Case Treetop Forest Products Essay Example for Free

Case Treetop Forest Products Essay Identification (20%) Facts, assumptions and problem identification Building-grade lumber industry is competitive and product being sold is not differential; only differentiation is due to product packaging and presentation. Product packaging is biggest factor when buyers are making a purchasing decision between buying from Treetop or competitors. Over the last 2 years, Treetop has declined in ratings for package of lumber products as a result lost customers to competitors . Treetop has six departments: boom, sawmill, planer, packaging, shipping, and maintenance. All other departments have a supervisor; however, packaging department does not have one designated supervisor. Possible solution is to convert one of the workers to supervisor, or dedicate a supervisor 100% of the time to packaging To solve the issue supervisor from sawmill and planer deparments cover the shifts. Due to distance between sawmill and planing divisions, the supervisors are unable given full attention to the operations of the packaging division. (assumption) Distance cause the supervisor to visit the departments not as often as they should. Productivity in 3 divisions remained constant, Sawmill and planing division productivity increased; however, productivity decreased in packaging department and caused the following: Stockpile up Risk of damaged stock increased the inventory cost Cost Competitiveness suffered due to management placing additional employees from other divisions to solve the backlog issue faced by packaging department. Packaging department run two shifts – morning and afternoon Productivity level of afternoon shifts is less than morning shift employees Reason behind the decreased in productivity level in the department is due to following: Employees takes extended lunch and coffee breaks Leave few min early, specially afternoon shift Reallocation of temporary employees from different productive departments also follow the same practise after being in the packaging department for few days. Based on the case facts, organizational effectiveness and productivity is being effected by the in place practises of Packaging  Department. Following two major problems should be resolved to overcome the issues faced by Treetop: Packaging department’s employees are effecting the working habits of other department employees. Department wide meeting communicating the company values, performance issues of packaging department, statististics proving decline in packaging, and initiatives to stop extended lunches, coffee breaks, leaving few minutes early especially in afternoon shift Produce daily backlog reports showing increase in backlog and spoilage statistics. Use negative consequences (firing), within union contract. and positive rewards based on production and quality targets being met. Methods and implementation of rewards can be determined by using Nominal Group Technique (variation of brain storming)- 1)silently and independently document their ideas, 2)collectively describe ideas to other team members without critique, and 3)silently ad independently evaluate the ideas presented Packaging division does not have a supervisor to oversee the operation on daily bases. This needs to change immediately. If costs can’t be justified, perhaps  ½ time position added, that also is in production the other half , or Bal The packaging department is mostly at fault for majority of the Treetop Forest Productions Ltd recent decline of organisational success, not only are the packaging employees at fault, but also management for not monitoring the situation more effectively. It’s vital for Treetop Forest Products to improve and maintain their competitive edge within the building grade timber industry to ensure future success of the organisation. If solutions are not implemented immediately, the success of the organisation will continue to decline, placing Treetop Forest Productions Ltd in an unfavourable position where recovery may be implausible. Tackling the major issues illustrated within the packaging department will commence a strong positive path towards the future success of the organisation, placing them in a competitive position once again. There are possible solutions that can assist with effectively and efficiently dealing with this issue. Firstly, supervision and leadership needs a major  improvement within the packaging sector. As illustrated within all other fully supervised departments, work is completed efficiently and to a high quality standard. By providing packaging employees with the same supervision and leadership, near guarantees a positive change within the packaging department. Employing a leader with a with a transformational approach to leadership concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards and long term goals will help to improve the work ethic within the packaging department. A supervisor with transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more that what is usually expected of them. Furthermore, by introducing a new leader, costs will decrease due to supervised workers and the decrease of overtime; it can be implemented quickly, improv e productivity and increase the equity of work. As also explained within the issues of the packaging department, there is a lack of employee motivation. This is demonstrated through the low quality of work produced, longer breaks and early finishing times. Its important for managers to understand that each and every individual employee will have a set of drives, needs, decisions and behaviours to be motivated. By following the below diagram, Treetop Forest Products managers can use this to understand different emotional responses and resulting needs in the same situation. promote group cohesiveness and a pleasant working environment. In the short term, upper management could host a meeting or assembly between all departments to make them feel interrelated and important to the company. This could be a great motivation for the employees. In the long term, group evaluations could be necessary to measure the group’s performance and to see if the actions taken are resolving the problems. supervisor of the department. Learned Needs Theory: The Learned Needs Theory has three â€Å"learned needs† that can be defined as the â€Å"Need for Achievement†, â€Å"Need for Power†, and the â€Å"Need for Affiliation†. A need is amplified or suppressed through self-concept, social norms, and past  experiences (Internet Center for Management and Business Administration, Inc., 2002), although needs can also be learned through training whether it be strengthening or weakening the need. The members of the packaging department could have been more aware of their needs whether it is affiliation, power, or achievement and if they were more aware of what was there, there could have been more motivation on the part of the members to excel. Also, with the appointment of an actual supervisor, instead of taking them from other departments, it could have ensured that these needs be amplified through some forms of friendly competition or rewards. The â€Å"Need for Power† is stated as the need to make an impact on others, influence others, change people or events, and make