PJR designs (sydney)LTD - Case Study Example

Management issues PJR Designs because of poor management systems failed to live up to its expectations and hence the reason Michelle was forced to hand in her resignation letter. This was inevitably to be expected. A big company with such reputation in the country and oversees, the management did not have to be ineffective to such an extent that it had one of its inner circle members hand in a resignation letter (Alkhafaji 59). It is pertinent to note that, having three founders, the company is in a better position to grow strong and be successful.

However, that is not the case. As is expected in any company, effective management is extremely influential in sustaining an exceptionally courteous relationship between the management, employees, and customers. It is worth noting that, building this relationship within and outside a company is not an overnight affair, but one that requires patience, focus, determination, and self-commitment. There are a few reasons that have out rightly stood out; Poor designation of duties This company initially had appointed Michelle Dempsey as the furniture designer.

Her work was to design solely design furniture for the company. When she first enters the office she laments "I cannot take it any longer here These words showed Michelles frustration and anger towards the management for not letting her do the job as is required. Because designing is her area of specialization, she felt overburdened and perhaps incapacitated to carry out other duties. For example, she had to attend a new Interlink task force that was continuously eating on her designing time could not.

This immensely incensed her because she could not concentrate and focus her energy on designing. When work designations in an organization are not well structured and strictly followed, the morale of workers gets affected. They do not get the driving desire to get things done. For example, Michelle could not get her designs for the Hong Kong Austrade Fair in time, as she had to attend to other duties first. In essence, lack of proper methods of giving out duties in PJR designs also led to Michelle handing in the resignation.

In attending Interlink Taskforce, her frailties were immensely exposed. The company should have taken the initial step of giving a refresher course or enrolling her in a seminar to assist her get familiar with the Interlink taskforce. Lack of effective communication We know communication is the backbone of any company or organization. Without a proper channel of communication, management and coordination between the top leaders and employees is significantly hampered. The communication channel between the top management and the subordinates is vague.

There is no clarity in the methods they use to communicate effectively. There is lack of effective communication skills within the company. The management and employees as exhibit this in the case provided (Bhowmik 120). The export manager did not seem to know that Michelle had other pressing duties on her hands already. Michelle too never took any effort in informing her managers of her other duties. Ironically, the management was not united and never spoke one united voice. Some of them wanted their duties be carried out with no regard to the other.

This lack of proper communication within that organization much or less led to Michelle resigning. If the company communication system had been effective enough, mutual benefits would have been realized. At one part Daniel, the production manager was asking why Michelle did not report to him regarding the progress of her designs. This is a gruesome mistake as it shows a dip in communication within the company. Lack of Effective Leadership In spite of the company having a general manager in the name of James Peaborough, there seemed to be a lack of total control of affairs.

As the head and top decision maker of the company, he had the primary mandate put his organization in order. As Michelle pointed out, she was already getting tired of carrying out tasks for everybody. As she pointed out, their lacked a real deal of quality and effective leadership hence the vacuum for anybody to throw orders here and there. In a company like that, the General Manager lacked those admirable qualities that make one a leader. He might have been a dutiful manager, but in the end, he lacked the qualities of a leader.

On the other hand, the export manager, who again has a whopping stake in the company gets exceedingly angry with Michelle and even threatens her with a sack if she did not work hard enough to finish her designs. With a little humility and patience, he should have been able to listen to her and respond appropriately to her complains. Lack of Proper Planning Lack of proper planning is evident. The management and the workers are not sticking together as a team. They do not seem to stick to decisions arrived at in meetings either.

Michelle had been appointed furniture designer, but with time, she was designated more and more duties by just about anyone above her in ranks. They had been in meetings, but still nothing seemed to have been implemented. The company did not go as per its deliberations, due to lack of clear-cut long-term strategic plan embraced by the company. At the meeting, she was ordered to make designs for the next the next twelve months and later got surprised to be asked about designs for the summer range, which apparently was behind in schedule.

The company exposes lack of coordination inside the company by not sticking to the plan supported by all managers at their respective levels. This is because some wanted their departments to achieve their goals without regard to other departments. This simple planning by the management might seem small, but in the end, they matter most about the long-term productivity of the company. Lack of enough skillful employees As a furniture designer, attending task forces credibly reduced her ability to finish her designs on time.

Quite funny is the management team, with the three cofounders substantially lacking the required managerial skills to run the company. Having enough personnel to carry out duties would not have pushed Michelle to resign; neither would it have made the export manger threaten her with the sack. For any good organization to thrive and be successful even in the face of adversities, having the right leaders to manage the best qualified and skillful employees is just as valuable. Only the best out of employees can be achieved by having the right management team (Allen 190).

In the face of all these, training the managers on effective communication skills would have saved the company their employee. For instance, the production manager lashes at Michelle, and telling her right in her face that she did not understand production. In such a crucial time, his words were wrongly chosen and perhaps were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Conclusion For a compassionate and aspiring company like PJR, being caught off gourd because of ineffectiveness in management is a tremendous shame.

This case inevitably exposes the frailties associated with such companies that operate without a proper line of effective management (Baltes 201). It is important to note that the three founders of the company should put their minds together in finding a better way of managing their budding company. Apart from this, lack of effectiveness in communication underlines the majestic and prudent importance of principled communication skills. It is imperative that despite Michelle possessing technical skills, she cannot communicate effectively.

The company in its long term planning would have instead adopted a method to undertake a leadership development by enrolling their managers in management training seminars. This culture of training managers is a key component to a company’s growth. One should not overlook the aspect of training managers on effective communication skills. These aspects warrant incorporation into the company’s strategic plan. Effective communication skills and commitment in leadership are recipes for creating and sustaining successful companies.

Works Cited Alkhafaji, Abbass. Strategic management: formulation, implementation, and control in a dynamic environment. New York: Routledge, 2003. Allen, Gemmy, Attner, Raymond, and Plunkett, Warren. Management: Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations, Boston: Cengage Learning, 2007. Baltes, Peter. Strategic implementation: tools used to ensure strategic plans are completed, Minnesota: College of St. Scholastica, 2004. Bhowmik, Stanley. Heritage management: care, understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage, Michigan: Publication Scheme, 2004.