Organizational Background
Supply chain management, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management are considerably three key functional areas of any organization. Effective implementation of strategies on these key areas facilitates the better performance and productivity. It can consider that most of the companies that are considered successful in the existing period are found to focus more in these areas to trigger better results (Christopher 2016).
This essay reflects on the Supply chain, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management (OBHRM) of Siemens. This essay details the key areas of functionalities with respect to the relevant theories of Supply Chain Management and OBHRM applications. O a further note this essay also analyzes the range of the business practice with the help of the business data and analytics.
The purpose of this essay is to help explain the importance and significance of these three functional areas in an organization.
Siemens is a German conglomerate company, which has its headquarters located in Munich and Berlin, Germany. Werner Von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske found the company in the year of 1847. It is one of the largest industrial and manufacturing company in the whole of Europe with numerous branches all over the world. The primary division of the company is based on Industry energy, healthcare, and Infrastructure & cities, comprises of the main activities of the company. The company is the prime maker of medical and diagnostics equipment, which comprises about twelve percentages of the total sales generated by the company and stands next to the automated industrial division of the company.
With respect to the key functional areas and the theories of managing the supply chain management (SCM) can be explained as oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer and gradually to the consumer (Wisner, Tan and Leong 2014). Supply chain management involves the coordination and integration of this flow, both from within and among companies. It can be stated that the ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management system is to reduce inventory and wastage (Mangan and Lalwani 2016). With relevance to the same, it can be assumed that the supply chain management of Siemens has been adapting to sustainability. This has been adopted to help the customers get a clear idea about the main operational values of the company as well as understand the modifications that the company has undertaken to help serve its patrons in a more effective and efficient manner and avert any supply chain risks (Brindley 2017). It can be elaborated that the Supply Chain Management (SCM) at Siemens has been focusing on the making substantial and everlasting contribution to the success of the business activities. The key goal of the Supply Chain activities is to ensure the availability and quality maintenance of the materials required to serve its customers, at a competitive cost (Dyckhoff, Lackes and Reese 2013).
Analysis of Key Areas in the Supply Chain and OBHRM of Siemens
In order to achieve the same, the company has developed a globally balanced, locally secured and closed supplier network (Waters and Rinsler 2014). It has also lent focus on the global excellence in the applications, along with a cross-functional advancement towards the optimal utilization of the innovativeness and cost structures with respect to its respective suppliers (Seuring and Goldbach 2013). Its universal network of suppliers, Siemens has lend a valuable contribution to its competence for innovating and bringing the predominant and progressive suppliers together within its workforce from Corporate Technology and integrating them into the early phases of the product development process (Fredendall and Hill 2016).
Based on the theory of organizational behavior, it is mainly concerned with the study of the behavior of the people within the organization and workplace setting, which involves the understanding, the prediction and the control of the human behaviors (Pinder 2014). Based on the four organizational cultures, Power Culture, Role Culture, Task Culture and Person Culture, it can be considered that this business unit is a combination of two or more corporations (Luthans, Luthans and Luthans 2015). These multiple corporations fall under one corporate group, operating under a flat structure with a modest mid-level management in the hierarchy. Siemens believes in the fact that the skilled workforce is more productive, in regards to their direct involvement in the decision-making process and tends to operate in a wide span of control with a low-level hierarchy (Kulik 2014). This structure is being followed to promote its employees through the decentralized decision-making process. It can be presumed that elimination of the mid-level management ensures the better promotion of the feedbacks from the baseline employees to reach the higher management. With the help of this analysis, it can be stated that Siemens follows Task and Personal Culture across the organization with a high performance (DuBrin 2013).
With relevance to the theories of Human Resources Management (HRM), it can be elaborated as the process of recruiting and selecting employees, along with providing orientation and induction. It also includes educating, improvement, evaluation of the employee (performance of appraisal), imparting compensation and benefits. HRM also includes encouraging, balancing relationship with employees, maintaining employee’s security, interests and health measures with compliance to the labor laws of the particular land (Marchington et al. 2016). In compliance with the same, Siemens follows its specified Code of Conduct policy in the management of the HR, to impart their concerning responsibilities towards its stakeholders, work environment and the workforce. The legal policies comply with the prevention of the fraud and corruption, reasonable competition and intellectual property rights, aversion of interest conflicts and respect for the basic humanistic rights of the employees. It also follows the guidelines of the prevention of child labor along with the health and security of the employees as well as environmental safeguard. However, there are certain strategies that illustrate the activities of the company’s HRM complies and supports its strategies (Nahavandi et al. 2013). The technological and the competitive markets have been evolving and the strategies of the company are modifying itself to enable the employees to gather knowledge in the evolution. Siemens has introduced the system of combined classrooms and hands-on apprenticeship training, to help create more jobs in the future. The Global team management in Siemens refers to the breaking of the traditional barriers where the employees can work across the divisions and assume more responsibility through the extensive training and development programs (Harvey and Allard 2015). The company has been reforming its management to meet the Global challenges by the introduction of regular and strategic performance assessment to encourage every employee to develop their individual potential. The company’s feedback process regulates the bottom-line employees to contact the higher authorities without any lags or intermediaries. The building up of the stakeholder values, by the company, would facilitate the long-term growth and profitability of the company (Harvey and Allard 2015). This diversity management or the values would impart challenging opportunities and a supportive work environment to manifest its development and growth. The good management of the cultural diversity is considered as one of the biggest assets of the company, which can build, motivate, create and facilitate the workforce to work irrespective of the nationalities, cultures and the languages. The fairness, transparency and the openness within the work culture of Siemens would ensure a climate of mutual respect and facilitate the organization’s growth and sustenance in the global market (Harvey and Allard 2015).