a difference in life. If this need was taught to the members of the packaging department by the supervisors of the other departments, there could be a chance someone internally would strive so much for the need of power that he or she would emerge as the leader in a department with a declining productivity level. Having the ability to control others is a very powerful characteristic which everyone strives for internally, so if this need was brought forward by executives there would be an increase in competition and drive between the members to claim that position of hierarchy in the department. The â€Å"Need for Achievement† is the need and desire for excellence, competition, challenging goals, and overcoming difficulties. With the simple action as a reward put forth throughout the company internally that the employees of each section could enjoy, it could ignite an employee’s need for achievement and desire for excellence which in turn could ignite the competition in every employee to achieve success like his or her fellow employee has. People strive for recognition and success and if this need was amplified in the employees who have made it clear that they want to enjoy the benefits that come from a high productivity level, and brought out of those who believe that they don’t need success, Treetop Forest Products could internally enjoy success of their own making their business profit at its maximum rate. The â€Å"Need for Affiliation† is defined as the need for individuals maintain close, intimate relationships, or approval of other people. If Treetop Forest Products could bring out this need in the packaging department by showing them how the other departments in the company get along which in turn brings the productivity level up within the  department. Although, the employees of the packaging do well of getting along with each other by performing bad habits such as leaving early or extending their breaks, if that could be  transformed through the training of good habits such as exceeding expected productivity levels and working hard, the affiliation that is present now could be that much stronger and emphasized in the department. Also, in addition to affiliation within the department, there is also the possibility with the rise of productivity level and affiliation within the The team has strong cohesion, but needs to be turned around. (employees transferred are confor ming to the team norms of lack of punctuality)† Norms are the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the bahavour of their members.† Padge 225 chapter 8 Canadian Org Behaviour . It has to be set as a rethink to the department and communicating the new norms and aligning the norms with the company goals and objectives is critical. Through these simple needs that can be taught or learned, Treetop Forest Products could experience not only success from their five already successful departments but from the packaging department as well. If amplified the packaging department would benefit from the affiliation they would gain from the other departments, the power that employees could possibly gain with the increase of productivity via promotions or recognition, and the rewards that the employees of the packaging could gain through increased productivity levels. If Treetop Forest Products were to implicate these two simple theories there is a possibility that the packaging department would no longer be a harmful unit but instead an asset that Treetop can rely on. Through the Situational Leadership Theory, Treetop has the opportunity to find a leader that can adapt to the group and individuals and convert the now declining productivity level of the packaging department to an increasing level of productivity like the f ive other departments in the company. With the Learned Needs Theory, Treetop has the ability to install the needs for achievement, power, and affiliation to the packaging department to encourage friendly competition between the employees while still steadily increasing the productivity levels of the  department. Conclusion: Treetop Forest Products and Westboard Co have been suffering the consequences of the lackluster performance from their packaging department since there is no authority figure to keep the employees on task and working hard to produce sellable products for Westboard. With the packaging department not having their own supervisor, Treetop has appointed the supervisors of the sawmill and planing department as the supervisors of the packaging department during their shifts. With the packaging department being in a different location then the sawmill and planing department, it has caused the supervisors to make the packaging department an afterthought and with the productivity levels of the packaging department decreasing it has shown. After evaluating the case of Treetop Forest Product and the issues with their packaging department, they have been using the Contingency Theory which states that there is no one best way of leading and that a leadership style that is effective in some situations may not be successful in others and that while a leader may be very effective at one place and point in time may become unsuccessful either when transplanted to another situation or when factors around t hem change. This was clear in the case of Treetop Forest Product’s case because  although the leaders were very effective with their own departments, increasing the productivity levels of their respective departments, when transferred over to the packaging department their effectiveness did not follow. Each leader has their own key characteristics that play a major part in how they lead, whether it is their personality, drive, emotional intelligence, self-concept, etc. so what may be high and effective in one leader and his or her department may not be high and effective in a different department’s leader. Since the sawmill and planing departments were so successful when implanted into a failing department, the situation as well as the effectiveness of the leader changed. Instead of the Contingency Theory, there were others that if Treetop were to implement it could have made the productivity level of the packaging department go up while creating a better atmosphere within the company. If Treetop were to take the leader who was most able to conform his or her leadership style to that of the packaging department instead of just taking the top two  departments supervisors without considering the important variables such as distance and drive, Treetop could have improved the situation within the packaging department. With these simple changes to the company, Treetop could have quite easily changed the atmosphere and effectiveness of the packaging department to better the profits and trust gained from Westboard. If Treetop were to dedicate an individual supervisor based on performance and authoritative qualities within the department instead of having an external employee take on the responsibility of turning the packaging department around, the chances of increasing the productivity level of the packaging department would increase which would not only benefit the department but Treetop Forest Products and Westboard Co. respectively. Case Treetop Forest Products. (2016, Sep 15).

