China including Hong Kong is highly competitive because of the number of production firms. This means that the HK group can utilize competition to gain a supply agreement that involves the least possible cost to the company for the same quality. However, in the case of conflicts on the quantity and delivery dates, compromise may be the best mode of settling differences because of the common goal of the parties to meet the quota and schedule. The supplier seeks to meet quantity demands within a particular period to fulfill the contract while the HK group also seeks to meet the quota and schedule to meet market demand. This common goal could constitute the middle ground from which to facilitate the resolution of the conflict. Negotiation             In conflict resolution, the process of negotiation applies because of the need to communicate concerns and determine the ways of resolving the conflict. Negotiation pertains to the process involving the efforts of conflicting parties to resolve issues, agree on courses of action, bargain with the other party either for individual or group advantage, and develop solutions amenable to all parties involved. Negotiation implies two things: which are 1) the parties hold a common purpose and 2) there arises differences between or among the parties. The purpose of engaging in negotiation is to arrive at a mutually satisfying compromise. ( 1993) This benefits organizations experiencing imminent or actual conflicts.             In the case of Bay Apparel Limited, there is yet no indication that negotiations are underway to settle the causes of organizational conflict. This implies a number of things based on the opinions of the HK group members. First is that the organization is not completely aware of the conflict together with the issues, causes, and parties involved so that resolution is impossible to commence. Second is the lack of mechanisms for conflict resolution based on best practices. This is expressed by the inability of the organization to identify potential conflict areas and arrest these causes before a full blown conflict arises. Third is the lack of a common organizational management system that applies to the US and HK group. This finds expression in the different management styles of the two groups coupled with the perception of the HK group that the US group experiences a more employee friendly HRM system relative to the system in Hong Kong. This makes it more difficult to resolve conflicts since there is no established common ground for the issues raised by the parties. Conclusion & Recommendations to Management             A consideration of the theoretical and empirical data on organizational conflict and conflict management together with the experiences of Bay Apparel Limited shows that the company needs to improve its conflict resolution management systems to prevent and appropriately address the conflict experienced by the company and prevent any potential conflicts that may arise.             Based on the consideration of examples of conflict experienced by Bay Apparel Limited, these show that there is little interpersonal conflict arising within the organization. This implies two positive things for the company, one is the minimal contribution of personal differences to organizational conflict and the other is the conflict are mostly qualified as task related. Minimal interpersonal problems mean that the members of the US or HK groups are able to optimize working relations that results to better communication and participation. Minimal personal conflicts mean that the problems experienced by Bay Apparel Limited are task related, which is good since studies have shown that task conflicts result to exchange of ideas and innovation.             The nature of the task conflict involving the US and HK group and the HK group with vendors/suppliers indicates that the need for the determination of context-based conflict resolution methods applied depending upon the situation. In the conflict between the US and HK group collaboration best applies because of the need for the participation of the US and HK groups and their cooperation in clarifying the issues. Moreover, the global operations of the company require the establishment of a mode of communications able to support the clarification of issues. In addition, the organization also needs to establish a corporate culture that commonly applies to the entire organization to dispel any perceptions of bias or unfair treatment when the core management system of US and HK group differs. Although, the management of the groups should comply with the business setting where these operate, the essence of a global company is to adopt a common core management system but flexibly applied in various business environments. Thus, for Bay Apparel Limited to become a successful international retail company, it should be able to establish its core management system and develop a standard for conflict resolution based on best practices derived from its own experiences and the experiences of other companies in the same industry.         Appendix   Interview Questions Relational or Task Conflict 1. Do you experience conflict in the workplace? 2. How often do you experience conflict in the workplace? 3. Who are the parties involved in the conflict? 4. What are the reasons for the conflict? 5. Describe the working relationships that cause conflict? Job Satisfaction 5. How satisfied are you with your task assignments? Explain. 6. How satisfied are you with management systems? Explain. 7. How satisfied are you with group participation? Explain. 8. How satisfied are you with your current working environment? Explain. Propensity for Leaving the Company 9. What organizational or management changes would you recommend? Why? 10. Do you think that change is possible in the present management of the company? Why?

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION IN BAY APPAREL LIMITED

CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION IN BAY APPAREL LIMITED ...