Introduction
This article focuses on the organization structure of Treetop Forest Production Limited. Treetop Productions is a sawmill factory that is located at British Colombia in Canada. The main purpose of the factory is to convert raw logs that have been cut from local forest into building grade timber. The sizes of timber that the factory releases as finished products are mainly of 2-by-4 and 2-by 6 in size.
All the timber that is released as finished products have a standard size. The factory has been in operation for the last thirty years. Throughout this time, the factory has been working in an effective and efficient manner. It has been incurring minimal running and operating costs to achieve optimum output.
However, the company bought new plant and machinery equipments and undertook a repair and maintenance exercise. All these efforts were to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the factorys operations.
To support its activities, the company has a strong workforce that comprises of a general manager, 16 supervisors and supporting staff. The organization also has approximately 180 unionised staff who work on a contractual basis. All these employees are divided into the following departments:
- Boom
- Sawmill
- Planner
- Packaging
- Shipping and maintenance
All of these departments work on two shifts except the planner and shipping departments that work on the morning shift and the maintenance department that work the night shift. In addition, all these departments apart from the packaging department have a supervisor in their entire shift.
To compensate on this, the planner supervisor is in charge of the department during the morning shit while the sawmill supervisor is in charge of the department during the afternoon shift. The distance between the packaging department and these two departments is long. As a result, the packaging department has been receiving minimal supervision. This has resulted to a decline in the performance of the department.
Most of the products of the factory are sold in the international market. Here, the customers mainly rely on the packaging of these undifferentiated goods to decide on which company to buy from. Initially, Treetop had been experiencing high rates of purchase of its products.
However, as a result of the laxity of the packaging department, many consumers have declined purchasing products from Treetop and instead purchased from rival companies. This has tremendously reduced the revenue of the company. In addition, there is a huge backlog of work in the packaging department. This has come about as a result of increased production from other department and laxity on the packaging department.
To compensate for this backlog, the employees of the department have to work more hours during their shifts. This in turn increases the cost budget of the factory as a result of the overtime dues. In addition, employees of the department have been increasing their breaks and going home early. This has impacted negatively on the operations of the department and that of the factory as a whole.
This scenario is common is many manufacturing and processing companies. There has always been the case of poor performance from one or more departments that in turn affect the performance of the entire factory in a negative way. According to the theory of structural causes of conflicts, the performance of one department leads to the underperformance of another department.
To ensure that all the departments in an organization work effectively and efficiently, corrective measures have to be installed by the administration for an ideal situation to prevail. In this case, the management should ensure that the packaging department is supervised effectively. In addition, the employees of the department should be motivated in order to boost their morale.
Analysis and Discussion
From the information that has been presented in this case study, it is evident that lack of proper leadership is the main problem that the packaging department is facing. The main problem that the packaging department is facing is poor supervision. As a result, the employees find it easier to bend the rules and regulations of the factory.
Poor supervision has led to the employees not being able to meet the set goals and targets of the factory. The employees have also commenced on a habit of increasing their breaks.
It has been reported that they extend their tea break by five minutes and lunch break by ten. In addition, some of the employees also go home before their shift ends. This is a clear indication of poor supervision from the management and the development of bad behaviour from the employees.
Leadership is an essential factor in the running and management of an organization. It is the work of a leader to lead a group of individuals, supervise, motivate, educate and control his staff (Reisner 16). Leadership has been one of the key management tools that have been researched on for many years now. Several theories with regards to leadership have been presented.
Perhaps the theory that applies the most in this case scenario is the theory of the role of human factor in human management (Bass 22). Theory was first presented in the academicians like Taylor and McGregor during the 1930s. According to them, it was essential to control the actions of employees and at the same time provide conducive working environment for them.
This can be achieved with the use of proper leadership styles, employee motivation (through rewards, salary increments, bonuses and promotions) and interpersonal communication. If these set of practices are applied, then the employees of the packaging department will increase their efforts and in the process, they will be able to meet the goals and targets of the factory as well as their own personal goals.
Conclusion and Recommendation
From the above analysis, it is evident that the poor performance of the packaging department is as a result of poor supervision. Supervision falls under the management of the organization. Therefore, to improve on the activities of the packaging department, it is essential for the company to improve on the manner in which the packaging department is being supervised.
According to the policy of the factory, each department should have a different supervisor for each shit. The company has sixteen supervisors. Furthermore, only three departments have more than one shift. This makes seven active supervisors on a specific day (the packaging department is not included). Therefore, on one specific day, eight supervisors are left free.
I therefore recommend two of these supervisors to be assigned to the packaging department. This will not only improve the efficiency of leadership in the factory but will also boost its performance. In addition, these supervisors should be equipped with great leadership skills (Jago 330).
In this case scenario, they should learn how to motivate hardworking employees. This will make employees to work even harder and attain the set goals and target. This will in turn boost the performance of the department and the entire factory as a whole.
Works Cited
Bass, Bones. “From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision.” Organizational Dynamics 18.3 2010: 19-31. Print
Jago, Arnold. “Leadership: Perspectives in Theory and Research.” Management Science 28.3 1982: 315-336. Print
Reisner,Richards. “When a Turnaround Stalls.” Harvard Business Review 45.1 2002: 15-18. Print