Case Study Eastman Sports Cars Management Essay

First, to answer the case study about Eastman Cars Sports Ltd. This will be done by identifying issues relating to L&D within this company.

Secondly, to propose solution in connection to L&D aiming at improving both the performance and the workplace at Eastman cars

Finally, this report will try as much as possible to predict potentials barriers to face in the process of introducing L&D strategies.

2.0 Issues identified with proposition regarding L&D

After readiing the case study, I discovered that the company is so antiquated that they are not worth functionable. According to the case study staff have lack of limited resources. This means that the leaders in the company have rigid culture and negative mindset of managers. I therefore encountered numerous problems that the organisation is facing, these were:

The company was sort of having a unilateral decision making managing director

Lack of communication

Lack of Management system and style of leadership

Lack of technology and training

Lack of human resource management

Health and safety system wasn’t put in place

Low staff morale

All these had an extremely negative effect on the company performance and infastructure. And I consider this as a bad aspect of a stituaton where the leaders should guide and inspire the team, but the issues I would like to discuss is the following:

2.1 Communication within the organization

Problems occurring within business can easily be solved through teamwork discussions. Teamwork discussions refer to internal meeting held within organizations comprising of staff from various organizational departments. According to business professionals, “effective communication within company acts as a major factor that leads to its development” (Thetimes100, 1995-2009). Eastman requires having effective internal communication for it to succeed. This is as it will help in effective flow of information within the company thus helping each department carry out its respective responsibilities smoothly. However, communication may prove to be complicated for the company due to each department having its own mannerism, biases and capabilities. On the other hand most of the information to be conveyed to the departments will be intended for particular groups. Therefore the company need to take great attention on information intended for particular groups. Eastman Company has various groups ranging from formal to informal. Formal groups are those that have been assigned vital roles by Eastman Company and are established by the management which includes sales department, managers, administrators and accounting staffs. As these departments are allocated in different sites within the company, “there is great need for information flow within them to be ensured for Eastman to attain its goals and objectives” (Susan, 2009, p 1-3).

Employee relation with their supervisors can go far in helping or hampering the attainment of organizational goals. Workforce, being the ones involved in day to day operation of the company, may identify various areas within the company that requires to be improved. If supervisors within Eastman prove hard to deal with, employees might opt to continue operating the company without reporting any hitch that occurs within the company. This would lead to the company not attaining its goals. In most cases, “companies crumble due to poor relationship between managers and employees” (David, 2009, p. 5). With some employees in Eastman admitting that some equipment are poorly managed within the company but they cannot help it as their supervisor is not willing to listen to their suggestions, it implies that the company is likely to collapse. Good relationship between employees and their managers would improve employee motivation leading to increase in their productivity. There is great need for Eastman supervisors to ensure that they are always ready to listen to employees’ opinions and work on them accordingly. Commending employees whenever they have done well will also help in improving their morale. In most cases, “supervisors try to look for the negative deeds that their subjects commit forgetting about the many good things they do” (Andrew, 2009, p. 2-4).

It is the duty of supervisors to listen to what their subordinates tell them. This does not mean that they agree with all that is said by their subordinates. Sometimes, employees being the ones carrying out the daily operations of the company may have ideas on how to improve some of the processes within the company such as development of the cars’ bodies. Failure to listen to employees opinion is what is leading to the growth of don’t care attitude among staffs within Eastman company. If not dealt with urgently, it would lead to the company incurring a lot of expenses in purchasing and repairing damaged equipments. In practice therefore Eastman should arrange and encourage the departments in looking after employee’s interest. From this mayo (1980-1949) suggest that employee’s are motivated “when there is a better communication between managers and workers”. He also concluded “there should be a greater management involvement”. It is manager requirement to educate, influence, motivate and learn to approach his employees.

2.2 Lack of technology / Training

With increased development in technology, business organizations need to regularly conduct training to their staffs to improve their productivity. Bearing in mind that Eastman only conducts only technical training to its staff when they are employed, the company requires to conduct training to it staffs. To conduct effective employee training and development, Eastman requires being aware of all changes that will result from the training. For it to maintain its competitive power in the market, it needs to impart new knowledge within its employees and not rely on what employees already know. Continuous employee training and education has proved to be a key factor in improving organization performance. In conducting the training, Eastman need to encourage creativeness among the staffs as it is the major element that will lead to the company gaining competitive advantage in the market. “Training will help in introducing new inventions within the company making it more unique from its competitors” (James, 2009, p.2-4).