My organization as a learning organization in obtaining parts for Research Paper

My organization as a learning organization in obtaining parts for military vehicles - Research Paper Example Wallace (92) suggests that all organizations should learn because without learning, organization will not survive especially in the current globalization era; an organization with a strong learning culture achieves effective business performance. Organization leaders may think that by getting their organization to learn is just a matter of articulating a clear mission or vision, offering right incentives or training employees, however, there is a lot that should be done in the face of intensifying global competitive environment where there is increased technology advancement and shift in consumption preferences. A successful learning organization should offer psychological safety to employees, encourage teamwork or team learning, manage culture, communicate effective and have a shared vision. Question 1: Characteristics of the Ideal Learning Organization One of the characteristics for the ideal learning organization is existence of a shared vision, which everyone should agree on. An ideal learning organization should have an effective shared vision, which guides them, but this should be agreed by everyone in the organization; this is vital because it will enable the organization to work together towards achieving the vision of the organization effectively. Secondly, people should openly communicate with others effectively without fear of criticism, as effective communication is the key aspect towards the success of an organization; therefore, communication should be openly and information should be conveyed well across the organization, as this will contribute to successful organizational performance. Thirdly, it is an organization where people discard their way of thinking and the standard routines they employ for performing their tasks or solving problems. In other words, an ideal organization is the one, which is ready or able to change its behaviors, and mid-sets as result of experience (Marquardt 45). Lastly, an ideal organizational learning is where there is teamwork or team learning. This is where people work and share information together through learning as a team in order to accomplish the organizational goals effectively. Teamwork is crucial in any organization because it contributes to effective decision-making and accomplishment of work faster; thus contributing to effective organizational performance. Question 2: The Observable Behaviors for Each Characteristic One of the observable behaviors for shared vision is that the organization engages everyone in creating a shared vision, which directs the organization towards achieving their stated goals. For instance, the sense of purpose begins with recruiting employees with effective skills and matches their values with the organizational values. For instance, some rules in the organization are implemented by shared behaviors, values and beliefs. Culture form the basis through which an employee operates within the organization context, and secondly, there is open communication an d everything across the organization is well communicated effectively. Thirdly, people are always ready to change their behaviors through constant learning. Moreover, there are significant changes because the organization has transformed and become an innovative working environment; thus improving in terms of performance. Lastly, there is effective teamwork because the work is accomplished within the stipulated period and people always learn together as a team.

Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Professional Practice - Essay Example On one bright day, on the New Year eve, the main server crashed. Though we were able to restart the server and line it up for service, the database could not be started. After much trying we decided to restore the backed up data from the earlier date. As luck would have it, the restored data also failed. If we had tried to restore this data it would have been two days work which the client might have had to do, instead if we were to restore the earlier one, we need to restore or reenter almost one week's data which is quite a volume. Taking all this into consideration we tried our best to bring back online the original data without loss of any information. It took almost two days for us to bring back the data and restart the database. This professional issue meant we are possibly missing our New Year celebrations. But for the client, it was down the day before the New Year and it was brought on line the day after the New Year. Literally, there was no down time for them. They were hap py. Professional issues many times are application of mind and common sense coupled with appropriate technical knowledge. May be I should say, 20% technical knowledge and 80% common sense. I have found along with this, there is also another major factor which plays an important role in sorting out professional issues and that is the attitude. The learning attitude and an open mind, both for criticisms, for new ideas and for sharing new thoughts, would all help in solving very many complex issues. Professional issues are welcome since they would bring in challenges that make our work more interesting, in the bargain, educating us and leave us with a sense of achievement at the end. Whereas Ethical issues are not... The researcher of this essay states that running and heading a private business is a challenging job. One, you are responsible for your staff and also for yourself and your family. Two, the customers need to be answered and the commitments made need to be honored including the time lines. As a matter of fact, the staff in your company will expect you to compensate them for the same kind of work. The responsibilities at the office are more profound and finding time to make contributions to forums of interest seems to be a difficult proposition. The researchr of this essay lists down some of the professional issues that he faced during the course of his work with various companies. As Head IT Technician, the researcher was expected to plan for ongoing and regular backups of database in a particular client site. This was done twice every week at an interval of three days every time. The idea was, in case there is any data related issue, the client would be able to roll back to a state t hat was maximum three days prior to the date of the problem. The researcher also planned it in such a way that there will be at least one more backup which will also be maintained. The researcher concluds that this course made a very important point and that is: we may not be able to satisfy every one at every point in time. Professionals need to up hold the highest professional tradition and ethic. The course made the researcher to appreciate these facts of the codes of conduct as well as the ethics and the morals behind these codes.

US Supreme Court Decision AT&T. versus Hulteen Research Paper

US Supreme Court Decision AT&T. versus Hulteen - Research Paper Example Hulteen 1). The matter in controversy is clear, if the employer does not give an employee full pension benefit by excluding the time of pregnancy leave on the ground that when the employee took pregnancy leave, the PDA Act was not operative, Can the employee file a suit for discrimination? Can the employee enforce credited leave time for such absence? Can the employee get relief under U.S. law and enforce greater pension benefit? What is the present law with regard to this matter? To find answers to the above questions, a research and in depth analysis of the case in hand would surely prove to be of great help, as discussed in the latter context of the paper. 2. The Dispute Before proceeding further into the case, knowledge of the facts of the case is essential. The petitioner of this case was the American Telegraph & Telephone Company, whereas the respondents consisted of individual respondents in the form of Noreen Hulteen, Eleanora Collet, Elizabeth Snyder, Linda Porter, and the c ollective-bargaining representative of the employees, the CWA or the Communications Workers of America (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 3). AT & T provided pensions and other benefits to its employees on the basis of seniority system, relying upon the term of employment, which was equivalent to service at the company minus uncredited leave time. For a period extending from 1960 to mid-1970s the employees on disability leave got full service leave but those who took personal leave, which also included leaves for pregnancy, received a maximum service credit of 30 days. The respondents of this case received less service credit for pregnancy leave than they should have received, if they had taken a leave for disability. Respondent Noreen Hulteen received seven months less credit, Eleanora Collet received six months less credit, while Elizabeth Snyder and Linda Porter received two months less payment. If the total term of employment was not so decreased, they would receive greater pension benefit (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 2-3). The individual respondents of this case and the CWA filed charges of discrimination against AT & T with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). After receipt of complaint EEOC issued a Letter of determination finding that AT & T had discriminated against Hulteen and similar class. The EEOC issued a notice of right to sue to the respondent and the CWA, after which Hulteen filed a suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court on this issue to resolve a split between the decision of the Ninth Circuit on the one hand and on the other hand the Sixth and Seventh Circuits on the same issue (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 3-4). Hulteen had to take the issue to the Court without negotiating a settlement due to the fact that she had to satisfy herself with considerably low pension than she would have received, if she would not have taken the pregnancy leave. The policy of AT & T Corp. will never have allowed her to enjoy the full pension benefits and she had to file a suit. The EEOC had to resort to a case, as it had to keep in mind the interest of the other workers. Finally, AT & T had to move to the Supreme Court, as it was not satisfied with the decision of the Ninth circuit. 3. The Procedure The suit never reached the District Court at the first instance. The individual respondents of this case and the CWA filed charges of discrimination with the EEOC, stating that discrimination has taken place on the basis of sex and pregnancy in violation of Title VII. The suit

