Case Study Analysis: B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation

Question:

Discuss about the Case Study Analysis for B.R. Richardson Timber.

The aim of the report is to conduct a case study analysis. The discussion is based on B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation case study. In the case study, Jack Lawler, the management trainer and consultant was approached by the industrial relations officer, Richard Bowman in order to conduct a motivation course and improve the current situation of the particular plant. The report diagnoses the case study in details with the applications of a number of theories in this context. It is important to present the current situation and make recommendations accordingly (Erasmus, Grobler & Van Niekerk, 2015). By the end of the analysis, an action plan shall also be made that would eventually help the organisation to improve the current situation. Organisational development has emerged out of the human relations study that focuses on the fact that organisational development can take place if their behaviour and motivation is taken care of by the management of an organisation. The idea is to transfer knowledge and improve the capacity of the employees for carrying out the organisational functions. For this, intervention of the situation is important accompanied by proper diagnosis of the problem and then coming up with an action plan to improve the current situation.

From the case study, it has been evident that Lawler used an effective business strategy at the time of entering the contracting process. In the meeting, he discussed about the nature of work and the services that the company is supposed to provide. Depending on the role of the job, he Lawler assigned the tasks to three different persons depending on their skills and competencies. The idea was to view the problem from both the perceptions of the employees and the consultants because the importance of the employees was also felt. This was when strict action was made on developing the report. His decision on the payment and expenses was also rigid and he decided to visit the plants with all the other students. In the view point of Erasmus, Grobler and Van Niekerk, (2015), a person as a supervisor or a manager needs to be very careful when it comes to deal regarding the cost effectiveness and the profitability of the particular organisation. Similar approach has been noticed in case of Lawler as the cost effectiveness was the primary look out of the manager in this case.

Relevant Organizational Development Theories

Bowman also decided to hire Lawler based on the word of mouth and he did not second guess the situation that the particular person was eligible for the particular post or not. Reading Wood et al., (2016), it has been evident that a manager should be prompt and evident enough to understand the situation and then work accordingly. Failing to which might lead to certain unavoidable situations as well. Similar situation was evident during the analysis stage. Considering the cost effectiveness, Lawler was appointed but his approach was not up to the mark and at many instances, he could not succeed with the application of the basic terms and conditions that he thought to be successful for the organisation (). The Open System Model that was designed to make a sense of the data that were made to understand the functions of the input, design components and their alignments and the output were not a successful step that was taken against the increasing problems in the organisation (Mullins & Christy, 2013). To overcome such cases, it was important to increase the motivation factor among the employees that they would be effective enough to work efficiently.

There are a number of relevant organisational development theories that are important for any kind of changes or development in the organisation. As stated by Avota, McFadzean and Peiseniece, (2015), organisational development emerges out of the human relationship where it has been understood that the organisational development can take place if the employees are fairly treated and they are motivated. This process will require continuous diagnosis of the situation and then coming up with an action plan for the betterment of the current situation. The idea is to transfer skills and knowledge to the employees that would improve the problem solving capabilities and manage any kind of changes in future. If the diagnosis and the intervention stage of the organisational development are taken into account, Grobler, van Niekerk and Erasmus, (2015) pointed out that it is important to gather the relevant information related to the situation and then to come up to a particular conclusion that would work on the symptoms that the particular organisation is going through. There were certain issues that were evident enough to work upon and it fall upon the immediate responsibility of the organisation to work upon. These issues include the motivation factor of the employees. From the case study, it was evident enough that there was an urgent need of morale and motivation among the employees of the plant (Mullins & Christy, 2013). For this, the relevant clients were approached including the staffs and the personnel. It is important to consider the right approach for rectifying the right things in the right time. Lawler also considered the right approach and moved with the option of training and development process among the employees. In addition to this, a contractual agreement was also presented among the employees (Avota, McFadzean & Peiseniece, 2015). The major goal of the contract is to make sure that the possible solution is executed and worked upon and that reflect on the effectiveness and the evaluation of the organisational development process.

Action Plan

As it has been evident from the case study that Lawler himself, decided to visit the plant and gather the information on what was actually happening in the organisation and asked the students to analyse the situation by themselves (Sosa, Gargiulo & Rowles, 2015). In such situation, Lawler could have easily taken other steps and could have come to another approach that would not rely only on the employees but on the insight and the knowledge of him only. Trusting and emphasising on the understanding level of the managers would be a better action than that of relying on the understanding of the student (Moerdyk et al., 2015). It has to be understood that in the lengthy process of motivation and developmental program, considering Lawler’s time and expertise are the two agreed things to work upon. It was also evident that Lawler did not aimed at collecting the necessary and useful information that was required to work upon to solve the issues and come down to a particular point of consideration. Thus, it is clear that there was deficit from the end of Lawler on the overall approach of the organisational development and that the primarily he should be the one who should consider the things and not the employees themselves (Hilton, 2017). There were options like comparing the pay, work attendance and the benefits that the employees of other organisations get who are the major competitors of B.R. This would have definitely helped in analysing the industrial situation and then coming down to a particular conclusion that would help the organisation to prosper in their respective work ideas.

