A Case Study of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant

Introduction

The Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant is a privately owned business dealing in mirrors for trucks and automobiles. The company is located in Richmond, Indiana and has 209 employees. The company has been facing a series of organisational issues that have negatively affected production levels and caused dissatisfaction among the employees thus reducing the performance of the company. The company adopted the Scanlon plan that greatly raised production levels, but still, some issues arose from the employees.

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Social systems

A social system consists of people in an organisation or a company and how they relate to each other (John, 2006). The actions of an individual in a social system can affect the behaviour of the other members either directly or indirectly. Small changes in various parts of a system can cause the whole system to change accordingly. It is therefore required that every individual in a system must be aware of their actions to avoid general repercussions to the entire system (John, 2006). A good social system should an open system whereby individuals are free with each other and interact efficiently with their working environment. The Scanlon plan was adopted by Engstrom mirror company to address issues with teamwork but the plan only worked for a short period them it became dysfunctional. This reduced the productivity of the company.

Social diversity

The general success of a company is greatly dependent on the social culture of the company (Hutchins et al., 2008). Individuals in an organisation hold diverse beliefs and customs concerning certain things in the organisation. It is therefore advisable that the individuals put aside their social diversities and practice teamwork and cooperation. The difference in social culture should be noticed early enough before it affects the entire organisation. The bonus program adopted by Engstrom Mirror Plant was not satisfactory to every employee because some felt that bonuses were being awarded unfairly. Some employees noticed that some supervisors were paid more bonus than them yet they were working not as hard as them.

Organizational culture

Organizational culture entails the organisation's way of operation (Korte, 2007). Organizational culture is significant for any organisation and greatly influences the operations and productivity of the organisation (Korte, 2007). The organisation must, therefore, have positive values that could ensure that the employee gives their best to the organisation. The Engstrom Mirror plant initially experienced low productivity and almost collapse because the company's culture did not motivate its employees and therefore the employee did not give their best to the company.

Organizational behaviour

The process of understanding how individuals act in an organisation contribute the organisational behaviour (Argote et al., 2007). An organisation should have a means of studying how its various individuals act as they carry out the daily operation of the company and put in place the necessary measures to influence their actions in favour of the entire company (Hutchin et al., 2008). The Engstrom Company lacked a proper organisational behaviour that led to poor performance of individuals thus the poor performance of the entire company.

In an organisation with many employees, the employees usually have expectations from the management, and if their expectations are not met, there would be a general decrease in performance levels. The company would, therefore, experience low production levels and low profits. This may even lead to separation from the company and eventually the closure of the company. An organisation should always operate to meet the expectations of the employees. If the performance levels of the employees are noticed to be dropping, necessary measures should be put in place to salvage the situation.

If the energy levels of employees are noticed to decrease, their morale should be uplifted through motivations (Korte, 2007). This may entail work motivation in that the employees are encouraged to take part in certain behaviours that would bring individual satisfaction and brings helpfulness to the entire organisation. The organisation constantly remind the employees of the objective of the organisation. This would act as a motivational drive, for instance, the employees should have the drive to accomplish, a drive to relate people effectively and a drive to influence people or situations. The organization may also motivate its employees through giving of incentives for example wage incentives to increase their energy to deliver for the organisation. Incentives should be given in certain conditions encouraging the employees to work hard to attain the stipulated conditions to get the incentive.

Poorly aligned and administrative human behaviour theories cause negative impacts on an organisation (Hutchis et al., 2008). First, it can lead to fatigue of employees. Poor organisation of a company for instance long working hours for employees throughout the week may cause fatigue to the employee and their performance level greatly decreases. Second, poor alignment and administration may lead to continuous reinforcement to various sections of the company. The company would, therefore, be inconsistent in productivity as various issues arise during operations that require reinforcement which sometimes the required personnel is not available. Poor alignment may also lead to difficulties in carrying out the various activities of a company.

From the preceding discussions, The Engstrom Mirror Plant went through various known organisational issues greatly associated with its management. However, after new management came in, things started working out, and profits were realized. Poor management of an organization or a company greatly impacts the company negatively leading to low morale among the employees, reduced levels of production, a decrease in profit margins and general business failure.

References

Argote, L., & Greve, H. R. (2007). A behavioral theory of the firm-40 years and counting: Introduction and impact. Organization Science, 18(3), 337-349.

Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of management review, 31(2), 386-408.

Hutchins, H. M., & Wang, J. (2008). Organizational crisis management and human resource development: A review of the literature and implications to HRD research and practice. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(3), 310-330.

Korte, R. F. (2007). A review of social identity theory with implications for training and development. Journal of European Industrial Training, 31(3), 166-180.