Workplace Strategy Proposal Management †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: What Are The External And Internal Driving And Restraining Forces For Change? How Have You Assessed The Risks? What Are The Weaknesses And Threats Of Your Strategy? What Are The Strengths And Opportunities Presented By Your Strategy? What Specific Strategies Or Actions Will Deal With The Specific Challenges Of Your Plan? What Is Your Time-Line? Do Some Strategies Have To Be Implemented Before Others? What Are The Clear Roles And Responsibilities Of Individuals And Groups? Answers: Introducation Workplace strategies are developed with the view of generating changes in the organization to achieve further success or to counter present failure. Every strategy should have a certain audience or group (Chu et al. 2016). Located in Bunbury region, (WA), Total Chemicals is a chemical company of medium size. Founded by George Smith, this company used to generate strain of vaccination which are proved to be effective in treating whopping cough in cows. George Smith strengthened research and development activities of the company in order to explore suitable and cost effective raw materials for the vaccination. Next leaders failed to maintain the standard George initiated in the company and presently concentrating on chemical products closely associated with agricultural goods and industrial solvents adhesives. Profit margin of this company is falling gradually even with the considerable hike on the sales of the products. 700 employees work in this company, while 52% of this workforce are with the company for more than 15 years of time. Employees of this company are close linked with the two active unions, namely, Australian Workers Union (AWU) and Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA). Australia's oldest and largest trade union Australian Workers Union represents workers of different fields and segments, like, manufacturing, agriculture, plastics and chemicals, state public services, local government, construction, health, hospitality, aquaculture, events etc. Manufacturing opportunities are currently moving overseas; hence employment done on the basis of contracts through AWU now-a-days. As the largest non-profit organization of Australia, Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia is representing more than 25000 workers. They play an important role in the employment of middle to high level workers in different industries. Considering the downturn of the company, the current board of directors has chosen Mr Black as the new CEO of the organization by replacing Mr. White. Mr. Black and his management team come up with new radical ideas with an aim to increase the productivity of the organization. Presently, they are running far below than their other competitors in the market. Growing pressure of the environmental authorities is creating obligations of flexible production with huge environment taxes and regulations (Dechezleprtre and Sato, 2017). Their market in Asia is quite more flexible than Australian market due to lack of environmental legislations there. Management, by intervening situations, put their focus on maintaining or increasing company's productivity along with the introduction of cost effective strategies with a view of profit maximization. Productivity plans of Mr. Black and his management team are generating stress among the board of members. In the same way, they are also concerned ab out the future of the organization. They made an effort to analyse the effectiveness of Mr. Black's radical planning strategy in the development of the organization. As per the requirement of this assignment, 'Management-union cooperation in Workplace' perspective has been nominated. Chosen Perspective: Management-union cooperation in Workplace: Mr. Grey, a workplace relations consultant, has been appointed by the board of directors. Board of directors are intending to introduce a plan which not necessarily causes disruption in the organization (Currie et al. 2016). That is why, they are depending on the consultancy of Mr. Grey in helping them to come out of this hazardous situation. Mr. Grey explores several facts and has started analysing facts to prepare an effective strategy for the development of Total Chemicals. Mr. Grey should consider the position of the management, workers and unions in the development of the organization. Background of the organization are closely connected with different social, economic, environmental and political factors of the nation. Mr. Grey should be able interpret the influences of those factors in the development of the organization. History of failure of the organization should be studied to understand how the profit margin of the organization decreased with time (Dobbins and Dundon, 201 6). Strategies of George Smith should also be considered in this regard. Identify your strategys goal and specific outcomes After exploring the performance and background of the organization, Mr. Grey has started to frame strategy proposal for the organization. He identifies the goals of this strategy in regard to the development of the organization. Partially keeping some of the strategies of Mr. Black, Mr. Grey offers a plan with slight modification. He seconded the technological planning of Mr. Black. He emphasizes on developing a inspection unit by engaging numbers of experienced workers of the organization (Grant, 2016). This group will be responsible for the selection of raw materials. He opposed the redundancy program of Mr. Black, as this can cause unrest incidences among the workforce. Instead of cutting jobs, he suggests to reduce the amount of bonus and other production costs. Strategys goal: To achieve 6% profit margin in next 3 years To make Total Chemicals a better workplace for the workers and other stakeholders To encourage joint participation of management and union; take decisions harmoniously To introduce new research and development plan to assess new source of opportunities Outcome of this strategy involves ultimate involvement of the management and unions (McCormack and Johnson, 2016). Organizational workforce should accept the strategy in order to make out desired outcome from it. Appropriate action plan should be framed to utilize the strategy. Outcome is nothing but the product of plans and performances. There are different potential external and internal driving forces influencing changes in the organization. In order to facilitate change, new strategy should be able control the influences of these factors (Leonidou et al. 2017). Industrial relations system: Industrial relations involve the interests and contribution of management, unions, workers, board of directors, competitors, suppliers, customers and etc in the development of the organization (Johnston and Marshall, 2016). Strategy should be able to meet the needs of all. Practice of ethical codes of conduct is necessary in addressing the needs of the stakeholders. Industry: The plastic and chemical industry of Australia has a promising and sustainable future. It employs almost 83000 people across the Australia. Different supply chains, research activities are related with this industry. It supplies their products health care, educational, technological and other organizations. This industry holds 10% share of Australia's manufacturing activities. So, there is potential scope for Total Chemicals if they are implementing properly strategies and planning. Alternative employment: Alternative employment involves the concepts of part time workers, seasonal workers, contractual workers etc ((Leonidou et al. 2016). It also states the overtime arrangements of the organization in increasing the productivity of the organization and decreasing the production costs as well. Workforce of an organization is most important resources. Management