As stated by Grealish and Henderson, (2016), organisational culture and organisational structure are two of the most crucial elements that can create a positive culture in the organisation. It is when there is specificity on the things and that the employees understand the concept of the work of the organisation, they feel acknowledged and motivated and that can lead to a better situation than the present condition. For this, the plan needs to have a particular leader and the leader needs to follow a particular leadership approach as well that would be evident among the employees (Erasmus, Grobler & Van Niekerk, 2015). There should be a quality control manager as well who shall be responsible for the overall contribution of the employees on the organisation. In case, these are not done accordingly, the organisation will surely have to suffer. Thus, measuring the system and passing the information to the right people is important that would only help to overcome the issues and problems of the plant in the recent time.

With the detailed analysis of the case study and the understanding of the theories of organisational behaviour, it is clear that that the most important thing that Lawler should consider is the analysis of the market and a detailed outlook of the company and the other competitors in the market (Grealish & Henderson, 2016). This would definitely, help to understand the present situation and that how they should proceed with the application of the theories in the right places. It would be definitely help to drive the plant to be competitive enough and be successful enough in those places where there was lack of right approach. Another important point of consideration is that it was important to discuss the issues and problems with the other employees of the organisation. It would not be a feasible option if the manager comes to a conclusion without discussing the same with the actual employees who are involved in the matter (Grobler, van Niekerk & Erasmus, 2015). Therefore, it is highly recommended that Lawler should consider the view point of each and every employee in the organisation and make necessary changes accordingly. This would also give a personal touch to the employees and that they would probably feel more wanted and cared in the organisation. This in turn will definitely improve the motivation of the employees.

The strategy that had been undertaken to utilise the resources in order to achieve the goals and objectives related to motivation of the employees that was the most important and valid point in this whole argument (Erasmus, Grobler & Van Niekerk, 2015). There was not any kind of orientation made along with the employees that made them feel good or wanted in the organisation. It was highly evident that the workers were frustrated and they were looking for some immediate action but they were not anticipated on the same (Dealtry, 2017). Considering the whole thing to be time consuming and that it would require more input, the process was left unaddressed that was the most unproductive thing done by the managers. If they had concentrated on the needs and the demands of the employees the same could have been addressed accordingly and that a better conclusion would have been reached.

For the action plan, it is evident that the company needs to conduct a detailed analysis of the market considering the competitors and the bargaining power of the employees should be taken into account. Secondly, it is important to understand the condition of the employees and then act accordingly. The employees need to be motivated for the purpose of carrying out the work. In addition to this, it is equally important that their health and safety should be at the prime concern of the management. Thus, it is only when the employees would feel privileged and acknowledged, they shall give their complete co-operation in the business activities and things will be sorted out (Waddell et al., 2013).

Conclusion:

A detailed analysis on the case study has been carried on in this report. It is clear that there are certain things that need to be addressed and worked upon. It has been understood that organisational development can only take place if the authorities of the organisation think about the benefits of the employees. For this, motivation and development are two most important criteria that need to be adapted by the organisation as a whole. Considering the situation, a number of recommendations have also been made that would eventually help the organisation to overcome the issues that it has been facing. From the mentioned points, carrying out a detailed research of the industry and then coming down to a point that would serve the employees to the best as per their requirement is important. It is expected that the organisation would follow the same in order to prosper in the current position.

References:

Avota, S., McFadzean, E., & Peiseniece, L. (2015). LINKING PERSONAL AND ORGANISATIONAL VALUES AND BEHAVIOUR TO CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL. Journal of Business Management, (10).

Dealtry, R. (2017). The Future of Corporate Universities: How Your Company Can Benefit from Value and Performance-Driven Organisational Development.

Erasmus, B. J., Grobler, A., & Van Niekerk, M. (2015). Employee retention in a higher education institution: An organisational development perspective. Progressio, 37(2), 33-63.

Grealish, L., & Henderson, A. (2016). Investing in organisational culture: nursing students’ experience of organisational learning culture in aged care settings following a program of cultural development. Contemporary nurse, 52(5), 569-575.

Grobler, A., van Niekerk, M., & Erasmus, B. J. (2015). Employee retention in a higher education institution: an organisational development perspective.

Hilton, B. J. (2017, August). Transnational Knowledge: Its Creation and Distribution Exploiting Entrepreneurship and Organisational Behaviour. In Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of the ISSS-2016 Boulder, CO, USA (Vol. 1, No. 1).

Moerdyk, A. P., Dodd, N., Donald, F., Kiley, J., Van Hoek, G., & Van Hoek, C. E. (2015). Organisational Behaviour. Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Mullins, L., & Christy, G. (2013). Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Education.

Sosa, M. E., Gargiulo, M., & Rowles, C. (2015). Can informal communication networks disrupt coordination in new product development projects?. Organization Science, 26(4), 1059-1078.

Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. (2013). Organisational change: Development and transformation. Cengage Learning.

Wood, J. M., Zeffane, R. M., Fromholtz, M., Wiesner, R., Morrison, R., Factor, A., ... & Osborn, R. N. (2016). Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd..