Recommendations to Seattle Solid Waste Utility - Case Study Example

Recommendations to Seattle Solid Waste Utility (SWU) al Affiliation Recommendations to Seattle Solid Waste Utility (SWU) Introduction The Seattle Solid Waste Utility (SWU) had a myriad of issues to deal with in the midst of a turbulent period that was characterized by filled landfills, lawsuits and a solid waste policy that was not working. The utility also had issues with its employees that made it face constant dissatisfaction from customers and the press that had become vocal about the problems at the utility. Seattle’s solid waste issues began in 1983 when the landfill crisis began and SWU raised the SWU’s customer service department received many complaints regarding these issues. The main issues that SWU faced include closure of Seattle’s two landfills at Midway and Kent, high fees for using the county’s landfill, environment and health hazards because of the closed landfills and huge residential rate increase. Therefore, the utility had to find a solution to these problems. SWU had major problems with customers who wanted quality of services for the expensive fee they paid for garbage collection. This paper offers research-based human resource recommendations for the management to improve the functioning of the Seattle Solid Waste Utility. The first recommendation to SWU is for the utility to use strategic planning and management to improve the services at SWU. Strategic planning helps managers and key decision makers to analyze their organizations and the environment and make proper decisions with respect to what they should do to ensure that their organizations remain productive and meets the needs of their customers. Poister & Streib (2005) cite Bryson’s (1995) definition of strategic planning which is “a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it” (Poister & Streib, 2005). This definition shows that it is important for organizations to have key decision-making mechanisms that can come up with proper decisions addressing the most pertinent issues in the organizational set up. SWU has key decisions to make with regard to waste collection methods that it should implement in the city. An important point for the management of SWU is for it to consider the available options and make a well-informed decision on the best method that would serve the city and its customers in the long-term. For example, the SWU management has to make a key decision regarding whether to use incinerators. However, just before a decision was made, the management found out that the incinerator might not be the best option for its customers. therefore, a key decision here is whether to choose the incinerator and make the mayor happy at the expense of the customers. using strategic planning and management, the management will be able to make an appropriate decision regarding the issue. Strategic planning and management provides the management with a direction that it can follow to come up with the best options for the future of the company and the customers. Poister & Streib (2005) state that strategic planning and management, “provides a systematic process for gathering information about the big picture and using it to establish a long-term direction and then translate that direction into specific goals, objectives, and actions” (Poister & Streib, 2005). This means that if SWU implement strategic planning and management principles, it will be able to analyze both the current and future outlook of the company and use it to find the best solution for both the current problem and the future success of the company. SWU must find a problem that will ensure that current and future needs of customers are addressed in the best way and to assure them that such problems will be addressed conclusively. The second recommendation to SWU would be to implement an internal management of organizational operations as an aspect of public management. It is evident from the problems that are facing SWU that the organization does not have an effective internal management of organizational operations. Other than collecting garbage, it is not clear what exactly SWU does even to ensure that garbage collection is done in an effective manner. SWU is a public agency and the management of operations in public agencies entails myriad responsibilities that include coming up with and implementing information systems, managing financial resources and motivating employees among other activities and responsibilities. However, SWU should not put all aspects of internal management into implementation. The best strategy would be to choose the most pertinent issue that is of vital interest to the organization and follow up with others later. Here, customer service would be an important aspect of internal management to focus on. Customers have constantly complained of the poor services they receive from the company and the high cost that they have to pay for such services. SWU, therefore, has to align customer service and cost to ensure that customers receive what they pay for. Most complaints from customers have focused on the fact that SWU provides them with poor services yet they pay so much for it. Customers have not received justification for the rising fees that they have been charged by the organization. Therefore, internal management should be applied on this aspect (O’Toole & Meir, 2008). SWU should ensure that it improves the service that it provides to the customers and charge a reasonable fee. Poor services include an aspect of human capital because SWU also needs to train its employees on how to handle customers. O’Toole & Meir (2008) state, “Of all the relevant managerial functions involved, the management of public organizations’ human capital is surely one of the most important” (O’Toole & Meir, 2008). Human capital is important in SWU operations. Despite the fact that it is not seen clearly, the human capital is not well strategized to address the problems of the customers and the organization as well. Employees should be at the center of helping the organization to find the best solution for the problems facing it. Therefore, internal management practices should put this into consideration and ensure that the employees are well trained to handle customers with utmost care and help in solving their problems or at least make them feel that their problems are being addressed. this will help SWU solve its problems in the long-term. The third recommendation for SWU is to minimize exposure to external risks and implement the required adjustments to internal operations (Jimenez, 2013). The problems at SWU have put the organization between a rock and hard place because the organization seems not to know what to do about the problems. It is important to state that the problems facing SWU hit the organization unexpectedly. The organization had not put plans in place that would shield it from external and internal problems such as the ones it is facing. The management had left the organization exposed to all kinds of risks and this is the major issue why the organization seems not to know how to solve its problems. However, as an organization, SWU should analyze its internal and external environments and the potential risks that could come from them. This will help the organization to develop appropriate policies and organizational responses to risks, which will minimize the effects of environmental shocks in future (Jimenez, 2013). The new director of SWU, Diana Gale reported to the organization and found out that there was absolutely no plan that had been developed or implemented to shield the organization from internal or external risks. However, the current problems that the organization is facing offer a chance for the organization to come up with a well-structured plan to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future. Had the organization understood its external environment, it would have been able to predict that the problem would occur at a certain point in time. This would have helped it in making key decisions to prevent such risks from affecting the organization. Jimenez (2013) states, “Specifically, external scanning enables organizations to map relevant environments, assess what happened in the past and forecast trends that can affect their fiscal health” (Jimenez, 2013). Here, it is evident that the understanding of organizational environment is key in ensuring that the organization uses the past and current information to formulate strategies that protect long-term organizational existence. If SWU performs this function, it will be able to develop and implement a strategy that will enable it to predict future risks and be able to cushion the organization from the effects of those risks or reduce the impact it could have on the organization. Conclusion The Seattle Solid Waste Utility (SWU) had a myriad of issues to deal with in the midst of a turbulent period that was characterized by filled landfills, lawsuits and a solid waste policy that was not working among other issues. To be able to address the issues and ensure that the organization survives, SWU should use strategic planning and management to improve the services at SWU, to implement an internal management of organizational operations as an aspect of public management and to minimize exposure to external risks and implement the required adjustments to internal operations. If these recommendations are implemented effectively, SWU will overcome its challenges and be able to function successfully. References Jimenez, B. S. (2013). Strategic planning and the fiscal performance of city governments during the Great Recession. The American Review of Public Administration, 43(5), 581-601. OToole, L. J., & Meier, K. J. (2008). The human side of public organizations: Contributions to organizational performance. The American Review of Public Administration. Poister, T. H., & Streib, G. (2005). Elements of Strategic Planning and Management in Municipal Government: Status after Two Decades. Public Administration Review 65(1): 45-56. Read More