Problems Faced by Cox’s Container Company
Discuss about the Organizational Behavior for Cox’s Container Company.
There is a need to bring changes in the policies, procedures and strategies of the organization for the purpose of meeting the changes occurred in the business environment for the purpose of sustaining in the market. This report emphasizes on the analysis of the case study related to Cox’s Container Company in order to find different problems faced by the company in long term and short ter. Besides this, it also emphasizes on the measures that can be adopted by the company to resolve such problems.
Rapid changes have been taking place in the business environment due to which there is a need to bring changes in the structure, policies, procedures and processes carried out in the business organization. There is an increased competition in the market for Cox’s Container Company due to entry of new firms in the market. This has resulted in a decline in the profits of the company. Majority of the employees of the organization works in the production department. Besides this, the top level positions in the company is filled by the way of succession planning (Hiriyappa, 2009).
The main reason behind it is that the employees have an experience and knowledge regarding the problems faced at the shop floor. This helped in providing solutions to those problems in order to increase the operational efficiency in the organization. The main reason behind the decline in the profit margin of the company is that the company has not adopted new technology or processes which might result in increasing the production capacity of the organization. In addition to this, all the strategic decisions are taken by the Managing Director Harold Cox. In order to increase the profitability of the company, Harold Cox has delegated the operational decision making to be carried out by departmental heads as they have a better knowledge of the causes of problems faced by employees in the organization (Miner, 2011).
Besides this, decline in the profits of the company occurred due to inefficient operational and cost controls in the organization. The company incurs high cost for producing the product due to which there is a decline in the profit margin although there is an increase in the sales of the company over the years. In addition to this, there is no occurrence of the continuous learning in the organization related to the practices adopted by the competitors of the company due to the fact that the company has not recruited skilled employees at the managerial positions in the organization. Along with this, the processes and procedures carried out in the organization is outdated due to which the company finds difficulty in overcoming the competition from other players in the market (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013).
Suggestions to Overcome Long Term and Short Term Problems Faced by Cox’s Container Company
In addition to this, there is no involvement of the employees in the decision making process and all the decisions are taken solely by the managing director of the company. This also results in decline in the operational efficiency of the organization as employees work on old and outdated processes which results in decline in the operational performance of the organization. As employees are not involved in the decision making process, they are less motivated to perform well in the organization. For the purpose of improving the operational efficiency of the organization, the company has recruited some of the managerial specialists in order to enhance the operational efficiency of the organization (Harris & Hartman, 2001).
The general manager of the company named Erica Wilson has appointed a new manager of central administration department namely John Straw for the purpose of reviewing the accounting procedures and exploration of the ways in which cost controls could be tightened. There is a lack of proper and systematic implementation of the budgetary system in the organization due to which there is an increase in the cost of production in the company. Besides this, the company uses outdated and obsolete procedures which results in an increase in the overall operational cost of the company. The company did not recruit skilled employees and they learn from trial and error method which also results in an increase in the cost and wastage of resources in the organization. There is a lack of delegation of the authority and responsibility in the organization as all the decisions are made with the knowledge of managing director in the organization (Schermerhorn, et al. 2011).
Along with this, employees are working in the organization from long time due to which they resist changes brought in the organization. The main reason behind it is that they have a fear that they do not have the required skills to perform the tasks. Along with this, there is no occurrence of the systematic review of the operational performance of the employees in the organization. Due to the existence of centralized decision making the information related to different policies and procedures are not communicated to the employees in a proper manner. Besides this, employees in the organization does not show any interest for the change to be brought in the organization that might affect the current working practices of the organization (Ahmad, Gilkar & Darzi, 2008).
Along with this, there is a lack of cooperation and coordination between different departments due to bringing changes in the organization in the form of established new systems that have a significant impact on the current practices in the organization. There are people who resist attending meetings organized to review the performance of different departments as it is a change that has been brought in the organization. They think it is a waste of time. The occurrence of resistance to change among the employees hampers the productivity of the organization (Kramer & Staw, 2003).
Before implementing the change in the organization, the management has not inform the staff members regarding the change to be brought in the organization which has resulted in the occurrence of negative impact on the performance of the employees. There is no proper communication of the changes to be brought in the organization is done to the employees of the organization due to which they resist change in the organization (Phillips & Gully, 2011).
In order to overcome the problems faced by CCC, there is a requirement of recruiting new and skilled employees at the middle level management. This has resulted in bringing new information in the company as per the changes taking place in the organization. This has also resulted in bringing required changes in the organization as the new employees provide creative ideas that can help in enhancing the operational performance of the company. It is also required by the managing director Harold Cox to organize meetings on a regular basis with different departments in order to gain information related to the problems faced by them and the solutions that can be implemented to resolve the problems (Robbins, et al. 2013).
