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Analysis and Evaluation

Following is the analysis and evaluation of the functioning and operations taking place at Sanderson Soaps in consideration with the best practices, ethical concepts and diversity, collaboration and leadership skills.

Motivational theories used for explaining the issues in relation with low productivity at Sanderson Soaps

There are few motivational theories which can be taken sue of for explaining the issues in relation with low productivity at Sanderson Soaps. The first theory which relates with the case study of Sanderson Soaps is the equity theory which has been established by John Adams (Bell, 2011). As per this theory, it is essential that there must be maintained an equity among the delivery of performance review of the organizational employees.  There are various issues presented in the case study which shows that the family members are much favored by the company in comparison with the non-family member employee (Shantz and Latham, 2011). This develops a negative thought for the management and the organization loses its productivity because of the de-motivated employees. As per this theory it is essential that all the employees must get an equal chance to the employees irrespective of their family or association with the timeframe. The second theory which can be applied at the Sanderson Soaps is the theory of expectancy. As per this motivational theory, there are 3 vital elements i.e. efforts, performance and outcomes (Blue, 2011). It is essential that the organization must provide the employees with rewards and performance appraisal as per their efforts they have made in achieving the organizational target. The outcomes should match the performance and the outcomes. If the outcome of the performance recognition is low then then the efforts made by the employees then there develops a sense of de-motivation among the employees. And this results into lower productivity. Both the theories explained the evaluation of the issues which are there at Sanderson Soaps and also show that there is an improved relationship between the organizational productivity, management theories and the issues (Bell and Martin, 2012).

Leadership style prominent at Sanderson Soaps

There are several and varied kind of leadership styles which are prevailing at the various departments of Sanderson Soaps. Emily Sanderson, the cofounder of the company presently takes care of all the decisions and management of the company. There are people such as Margaret and Anthony who lead their departments with utmost efficiency and effectiveness. But still there are issues present in other departments of the company (Kozlowski, et al., 2009). And to achieve improved organizational efficiency it is essential that an appropriate leadership style should be implemented in the company. The most prominent leadership style which is required to be there in Sanderson Soaps is the team leadership. This sort of leadership style will help the company in faster achievement of goals and organizational efficiency (Gupta, Huang and Niranjan, 2010). There is high rate of attrition and absenteeism in the company and to resolve such issues it is required that people work in teams. It has also been analyzed that there is a high workload issue in the company as people are resigning and the entire workload is over few people. The team leadership will help in reducing the work load, increasing employee engagement, reducing absenteeism, effective learning, increased productivity and decreased workplace issues (Kocolowski, 2010). In case of Sanderson it has been evaluated that Anthony Sanderson, who is the CFO of the company and takes cares of human resource, housekeeping, mailroom, purchasing, bookkeeping and billing function is considered as one of the most prominent leader for the future functioning of the company. As Anthony always emphases over team work and take utmost steps to improve the efficiency of the staff. Therefore it can be evaluate that Anthony can carry forward the operations of company with successful team leadership efforts.

Management style affecting employee morale

The morale of the employees generally gets very much affected by the style of management implementing in the organization. It is essential for the organization to have an effective and supportive management style so that there can be increased morale and motivation of the employees to work hard (Sageer, Rafat and Agarwal, 2012). There are four major areas over which the impact of management style is the highest which includes the attitude, communication, performance and morale of the employees. From this case of Sanderson Soaps there has been analyzed a significant impact p0f management style. In the management style of John Sanderson who is the vice president of distribution and the elder son of James has several issues. The style adopted by John is not considered as a good management style because instead of making improvements John used to complaint Emily of their laziness and uninterested approach towards their work. And on the other hand all the ten employees who work under John used to compliant that it is very much difficult for them to work under his management. It results into high attrition rate of the employees as well as decreased morale to work hard and achieve organizational goals. Another management style which is appreciated in the company is of Anthony who is the CFO of the organization. Anthony always take use a participative management style and this helps the company in achieving several benefits such as by involving employees in decision making as well as by listening to their viewpoints the employees have a sense of feeling that they are a significant element of the organization. And thus it can be evaluate that there is a great impact of management style over the morale of the employees (Chandrasekar, 2011).

Need for collaboration among the consultant and the company’s leadership

In Sanderson Soaps there are several issues which exist in the company and the present leadership is not solely competent enough for resolving them. And there is an essential need of a consultant which can provide effective guidance and appropriate strategies for the improvement and development of the company (Sturdy, 2011). If the leadership of the company will be collaborate with the direction of a consultant then there will be several benefits such as it helps in building workplace community as well as supports the company in adapting any new change quickly. The company will be able to get innovative ideas as well as by appropriate policies there will be improvement in the responsiveness towards the needs of the stakeholders and the customers. The barriers are generally broken down with the expert assistance and the leadership of the managerial authorities. As well as the decision taken in the company are more practical and intelligent as it has been the result of the collaborative advice of the company’s leadership and the consultant. There is a need of this collaboration because of several other reasons also as there will take place rapid resolution of organizational conflicts, after implementation of the etc. All these will provide several competitive benefits to the company as well as will improve the leadership and management style of the company (Kipping and Clark, 2012).

