Scenario:
Zintas Electronics maintained technological and economic dominance in the post war UK. For half a century its culture was strongly based on lifetime employment and excellent working conditions, which were evident in its people management policies that included:
• A system of lifetime employment
• Equal status for all the employees in terms of fringe benefits, staff restaurants and other facilities
• Centrally determined salaries.
• An audit of staff opinion held every year focused on attitudes to work methods and pay and conditions.
• Formal communication procedures designed to encourage debate of business problems and to allow aggrieved staff to appeal against local management decisions.
Present Situation:
The company has been in serious decline for several years and is in danger of collapsing all together. A new Chief Executive has recently been appointed and seems to think that one of the company’s key problems is its approach to managing people which he views as outdated. Particular problems have been identified as follows:
• The company is insular and complacent, slow to react to move towards a new product range.
• The company’s bureaucratic decision making structure has dragged down its ability to react at a time when the industry is becoming increasingly fast moving.
• A lack of employee flexibility