Peter Browning and Continental White Cap Essay Example

Marketing department needs to take on new initiatives as opposed to "simply administering existing programs." In particular it needs to embrace the emerging plastics innovations. Browning will need to address Jim Stark.

3. Browning has a problem with his current human resources manager, Tom Green. Tom Green was a legacy White Cap employee with strong ties to the status quo. One way to reduce head count is to release employees who are non-performers. In short, Browning is not immediately equipped with a list of non-performers. White Cap has an extensive review system but it is failing to identify problems.

4. Complicating the employee performance matter, Browning believes that the person responsible for identifying those people (Tom Green) is a "problem child". He has experienced that Tom Green delegates much of his work and spends a good bit of time reading the newspaper. Browning needs to address Tom Green as a top priority.

Approach to Resolution of Issues

Peter Browning is faced with several difficult decisions - each of which is rooted in a culture defined (or in some cases not defined) by people. The most important decisions are how to deal with the various individuals that are obstacles to his goals. These people would be Bob White (actually Bob's legacy), Jim Stark, and Tom Green. It is not clear in the article but Dick Hofmann might prove to be an obstacle because Hofmann knowingly put Browning "smack dab between a rock and a hard place."

* Tom Green

Browning needs to determine how best to motivate one of his problem people, Tom Green. Browning should clearly identify his targets for reducing cost through headcount (i.e., the bloated administration). Tom has been

with White Cap for a long period and should be given time (perhaps, 6 months) to determine if his motivations align with Browning's goals for the division. If they do not, then Tom should self-select out. If he does not, Browning should let Tom go and hire someone strong willed and capable. The plan should include a way to identify the truly bloated areas and those employees contributing to the bloat. The company should move to produce an incentive plan that drives their employees to want to contribute to the company as opposed to feeling entitled as they do currently.

* Jim Stark

Culture starts at the top of an organization. Jim Stark is responsible for the Marketing department and has been unable to push his team away from just administering accounts. Peter Browning should address Jim Stark in the same fashion as Tom Green; layout Peter's goals and identify whether or not Jim will be able to push his Marketing group to align with them or not.

Jim has pretty good relationships with the customers and should continue in a roll where he works with them. However, it is clear that he will probably not be successful aligning the Marketing division with Peter Browning's goals for the division. If he is not capable of forging better relationships with his direct reports, then he should be replaced with someone who has demonstrated team building and group motivation skills. Due to the nature of White Cap, Browning should look internal for a substitute.

The Marketing department needs to push into the plastics market to keep from having to generate additional revenue from the eventual lost revenue in the other markets

where competitors are slashing prices.

* Bob White's Legacy

Browning needs to use his politician skills to break the old culture. Browning has been described as a great politician who shakes hands and kisses babies. He should clearly state his goals to his division and then constantly reiterate those goals in key meetings or even at team outings. Consistency and repetition will be key to breaking the legacy. Demonstrated success and alignment of key areas like Marketing and HR will be critical as well.

* General Organization and Actions

Browning needs to not support actions such as described in the Christmas Bonus episode and should insure that the company moves to a "if the company does well, then the employees do well" model. If the company can not afford Christmas bonuses, it should not borrow money to pay its employees. Nucor Steel is a good model to follow where employees actually took lower pay to help the company through the hard times, a.k.a. the Pain.

There are two other areas that are not 100% clear and I would need more data to understand the scenario. The first is the organizational chart. I am not clear as to why there appears to be an additional layer of management between Browning and Jim Stark. If there was more data in the article, I might look at how to rearrange the organization. There also appears to be a lot of employees in the Chicago plant that will need replacing. Perhaps, it would make sense to alter the Chicago plant and train those people on how to work in plastics so that the division can break into that arena.