Tesla Case Study: Optimizing Operations With Management Theory

Write an essay in which you:

• Use an organisation that is or has been in the news during the past two years (work-related learning) and identify an ethical dilemma faced by that organisation as an example.
• Apply at least two theoretical concepts from managerial ethics to examine this dilemma critically.
• Go on to examine and critically evaluate how these theoretical concepts influence managerial practices in the chosen organisation.
• In conclusion, reflect critically on how leaders may ensure organisational decisions are made ethically.

Management Theory and Practice

Management theory and is considered to be the employment of various ideas, strategies rules as well as regulations in managing employees in an organization to ensure that employees remain motivated thus enabling the organization to effectively and efficiently attain its set goals and objectives within a particular period of time. That is management theory and practice shades more light on how organizational management relates to its employees as well as clients in building harmonious relation that will enhance the effectiveness of operation within a particular organization. Through management theory, the management of a particular organization will be in a position to handle the basic needs of employees in an organization. For instance, through management theory and practice management, an organization will be able to cater for good working conditions, overtime compensation as well as timely compensation for the work done by the employees. Therefore having all these factors into consideration will motivate employees thus encouraging them to work hard towards the attainment of organizational set goals and objectives.

For an organization to be effective, it requires teamwork and dedication from both the employers and employees. It should be noted that the role played by an organization internally is essential for the day to day running of the organization. Furthermore, the image portrayed to the public will depend on how an organization is run. In the world today, several organizations have come up with terms and conditions to meet up with the competitive industry. In this context, we will focus on Tesla Factory which is specialized in the manufacture of automobiles. In addition, the company had to employ various management theories in order to enhance the effectiveness of the company operation. For instance, the application of classical theories enabled the organization in structuring its activities in a formal manner that it had a formal structural and a hierarchy that enhanced smooth flow of operation from one section to another. In addition, bureaucracy was also applied in which specified rules and regulation had to be adhered to systematically thus enabling the organization in attaining its set objectives.

Tesla factory is an organization that is found in Fremont California. The company deals with automotive whereby the mission is to accelerate the use of sustainable energy in the world. The company came into existence after a group of engineers wanted to manufacture electric cars that would be better in function than the gasoline powered cars. The electric cars would have incredible power with no emissions ensuring that they did not pollute the environment. In addition, the company had a strategy to improve the vehicles over the years while lowering their prices ensuring more people would afford them (Tesla, 2017). Tesla factory is widely known in the globe for production of the battery-electric sedan. It is a well-organized factory with modern facilities and a team of workers. Additionally, it takes pride in creating employment opportunities for more than 6000 workers.

Tesla Factory: A Case Study

The first vehicle designed by the company was a sports car that had an Ac induction motor. It was occasioned by the inventor of the company Nikola Tesla in 1888.  The motor had the ability to accelerate from a speed of 0 to 60, and in turn, this enabled it to have a range of 245 miles per charge. This invention brought about a new set of electric mobility. The innovation from the company did not end there because, in 2012, it invented the Model S that was the first electric sedan in the world. The model S was 100% electric and therefore had the same concept of the four-door car (Tesla, 2017). The advantage of model S is that it provides the comfort for the family as well as providing the speed of a sports car.

The company unveiled the all-wheel drive configurations in 2014 that is anticipated to bring more revenues for the company. The configurations helped the company in that the vehicles could be handled better, as well as their performance was improved. Also, the model enables the cars to be controlled easily even in unfavorable conditions. Some of the benefits that the company has provided the owners are their ability to charge their cars at home without visiting the gas stations (Wong, 2017).

Tesla has started having branches in countries such as the Netherlands, where it has an assembly. The company is not only involved in automotive manufacturing but also is a technology and design company mostly relying on innovation. In the past two years, the organization has been in the news due to the dilemma it created in the environment. Here as follows is how the organization came to news.

However, with all this credit it has faced issues of an ethical dilemma. In this case, ethical dilemma is a situation whereby one is required to make a choice between two options; in which none of the choices provides the most appropriate decision. In simple terms, it involves making a choice of two moral issues.  In relation to ethical issues, studies indicate that there various ethical consideration that can be put into action to enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency. For instance, the ethical aspects can relate to technology, good working conditions, health as well as safety and transparency in organizational operations. One of such ethical dilemmas was witnessed when it was featured in the news by Mercury News reporters indicating the company’s contractor had subcontracted its mandate to a subcontractor and paying the subcontractor little amount of money which is not equivalent to what the contractor is being paid by the company management. For instance, the news indicated that the contractor has been paying the subcontractor sum of $5 per hour thus being considered a dilemma on the decision to be taken by the management of the company (Siegal, Mills, & Epstein, 2017).  In addition, the company has been featured to have neglected the consideration of overtime compensation as well as compensation to employees who got injured while in the line of duty carrying out company operations. The case above was considered unethical in that the price paid by the company was not comparable to the price paid to the sub-contractor in that the company paid 52 dollars per hour for the same job.

Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Tesla

In addition, Mercury News story of April 30^th, 2015, Tesla was accused by the media of having an unfavorable working condition in their plant. Having a good reputation of producing well-advanced vehicles, the Chief Executive Officer had to make a wise moral decision in dealing with the allegation. He had to avoid tarnishing the factory’s name and also attacking the media which is vital in marketing. In the long run, he gave facts and figures on the working activities in the manufacturing plant. It is no doubt in any ethical dilemma an organization should keep in mind with that their talk should correspond with the products. In the month of April 2017, Tesla vehicles were subjected to causing unnecessary accidents.  The self-driven vehicles accelerated in places that were unnecessary. Tesla responded by advising drivers that the vehicles could not avoid accidents because they were electrically controlled. This was a reaction that made sense because truly the vehicles could not avoid accidents as compared to being driven.

Ethics in an organization is an aspect that has been featured to be key in enabling the organization to attain its set goals and objectives without much coercion. In this case, the management of the company has to ensure it has skilled and competent employees who will be in a position to offer quality services that will meet client’s expectations. In this case, it is considered to be ethical to offer quality services to meet client’s demands at any particular time (Aktharsha, & Priya V, 2012). On the other hand, the management should ensure that they meet the basic needs of the employees to enable them to deliver quality services to their esteemed clients. Therefore, the management should ensure that employees are well compensated, have good working conditions and at the same time, they should also be involved in decision-making process. In this case, it will be considered to be ethical to reward employees based on their contribution in enabling the organization to attain its set goals and objectives.

For instance, Tesla company has been featured in the news for the past few year because of the ethical dilemma that it has been going through in relation to its employee's remuneration as well as the quality of services offered to its employees in the market industry. In this case, it is recorded that the company also had an unethical position in that it require its contractors to put into consideration the terms and services of its operations. On the other hand, the company did not shade more light in relation to its responsibility in ensuring that contractors have adequate resources to accomplish set target within a particular period of time.

Theoretical Concepts to Address Ethical Dilemmas

The managerial staff of the organization identified a theoretical concept that used to examine the dilemma that was created by the organization. The following are the identified concepts considered vital for the success of an organization. First it the communication; in this case, communication is considered vital in that it enhances understanding of the management and its employees.  In this case, communication can be through, emails, one on one communication as well as phone calls thus helping to speed up the process of decision making in an organization (Kinnick, 2005). Here in Tesla factory, we see that Tesla the owner of the company tries to use effective communication in the company in order to solve issues in the factory. In this case, the management identified communication as a key factor that can be employed to efficiently enable the organization to attain its set goals and objectives. That is, through communication, the manning agent of the company will be in a position to put all employees on the same page thus working together as members of the same towards the attainment of organizational set goals and objectives.

Assigning of duties and responsibilities in an organization is also another major aspect that has to be put into consideration to ensure that an organization effectively and efficacy of organizational operations. In this case, the management of the organization should ensure that they distribute duties and responsibilities to employees basing on job description thus enabling the employees to offer quality work that will enable the organization to meet client’s expectations within a particular period of time. In addition, it is also considered ethical for the management of a particular organization that it accords its employees adequate author to enhance their efficiency of operations. That is, they should be granted adequate author to enable them to make reliable decisions that will enable an organization to attain set goals and objectives. In these organizations, several concepts have to influence it in different ways, such as workplace atmosphere which has provided the division of offices into cubicles, to form more of a community feel to the workers (Jones, 2005). This has enabled the workers to have freedom of performing their tasks each in his or her specific office as per protocol observation. This concept made the company experience rapid growth in resource and profit.

The other concept that has the influence it is a workplace, whereby the company's workplace has been designed in such a way that individual tasks have been assigned to various people within an organization thus boosting the quality of service as well as the speed of operation of that particular task. In addition, motivating organizational employees to work together as a group is considered to be a key factor for the success of an organization. Through this groups, an organization will have a pool of skilled personnel who will enable it effectively and e efficiently attain its set goals and objectives.

Conclusion

Another concept of influence is communication. Due to the good connection network in communication in the organization, this is between the managerial and the workers, has made it easy to manage the company leading to improvement of products, which was promoted by good leadership including good salary pay per worker as per the task was done. This has led to improvement and development in Tesla's company. To enhance communication in the company, the management of the organization had to ensure that it opens lines of communication between the management and its subordinate staff. Policies and regulations were introduced in an organization that enables employees to complain that they fell it can affect the smooth flow of the operation of the company. Also, the company management ensured that they take the grievances of the employees in an organization with a lot of consideration. That is they considered to be unethical to delay to respond to employees grievances within a particular period of time. As a result, open channels of communication between the employer and employee enabled Tesla to handle any possible challenges that could possibly affect the operations of the company.

