Paper Example on Analyzing Conifer Corp: Signs of Trouble?

Introduction

In a firm, it is easy to identify whether everything is running well or deteriorating. This is seen in either the profit or losses the firm makes. One, therefore, can refer to the two as the symptoms since they determine the status of the firm. In this context, our primary focus is to look into Conifer Corp and get to answer the following questions:

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What symptom(s) in this case, suggest(s) that something has gone wrong?

Conifer Corp deals in the operation of all sawmills that are run by all company producing products from the forest but controlled by a parent company independently (McShane & Von, 2015). Some of the systems that suggest that things are not running well in the firm include poor management in the firm. For instance, supervisors barely visit the department of packaging. That is the planner supervisor is in charge for the packaging department in the shift of morning while the one who runs in the department in the evening is sawmill supervisor. Both do not carry out their duties since the department is located in another building.

Another symptom is where the firm started losing its ratings due to poor packaging quality. This led to the loss of customers who raised their complaints and ended up purchasing products from competitors (Marshall, McCarthy, McGrath & Claudy, 2015, p.440). Apart from that, there is also the issue of inefficiency among the employees. For example, there is the case of employees in the department of packaging, extending their lunch and coffee breaks. The condition worsens further in the afternoon shift where each employee is losing time as they leave their posts earlier than supposed.

What are the leading causes of the symptom(s)?

One causes resulting in the symptoms is poor management. With one general manager and sixteen supervisors, Conifer Corp should be able to manage the whole of its employees. Like in the case of the packaging department where there was no supervision since this department was situated in another building (Starbuck, 2015). This led to the drop of how the commodity was packaged, resulting in reduced output which consumers were not pleased with. The firm used to scoop awards, especially from the production of quality products which have declined due to inadequacy in the management.

Another issue that has caused the resulting systems is the bad culture that is adopted by the employees in the firm (Woodman, 1995). Like in the case, we have employees who are initially employed, not sticking to the routine that is set up for them. This is where some people extended their lunch, coffee breaks, and even left before their shifts ended. Due to this, Conifer Corp ended up producing fewer commodities which were mainly of poor quality. Apart from that, due to the wrong culture that was among initial employees, those hired temporarily ended up adopting the same behavior, which contributed to the loss of time. This affected production within the firm adversely as the output led was not received well by the consumers.

Apart from that, some of the symptoms resulted due to the inability of the firm to control cost. In this case, one finds out that for the company to process its backlog, it need to add extra shifts and some hours before regular shifts in the department of packaging (Yawar & Seuring, 2017, p.623). An example is where Conifer Corp ended up hiring 10 percent of the workforce resulting in an inability to account for overtime, which was around 85 percent. This, however, was a problem since the firm could produce all daily sawmills and planer production without overtime, which made employees earn twice their average earnings. Due to this, the firm ended up spending more on payment of overtime cost to the employees rather than investing in competition from other firms.

What actions should executives take to correct the problem(s)?

Some of the actions that the firm should take to neutralize the issue include increase in the number of shift. From what is seen in the firm is that some of the employees, especially in the packaging departments, are wasting time mostly in the breaks they take (Shahzad & Sharfman, 2017, p.900). Apart from that, some are even leaving before their shifts have ended, especially in the afternoon. This means that some of the employees are bored with the department they are working in. For the firm to improve the situation and curb the issue of time loss, the number of shifts needs to be increased in a week. That is one will be working in a particular department for only a short period before being shifted to another department, which results in improved morale among employees.

On the other hand, the general manager should see to it that all supervisors take their works seriously. This will ensure that all departments are under supervision, thus performing their tasks as supposed. For instance packaging department that is not in the same building with the rest of the departments is not supervised in most occasions thus poor packaging after the processing of the product (Martinde Castro, AmoresSalvado & NavasLopez, 2016, p.250). Therefore to curb this general manager ensures that supervisors represent their department, ensuring all employees do their tasks. This will also prevent workers from leaving their posts until the shift is over.

From this, therefore, one can conclude that for Conifer Corp to be successful new management should be adopted. This will ensure that workers work as supposed seeing to it that there is no time wastage, especially in the breaks. Apart from that, this will help in cost management since there will be a new program to ensure cost in production is less compared in the output.

References

Marshall, D., McCarthy, L., McGrath, P., & Claudy, M. (2015). Going above and beyond: how sustainability culture and entrepreneurial orientation drive social sustainability supply chain practice adoption. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 20(4), 434-454. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-08-2014-0267

Martinde Castro, G., AmoresSalvado, J., & NavasLopez, J. E. (2016). Environmental management systems and firm performance: improving firm environmental policy through stakeholder engagement. Corporate social responsibility and Environmental Management, 23(4), 243-256. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1377

McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2015). Organizational Behavior 7/e. McGraw-Hill Education.Shahzad, A. M., & Sharfman, M. P. (2017). Corporate social performance and financial performance: Sample-selection issues. Business & Society, 56(6), 889-918. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650315590399

Starbuck, W. H. (2015). Organizations as action generators. Available at SSRN 2708094. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2708094

Woodman, R. W. (1995). Managing creativity. Creative action in organizations: Ivory tower visions and real world voices, 60-64.retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4kV2AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA60&dq=related:7mLboFYjm44J:scholar.google.com/&ots=Dhc3ZJuiwm&sig=V6UIhhglfNdUyHLLRJmlHyEeRzA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Yawar, S. A., & Seuring, S. (2017). Management of social issues in supply chains: a literature review exploring social issues, actions and performance outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 141(3), 621-643. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-015-2719-9Es