assignment 1-business management

8/13/2019 Assignment 1-business management

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Assignment 1 (50%)

You are the head of human resources in a medium-sized manufacturing company. You have a new

chief executive and she has a reputation for restructuring and cutting surplus management posts.

She mentions to you that some organisations are undergoing a transformation in HR to maximise

efficiency and effectiveness. She asks you to outline what this means in general, what it would mean for

the organisation, and how it might achieve both cost cutting and increased effectiveness.

How do you respond?

The assignment must be in Report formatword limit 2000 words (excluding Bibliography and

Appendices).

TABLE OF CONTENTS


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Executive Summary- 3

Introduction- 5

Chapter 1- Benefits of Restructuring for the Company 7

Chapter 2- Restructuring benefits for Employees 11

Recommendation- 15

Bibliography- 17

Executive Summary-Restructuring a company has multiple outcomes for an organization (employers point of

view) and the workforce (employee point of view). While most of the outcomes go in


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favor of the organization, only the key personnel is able to understand the vital

importance and need of having an organization restructured. Call it a merger possibility,

acquisition opportunity, slit off of department, downsizing or rightsizing and even system

restructuring of how work is done. Each comes under the category of change

management. And the eventual result that any change or restructure plan focuses on is

increased productivity, profitability, customer loyalty and goodwill.

As per studies conducted by many famous psychologists and managerial leaders, one

such study conducted for understanding change management is done by Lewin,

explained categorically in the Lewins Model consisting of 3 processes- unfreeze,

change and refreeze. The practical analysis done in detail with the organizational point

of view later on in the report, the purpose is to show a crux of what steps would be

needed in the restructuring process.

Moving on the employees point of view, it needs high level of motivation, readiness to

accept change and open heartedness to let go the prior comfortable zone of how work

used to be done. The major issue that most organizations have to bear with is,

resistance to change and poor cooperation level with the employers. This hinders the

overall pace of achievement of a change that is being planned, hampering the eventual

result such as increased productivity and sales. This issue shall be discussed in detail

too.


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The eventual crux of this report is to give a positive go ahead for planning and

implementing restructuring and change management policies and procedures, as this is

the call and need of time to survive as the fittest in the competitive world of business.

Introduction-Beginning with the most important element at hand, the ever increasing competition

literally takes away chunks of the target audience and sales. This leads to lower

chances of productivity and boost in business. Nevertheless, restructuring is one of the

key actions that can be taken in order to achieve desired results from the business. The


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following can be some of the best restructuring areas that can be given little attention

and effective wholesome results can be derived-

1) Downsizing Staff- Being over sized in staff means giving away more stipends and

earning lesser through each employee. It would reduce costs and increase profitability.

2) Building new teams- Shuffling around the employees with the view of increasing

productivity and managing talent and skills better can be an integral move.

3) Outsourcing certain activities- There are certain jobs that can be done by third

parties or consultancies, hiring employees for that purpose basically means adding on

to the costs. Outsourcing is an excellent way of managing resources in a better manner.

4) Motivating employees- As a matter of fact, no restructuring program or plan of

action can surface as a successful one until and unless the staff or employees are not

motivated and dedicated for it 100%.

Based on the above few connotations, backed with theories and applied researched, it

can be concluded that restructuring in the right manner brings about desired results.

Change management and restructuring has become an excellent technique of boosting

and refreshing the business, however, successful implementation and right execution is

still an art that only few manager and leaders are able to excel in.

The financial performance of the company relies heavily on the systems followed by

employees. At times a dire need of sitting back and taking in view what the overall

picture is and how it can be made better comes up. This hour calls for unique solutions,


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considering the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and restructuring as a

solution.

Chapter 1- Benefits of Restructuring for the Company

Restructuring often acts as the ultimate solution for many rising changes and demands

in an organization or company. Considering the fast paced working module and how

each day sees a new reflective practice that minimizes time input and maximizes the

output makes it all the more necessary to stay updated. Now for any company to

actually excel in competitive situations, it is an absolute call of time to buckle up and

bring the following benefits to an organization by restructuring-

Cost effectiveness-

Outsourcing is one of the best work practices that have started taking place. It is due to

the rising single handed consultancies that outsourcing has become possible and a tight


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measure and strict follow up of cost reduction can be done. By outsourcing, the

company enjoys its job being done at the hands of specialists. Moreover, it even

indicates the simplicity of pouring out needs of the company, rest everything is done

and presented by the consultancy. The fee might seem high, but when the actual

operational costs of an entire department are assessed, it actually proves to be more

competitive. Outsourcing also means downsizing. This may comes as a shock to the

employees, but it would even mean that employees would become more serious and

dedicated to the work at hand.

Higher level of staff engagement-

Downsizing literally means holding a magnifying glass, selecting those employees who

are of relatively lesser importance for the organization and getting the employees list

more structured. This act of restructuring also determines and makes it inevitable for the

employees to increase engagement level in the organization. As the need to be more

active, productive and efficient to survive would become apparent, there will hardly be

any chances of seeing employees performing below average level.

Increased quality, sales and profitability-

Restructuring is basically a magical tool for employers. The only aspect of restructuring

is to execute it properly, as easy as it sounds, the eventual carrying out of the whole

process can prove to be quite difficult. As the change has to be brought about in human

resources, which is not a machine that can be reset, it has to be done very carefully in


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order to avoid harm to the overall process. Once executed with excellence, the results

would mean higher sales, profitability and increased quality.

