Situation of Eastern Dairy Corporation - Case Study Example

An Academic Report on Contemporary Organization & HRM Studies Name Institution Instructor Date Introduction This report analyses the environment, values, culture and the situation where the companies are confronted with different ethical issues. It also shows the importance of training within the business and the negative result for those companies that don’t train their members. In addition, this case study provides an opportunity to workers on decision making process, where they compare their own decision making methods in the work place and deliberate on how dissimilarities in individual perception and value can have an impact in this process. The case explains concepts that often exist in business ethics, comprising different ethical philosophies and Kohlberg’s steps of moral development. Other factors, such as, corporate culture and influence of co-workers, impact the decision process of an employee. For instance, in this case, a college student by the name George stein was working for the summer in eastern dairy, and is faced with the tough decision of choosing between going to take out the filter from the piping of the plant or to permit the in progress production of milkshake mixture to be polluted with maggots. The action of leaving the filter was to let George’s shift break from job in time and save the company from the cost. Though this seems to be right, George is concerned with the children who will consume the milkshake. The workforce was unorganized, prompting George and other workers to work without the management members during the night shift. Workers in Eastern dairy don’t care about following the hygiene procedure that is essential for the production of safe and hygiene milkshake for human consumption. Out of this situation, it’s so clear that the corporate has some management problems, such as absent of quality management, quality assurance and quality control. Furthermore the corporate lacks modern safety, health and environmental strategies that would ensure acquiescence to desired standards like ISO 14004, ISO 14001, ISO 9000 & HACCP. Following the existence of ethical lapses, there is need for managers to take control of their organization, and employees ensure a high professional standard, and great ethical values. Eastern dairy has deficiency of dramatic role control and quality management. Case Analysis and Discussion The action and thoughts of Eastern dairy corporate members have been shaped by the culture and values that exist within the company, comprising their personal ethical values and business culture produced by the corporation for which they labor. This case has provided an example to illustrate risk of not educating and empowering the members of the company. The major focus is on the night shift workers and the management of the business which ought to have come up with guidelines and expectations for their employees. The ethical and cultural situation of the business was revealed through the new worker who seems to have different values and culture compared to the other employees of this company. George was a college student who was newly employed in Eastern dairy company. He preferred this company because of the good salary payment, and when he got a chance, he reported immediately minus the instructions on moral values. The six-person team of operators where George was assigned used to organize themselves because no supervisors were allocated to the night shift. Instead that responsibility was taken by Paul, who is just a member of the night shift team. As the team leader, he was always concerned about completing all the work assigned to them at the end of the shift. This cultural behavior that was initiated by Paul is considered as production deviance. At the work place and during the production, employees could engage in horseplay, practical jokes and storytelling, among other activities of their interest. Furthermore, they could engage in “balloon fights” comprising containers with weighty mixture involved in production line. These activities led to the damage of some production material used in production, but this action was accepted by the management. This is a clear indication that the employees of Eastern dairy are not loyal to their organization. In my opinion, the human resource manager seemed to have poor management qualities and was inexperienced in his or her job. This is illustrated when George gets assigned duties even before orientation and training. Despite the human resource action, George still shows his professional competence and determination when confronted with some challenges in the workplace. Persistence, as well as other personal values, are illustrated in George when he tried to correct the problem the second time after failure in the first attempt. George was acquainted with change due to the fact that he had spent his life in several suburbs of a main city. He understands the significance of change, and is ready to initiate and manage it in the new environment. He seems to have learned this culture of change in his early age when he used to constantly move from one place to the other. This enabled him work in different companies doing diverse menial jobs, and it has confirmed his adaptability. He was a social person. George used to join the teenage in their local meeting places and sometime mingling with people in restaurants. The fact that he joined Eastern Dairy Union and enjoys the comradeship of night-shift operators shows his belongingness and friendship. In addition, his attention in hot rods implies that he likes challenges and excitement. In college, he was motivated to take mechanical engineering because he took much preference in it and hoped it had some connection with mechanics. His love for “old school” wagons also indicates his values system. The value of emotional intelligence is revealed in George when he was concerned about the merit of the end product and the effect polluted produce can have on the customer’s health (Melanie, 2011). This is demonstrated by George’s thought about the kids who would consume the milkshake produced by Eastern Dairy corporate. Some researchers state that, intelligent persons develop a sense of caring towards other people through their emotional responses. This is shown when George takes the initiatives of inspecting the first filter joint and empathized who would consume the milkshake. Jan’s (2010) research shows that the main root of the problem is such a case is time. Paul volunteered to be the shift leader, helpful in decision making during the night shift. Eastern