Introduction
With the various problems that Cameron Mechanical & Automation (CMA) is facing, there are various changes that they need to make to remain effective and competitive within the market. Failure to make these changes might have a negative impact on the company’s ability to survive and result in poor performance. This paper discusses a number of changes that the CEO should consider making to avert the current problems in the future.
Changes that Cameron Mechanical & Automation
Integration of Departments
Since CMA has one primary objective of producing and selling computers, the CEO should consider integrating all the departments. There are different types of teams or groups that the CEO may consider to facilitate the integration process. A project teams refers to a group of individuals working together toward achieving common goals. This type of group can enable the CEO to structure work effectively by setting specific, measurable, and time-bound goals. Functional teams are distinct in that they are permanent and often include employees from the same department, but who perform different duties. With this team, the CEO would be in charge of everything and every employee will report to him or her. Cross-functional teams include employees from different departments and handle specific tasks that necessitate diverse skills, expertise, and inputs. Matrix teams are unique groups in the sense that employees work on the same product but report to two managers. For instance, a worker tasked with designing a new product may report to a marketing manager who provided the idea and the R&D director who deemed the idea feasible. Other types of teams are contract, virtual, and self-managed groups.
A functional team would work most effectively at CMA because integration of various teams and departments will solve the averaging problem of hampered communication between the departments and the confusion that is arising. Since poor communication and different departmental leadership styles have created the most significant problem between the employees and management, integrating the departments will play a significant role in solving this problem (Benzer, Charns, Hamdan, & Afable, 2017). Moreover, a cross-functional team will also allow the company to leverage its people, existing processes, technology, and information to keep up with the current competition. As it is evident in Cameron Mechanical & automation, the R&D department and its president feel the pressure but still need to keep up with the competition.
However, with integration, the R&D people will be able to access data quickly, leverage the technology, and be able to compete with other companies to avoid lagging. Integration also will streamline the communication between the company’s employees, management, and participants of different activities in the company. As a result of better communication, people will share information efficiently, reduce the cost of processes and save time. It will also aid in reducing workers’ burnout, hence, leading to improved performance and productivity.
Adopting Situational Leadership Styles
Divisional leaders are using different leadership styles including autocratic, transactional approaches, which bring confusion among the employees, create disunity, and hamper communication in the company. There are also many inconsistencies in these leadership styles as employees don’t know which way to follow and when. To avoid such issues, the company should adopt a situational leadership style and implement it across all four departments. The style should comprise four elements which include telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
The departmental leaders should tell employees what to do and supervise the work carefully as the employees are working. In selling, the leaders need to tell employees what to do but be open to feedback. This style will help in gaining cooperation and trust, which is hampered between the management and employees. In participation, the leaders should allow the employees to participate in decision-making. The company has high-performing and intelligent employees, but since they cannot participate in decision-making or share ideas on how to streamline the process because of transactional leadership (Mustofa & Muafi, 2021). Adopting situational leadership will therefore give such employees a chance to participate and give viable ideas. Lastly, delegation will promote cohesion, develop employees’ skills, and regain trust between management and employees.
Communicate Effectively with Employees
Since the CEO removed some management positions to flatten the organizational chat, most of the responsibilities were taken by the employees, and as a result, they have resisted change. In addition, departmentalization has hampered communication which is also a source of problems in the company. The CEO should communicate effectively with the employees and explain to them the reasons for his actions (Michalik, 2017). He also needs to listen to the employees and hear what they have to say.
Since lack or,
The CEO needs to address it promptly because poor interdepartmental communication leads stress among employees and poor performance. It compromises employee-manager relationship, which can significantly affect individual progress. To implement this, the CEO needs to understand the personalities in his employees through conducting a personality test to discover their strengths and weaknesses. A personality test will allow him to manage his team better, understands their strengths and weaknesses, and communicate effectively. As a result, he will solve hampered communication in the company and restore the trust lost between the managers and employees.
Make the Right Hiring Decisions
Nepotism allegations in the company breed mistrust between employees and managers. Such hiring practices have led to high employee turnover rates and absenteeism throughout the four departments. The employee’s morale has gone down, as is evident in this case. Most of the employees are expressing their dissatisfaction with such an act of nepotism in the company. As the demand for the company’s products is growing, the company cannot meet it due to employee turnover rates and absenteeism. To overcome these issues, the CEO needs to make a quick change and make the right hiring decisions. He needs to scrutinize the nepotism allegations, and if they are genuine, he needs to deal with his HR (Firfiray, Neacsu, & Gomez-Mejia, 2018). Though it might be the hardest decision, firing the HR and bringing in a new HR will solve the problem.
Furthermore, the CEO should streamline employee selection process by embracing a merit—based approach. This strategy will increase the employees’ morale, reduce absenteeism, and reduce the company’s turnover rate. It will also improve the productivity and employees’ performance, thus facilitating smooth operations in the company. Moreover, addressing nepotism makes employees feel appreciated, and as a result, they will get motivated and rejuvenated to perform their daily activities, and they will not question their abilities. The CEO also needs to put anti-nepotism policies that prevent related people from working for the same company or department. Well-defined and thoughtful anti-nepotism policies will allow for the employment of friends and relatives and avoid operational and complex Issues. Such changes will facilitate smooth operations in the company and enable the company to meet the growing customers’ demand.
Conclusion
In conclusion, considering the hierarchical management structure, poor communication across various departments attributable to differentiation and separation between the work units, and other problems that CMA is facing, there is a need for immediate changes. The CEO needs to act promptly if he needs to stay effective, competitive, and rebuild the company. Implementing the changes will help achieve significant improvements in organizational structure, work design, staff morale, workplace conflict, and overall corporate culture.
References
Benzer, J. K., Charns, M. P., Hamdan, S., & Afable, M. (2017). The role of organizational structure in readiness for change: A conceptual integration. Health Services Management Research, 30(1), 34-46. Web.
Firfiray, S., Cruz, C., Neacsu, I., & Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (2018). Is nepotism so bad for family firms? A socioemotional wealth approach. Human Resource Management Review, 28(1), 83-97. Web.
Michalik, A. (2017). Strategy of communication in organization. World Scientific News, 78, 284-287. Web.
Mustofa, A., & Muafi, M. (2021). The influence of situational leadership on employee performance mediated by job satisfaction and Islamic organizational citizenship behavior. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 10(1), 95-106. Web.