Lewin Model of Restructuring suggests a three step model-

Unfr eeze- Change- Refreeze

If it is explained in a management model, then for bringing in change while restructuring,

the manager must break through the current style of working and make the team

receptive to change. Bring in an environment, such as a indoor training schedule that

needs employees to be motivated and prepared to learn new things and adopt them.

This stage is the Unfreeze stage. Then introduce the new concept or working style, the

main element of how restructuring is going to take place. This the process of Change.

Make it worthy of being accepted by inculcating exercises, dummy acts, sample reports

and results and motivate via expected growth of company and consequent increase in


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pay rate. Once the change process has been well received and employees are ready to

take it forward, then freeze. The step of freeze means simply fixing the overall working

pattern and asking employees to continue with it only.

By following the Lewin Model of Change (Kurt Zadek Lewin September 9, 1890

February 12, 1947) exceptional results can be derived and restructuring can be done

more effectively.


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Chapter 2- Restructuring benefits for EmployeesIt is completely false when employees accuse upper management for following

restructuring plans and claim that it is done solely in the interest of the organization.

Restructuring actually leads to positive implications and results for employees too. Here

is a small brush up of John P. Kotters 8 step mode that is adopted for change and

restructuring by team leaders and employees and then the eventual benefits are

outlined.

8 Steps to

Change John

P. Kotter


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In order to restructure, there are steps that have to be taken on micro as well as macro

level. By following the above 8 quoted steps, it is highly probable that it would be

received with more positivity and will deduce desired results.

The benefits that employees get by restructuring include-

Greater Focus in Direction and Plans-

The direction with which organizational plans are formulated and executed become

more apparent and success oriented. With restructuring policies and procedures, it is

highly possible that a few factors that were previously not given enough importance or

were undermined with the advent of other outdated practices become apparent in a

better way.

Profitability means higher chances of bonus and additional salary-

If the company is doing well, there are hardly any chances that the employees will not

get to benefit from the productivity increase. The higher level of profitability also means

that chances of increased salaries, benefits, bonus, non monetary packages would also

increase.

Sleeker and time effective management practices-


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A larger workforce means greater looking after and time consumed and taking back

reports from people. Also at times, decentralization means less coherence in tasks.

With a tighter, more polished and smaller team, the cohesion increases and the

performance level also increases. The team leaders have fewer people to look after

hence the quality of work performed also sees a positive rise.

Restructuring means refinancing opportunities-

Restructuring revises the overall policies, work practices and procedures. It may even

indicate closure of certain non-profitable projects and re-investment of the finance

imbursed on new projects. If some employees and managers look out for opportunities

of getting new challenges and projects, when a restructuring takes place, it is the best

time to shine out and deliver as per employers expectations.

Often times restructuring can be daunting enough for employees to adopt and then ask

teammates to follow too. By following Maslows Hierarchy of Motivation (Abraham

Lincoln, Theory of Human Motivation, 1943) employees can tap the level where they are


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on the hierarchy and then motivate accordingly to take the restructuring plan positively.

Image courtesy- (Nigel Fenwick, Forrester, 2010)


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Recommendation-It would be a wise decision to opt for restructuring, may it be in the form of new

employee induction, reduction, merger or split up, whatever it takes for an organization

to increase its productivity levels, must be done. With an exception of reduced costs

and refreshed plans and policies, restructuring offers an opportunity to build an

organization from scratch and take an intensive and micro viewpoint of how operations,

systems and working methods can be enhanced.

However, in the quest of bringing in positive change, as mentioned earlier, an effective

execution of the restructuring plan is essential. When a new plan is devised, to ensure

its proper execution managers must integrate all steps and keep a hawks eye on the

progress and movement of the plan of action. There are no two roads when

restructuring takes place, as Lewins Model says the last step is Re-freeze, the

procedure of un-freezing again with short time interval can prove to be harmful for

employees dedication and motivation levels.

With applying a few motivational tools, figuring out whether employees are in need of

financial incentives or non financial incentives, one must be able to figure out the best

way of finalizing and incorporating restructuring plans. As at the end of the day,

increased sales, profitability, loyalty, efficiency would come to the organization with the

advent of restructuring plans. It has also been recorded that the engagement level of

employees with the organization increases as they see a more active, indulged and

working upper management. The overall team work spirit and objective of bringing in

positive change follows the hierarchy of top to bottom, with restructuring employees


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would get the automatic signal of getting down the work boots and bringing results up to

stay on board.

Restructuring is a sure tool for bringing success to competition stricken and fast

evolving businesses that need to stay at the forefront by reducing costs and increasing

profitability. There are absolutely no chances of survival in the ever-changing global

markets by staying stagnant and unimprovised at these times.

Bibliography-

Kotters 8 Steps of Change Management-www.kotterinternational.com
http://www.kotterinternational.com/http://www.kotterinternational.com/http://www.kotterinternational.com/http://www.kotterinternational.com/


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Kurt Lewin Change Model-

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs AND Image-

http://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-

secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needs

http://www.ask.com/question/advantages-of-organizational-restructuring

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/benefit0.htm

http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/122660.aspx
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htmhttp://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htmhttp://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needshttp://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needshttp://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needshttp://www.ask.com/question/advantages-of-organizational-restructuringhttp://www.ask.com/question/advantages-of-organizational-restructuringhttp://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/benefit0.htmhttp://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/benefit0.htmhttp://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/122660.aspxhttp://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/122660.aspxhttp://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/122660.aspxhttp://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/benefit0.htmhttp://www.ask.com/question/advantages-of-organizational-restructuringhttp://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needshttp://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/10-03-12-secret_successful_social_communities_4_social_needshttp://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm


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