In today’s business environment, the only way for a company to survive is to be innovative. This depends entirely on the level of training being conducted within a company. It does not imply that Eastman has to go out looking for means to impart knowledge on its staffs. If knowledge does not bring positive changes to the company it is as good as when the staffs are not trained as the company will incur unnecessary expenses. Eastman needs to ensure that it has harmonized its training with its needs, goals and the goals of its staffs. Business training has been faced with opposition from managers who perceive it as expensive and time wasting. Some claims that training is not fruitful while others term it as for young people who get in companies without knowledge. Eastman managing director may see as if conducting staff training is expensive but failure to conduct the training would prove even more expensive. “Studies have shown that empowering employees through training and development has great impact than investing in machineries and other physical resources “(Patrick and Bruce, 2000, p.225). It’s essential that Eastman supervisor ensure all employees are not exposed to exploitation in case they fail to undergo the training. Some companies use training to scare employees by threatening to sack them in case they fail to complete the training successfully. Instead, L&D should be used to add value to the organisation and not the reverse. Clear goals are necessary for an organisation before it embarks on training of workers. If the company goes into training without clear goals of the values that need to be added to the company, such an organisation is courting failure. Eastman Sports Cars needs clear objectives for training the workers.

Learning and development requires resources. An organisation must set aside resources to be used in training workers. The amount will depend on the kind of training they need. The learning resources must be easily accessible to the workers. They should be of high quality and cost effective. The cost of training should not be very high such that it hinders the smooth running of the organisation. Eastman Sports Car has not been doing very well lately and cost of training workers needs careful consideration. In addition, be timely and relevant to the learning needs of the workers. More importantly, “training intervention should provide value for money” (Thomas and Ploman, 1986, p. 64).

The barriers that are likely to be encountered are lack of enough funds to finance the training. Time is also a barrier to training this is because some workers may have little spare time on their hands to attend classes. They may also be free at “unusual hours” (Thorne and Mackey, 2007,p.39). Accessibility is another challenge some sources may not be accessible to workers and the quality may not be satisfactory such that at the end of training the individuals gain very little to help them improve their skills. Lack of proper communication also leads to “inadequate information and advice.” (Sandler, 2007, p. 93). Lack of management support is another barrier to L&D due to Mr Eastman’s lack of interest for training.

3.0 Conclusion

Whereas every employee in Eastman performs a specific task, the company can initiate cross training. This is where employees are trained on various jobs to ensure regular operations within the company. If an employee’s job cease to exist in the company or one department happen to require more staffs, staffs can be transferred to this department without the need for Eastman to employ new staff. This can also assist in expanding company’s capacities without having to recruit new staffs. For instance, cross training has been said to be secrete behind the success of Toyota automaker in Japan. Another type of training that can be productive in Eastman is the just-in-time training. This is where employees are trained when need arise to meet the required skills. “These training can be conducted at work place and requires short time hence not expensive for the company” (Vemić, 2007, p. 209-216). There are many issues in learning and development such as strategies, intervention and resources. In addition, during learning and development the barriers may arise. However, the barriers can be overcome. Thus, the company achieves its objectives in learning and development.

4.0 Recommendations

I recommend that the managers in Eastman should identify and promote learning and development. The company can do this through personal interviews of the workers. “The company can also look at its “priorities and match them against the individual needs” (Thorne and Mackey 2007, p. 16). Once the needs identification is through the company should provide a solution to the needs. The solution comes in for of training or learning. The company develops and delivers the most appropriate learning to meet the need. During this stage, the company works with external experts on the subject matter to design learning packages. The learning can take various forms for instance the course can be computer-based, paper-based, work experience, structured activities or self-paced activities.

The learning resources must be easily accessible to the workers. They should be of high quality and cost effective. Further recommendations include the following:

The company should avail funds to train workers. Incentives can also be given to the workers who commit to training. The employer can give them subsidies.

The leaders should consider In determining the most appropriate style of leadership in the work place which includes: the characteristics of the manager, personality, attitude, abilities, value system and the personal credibility of managers( mullins, 2007, p 390)

The type and nature of the organisation, organisation culture, and different stages in innovation and development.

I completely recommend the managing director (Kayleigh) to act as a coach and a mentor to the organisation. “Employers have the right skills to support the success of their businessess, and individuals have the skills they need to be both employable and personally fulfilled” (Harrison, 2005, p.26).

The learning and development plan should be meaningful to the workers by linking skills to be learnt with the company objectives.

The company should allow worker time flexibility during the course period. The company can assist in developing part-time learning as well as distance learning. The trainers should also train the workers at the workplace to save on time spent on travel.

The company should conduct background check on the trainers to ensure that the relevant authority accredits them. The company should stick to high quality training standards to give the workers high quality learning.

Communication between the workers and leaders should be improved so that information is passed upwards or downwards effectively.

Evaluation should be on learning and development after training to see the value of the training packages.