Engagement of the employees in the decision making process helps in increasing the motivation level of the employees and thereby improves their performance in the organization. Besides this, it is also required to analyze different factors of the business environment in order to gain information related to the changes occurred in the industry on a regular basis. This helps in bringing required changes in the working practices in the organization. It is also essential for the company to organize different training programs which helps in developing and upgrading new and existing skills in the employees so that they can perform different tasks in an effective manner (Griffin & Kelly, 2004).
There is also a requirement to communicate the relevant information related to the changes to be brought in the organization in the form of policies, procedures and working practices to the employees in a clear manner as it facilitates in improving the performance of employees in the organization. Besides this, company should also provide incentives and rewards to high performers in the organization which results in increasing the motivation, commitment and loyalty of the employees in the organization (McFarlin & Sweeney, 2012). Along with this, it also facilitates in attracting new employees in the organization as the company is able to provide friendly working environment in the organization to its employees. Along with this, the company should make investment in research and development for the purpose of bringing innovative features in its products which helps in differentiating its products from its rivals. This helps in attracting more number of customers and hence helps in increasing the sales and profits of the company (Fox, 2007).
It is also necessary for the company to spread awareness about different products among the public by the way of advertisements and sponsorships which helps in building strong brand image among the public. Along with this, the company should also build a communication platform where employees of different departments can share their views and opinions with each other and take appropriate decisions in a quick manner. This also helps in developing the required skills among the employees to perform different tasks. Besides this, it is also necessary to build strong relations with its suppliers and customers in order to achieve high level of satisfaction (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2008).
The company should provide opportunity to customers to provide feedback to the company regarding their products and services so that the company can make required changes in the products in order to achieve high sales and profits. This also results in tracking changes that have been occurred in the purchasing behavior, tastes and preferences of the customers which might help in providing the products to its customers which results in fulfilling the needs of them. Along with this, the different departments of the company should organize meetings with their employees for the purpose of reviewing the performance of the employees and bring necessary changes in the current working practices in order to improve the operational performance of the company (Cooper, Johnson & Holdsworth, 2012).
In addition to this, the company needs to provide clear information regarding the changes brought in the organization. In order to overcome the problem of resistance to change, it is required to provide information related to the benefits of the required change in the organization. This has resulted in the easy acceptance of the change in the organization. Along with this, in order to improve the performance of employees in the organization, the company should provide flexible working hours to employees so that they can effectively make a balance between their personal and professional life. This also results in increasing the overall performance and motivation level of the employees in the organization. It is essential for the company to gather information related to the working practices and strategies adopted by its rival companies to gain competitive advantage over other players in the market (Sims, 2002).
The company should implement cost leadership and differentiation strategy for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage over other players in the market. It is requisite for the company to adopt different practices that might help in maintaining high quality of products and provide it to customers at reasonable prices. Besides this, the company may also provide new features in the products and services for which customers are ready to pay premium prices. The operational performance of the company can be improved by adopting the measures to control the cost and minimize the wastage of materials in the organization. Thus, it can be said that the above measures help in resolving the long term and short term problems of the organization (Nelson & Quick, 2013).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that Cox’s Container Company is facing various problems due to which there is a decline in the profit margin of the company. The company is facing huge competition from different players gin the market. The company has not recruited new and skilled employees at the middle management due to which there is no occurrence of continuous learning in the organization. It can also be concluded that the company should provide training to employees for the purpose of developing new skills among them which results in decreasing the overall cost of the company and thereby results in an increase in the sales and profits of the company.
References
Ahmad, S.F., Gilkar, N.A. & Darzi, J.A. (2008). Organisational Behaviour. Atlantic Publishers & Dist.
Cooper, C.L., Johnson, S. & Holdsworth, L. (2012). Organisational Behaviour For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
Fox, W. 2007. Managing Organisational Behaviour. Juta and Company Ltd.
Griffin, R.W. & Kelly, A.O. (2004). The Dark Side of Organizational Behavior. John Wiley & Sons.
Griffin, R.W. & Moorhead, G. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Cengage Learning.
Harris, O.J. & Hartman, S.J. (2001). Organizational Behavior. Psychology Press.
Hellriegel, D. & Slocum, J.W. (2008). Organizational Behavior. Cengage Learning.
Hiriyappa, B. (2009). Organizational Behavior. New Age International.
Kramer, R.M. & Staw, B. (2003). Research in Organizational Behavior, Volume 25. Elsevier.
McFarlin, D.B. & Sweeney, P.D. (2012). International Organizational Behavior: Transcending Borders and Cultures. Routledge.
Miner, J.B. (2011). Organizational Behavior 6: Integrated Theory Development and the Role of the Unconscious. M.E. Sharpe.
Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World, and You. Cengage Learning.
Phillips, J.M. & Gully, S.M. (2011). Organizational Behavior: Tools for Success. Cengage Learning.
Robbins, S., et al. (2013). Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Schermerhorn, J.R. et al. (2011). Organizational Behavior. John Wiley & Sons.
Sims, R.R. (2002). Managing Organizational Behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group.
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