Business Case Study Format

Business Case Study Format

1. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

In most organizations, resource shortages are a way of life. To make profits, the business strives to meet its goals with lower resources. Besides, they strive to satisfy the customers ‘demands, as well as taking up new opportunities with limited resources. Either, most of the companies target on building capability to improve performance with time through learning(Morrison, 2015). To meet these increase capability needs, organizations need to invest time and resources. As a result of the current challenging economic conditions, we can expect more companies to cut down costs by reducing human resources. This is done under the slogan of “do more with less.” Scholars have come up with the consequences associated with under-resourcing. It is related to shortages in process improvement initiatives like total quality management (TQM) implementation, falling in the product development process, standards erosion, quality degradation, and violations in the rules set in the regulated industries(Morrison, 2015). In the Overworked American, workplace pressures have resulted in Americans putting an average of 9 hours in work, which is a little higher than working hours. The consequences include fatigue, absenteeism burnout, strained interpersonal relationships, and declining health.

Therefore, resource shortages are common in the business world, and they lead to undesirable outcomes. Despite scholars documenting their adverse effects, the question has remained why they occur and why they persist despite their adverse effects. Besides, there is no clear explanation that points to the cause of consistent resource shortage in organizations. Therefore, the study focuses on understanding the chronic resource shortages utilizing data from fieldwork in a manufacturing firm (Morrison, 2011). The first area is focusing on the way different groups like management, production employees, and other shop workers interact with one another as well as the workplace characteristics that sustain the resource shortages. Besides, the paper focuses on the self-perpetuating character of those working around as what leads to their problems..

The Journal includes data collection and research settings. Also, it represents a conceptual model which is described as a causal loop diagram. The theoretical analysis model is used, highlighting some critical features using simulation analysis. The final section is a discussion on the implications to managers and to scholars who deal with resource shortages and workarounds.

1. POINT OF VIEW

The author views resource shortages in organizations is a commonplace aspect, and they are associated with undesirable outcomes. He lists the various short comes related to overloading the employees at the place of work. Also, the author does not find the explanation given about persistence resource shortage satisfying since it’s not adequate.

• TIME CONTEXT

The Journal does not indicate a given time showing when the problem came in.

1. STATEMENTOFTHEPROBLEM-

Most organizations face resource shortages today. The human resources having to bear the extra burden ends up overworked. The results of these workplace lower numbers of human resources include degradation in the quality of service, deterioration in the product development process, increased violation of rules in the industry, standards erosion and budget and schedule overruns the project management. The consequences to individual workers are fatigue, absenteeism, strained interpersonal relationships, burnout, and declining health.

1. STATEMENTOFTHEOBJECTIVES
2. development of a grounded theory that enables helps in understanding chronic resource shortages
3. Indicate how the actions were taken by various groups like management, production workers, and other workers resulted in a scarcity of resources.
4. The Journal also expounds on long term consequences of workarounds as well as looking at the insidious nature of the chronic resource shortages, thus pointing at the link to the erosion of capability.

1. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION (S.W.O.T)

Strengths

1. The presence of workarounds- To increase the work rates, organizations make use of a workaround. Since workaround is faster, it leads to increased work rate, and it’s helpful in instances of increased pressure on employees.

Weaknesses

1. Organizations are always going to have inadequate resources- There is never going to be a time when people have enough resources to do what they want to be done and get it done at the right time.
2. It is problematic for an organization to get the right personnel with the right skills at the right time working for the organization.
3. The good intentions of people interact leading to the chronic shortage in resources

Opportunities

1. Scholars are readily available in this field, doing research that can help in understanding and solving the issue of resource shortages.

Threats

1. Resources to put forth in studying the whole challenge may be limited

• ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

The organizations need to be careful with the ambiguous nature of the workarounds since it can be both potentially harmful and potentially helpful. To improve on resources shortage, workarounds play a critical role; however, its effects may be short-lived. The interactions between workplace characteristics and behaviors of the agent’s working system may lead to workarounds (Morrison, 2015). When these stakeholders interact, there may be a proceeding resource shortage at the organizational level. With the pressure to get things, resources may find ways of working around the resulting resource constraint with significant consequences.

The first consequence arising include the intent of getting work done is realized. Secondly, when people readily use workarounds instead of managerial ways, the effect is that production pressure favor workarounds. Also, the success resulting from using workarounds indicates to the management that no more employees are needed. This helps in explaining the presence of chronic shortages in human resources. The fourth reason is that workarounds may erode the process skill, thus pushing the organization past a tipping point. This makes the organization move towards a continuous regime of poor performance.

List the courses of action the company can take to solve its problem or meet the challenge it faces.  For information system-related issues, do these alternatives require a new information system or the modification of an existing order?  Are new technologies, business processes, organizational structures, or management behavior required?  What changes to regulatory processes would be needed for each alternative?  What would management policy be required to implement each option?

• STRATEGY FORMULATION

Therefore, an organization needs to build a better workaround that can meet its objectives without causing high levels of negative consequences. The workaround needs to be better than the previous ways of doing things and solving issues when a shortage arose (Alter, 2014). Better, in this case, refers to being in a position to solve the problem with a reduced amount of negative consequences when compared to the last time. Besides, the new workaround needs to be feasible. This means that the cost of developing and implementing the new workaround is lower than the value of the associated consequences.

1. CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, this Journal adds to the literature on workarounds through building a link between micro-level behavior of workarounds and macro-level behavior experienced through shortages in resources erosion capability and lock-in. Just like most of other studies, this Journal denotes on the paradoxical nature of workarounds since it can be potentially harmful and potentially beneficial. Besides, the study gives a key focus on the interactions between management, shop floor workers, and other groupings of the employees. Each group here works in its own interest, which results in outcomes that conflict with the set objectives.

References

Morrison, B. (2015). The problem with workarounds is that they work: the persistence of resource shortages. Journal of Operations Management, 39, 79-91.

Morrison, J. B. (2011). The problem with workarounds is that they work.

Alter, S. (2014). Theory of workarounds.