MTV Networks - the Arabian Challenge Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MTV Networks - the Arabian Challenge - Case Study Example In addition, the Middle East is exposed to diverse political forms of government, most of which excessively use religion as a basis of their governance (Frost, 2008, p. 218). Furthermore, unlike the western nations, the Arabic countries conserve cultural beliefs such as honour, shame, trust, family and socialization among others. It is therefore beyond doubt that the Arabic culture is relatively dominated with the Islamic practices, and thus any new product that aims at penetrating the Arabic nations should be in alignment with these cultural beliefs and practices. Essentially, there are various matters of concern for MTV’s special determination of entering and penetrating the Arabic television market. Even though this company has an outstanding worldwide image, it is entering a market that has individuals possessing strong cultural and conventional ties (Beyer & Beaman, 2007, p. 163). In fact, Baltaji stated that is was quite ironical for MTV, a broadcasting corporation well-known for annoying â€Å"religious, political, and conservative† societies, is operating in a region known for negatively reacting to provocative content (qt. in Centre for Management Research [CMR], 2009, p. 179). This was, therefore, a major concern for the management of MTVN since the company was bound to face excessive religious and political opposition. Besides, MTV being an American brand, thus excessively possessing America’s liberal traditional values makes it more challenging to enter a market that hold essential religious beliefs and is opposed to the airing of controversial material. Moreover, the resilient anti-American attitudes that are dominant among many Arabs, arising mostly from factors such as America’s support to its arch-enemy Israel, and its Iraq invasion, made several Arabs angry and thus this would act as a huge challenge for MTV, an American brand (Cogan & Kelso, 2009, p. 33). However, this problem was overcome by MTV through entering into a partnership with the local based Arabian Television Network (ATN).  Ã‚  

ASSIGN WRITER #4328 - Philosophy Unit - Business & Professional Ethics Essay

ASSIGN WRITER #4328 - Philosophy Unit - Business & Professional Ethics Journal Entries - Essay Example The primary role of an organisation, however, is to maximise profit, this is often best achieved by globalising, and this too is an ethical consideration for them in terms of self interest one. Thus, business imperatives and environmental concerns are often at odds with each other. Domestic household waste is also an environmental hazard yet householders are not penalised for not recycling or for purchasing products with environmentally damaging packaging, why then must there be an obligation for business owners and not wider society? Yet, the current state of the environment is a global concern with scientists only forecasting so many years before we pass the point of no return. Adopting an environmental ethic is a must for organisations but seeking a less damaging approach to globalisation is an alternative to the forced localisation that Norberg- Hodge (2001) is suggesting, which may also be unethical. Globalising businesses should place an onus on reducing carbon emissions but sh ould they have to cease international trade to do so? Childhood obesity has officially reached epidemic proportions but as Michele Simon points out in Government Abandons Children to Big Food (2006) food and beverage companies still refuse to take any social responsibility and curb advertising deliberately aimed at children. There are numerous ways that companies target children, companies deliberately purchase advertising time slots to air advertisements during children’s programming and specifically market to the child. Persistent children then harangue unsuspecting parents; the ethical consideration here is whether or not companies should be permitted to target children. This type of marketing also encourages social divide when parents can not afford or are themselves ethically opposed to the food or beverage being advertised, children who are

Environmental Scanning Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmental Scanning Assignment - Essay Example Environmental scanning is mainly concerned with the need to find out the effect of competition, change in fashion and preference ,taste ,custom ,religion and the ultimate effect of the dynamic technology ,the government policies ,and the outward corporate social responsibility that has at recent been a major drive and with a perception of giving back to the consumer .The need to do is to outline the possible effect on the organization ,whether the effect is long term or short term depending on the company ‘s objective ,mission and vision and the magnitude of the change. A research study about Apple Inc. as presented in The New York Times indicates business analysis report that shows various business performances. This information is significant to the Apple Inc. in the sense that it offers adequate news on the current market trends on Apple products in comparison to their market competitors. This also acts as a benchmark to the firm to check on their drawbacks and focal points on their products and services in various market platforms. The information in the newspaper assists the firm to understand their position in the global market and areas where they experience a drop in their overall economic rating. The newspaper also highlights on how Apple Inc. has been acquiring other firms and how the organization performs with fresh injections from the acquired firms. There is also information about how the organization performs after acquisition on new firms. A balanced use of financial and strategic controls will help ensure that Apple Computer both benefits from feedback on past performance and communicates the important drivers of future performance. The following criteria provide a set of measures to effectively determine the companys success. Weaknesses that have been associated with Apple products are not many however;