Evaluation of the Business Data and Analytics from Wider Business Practice of Siemens
Based on the data and analytics from the wider business practice it can be stated that Siemens has several segments such as the Power and Gas Divisions, Energy Management, Building Technologies, Mobility, Digital Factory and Process Industries and Drives. It also possesses the Strategic Units Healthineers and Siemens Renewable Energy, which together outlines the Industrial Business. The Division of Siemens Financial Services (SFS) supports the activities of our Industrial Business and performs its own dealings with the external customer. All these departments contribute to the “Big Data” of the respective company (Wang et al. 2016).
The Power and Gas Division presents an extensive variety of offerings and solutions for producing electricity from the fossil fuels as well as generating and transportation of oil and gas. The Power Generation Services Division tenders a wide-ranging segment of services for the products, solutions, and machinery of the Power and Gas Division of the company. Based on the analysis, it can be found that the in the highly aggressive market environment, the Power and Gas Division declined considerably in the fiscal year of 2017. This is due to the shrinkage in the market demands substantially due to an ongoing shift.
The Energy Management Division tenders a wide range of software goods, systems, solutions, and services for transmitting, dispersion and management of electrical power along with supplying smart power infrastructure. However, the Energy Management Division grew slightly in the fiscal year of 2017. This is facilitated due to the failing in the Middle East and global commodity markets including oil and gas. However, this fall in metals and mining were countered by expansion in broadcasting of interconnections, intelligent energy and storage solutions, resulting in the growth.
The Building Technologies Division is a foremost supplier of mechanized technologies and digital services for safe, secure and efficient buildings infrastructures, throughout their lifecycles. According to the secondary research, it can be found that the marketplace for the Building Technologies Division expanded steadily in the year of 2017, which was triggered by the enormous demand from the United States and Asia.
The Digital Factory Division offers a wide-ranging product collection and system solutions utilized in the manufacturing industries, harmonized by the product lifecycle and data-driven services. Based on the analysis, it can be found that the markets supplied by the Digital Factory Division returned to its intensification in 2017 due to the rise in the global manufacturing production in terms of consumer-related businesses such as electronics, automotive and infrastructure-related manufacturing.
The Mobility Division merges all of the Siemens businesses in the vicinity of passenger and freight haulage, including railway vehicles, railway mechanization systems, railway electrification systems, highway traffic technology, digital solutions and related services. Based on the analysis, it can be found that the overall, markets for the Mobility Division remained strong in the year of 2017, which was characterized by abiding grants of mid-size and large orders from the other regions, particularly in Germany and U.K.
Healthineers is one of the world’s chief providers of technology to the healthcare industry and a leader in the diagnostic imaging and laboratory diagnostics, offering medical technology and software solutions as well as clinical consulting services. Based on the evaluation, the market supplied by Healthineers grew reasonably in 2017, due to the rising growth in the Latin America Asia and Australia.
The Siemens Financial Services (SFS) Division supports the customers’ investments with necessary solutions and equipments, project and structured financing in the form of debt and equity investments. With relevance to the evaluation, it can be stated that the Financial Services (SFS) has once more delivered strong revenue collections, including the lower acclaim hitting within the equity business. The gains are contributed from the sale of SFS’s stake in the offshore projects.
In the year of 2017, Siemens has contributed its wind power business, including service, into the publicly listed company that contributes to the Siemens Renewable Energy (SRE). It can be found the following decline in the market volume for the year of 2016, the market served by SRE gradually expanded in the following year because of a higher demand in both onshore and the offshore market, with the offshore market expanding faster and the other.
Conclusion
With the help of this essay, it can be concluded that Siemens is a multifunctional, diversified global company that has retorted to sustainability under the impact of the legal provisions under the conduct of the UN Global Compact and the principles of the International Labor Organizations for sustainability. The company has modified and transformed its entire supply chain management with respect to the organizational behavior and Human Resource Management. Based on the analysis and evaluation of the diversified business, the progressive growth of most of the division of Siemens has been observed. It can further be concluded, that the sustainable approach in the operations of the company can be assumed to be the main reason for the growth of the company in the international market. It can further be elaborated that Siemens has laid more emphasis on the adoption of sustainability that has in turn facilitated by its expanding business in the diversified divisions. However, it can also be added that shifting in the market situations are equally responsible for the growth and prospect of the company.
References
Brindley, C. ed., 2017. Supply chain risk. Taylor & Francis.
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
DuBrin, A.J., 2013. Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier.
Dyckhoff, H., Lackes, R. and Reese, J. eds., 2013. Supply chain management and reverse logistics. Springer Science & Business Media.
Fredendall, L.D. and Hill, E., 2016. Basics of supply chain management. CRC Press.
Harvey, C.P. and Allard, M., 2015. Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. Pearson.
Kulik, C.T., 2014. Working below and above the line: the research–practice gap in diversity management. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(2), pp.129-144.
Luthans, F., Luthans, B.C. and Luthans, K.W., 2015. Organizational Behavior: An evidencebased approach. IAP.
Mangan, J. and Lalwani, C., 2016. Global logistics and supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Nahavandi, A., Denhardt, R.B., Denhardt, J.V. and Aristigueta, M.P., 2013. Organizational behavior. Sage Publications.
Pinder, C.C., 2014. Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press.
Seuring, S. and Goldbach, M. eds., 2013. Cost management in supply chains. Springer Science & Business Media.
Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E.W. and Papadopoulos, T., 2016. Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics, 176, pp.98-110.
Waters, D. and Rinsler, S., 2014. Global logistics: New directions in supply chain management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Wisner, J.D., Tan, K.C. and Leong, G.K., 2014. Principles of supply chain management: A balanced approach. Cengage Learning.
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