Organization Development, Class and Change: The Case of Beta Box Company

Beta Box Company is a Canadian based firm that designs, manufactures and markets navigation devices used in automobiles to show direction. The company begun its operations with 50 employees but has since grown to accommodate over 12000 workers. The workers come from all corners of the world as 8000 employees are Canadians,1000 workers believed to be Europeans, 1000 Americans, 1000 Latinos of South America, 1000 Asians, while the remaining are Australians and African. Viewed as one of helping the company expand and grow further, the company’s management objected to relax the policies of that applied to the company. The management felt that introduction of formal policies and laws would be frustrate the workers and even impede the road to creativity and innovation, which are the active competitive advantage a company may enjoy.

The official structure of the company involves different departments that included sales and marketing department, research and development department, Administration department that include Accounting, Finance, IT and security among others. There is also Call Center department that handles calls destined for inquiries by the potential buyers. In addition, Manufacturing department facilitates manufacturing and production processes. Each of the mentioned department has Human Resource Structures equipped with OD Generalist and OD Director. These two officers work to address Human Resource related issues at their specific department level. The OD Director of each department is answerable to V.P of OD.

In 2007, the management of Beta Box found it necessary to employ an Employee Relations Manager to look into employees’ conducts and affairs in the organization. The management then employed Yuri Canned to occupy this position and scheduled to answer to the V.P of OD. Upon assuming the office, Yuri realized that the Attendance Policy of the institution was weaker compared to previous company served. With understanding that manufacturing process marks the very crucial aspect of company’s survival, Yuri contacted the Director of Manufacturing who admitted to experience problem with employee attendance in the manufacturing section.

In the confession of the Director of Manufacturing, labors laws in Ontario changed to accord employees ten job protected off days per year. This saw many employees go for paid offs with problems in the productivity of the company. To counter this challenge, Yuri designed a policy that deducted 0.5 points on those reporting late and 1 point on every absence. These points would later add, and sum deducted from the 10 days. Accumulation of 4 points by an employee would attract verbal warning. 2 additional points attracted a written warning aginstr the affected employee. Addition of another 2 points led to final written warning, with more 2 points validating firing of the affected employee. As a way of building good room for change after every warning, Yuri made the lifetime of every verbal warning to each employee to be 1 year in the file, written warning to exist for 2 years as the final written warning lived for 3 years in the file. Even though the Director of Manufacturing welcomed these changes in Attendance Policies, Directors in the other ODs refused and rejected these changes terming them as very harsh on the employees.

The contradicting Directors argued that such disciplinary measures could make employees in crucial departments like Research in Development feel restriction of their movements and freedom to an extent of leaving the company. This would startle production processes in the company. Another reason mentioned for opposition against the proposed changed was that the law would make it easy for dismissal of current employees and recruitment of new ones. Later even the Director of Manufacturing who had welcomed the proposal begun to poke some mistakes in the made changes. There was also the case of various OD Generalist in the company’s branches in Ontario, Waterloo, Halifax, Texas, Dallas and in Nova Scotia made varied changes to the Attendance Policy to suit the situation prevailing within their own premises.

It worth pointing that Yuri made a big mistake when instituting the newly proposed Attendance Policy. This attributes to his failure to consultant extensively with all the departmental heads considering that he was still new in the institution. He would have contacted every departmental head bearing that they all contribute to the general operation of the company. Consultation could allow him record each one’s view as regards the necessary changes required to boost the company’s productivity. Even after sudden failure of the proposal, Yuri could go ahead and begin to seek each one’s view as to the defects that led to the rejection of his proposals. Yuri could then use the indicated defects to repair and develop another acceptable and better policy. He could have also sought alternative objections from the concerned parties, which he could analyze and harmonize to construct an acceptable policy.

Yuri should have move forward and carry in-depth consultation with the CEO of the organization and all other officers in the organization. Contacting CEO and top management of the organization and gathering their views concerning disciplinary measures against unscrupulous employees could assure Yuri extra power in pursuing the desired changes. Consultation with the potential departmental heads and getting each one’s view was also fundamental as it would help in evading rebellion and unnecessary rejection of every effort to transform operations in the company.