CASE STUDY OF BRADLEY COOPER

summary

This report is related with the case study of Bradley Company that is a metal producing firm. There are three main sections of this report. In the first section, the problems prevailing in Bradley Company with respect to human resource management are identified. The identified issues include inappropriate management style, unethical activities as well as ineffective HR activities and approaches. The reasons against issues are also identified in the report. In the next section, several recommendations are made for HR management of Bradley Company to solve the issues. Implementation methods are also discussed. It is recommended for Bradley Company to focus on participative management style, focus on different developmental activities for workforce, motivating the employees and making policies as per employment rules and regulations. In the third section, the feasibility and implementation issues regarding the recommendations are discussed. It is discussed in this section that implementation of certain recommendations will not be an easy task for the management of Bradley Company. Different issues have to be faced by management in solving the issues. These issues include lack of resources including money and time, difficulty in understanding the needs of employees for motivational purpose, security issues related with participative management style and various others. The last section of this report includes conclusion of the report.

 

1.Introduction

In current business world, it has become difficult for companies to operate. Companies can become successful by effectively running different departments and managing their workforce in an efficient way. An organisation cannot build a good team of working professionals without good human resources. As per perspective of Boxall et al., (2008), the key functions of the human resources management (HRM) team include recruiting people, training them, performance appraisals, motivating employees as well as workplace communication, workplace safety, and much more. In addition, when the business concern fails to effectively manage its HR then it cannot prosper and its productivity will be effected negatively.It was stated by Hendry (2012), that it is not enough to hire the workforce for business concerns but it is significant to develop them by focusing on HRD (human resource development). In addition, human resource development is considered to be a process that focuses on training as well as career development for improving the efficiency as well as effectiveness of personnel, group or organisation. This report is related with case study of Bradley Company. Different issues will be identified and their solutions will be given in the report on the basis of HRM and HRD approaches.

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2.Identification and analysis of issues at Bradley Company

After analysing the case study, based on Bradley Company certain issues related with HRM and HRD have been identified. It is recognised that the management and leadership of Bradley Company is not capable to manage HR effectively, due to which certain issues are present. These issues are discussed as under:

• Unethical concerns

As per perspective of Khanka (2007), it is the core job of business manager to make sure that the business environment is ethical and employees’ needs are fulfilled because it can lead towards employee loyalty. It is identified from the case study that unethical concerns/issues are present in Bradley Company. In the past, the employees were investigated and were guilty. Due to this issue a sense of mistrust was present in the past. In addition, unethical issues are still prevailing in the company. The newly appointed manager at Bradley Company is not fulfilling its responsibilities ethically and has non-serious attitude towards performing his job. For example, manager of Bradley Company was on holiday offered by one of tendering companies. In addition, the workers at workshops are being controlled by long standing employees.  workers are given threats by their coworkers. This is totally unethical and unfair situation at Bradley Company. According to Herath and Rao (2009), breaches of ethics in HR can lead the organisations towards legal trouble. In addition, the victims can report to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other regulatory authorities. This indicates that if unethical activities are not stopped in Bradley Company then the business reputation can be damaged and can be in big trouble.

• Ineffective management style

The manager at Bradley Company is basically an accountant and is managing metal producing firm. He is working as a manager rather than a leader. The management style adopted by new manager of Bradley Company is using autocratic management style. As per view of Limsila and Ogunlana (2008), an autocratic manager does not involve employees in decision making process and make decisions unilaterally, which can cause damage to the business concern. This is the case in Bradley Company too. For example, manager took decision about purchasing the new machine at his own. He did not take suggestion of employees, in result the machine was not compatible with current system at Bradley Company and huge cost was incurred to connect machine with current system. The manager at Bradley Company does not possess relevant skills, capabilities as well as knowledge about the core business and its needs. This indicates the poor HRM system at Bradley Company. The human resource or workforce of Bradley Company is unable to give their suggestions, opinions and viewpoints. This truly shows the ineffective of HRM at Bradley Company.

• Ineffective HRM system

It was stated by Sambrook (2008), that business concerns should design an appropriate HRM system and HRD techniques to become successful. In addition, companies should focus on appropriate reward management techniques, motivational factors, employee involvement and engagement systems. At Bradley Company, management is not focusing on different types of motivational factors including monetary and non-monetary rewards. In addition, there is not any type of training or development activities being performed at Bradley Company to develop its employees. This indicates that the HRM as well as HRD systems at Bradley Company are ineffective and are leading towards employee dissatisfaction, uncertainty, fear of losing job and demotivation.

3.Recommendations and implementation for resolving issues

Bradley Company can solve the issues related with HRM by focusing on effective HRD. It was stated by Werner and DeSimone (2011), that basically, HRDfocuses on human beings and it has no definitedescriptions since human beings are complex and their problems are also complex. In addition, HRDattempts to clarify the issues linkedwith the workers and solve them and the companies in contemporary business world cannot fully utilise its workers without focusing on effective human resource development activities. This indicates that core purpose of HRD is to identify the issues and find solution for them. Bradley Company can focus on HRD to solve the identified issues. It was stated by Swart et al., (2015) that companies can solve the issues through HRD in a very rationalway. In addition, there are different types of activities included in effective HRDand the problems can be solved via solve HRplanning, Staffing, professional development, training, talent management, growth, workers’ motivation, controland inspiration, benefits, salary, effective time managing as well as performance assessment. Some of these activities can be performed by HR division of Bradley Company to solve the issues. It was stated by Torraco (2005), that the major aim of HRD is to improve worker’s performance and it solve the issues by focusing on effectiveapproach. Bradley Company can solve the identified issues by focusing on following recommendations:

• Hiring new manager

It is recommended for Bradley Company to hire new manager because the current manager lacks required skills and capabilities. In addition, he has shown unethical and non-serious attitude towards business. Manager can be hired by focusing on effective recruitment policy. It is important to write effective and precise job advertisement for attracting the required candidates. As per viewpoint of Chen and Huang (2009),those candidates should be hired for the companies that possess required skills, knowledge as well as capabilities to perform the job, otherwise the entire recruitment process will not be productive. The manager at Bradley Company should be hired as per nature of the operations and he/she must possess knowledge about managing a metal producing firm.