It is therefore recommended that ethical consideration in an organization should be upheld to enhance the quality of operations in the company. In addition, it is recommended that the management of the company should work together with its employees in attaining the organizational set goals and objectives. In this case, the two parties should always consult on the mean to enable the organization to avoid unnecessary expenditure and at the same time being in a position to offer as per their client’s expectations. Furthermore, professionalism in all operations of the organization is another aspect that is highly recommended (Aktharsha, & Priya V, 2012). In this case, employees of the organization are expected to uphold their code of conduct thus being in a position to offer services that will win the loyalty of the consumers. Finally, it is also recommended that in case of unethical dilemma in an organization, the management should consult with its employee to be able to come up with reliable mechanism that will enable an organization to be in position to attain positive image both to its employees as well as its clients thus enabling it to attain a completive advantage over its consumers.

Leaders should ensure organizational decisions are made ethically by providing good communication skills between workers and leaders whereby we have seen it exercised in Tesla's organization which made workers communicate freely with their leaders hence leading to growth in the company. Also, leaders should ensure that the workplace atmosphere in an organization is made friendly to each worker that is by separating the workers in observation of the protocol. Finally, leaders should also ensure that the workplace is conducive to each of the worker in the organization, this is enabled by assigning individual tasks to individual people (Kainer, & Fetherstonhaugh, 2010). By doing so, the organization will have successive growth in math making profit and infrastructure.

In addition, decision making aspect in an organization that contributes a lot a lot to organizational success. In this case, an organization has to ensure that it gives it much consideration thus setting up a possible mechanism that will enable an organization to make ethical decisions. Therefore, to enhance ethical decision-making process in an organization, the management of a particular company should ensure that it involves its employees in the entire process of making decisions. The company should ensure that before making any decision, they should seek the opinion of employees first before its implementation (Blum, 1988). Involving employees in the decision-making process will motivate them making them feel part and parcel of the organization. Therefore, based on this aspect, the management of the company will be in a position to win the loyalty of employees. Employees, therefore, will strive hard to ensure that they enable the organization to effectively and efficiently attain its set goals and objectives. In addition, involving the employees in the decision-making process will make them feel responsible for any decision made thus making them prepared of the outcomes of that particular decision.

The ethical decision in an organization can also be attained through putting into consideration clients opinions. Customers or consumers of company products are considered to be a key section that enables the organization to exist. Therefore, putting their interest into consideration is a key aspect that has to be considered. To ensure that their demands are put into consideration in decision-making process, the management of the organization should ensure that it conducts a market survey to find out the likes and dislikes of their esteemed clients thus being in the best position of making a reliable decision that will enable the organization to efficiently and effectively attain its set goals and objectives (Jones, 2005).

Market evaluation is also another major factor that can be put into consideration while making organizational decisions. In this case, the management of the company should ensure that it analyses the services that are being offered by their competitors in the marketing industry thus being able to make realistic decisions that will enable that particular organization to attain a competitive advantage over its competitors (Clark, & Lattal, 1993). For instance, while making a decision in relation to prices to company products or services. The company has to determine the market price before setting its prices. That is, the company will have to determine what is being offered by their competitors. Therefore, basing on competitors price, the company will have to set its prices slightly below competitor’s price thus enabling the company products to attract the attention of more clients in the market. Therefore, basing on this aspect, the company will be able to attract and retain more clients to consume company products. As a result, the company will be able to increase its market share thus increase the profit attained within a particular period of time thus attaining the set goals and objectives within a particular period of time (Velasquez, 1996). Therefore, basing on the above aspects, it is important for the management of the organization before making any decision, they should conduct market analysis, involve organizational employees and at the same time involve the company customers in decision making process thus being able to come up with a realistic decision that will enable it to attain corporate positive image before the public.

The managerial ethics in the above issues should be based on what affects the organization and the market. More often than not, the society has been very judgmental on well-established companies. Therefore the managements should critically involve skills that will avoid the downfall of the organization. Managerial ethics entails the rules, regulations, and principles that are applied by the upper management of an organization (Blum, 1988). This is usually involved when there is a conflict of ideas internally and externally. For instance, in this case, the vehicles affect the companies’ and sales and the markets’ view. It is an issue that requires the management to look at the employees’ interest; the organization is their source of livelihood. For managerial ethics to be effective, it is the mandate of the organization to critically obey the guidelines as per the law.

In conclusion, therefore, management theory and practice is the key aspect that has to be put into consideration by the management of the company thus enabling it to effectively and efficiently attain its set goals and objectives. Through proper management practice, an organization will be able to handle the grievances of the employees in a realistic manner that enables both the employees and the management to work together as a team. Therefore, with proper managerial responsibilities like planning, organizing, controlling as well as coordinating and staffing, the management of the company will be in a better position putting into practice the aspect of management theory and practice thus enabling the organization to attain its set goals and objectives.

References

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