The role of Production department in the organization - Essay Example

Introduction Modern organizations require that the employees must show the overall knowledge and competency in completing their jobs. The focus on producing knowledge based organizations therefore requires that the organizations must develop a culture which allows the flourishing of creativity and innovation from employees. In order to allow this, it is therefore critical that the core competencies of the organizations must be aligned with the core competencies of the employees and a best fit must be achieved in order to ensure that the organization achieve its strategic objectives. Thus the management of knowledge within the organization is one of the critical aspects and as such it is really critical for the overall survival of an organization to manage knowledge as an asset that can deliver a lot of value for the organizations. The (X) company is established as the result of a project planned by the Governments of Oman and India in order to construct, own and operate a modern world scale two train ammonia and urea fertilizer manufacturing plant in the Sultanate of Oman. The Production department of the organization is working relatively fine however it has to meet certain emergency issues however there are certain issues which need to be addressed in order to effectively ensure that the department performs better. It is also critical to understand that the involvement of higher management into the functional areas of the department may not allow the department to function properly. This research therefore will aim to fill the gap between what is the real role of the department and what it is in actual doing. RESEARCH PROBLEM Organizations often tend to face problems that need out of box thinking for their solutions and as such the current situation at the production department also warrants that a comprehensive effort must be made in order to ensure that the organization is fulfilling its strategic objectives. As discussed above that the overall purpose and functions of the production department including its various other departments require that the production process remain flawless and smooth. However, the utility section of the department however, is often engaged into answering the telephones of the higher management to brief them regarding the overall status of the various disturbances that may occur during the production process. This therefore creates a gap between what is expected from the department and what is actually being done. This research study will therefore focus on understanding the strategic role of the department, how it fits into the overall strategic objectives of the firm besides understanding as to how this problem can be overcome. It is also critical to note that the firm is a joint venture and as such the overall involvement of respective stakeholders is relatively high. It is because of this reason that this research study will provide the necessary information and tools to the higher management of the firm to understand the roles and obligations of different departments and their personnel besides understanding the role played by the top management of the firm. A closer look at the management structure of the organization will indicate that the CEO is at the top of the hierarchy with one external legal advisor reporting/dealing directly with the CEO. Down the line, there are four managers, out of whom, only two are heading different departments/sections and people are reporting to them. This hierarchy therefore may make two of the managers redundant as there are no pre-defined roles and responsibilities. What this hierarchy therefore signify that there is a greater need for having a relatively more robust organizational hierarchy in order to achieve the desired objectives of the firm. This type of hierarchy also therefore creates gaps wherein different organizational layers may either be overlapping with each other or their overall functions and authorities may be relatively vaguely defined. This therefore may indicate that overall there is a lack of professional management at the organization. This research study will therefore aim to understand the dynamics behind this phenomenon and will attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of what actions can be undertaken in order to ensure that the organization achieves its objectives. Aims and Objectives of the research Considering the above problem, this research study therefore will focus on the development of a unique set of information that can allow the higher management of the firm to understanding the different roles and obligations of the various departments besides providing strategic direction in this regard. This research study therefore will attempt to analyze the situation at hand, different factors behind and will present a comprehensive recommendation for implementing purposes. This research study will therefore provide a comprehensive research framework as to what are the different factors that are forcing higher management to get involved at the functional level and what measures can be taken in order to ensure that the organizational roles are well defined and accountabilities are also properly fixed in order to ensure that each department is working to achieve the overall strategic objectives of the firm. On broader level the overall aim of this research will be to offer an strategic insight into the existing problems at the organization and will provide recommendations that may be implemented in order to ensure that the overlapping between the different functions and roles are segregated with pre-defined roles and objectives so as to provide a certain direction for every department to align their goals and objectives with the overall objectives of the firm. Literature Review A Joint venture is considered as an effort to form an entity, jointly together by any two entities, to undertake any economic activity for lawful purposes. Forming joint ventures is therefore one of the most prominent methods of entering into new markets as it provides an opportunity to tap into the local knowledge as well as skills to make a successful entry. Legally, a joint venture is a partnership which takes place for the short period of time by more than one party for any mutually beneficial purposes. As a general rule, each party to the joint venture contribute its assets towards the formation of the joint venture and also at the same time share the risks involved in forming such partnership. One of the benefits of forming a joint venture therefore is to gain access to the new markets as two entities; one foreign and one domestic and as such foreign entity often bring in new technologies which can benefit the domestic entities due to technology transfer. In US, Joint ventures are mostly regulated by Partnership laws, Contract Act as well as commercial transaction laws. In an increasingly complex business environment, the overall role of the organization and its top management is one of the most critical jobs that have to be performed. It is argued that the role of leadership is always to provide the vision for the future therefore the overall purpose and direction of strategic management is relatively different from that of the lower level of management. It is also critical to understand that the different organizational set ups always characterize the hierarchy of management into different organizational levels with pre-defined roles and responsibilities. What is also significant to understand that the various organizational layers shall have their roles pre-defined besides understanding the roles and responsibilities of other departments and functions too? It is also argued that organization’s overall objectives must be aligned with the objectives that it has delegated to several of its strategic business units. This is because of the fact that it allows organizations to achieve a widespread recognition of its stated strategic objectives as well as to achieve the ownership of various strategic objectives to the core of the organization. However, in order to achieve this, organizations need to develop the skills and core competencies of its employees as well as its own in order to successfully withstand the competitive pressures. Thus HRM plays a critical role in achieving the required degree of skills necessary for undertaking any tasks within the organization besides ensuring that each and every role within the organization is well defined. Thus there is a greater focus to be placed on the role of strategic management as the strategic management tool which must be aligned with the overall objectives of the firm. Thus all subsequent development of jobs, functions and roles must be tailored in such a manner that they corroborate the overall strategic objectives of the firm. Strategic role of HRM is also critical due to the fact that human resource is increasingly being viewed as a resource and must be managed like other resources of the organizations. This aspect of HRM become more critical especially in knowledge based economy which requires organization to inculcate knowledge, innovation and creativity within the organization. Innovative organizations therefore require that the core competencies of the organizations are developed along with the competencies of their employees in order to achieve a better fit between the organization and its resources. It is also critical to understand that this organization is a joint venture between two countries therefore it is critical that the employees from both the countries will be joining the organization therefore the overall complexities of the issues will be relatively more complicated and as such higher management has to implement and design strategies that suitably allow expatriates to easily become part of the organization. Literature also indicates that such lack of segregation may also impact the performance of the employees within the organization and as such the overall process of performance management may not be entirely managed in its true sense. The next sections will discuss some of the implications of this on the performance management. Performance management is one of the key concepts in the modern management literature and practices as it allows organizations to continuously monitor their progress against their set objectives. The idea always is to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the steps taken so far towards achieving any specific objectives which are set in order to achieve broader organizational aims and objectives. The objective of setting up an effective performance measurement system therefore outlines the setting up of the management by objective principles within the organization. An effective performance management system therefore comprises of different elements such as setting up adequate compensation structure, providing organizational support, providing training and development as well as setting up an effective performance appraisal system within the organization. the performance management is a very systematic process which involves a systematic approach of evaluating as well as developing goals for the effective performance management. However, what is also critical to understand is the fact that performance management is always a continuous process and requires an effective and on-going effort on the part of the top management of the firm to continuously monitor and evaluating the performance measurement criteria so that better systems and measurements can evolve to achieve the strategic objectives. Considering therefore, the strategic nature of the performance management, it is important to understand the strategic context within which the issue of performance management shall be viewed as failure to implement an effective performance management system may result into non- achievement of key strategic goals and wastage of resources which could have otherwise been utilized in more productive activities. Aligning HR strategy with Organizational Strategy The recent studies on HR hinted at establishing a link between the organizational performance and the HR strategy of the firm and as such directed their focus on viewing HR strategy in a much bigger perspective of the overall organizational strategy of the firm.(Cooke,2001). As discussed above that performance management is one of the constructs of the overall organizational strategy of the firm it is therefore important the HR strategy of the firm is aligned with its overall organizational strategy. The increasing diversity at the workplace requires that the managers of the organizations must ponder on the question of how to create an environment where there is a complete fit between the people and the organization so that the organizational objectives are achieved in their optimum way. The current drive to bring in more creativity and innovation within the organizations therefore demand that the performance management system within the organization is effectively designed and managed in such a way that it ensures implementation of an ethical performance management system. In order to achieve such objectives, it is important that the HR strategy is aligned with the overall strategy of the organization. In order to achieve such objectives, it is therefore important that the HR department clearly plans its activities by starting job design and analysis process in such a way that it fits into achieving the overall objectives of the firm. However, it is important that the Job Analysis and Design shall be logically prepared by taking into account the existing job inventory at the organization and by conducting surveys etc. to exactly learn about the perceptions of the current incumbents on the job so that an effective system can be developed. While dealing with effective performance management of expats, the job design and analysis process becomes more complicated as it may involve certain cultural as well as motivational factors which need to be taken into account for setting up an effective performance management system. Performance Appraisal In order to be an effective in performance management, the respective departments need to set up performance objectives for the different employees. Setting up of the individual performance goals provide a clear communication to the incumbents as to what are the expectations from them and under what conditions the subsequent performance appraisals will be performed. However, it is very important to consider that the performance appraisal mechanism shall be fair and without bias and shall be based on the job analysis and design of the respective employee. Various research studies have indicated the different rater biases in a performance appraisal process such as biasing on age, ethnicity, gender, respective cultural values etc. (Cook, 1995). While evaluating an expat, such biases may further magnify and influence the rater’s ability to clearly and logically appraise the performance. Therefore, a good performance management system within the organization must ensure that the impact of such biases is minimized by setting up alternative checks and balances which can help organization to counter such biases. In one of the studies conducted by Woods (2003) suggests that the expats the multiple cross cultural variables shall also be included in their overall performance appraisal in order to set a culturally diverse performance appraisal system with an in-built system of providing effective and regular feedback to employees on performance. Such feedback also however needs to be impartial and practical shall be tailored in such a way that it serves as a motivational factor rather than a distraction for the employees. Training & Development In order to effectively set up an environment of high performance, MNEs are also required to provide a regular opportunity to their employees to continuously upgrade and develop their skill level. This can be achieved through training and development of the employees so that the skill deficiencies in them can be effectively removed or minimized in order to achieve more efficiency. It is however the job of the HR to ensure that the training and development of the expats match with the expected job performance and shall fit the overall strategy of the organization. (Berger & Nixon, 1981). It is also important to note that the training and development of the expats shall also include elements of helping expats to fit into the local environment and must develop capabilities to understand and adjust into the local culture. Compensation Compensation can be viewed from two different perspectives as compensation strategies for the local as well as expats differ considerably. It is therefore critical that a comprehensive review of the overall compensation strategies must be undertaken in order to provide a balanced view of the overall affairs. Setting up an effective compensation structure for expats is one of the most critical issues as it must include an added layer of motivation which can force an expat to leave his country to work in a relatively alien environment. It is therefore important that the compensation structure shall comprise of both the financial as well as non-financial benefits to expats. What is also important is the fact that the perceived gaps between the actual versus preferred performance shall be minimized in order to improve upon the performance level of the employees, especially expats.(Chang et.al, 2004). It has also been argued that since expats come on a fixed contract with less legal protection from their host environment. Therefore, organizations often set up exploitative compensation structures slightly different from what is offered to the locals. Organizational Support Organizations also need to show the necessary support, especially to the new employees in order to help them and their families to adjust into a new environment. This is also critical in the sense that a job is also considered as a social contract between the employee and the employer with certain rights and obligations for each party. However, implicitly, it is also been perceived that the organization shall provide necessary support in order to fit into the environment within which the employee has to work and live. As such a performance management system at the organization shall ensure that it carry the elements which basically provide a mechanism for organizational support to employees in order to help them to adjust easily and subsequently concentrate on the job in hand. (Zhu et.al.2006). This further requires that the organization must develop mechanisms which can facilitate the employees as well as their work in adjusting in the current environment. This becomes also more complicated in an environment that is of international in its orientation such as the formation of this joint venture which requires the top management of the firm to engage into practices that basically allow the employees to learn to coexist with each other without significantly affecting their work. Above discussion indicate that there is a greater need for having an organizational set up that allow the top management of the firm to effectively introduce better management practices including effective performance management in order to ensure that the overall performance levels are continuously at the desired levels and in order to achieve this it is critical that any organization must manage itself strategically. Conclusion This section will provide the conclusion and summary of the literature review discussed above. The survey of literature indicate that the organizations, in order to achieve better performance from their employees must ensure that the roles