 

• Employee motivation and development

It is identified in the case study that employees are discontent, dissatisfied and have low morale. This issue can be solved by motivating and developing employees. As per view Lengnick-Hall et al., (2009), the enthusiasm and morale of workforce can be improved by motivating them through both monetary and non-monetary rewards. It is recommended for HR management of Bradley Company to conduct surveys to know the reasons behind employee dissatisfaction and then draw action plans to motivate the employees. Morale of employees at Bradley Company can be improved by providing them bonuses, allowing them to participate in decision making process and taking actions against unethical acts.

• Participative management style

It is highly recommended for Bradley Company that its new manager should focus on participative management style. Previously, manager took decisions at his own and were not appropriate for business. In the view of Guthrie et al., (2009), manager focusing on participative management style gives importance to the viewpoints, opinions and ideas of employees before making a decision.This style will be useful for Bradley Company to motivate the employees and toincrease the productivity of business.

• Compliance

In order to solve the issues related with ethics. It is recommended for Bradley Company to makerules and regulations in compliance with federal and employment laws. According to Kotler and Lee (2008), the critical nature of compliance is a part that requires HR priority consideration andHR is eventuallyaccountable for confirming that the business is known of its responsibilitiesconcerning equal employment, work safety as well as workforce’s benefits and professional development. This can be done by acquiring up-to-date information about different ethical laws and regulations and creating punishment procedures for employees in case of an unethical activity at Bradley Company.

 

 

 

4.Issues with recommendations

It will not be an easy task for HR management of Bradley Company to implement the recommendations because certain barriers and issues will be faced. These are as under:

1. It was stated by Price (2007) that the needs, requirements and expectations of workforce differ from each other and it is difficult for management to completely understand them. Likewise, it will be difficult to motivate the employees at Bradley Company because of difference in their opinions, attitudes, morals, demographics and values. Thus, in order to fully understand the needs and expectations of employees, time and resources will be wasted.
2. Providing monetary rewards may not be feasible for Bradley Company because of low productivity, low sales and demands of products in the market. But, company can focus on non-monetary rewards like appreciation, admirations, participation in decision making processes.
3. Making training and development plans for employees can be costly and time consuming
4. Recruitment of new manager is feasible recommendation but it can increase the cost/expenditure of Bradley Company, including advertisement expense.
5. The change in managing style and punishment processes for unethical activity at Bradley Company can be opposed by different employees that are currently controlling other staff members.
6. The participative management style can lead towards security issues and challenges.

HR management at Bradley Company can implement the recommendations by successfully coping up the implementation barriers.

5.Conclusion

It is concluded that effective HRM and HRD are crucial for business concerns as they play an important role in effective management of workforce. Bradley Company can focus on different HRD activities and approaches to solve the issues/problems. It is important for the HR management of corporations to effectively manage the issues faced by workforce, to motivate the employees, train them and enable them to successfully perform their jobs. HR management of Bradley Company should focus on the recommendations and the implementation issues can be solved by making effective plans and policies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Boxall, P., Purcell, J. and Wright, P.M., 2008. Human Resource Management. London: Prentice Hall

Chen, C.J. and Huang, J.W., 2009. Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance -The mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of Business Research, 62(1), pp.104-114.

Guthrie, J.P., Flood, P.C., Liu, W. and MacCurtain, S., 2009. High performance work systems in Ireland: human resource and organisational outcomes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(1), pp.112-125.

Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. New York: Routledge.

Herath, T. and Rao, H.R., 2009. Protection motivation and deterrence: a framework for security policy compliance in organisations. European Journal of Information Systems, 18(2), pp.106-125.

Khanka, S.S., 2007. Human resource management. London: Prentice Hall

Kotler, P. and Lee, N., 2008. Corporate social responsibility: Doing the most good for your company and your cause. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Lengnick-Hall, M.L., Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Andrade, L.S. and Drake, B., 2009. Strategic human resource management: The evolution of the field. Human Resource Management Review, 19(2), pp.64-85.

Limsila, K. and Ogunlana, S.O., 2008. Performance and leadership outcome correlates of leadership styles and subordinate commitment. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 15(2), pp.164-184.

Price, A., 2007. Human resource management in a business context. London: Cengage Learning

Sambrook, S., 2008. Critical HRD: a concept analysis. Personnel Review, 38(1), pp.61-73.

Swart, J., Mann, C., Brown, S. and Price, A., 2012. Human Resource Development. London: Routledge.

Torraco, R.J., 2005. Human Resource Development. Human Resource Development Review, 4(3), pp.356-367.

Werner, J.M. and DeSimone, R.L., 2011. Human resource development. New York: Cengage Learning.