Role of consultant at the time of proposing changes

At the time of proposing changes in Sanderson Soaps the consultant plays a very vital role in the effective implementation of those changes. To manage the people during the time of change is one of the primary works of the consultant. An effective consultant will provide appropriate structure for change management with enabling efficient use of processes and tools. There are three primary phases where the role of consultant is very much important which comprises of educating people about the change management in first phase. The second and the third phase include developing plans and strategies and enabling the other performers of change management respectively (Alexander, 2013). The consultant supports the change implementation program by answer the questions to the organizational employees that why these changes are taking place in the company as well as what benefits the organization will attain after proposing and implementing these changes. The consultant will also support in preparing the individuals for the future changes, managing those changes as well as the reinforcement of those changes. The consultant possess competence to make the employees understand the important of organizational changes by making them responsive of the benefits the employees will attain with these organizational changes. Therefore it can be evaluate that the consultants play a significant roe in proposing organizational changes (Anderson and Anderson, 2010).

Industry-specific ethical standards affecting productivity 

The main business of Sanderson Soaps is related to the personal care products, beauty products, shampoos and high-quality soaps. The floral scents are the signature product of the company. For the production of all these products there is a lab where all the testing takes place. There are people such as Amy and Sanjay, Amy’s husband who takes care of the production department and are against the several research practices which takes place at the company’s research lab. There are several ethical standards which are industry specific that restricts the various research or laboratory test over the animals. These ethical standards create high dilemmas for the company as number of production of products depends upon this kind of research only. This affects the organizational productivity at the most as if the research practices came at a halt because of the industry-specific ethical standards there takes placed restrictions over the production. In the late 1990s, the company’s production was also setback and the primary reason because of that setback was that Amy, daughter of James Sanderson let the rabbits out of their cages. She did so because she disagrees with the research practices which used to take place at the laboratory. Presently Amy and Sanjay who is also a fierce animal activist both argues with other people as they do not support such practices taking place in their company. Therefore from the overall analysis it can be evaluate that the productivity of the company decrease because of the industry-specific ethical standards.

Ethical responsibility of the consultant in the association with the client company

There are several ethical responsibilities of a consultant in the association with the client company which are required to be maintained by the consultant. In the management and business consulting ethics have become a significant value. If there is presence of adequate and standard ethics than it results into decrease legal-contractual and informative precautions taken up by the client company as there develops a sense of trust produced by these ethical responsibilities. From the time management consulting has established into a separate profession there has been increased importance of ethical conducts and responsibilities (O'Mahoney and Markham, 2013). There are several ethical responsibilities of a consultant which includes maintain confidentiality by keeping the information of the client private unless or until the law or the client requests for disclosure. It is required that the consultant should not take inappropriate use of the company’s confidential data and should never harm the client. It is one of the responsibilities of the consultant that he or she should not develop a relationship of dependence i.e. either by the client on the consultant or by the consultant on the client (Kaplinsky, 2010). The consultant should also avoid the situations of conflicts of interest for keeping the company protected. The other ethical responsibilities includes working under the expertise field only, must not act as a client’s official advocate, follow the code of ethics as well as should not miss the discovery stage of consulting. Hence all such ethical responsibilities are the duties of a consultant which are required to be ethically followed by him (Nikolova and Devinney, 2012).

Relationship between productivity and diversity in the organization

The relationship between productivity and diversity are both positive as well as negative. The workforce diversity can be explained as the differences or the similarities among the organizational employees in regards with gender, religion, race, cultural background, age and physical disabilities and abilities. In the present scenario there has been analyzed more of positive outcomes of increased diversity at the workplace (Kearney, Gebert and Voelpel, 2009). The organizations are employing more number of employees from diverse background and cultures so that there can be increased diversity. The positive relation between productivity and diversity can be explained as there is increased productivity of the organization. Diversity helps in bringing multiple talents together who are required to work towards a shared organizational goal by taking use of different of competencies that enhances their loyalty as well as elevates their productivity and retention (Shore, et al., 2011). It also helps in increasing creativity in the organization by attainting differ opinions and views in performing a task. Another key benefit of workplace diversity includes faster resolution of issues, helps in retaining and attracting talent supports building of synergy and helps in developing a more satisfied customer base. Because of these affects there is a rapid increase in the organizational productivity (Shin, et al., 2012). The issue with increased workplace diversity is their effective management. If they are not being managed in an appropriate way then it leads to decreased organizational efficient and productivity. In case of Sanderson Soaps it has been analyzed that out of 32 members in the company 18 are the family members only. This restricts the development of organizational diversity. And thus it creates several negative impacts over the growth and progress of the company. Because of very less diversity the organization has very squat input of diverse and innovative ideas. This will lead to occurrence of decreased productivity issues in the longer time frame (Roberge and van Dick, 2010).

Effects of employee participation in working teams

In every organization there is an extensive need that the employees must be involved in decision making as well as other concerned areas so that they can develop a sense of feeling that are much important for the organization. At Sanderson Soaps in the department of distribution handled by John Sanderson there are several issues related to employees and their declining morale. The employees have several issues with John and so they complaints against his leadership as well as lacking commitment towards organization (Zhang and Bartol, 2010). If there is increased participation of the employees then by working in teamwork there can be realized several positive effects. With enhanced employee participation there takes place improved communication as there develops a free movement of information among the employees and the management of the organization. The management can easily get the insights that what all is going in the lower level of department. Another positive effects of employee participation includes increased personal development, there has been offered several areas over which the employees can show their competence and capabilities which results into enhanced personal development of the employees (Kalleberg, Nesheim and Olsen, 2009). This directly motivates them to have long term association with the company. One major benefit of employee participation is the resolution of the conflicts. There are several situations when there takes places managerial or other conflicts among the employee and the managers but with effective employee participation the issues are resolved much faster and do not impact the organizational efficiency. Correction of underemployment, implementation of effective control, increased motivation and elevated retention rate are also some of the major effects of the employee participation in working in teams at the organization (Thomas and Hartman, 2009).

References

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