and functions of each and every department are broadly defined whereas the accountabilities are also outlined in very clear manner. In order to free up the employees to focus on the development of their core competencies, it is therefore critical that the firms must allow flourishing creativity and innovation within the organization. This also means that the different roles and responsibilities have to be fixed so that each and every management layer must understand the relative importance of the roles of each other. In order to achieve this, organizations therefore have to implement strong performance management within them not only to manage the knowledge but to achieve the desired outcomes for accomplishing the strategic objectives of the firm. Research Methodology This research study will be both qualitative as well as quantitative in nature and as such the overall design of the research experiment will involve the designing of tools and techniques required to accomplish this task. It is critical to note that the qualitative studies often provide an insight into the behavior and attitudes of the respondents through different means including observation etc. whereas the quantitative methods often require the quantification of different variables in order to assess their relationship as well as influence on the different variables. Sampling Sampling will be done on the selective basis as this research will require interviewing of the select personnel of the organization. It is also critical to note that once the sample are drawn, rest of the process will be based on the use of simple statistical techniques to further analyze the data obtained. Samples will be more specifically based on Director of production, Production Manager, Utility and Offsite Manager, Utility -Shift Supervisor, control panel operator of utility, control panel operator of urea 1 & 2. Control panel operator ammonia 1 and 2 the employees’ positions. This therefore requires that a selective sampling technique must be adapted to gather the desired data for the purpose of analysis. A questionnaire will be designed and all the pre-identified sampling units will go through supervised interview for responding to the questions raised in the questionnaire. Data Collection Since this study will be both qualitative as well as quantitative in nature therefore the data collection will be done both through observations as well by designing a questionnaire. It is pertinent to mention that the data collected through observation will be mostly done at the production department to further analyze and observe as to how the employees manage to deal with the inquiries from the top management on one hand and manage their routine work on the other. The questionnaire design will be based on the general to specific format wherein more general questions will be asked at the beginning of the questionnaire whereas more specific questions will be asked as the questionnaire gradually evolves. It is also critical to note that the data collected through questionnaire will be processed by using modern statistical software such as SPSS. Expected Outcomes It is the intended aim of this research report to outline the factors that are basically restricting the employees of the production department to perform their functions with full attention and care. Since there is a lot of involvement from the top management at the functional level of the department, it is therefore anticipated that the overall involvement of the top management may not lead better performance. The expected outcome of this research report will therefore be based on the outcomes which will indicate the gaps between the perceived roles and what is actually being done within the organization. Besides this, this research report will also provide recommendations that will be presented to higher management for the implementation purposes. Further, there will be strong cultural implications of the management of this joint venture also as this joint venture is between two nations and as such the top management of the firm must also ensure that cultural diversity is managed and this research report will therefore provide an insight into what actions can be undertaken to achieve this objective. Recommendations Based on this research proposal and the overall expectations from this study, it is anticipated that the organization is probably facing strong management issues which need to be sorted out before it can embark upon more strategic path to follow. First there are very subtle differences between the roles at various organizational levels i.e. top management as well as functional management and as such due to this factor the overall performance of the department and organization is getting worse. Since this is a joint venture and its success will largely depend upon how the performance is managed, it is therefore critical that the top management of the firm must clearly segregate the roles and responsibilities besides making HRM as a more active ingredient of overall strategy. The strategic role of HRM therefore will play significantly more important role in achieving the strategic objectives of the firm. As discussed above, this joint venture is between two countries therefore it is also recommended that a better cultural diversity management practices shall also be implemented to ensure that such differences are easily overcome to achieve the desired strategic objectives. References 1. Andersen, Bjorn, Henriksen, Bjørnar Aarseth. Wenche (2006). Holistic performance management: an integrated framework. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. 55 (1), pp. 61-78. 2. Cooke, Fang Lee (2001). Human Resource Strategy to Improve Organizational Performance: a Route for Firms in Britain? .International Journal of Management Reviews. 3 (0), pp. 321-339. 3. Cook. Mark (1995). Performance appraisal and true performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 10 (7), pp. 3–7. 4. Woods. Peter (2003). Performance management of Australian and Singaporean expatriates. International Journal of Manpower. 24 (5), p517 – 534 5. Berger, Mel. Nixon. Bruce (1981). Management Development that Works. Journal of European Industrial Training. 5 (3), p2-7. 6. Chang, C. Janie. Ou, Chin S. Wu. Anne (2004). COMPENSATION STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY. Advances in Management Accounting. 12 (0), p137 - 150 . 7. Zhu, Weichun, Luthans, Fred, Chew, Irene K.H. Li. Cuifang (2005). Potential expats in Singaporean organizations. Journal of Management Development. 25 (8), p 763 – 776 Read More