Dairy sets targets for workers at night without a frontrunner who should be in charge of the manufacturing process. The night shift had six-person team workers who depended on Paul for direction. Employees who were working during the night shift were not concerned about the Eastern corporation reputation because they believed that it was none of their business. Generally the issue of target and time has created high stress on the working setting at night. Being the new employee, George didn’t understand what had happened and what to do because he expected normal inspection at the termination of the shift, but it was not there. Instead, he found that pipes were clogged due to maggots and milkshake mixture was leaking. Employees in Eastern daily operated minus direct supervision and management. This action has compromised the quality of their products because there have been no measures on quality control and efforts of engaging workers in the realization of business goals. For George, he should have acted ethically and responsibly, to ensure that food was safe and complied to the required standards. Milk that is planned for direct feeding must be pasteurized but milk manufacturing process for Eastern dairy had the problem which needed to be addressed by its management. Government standards are meant to ensure that milk is pure, nutritious and safe. From that point of view, Eastern milk needs intervention measures on their process. There was a good pay culture in Eastern dairy which was almost twice the lowest wage that George used to be paid in his earlier job and that’s mainly why he transferred to Eastern Corporation. He was not ready to lose the chance because that money would enable him open a new page of life with Cathy. George has been inspired and that’s why he was dedicated and responsible with his job. George was confronted with a tough decision to make. Below are some of the reason that would have caused him make unethical move concerning the issue at hand: Accountability was the major thing that arises in the mind. George’s decision was inclined by the anticipation of forthcoming cooperative action. The fact that he knew he would work with the same team in future or next day, could contribute to his unethical decision. Trust is another factor that would have provided possible grounds for him to make an unethical decision. The culture of the company and absence of supervision opens door for wrong decision to be made (King & Anderson, 1995). Acceptance by his peers could be another factor because he wanted to belong to one of the groups, being a new member in the company. This is true because the sense of belonging gives a person power. On the other hand, George had reasons for acting ethically. The following are the reasons for principled action: Religion is a solid factor in a person’s decision production process. George had no interest with college, but he continued because he wanted blessings from the parents towards marriage. This shows that he was brought up in a religious background. Therefore, religion plays an important role in the effectiveness and success of any company and its individuals. The core values of George would also influence him to make principled decision. Having an involved family, George had core values that would direct him to an ethical decision. The danger of charges due to an illegal action would direct him to make right choice. In case of any contamination, he would be responsible for the damage caused by the product. Paul, who was acting as the leader of the night shift, was concerned about the cost outcome to the organization, in case the production needs are not met because of leaving the job early. This example shows how excessively aggressive business and financial objective can result in unethical behavior. The organization’s environment has forced Paul to this unethical culture and he sticks to it because of the fear of losing his job. Though resilient leaders are not expected to turn their back to some issues, Paul did it, pushing George into a very difficult situation. Miller & Brelade (1997) argue that communication helps in changing forms comprising performance statistics, policies and procedure, work place induction, hazard and incident report, training and risk assessment. In general communication is the process of conveying ideas, information, emotion, thoughts etc. among and between persons. Communication mechanisms that are effective are necessary in engaging workers in safety actions, to maintain good culture and to gain support and cooperation. Constructive and clear communication would improve the understanding and knowledge that enhances work practices and discontinue at-risk behavior. There are several mechanisms which are used to promote effective communication within the business. For example, staff training is a mechanism used to add or improve the communication need of individuals and organization (Paul, 2003). Members are informed about the hierarchical way of solving issues or problem in the corporation. The responsibility of each member in the company is communicated for workers to understand on the procedural way of dealing with some problems in the business. Peter, David, & Grant ( 2006) suggest that listening skills are encouraged in the organization in order to share ideas, skills and information within the employees. The importance of respecting and listening to ideas from managers, workers and any other member is encouraged because of continued improvement effect to the production of the business. Employees are informed about the culture and value of the organization and what is expected from them (Chris, & Sue, 2000). Peter & Paul’s (2005) analysis points out that supervision of the production process is critical in all organization and should be handled properly by the management team. When supervision is practiced and perceived as a supportive and useful way of continually enhancing the quality of employees work, communication is considered to be flourishing. According to Bob (2005), this also checks the quality of the products as to whether they are to the set standards. In Eastern dairy, supervision of production process could have identified a problem with the quality of milk in case of any deviation from the required standards. In addition, the employees of eastern would have been responsible and committed in delivering quality services, and not just completing the assigned task at the end of their shift. Organizations need to arrange regular meeting with workers preferably every week, mainly to share ideas and the performance of the business. It’s at this