Question

please answer in 2500 words the following:

In order to stay competitive, organizations need to embrace the productivity challenge. By referring to the organization where you are working (or an organization of your choice), reflect on different factors hindering productivity. From your understanding of Operations Management, recommend some possible solutions to overcome these.

Answer 1

Top organisations like Samsung have faced various issues of scalability in the past and quality management aswell which has been hindrance.

The productivity has declined considerably in some geographical locations and has delayed improvement and innovation pace taking place.

By this we recommend Productivity challenge through comprehensive analysis of Samsung:

Five Forces Analysis:

Bargaining power of Suppliers - Many suppliers in this segments offer low cost services which means bargaining power is less for suppliers.
Bargaining power of buyers- Sijce Samsung operates either in perfectly competitive market or Oligopolistic market across globe, buyers have higher choices and hence higher power.
Threat of New Entrants- Since new entries from lowcost Chinese providers can eat up Samsungs share due to ease of taxation and licensing, threat is higher substantially.
Threat of rivalry between existing firms- This is comparatively very high as margins are wafee thin and innovation is constantly evolving making it difficult for the industry as whole.
Barriers to entry- Large initial investment, high marketing and distribution spends, constant innovation are biggest barriers.

Pestel Analysis :

Political - India, South and North Korea ar emost errant markets with high taxation and compliance and warfare tensions.
Economic - global economic degrowth and stagnant growth in mature markets is cause for worry.
Socio cultural - changing consumers preference and strong core culture is what Samsung has coped up with and reoriented itself across global markets to stay ahead of curve.
Technological - Wide-spread innovative solutions from competitors like Apple, Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi have threatened Samsung and portfolios. However Samsung has been fast mover and easily stays ahead of curve with its unparalleled premium segment and upscale technologies which competitors match too lately.
Legal- the recall of Samsung S9 has been highest litigation based loss because of malfunctioning and lack of quality checks and also copyright infringement issues with Apple make it very cumbersome and difficult to deal with.
Environmental - the organisations has been keen ethical player and truly abides environmental laws.

Strengths

Global brand image
Economies of scale and cost leadership
Highest patent growth
Innovation and design capability

Weakness

High dependent on OEM
Product cannibalization due to less differentiation
Focus majorly on high prices and premium segment

Opportunity

Tieups with Telecommunications operators for handset SIM selling
Focus on rural markets
Focus on low price segment
Focussing on diversified products like smartwatches, IoT products, Smart sensors, Smart devices

Manpower Optimisation and Workforce productivity planning

Staffing global organisation requires methods like Social Media Hiring, Referral Hiring, and Thid Party Consulting based Hiring which gives quality candidates.

Social media hiring is best for cultural fitments however can be skeptical which is disadvantage as it doesnt give an holistic view.

Referral hiring is another effective way because of trust and Recommendations shown. However it can be disadvantageous if referrences are unchecked and unverified.

Consulting based hiring gives top level candidates based on requirements and expectations. However disadvantages being cost of hiring is very high.

Organisinations must check for quality and skills as well as qualification like global experience, overall countries travelled, cross border cross domain management skills, Leadership skills, International relations management, Team building.

Predeparting on boarding opportunity is very critical for global success and hence candidates must b egiven training in global countries and should be given sufficient time to adapt to its culture and way of doing business and then should be expatriated. Here entire family expenses are taken care of and sufficient financial and administrative support is offered for ease if transition to new nation.

Ongoung training will incorporate learning through peers, transition counselling through past expatriates, reverse mentoring and case studies and collaborative approach like on job training with senuor leaders. Here expatriates are offered regular support to understand working culture, management style and organisation structure and systems.

Repatriation policies like attractive remuneration and total rewards package, career development plan for next 5 years, family health and insurance, children schooling and education support, long term stock options and bonsues, flatter hierarchy.

US employments laws like Equal opportunities as per Civil Rights act Article VI is most important and critical to be considered when in UsA as major emphasis is given on non discrimination policy of hiring. Other Acts being Sarbanes Oxley Act and Foreign Corrupt Practice Act which leaders must be aware of for ethical compliance and demonstrating integrity and honesty.

Any successful business is run by teamwork as corporate management is like playing football where all players cojointly strive forward for common goal.

Starting with HR which forms crux of employment and widening and talent acquisition, employee engagement, talent spotting, reserving and growing talent, promoting talent, corporate governance, ethical management and industrial labor relations has the potential to build strongest base for organisations.

Financial team comprises of risk management and investment banking, accounting, payments, and legal and audit requirements.

Marketing teams handle sales, marketing, public relations, digital marketing, analytics, strategy development.

Operations team make up for supply chain management, logistics, purchase, procurement, maintenance, supervision and engineering.

IT forms technical and analytical support and cyber security rusk support.

Thus we see all teams are inter related and it is cross functionality that drives success. Eliminate any one function and whole organisation gets paralysed. If HR doesn't work the administration collapses. If Finance doesn't work out no marketing expenditure can be taken ahead. If Operations doesnt work there is no production nor sales.
If IT doesnt work there is no marketing and no payment mechanism.

Hence all functions are extremely important and independent. However in overall opinion Hr forms the base because HR function recruits people who are biggest stakeholders and any degradation or malfunctioning in HR can destabilise any organisation.

Thus productivity is maximised by cross functional management of various functions, departments and locations.