MR601 Survey of Human Resource Management
Stand-Alone Project: Strategic Cultural Change (300 points)
You are the Assistant Vice President of Carpetbagger's Chemicals, a sixty-year-old company that provides chemicals used to create and install indoor and outdoor carpet. Your company has thrived on a "good old boy" network based on relationship selling and personal delivery using a fleet of company-owned, light-utility trucks driven by members of your sales force.
Recently, your competition is threatening from several directions. Other chemical companies, using national and regional transportation carriers and Internet sales, are offering faster turn-around and lower prices. In addition, carpet made in Asia and Australia is gaining in popularity in the United States. Sales have been down for three years, and costs continue to rise.
The board of directors of Carpetbagger's Chemicals recently hired a new president to help turn the company around. He has determined that it is necessary to create radical change to make Carpetbagger's Chemicals profitable again. These changes will ultimately affect the very culture of your organization. There are three (3) top priorities for the new president.
1. Retool the sales force to be more aggressive.
2. Move delivery of products from the sales force to independent national transportation carriers (which will negate the need for the fleet of light utility trucks for the sales force).
3. Create a new, international sales division to explore marketing Carpetbagger's Chemicals to carpet makers in other countries.
Develop a plan to support this new strategy through human resources.
This Stand-Alone Project is comprised of four (4) parts. Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document them in a bibliography using APA style. (300 points) (A 10-page report, organizational chart, and 20-slide MS PowerPoint presentation are required for the combination of Parts A, B, C, and D.)
Part A Write a report detailing how each of the following will support the change. (120 points)
1. HR Strategy
The new president of Carpetbagger's Chemicals has communicated his three priorities. Now, you must decide how human resources will support those three priorities while staying within your current budget. What, specifically, should you start now, to support the change in your own department? Which HR functions will need to change to support the new priorities? Would it help to outsource any HR function or any portion of an HR function?
2. Recruiting
a) You may recall that the three priorities of your new company president are as follows.
1. Retool the sales force to be more aggressive
2. Move delivery of products from the sales force to the fleet of light independent national transportation carriers
3. Create a new, international sales division to market Carpetbagger's Chemicals to other countries
b) As you develop your plan, think about the following questions.
1. What new staffing and recruiting efforts will have to be made?
2. Will you need updated job descriptions?
3. Will you need new Job Analyses?
4. Will you need to hire/replace existing employees?
Begin the planning process now for the employees in your recruiting department. List specific deliverables that you will need from them before your company can move ahead. Also, consider the costs associated and how new staff will fit into the organizational chart.
3. Compensation and Benefits
Consider how your compensation and benefits teams will help support the new strategic initiatives of Carpetbagger's Chemicals. Specifically consider the following.
1. Should you implement a new salesforce pay plan?
2. Since Carpetbagger's will be taking salespeople out of the delivery business, should you adjust their compensation?
3. How will the international sales division be evaluated differently from the current national sales force?
4. How will in-country vs. international managerial jobs be priced?
Also, think about the costs associated with the above considerations and make notes of them for your Stand-Alone Project.
4. Training and Development
The new initiatives from upper management are going to require all sorts of training. The old sales force will need new sales training. Employees will need to know how to support the independent national transportation companies through Bills of Lading, Safety Information, and general expectation management. In addition, the new sales division will require product knowledge training and sales training. Create a proposal to provide training in all of the pertinent areas. Include plans for measuring training effectiveness.
5. Employee Relations
Change can be tough. These may be stressful times for employees at Carpetbagger's Chemicals. This is especially true for the sales staff. What will you do to help relieve the stress? Will your initiatives be formal or informal? Required or voluntary? Will you offer special contests or incentives? Consider how you will communicate the upcoming change to employees. What medium will you use? How will you handle grievances after the change? Prepare now for the massive changes soon to come.
6. Global HR
One of your corporate priorities is to create a new, international sales division to market Carpetbagger's Chemicals to other countries. Consider the following.
1. How would you recommend this new division operate?
2. Would you outsource the sales to overseas companies, move existing employees overseas, or move key managers overseas and hire locals to sell the product?
3. What challenges will you face?
4. What country should you begin your international business in?
Part B Create a new organizational chart for the company. (Both MS PowerPoint and MS Excel have functions that allow users to create organizational charts. You may also download organizational chart templates from http://www.office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/). (30 points)
Part C Since this initiative is new and not within scope of the current budget, you will need to provide a detailed proposal highlighting additional human resource department costs for communication, new staff (if necessary), training (design and delivery), employee relations, pilot programs, consultant fees, etc. By the way, the new Company President is a tightwad, so keep your costs low. (50 points)
Part D Prepare a 20-slide MS PowerPoint presentation to communicate your plans to the board of directors. (100 points)