should understand their importance in the development of the organization. Community: Australian Workers Union and Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) are two important and effective community connected with the workforces of the organization. Apart from these two, various informal communities come into existence as per the needs and scarcities of the workers. These communities have strong networks and can be utilized in the development of the organization. Different communities work for the interests of their own (Johnston and Marshall, 2016). Government: Total Chemicals should work according to laws and legislations of the nation. Illegal and unethical practices can be detrimental to the development of the organization. Strategies should be match the environmental regulations of the nation (Leonidou et al. 2017). In Australia, local government plays an important role in controlling the activities of the organizations. Management of Total Chemicals should consider the responses of local government in this regard. Risks are assessed through understanding the seriousness of this situation in the organization (Thakor, 2016). Mr. Grey identifies risks while exploring several avenues of his strategy. Grey initiates discussion with management staffs, board of directors, workers to understand different issues and interests present in the organization. Potential risks are as follows- Technological advancements risks Production risks Financial risks Clash between union and management Relevant predictions should be made to counter the influence of risks in the development of the organization. Not cutting the jobs of the employees of the organization, can be considered as biggest weaknesses of this strategy. Redundancy program, though not useful for the employees, is quite beneficial to cut the production costs of the organization in the time of crisis (Torabi et al. 2016). Organization should think about an effective way to maintain the costs of these employees. This strategy fails to provide concrete solutions that how this organization will be able to maintain its product cost. Secondly, this strategy fails to consider the negative influences of union in the production process of the organization. Potential strengths and opportunities associated with this strategy are as follow- Technological advancements can be considered as one of the most potential strengths of this strategy. It can reduce the hazardous incidences of accidents in the organization (Chaves, 2016). It can facilitate smooth and timely production and can achieve both employee and customer satisfaction by earning satisfactory profit margin for the organization. Cancelation of the Redundancy plans can ensure the loyalty of the workers towards the organization. It can reduce the influences of unions among the decisions of the workers. Introduction of research and development activities can be considered another strength of this strategy (Svensson et al. 2016). Research and development activities are closely connected with the foundation of the organization. This special touch may help the organization to reach its previous height. Introduction of Inspection group may prove to beneficial to the development of the organization (Chaves, 2016). Employees may enjoy this new role and become motivated towards the activities of the organization. Technological implementation may cause incidences of unrest in the organization (Al Shobaki et al. 2017). Employees of the organization use outdated machineries in the production process of the organization. These machines are slow and inefficient in production. But employees are well accustomed with the use of those outdated machines. They may oppose this advancement programs by withdrawing their co-operation. Unions may play a manipulating role in influencing the behaviour of the employees in the organization. In this condition, loyalty of the employees may save the situation. The emphasis given on the human resources of the organization can act positively in this regard. Trainings should provided by the organization to help them to adopt new technological advancements (Wieland et al. 2017). Employee counselling tool can be very much effective to mould responses of the employees in a productive way. Harmonious co-operation between management and unions will reduce the cases of grie vances in the organization. Profit target adopted in this strategy will keep the management and employees motivated in imparting best performance in the organization. Strategy covers the period of three years. In these three years, Total Chemicals needs to prepare itself for better achievements. Big target periods can be divided into short term goals to make it goal oriented and effective (Csaszar and Levinthal, 2016). Short term goals and related actions should be assessed and evaluated by responsible authorities. New strategies are born from the ideas of old ones. Strategies of George Smith, Mr. White and Mr. Black have been utilized to develop a new one. Mr. Grey does not discard all the plans of Mr. Black as some of them are effective and beneficial to the development of the organization. Research and development activities, initiated by George Smith led the foundation of the organization. Contribution and strategies of old CEOs helped the organization to survive and sustain in different times. New strategy should consider the relevancies of all in the implementation of new strategy. Resources needed for the implementation of the strategy developed by Mr. Grey are as follows- Human Resources: Different kinds of workforces are required to work according to the strategies of Mr. Grey (Reiche et al. 2016). Inspectors are needed to inspect the quality of the raw materials going to be used in the production process of the organization. Technological resources: New advanced machineries should be there to match the requirement of the strategy. Organization should provide trainings to help the employees to adopt new technologies. Knowledge Resources: Board of directors and management team should explore relevant knowledge to act more effectively with the new strategy of the organization. Financial Resources: Organization should be able to convince their financial partners to rely upon their strategies and to support them with financial aids (Reiche et al. 2016). Agreements with the stakeholders are also crucial in this regard. Community Resources: Organization also require local community resources in the implementation of strategic planning. Support and approval of local government is vital in this regard. Individuals and groups related to the strategic planning of the organization are follows- Board of Directors: Strategic decision making, research and development initiatives, developing networks, providing secure and pleasant working atmosphere to the employees of the organization (Dawson, 2017) Management Team: Planning, organizing, controlling, evaluating, implementing in the organizational context and to facilitate development, providing secure and pleasant working atmosphere to the employees of the organization Unions: Taking care of the interests of the employees and preventing the incidences of discrimination, Generating peaceful working atmosphere (Dawson, 2017) Chemical Engineers: Facilitating technological changes in the organization, providing training to the staff members of the organization Production managers and supervisors: Imparting the roles and responsibilities of strategic planning and Concentrating on self assessment and self development (Dawson, 2017) Inspectors: Inspecting the quality of the raw materials and final goods of the organization Labourers: Following the orders of the production managers and supervisors under the rules and regulation of the organization. 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