point the managers get a chance of giving direction and informing employees what is expected of them. This meeting helps in developing the right values within the company and renewing the relationship among workers, to enhance their working relationship. During these meetings, managers should give employees chance, to air out their problems, ideas and suggestion on how to improve the current state of production. This would make them feel part of management and initiators of policies and strategies that are used in the organization. For the meetings to be fruitful and enjoyable to all members, the following is incorporated (Graeme, John, & Jon, 2005): The responsibility of running the meeting should be rotated among all members of the staff. This way, it would not be perceived as administrators or directors gathering, but a meeting that mirrors the concerns of all members. Ensuring that the agenda is accessible to everybody to add his or her item and have them treated equally by giving them same priority and the same time. Coming up with the mechanism of ensuring that everybody gets opportunity to account on the duties assigned him/her and talk of the challenges encountered. This make employees feel that their experience is appreciated, and for others to pick ideas that are useful in their workplace. Have informal meetings that allow humor or occasional fun. When hiring staff members, ensure job responsibility and expectation are specified. This would help employees understand their duties and be accountable for any deviation from the required standards (Rahul, 2011). Another avenue of communication includes creating business newsletters either e-mailed or printed (Norma, Gillian, & Sandra, 2004). These way employees and other members of staff would be able to get information and fell part of the organization. In addition, all members in the organization should be able to access other means of communication like e-mail addresses for the business and every other worker in the organization, phone numbers and mailboxes. Another important aspect in communication is accessibility of everybody in the organization. Though the concept seem to be simple, it’s crucial for effective communication and allows anyone speak to a member of board or attend a board meeting without getting permission from anyone (Biswajeet, 2005). There should be occasional socializing opportunity for members to know each other well. This comes in form a celebration where members get a chance of talking other things and relaxing. Examples of celebration that can be held include organization anniversaries, celebrating birth days and many others. The aim is to make members feel easy with one another and appreciate their cultural and personal differences. According to Ian (1996), opinion, Eastern Dairy Corporation had not trained and planted the right culture and values in their employees, and that’s why they perform poorly in their workplace. On the other hand, the management did not coordinate, empower and supervise the production process as it’s required. For the case of eastern dairy, the problem mainly was the management, who failed to oversee and communicate the expectation of the organization to the employees. This was indicated when the night shift team, make fun and play with balloon containers which are the production material, without the authority or the management correcting them. Yes, I believe that if the management had informed George and other employees of the organization expectation on them, there would be a different outcome in Eastern Dairy Corporation. Conclusion In this situation of Eastern Dairy Corporation, there are numerous bi-products of deprived management comprising: lack of adherence to industrial standards, accountability and lack of proper training among many others. A large company like Eastern dairy is expected to have qualified managers, trained members and more than four workers during the night shift, given how important the night period is in meeting customers’ demands. In addition, the organization requires quality management system, ensuring that business is under control and good stuff behavior. The company also needs to set a superintendent for the night shift to monitor quality production and stuff members. An effective communication which is necessary to any organization is required in Eastern dairy, to inform the employees about the right culture and values that are needed for the organization to achieve high and quality production. The management is also needed to involve the employees in planning and policy formation and give their ideas and views priority, as a form of encouraging and empowering their employees. References Biswajeet, P 2005, Human Resource Management, Wiley and Sons, New Jersey. Bob, P 2005, Organazation Management and Information Systems, CIMA Publishing, Burlington, MA. Chris, H, & Sue, B 2000, Knowledge Management and the Role of HR, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Wiltshire. Graeme, S, John, S, & Jon, B 2005, Strategic Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, SAGE Publishers Inc, California. Ian, B 1996, Contemporary Developments in Human Resource Management, Wiley and Sons, New Jersey. Jan, P, 2010, Managing Organization Culture for Effective Internal Control: From Practice to Theory, Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg, London. King, N & Anderson, N 1995, Innovation and Change in Organization, Routledge, London. Melanie, A 2011, Analyzing the Organization Environment, Select Knowledge Ltd, London. Miller, T & Brelade, S 1997, 101 Tips for Trainers, Financial Times Pitman. Norma, D, Gillian, AM, & Sandra, W 2004, Human Resource Management: International Perspectives in Hospitality and Tourism, Continuum, Hardback. Paul, T 2003, Organizational Communication: The role of the HR Professional, Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Wiltshire. Peter, M, David, P, & Grant, J 2006, Contemporary Issues in Management and Organizational Behavior, John Wiley and Sons, NY. Peter, JE, & Paul, AB 2005, Risk Management in Project Organizations, Wiley and Sons, New York. Rahul, J 2011, Organization Behavior, V.K. Enterprises, New Delhi. Richard, LD 2008, Organization Theory and Design, Cengage Learning, Mason. Ronald, RS 2007, Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities, IAP-Information Age Publishing, Inc, NY. Steve, B 2007, Fresh Perspectives: Management, Rolene Liebenberg, Cape Town. Tapomoy, D 2006, Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management: Concept, Tools and Application, Atlantic Pub. & Distributors, New Delhi. Read More