Summary
The study is about Blaze Company deciding to dismiss their employees after the Company decided to downsize and various problems and changes encountered by the newspaper Company. These changes are due to several reasons, such as technological advancement and the Company’s decision to downsize. The Company has gone through many challenges, and reducing the Company’s size will be the only way possible for them to survive the recent ways information and news are passed. Therefore, they are forced to rebrand the Company and adapt to the new changes in the market.
Key Facts of the Study
The key fact considered is Blaze Company’s changes after downsizing the Company because of the internet. The growth of the internet led to the Company being reduced to a local publisher since it enabled people to access news on their electronic gadgets, limiting the number of newspapers published. The assumption is that the spread of the internet hit the Company financially, forcing them to dismiss employees, which explains why high-salaried employees were being ignored. Another fact is poor communication between the corporates and the workers of the organization.
Major Issue Addressed
The significant issue is dealing with downsizing a company. The growth of the internet led to the organization reduction in size as the people who used to read newspaper magazines turned to it as a source of information. Therefore, it now has to cope with being forced to dismiss some of its employees as they were hit financially. Downsizing made the company embrace division of labor between the few available employees (Schulz, 2018). Internet was also embraced to spread the news.
Sub-Issues Addressed
Conflict within the Company and employee morale were the key issues that were highlighted. Conflict inside the Company surfaced as an issue since Andrea Zuckerman was having disagreements with her superiors but could not resolve them. Other employees also had problems of their own which they could not share with the management. Employee morale is among the sub-issues discussed; the employees needed the motivation to keep them going as they lived in fear, as some of them had been relieved of their duties.
Stakeholders
Andrea Zuckerman is a stakeholder; she is the head editor and oversees the work of the reporters and staff; she is also the employees’ voice. She drives the Company in a new direction. Another stakeholder is Jessie Vasquez, the human rights manager who controls the employees. Other employees are also stakeholders who do different tasks. Their cooperation and proper coordination will ensure the Company’s production system runs smoothly. Each one of these individuals has a vested interest in the success of the company in order to retain their job and income. Various organization specialists actively need to improve their working conditions to stay competitive and relevant. It is necessary to make steady progress under the threat of employees finding another place of work. However, their loyalty also presents an opportunity for professional-led growth and improvement.
Responsibility of the Company
The internet impacted the decision of the Company, and therefore it had the task of publishing news articles, making the news articles available to the local readers, and ensuring it was posted on their online platform for online users. However, their rebuilding was a good idea that they had to embrace. This organization has a responsibility to produce accurate, timely and regular articles in order to retain its reader base and support. Additionally, it must be able to maintain a certain number of staff and promote their wellness.
The Actions of the Company
As a result of poorly adapting to change, layoffs had to be made. That face affected the remaining employees, who were not motivated and lacked confidence, living their lives in fear of being dismissed. It also resulted in overburdening their employees to work extra hard to replace their gone members (Mujtaba, 2020). Many valuable organizational assets were lost, leading to problems with the production of content and maintenance of the organization’s output.
Recommendations to the Company
I want to recommend that the Company finds a more employee-conscious way to deal with their problems. Additionally, I would also recommend the Company adjusts and copes with the change in technology by training its staff to better utilize new tech. This will resolve their problems and give them relevance once more. Another recommendation is the strategy the Company used to dismiss employees. The Company should use the correct way of dismissing an employee. It is by giving them a 14 days notice to make them aware of their situation. They should also use a criterion where the best-serving employees are retained.
Alternative Strategies to Be Considered by the Company
Most likely, the decision of lie off staff was ineffective, cruel and unwarranted. Instead, it should ensure that its employees are well motivated to continue their tasks. Workers must be well trained to work in different categories as the number of employees is limited. They should also decide how to maintain the Company’s small size without dying. The discussion was that the newspaper company could enable their readers to subscribe to their online sites. It will allow the newspaper company to earn and their employees to get the news.
Important Implementations to Be Considered
Focusing on news articles can be a viable strategy. The Company had lost its appeal, and it was dying. Therefore, change is needed to revive it (Onyeche et al., 2021). It should also develop a way of motivating and giving morale to its existing employees to improve their service delivery. The employees would benefit greatly from this as they have a good mentality to do their work. The idea of transferring to another location to work for a smaller audience was also considered but ultimately seen as less relevant due to the company’s online basis.
Case Study Questions
- Andrea should approach the discussion from the point of clarity and understanding. For the remaining staff, understanding the future of the organization is most vital, therefore, the briefing must work as a way to ease anxieties and increase certainty in the future.
- The job characteristics theory can assist Andrea as she considers which columns to merge. In particular, the combination of topics used in the future can promote skill variety. Individuals that previously worked with one news area will become familiar with others and increase their interest in working.
- The data on the capabilities of staff can be used in order to create balanced combinations of teams for each new news segment. In addition, the ability of certain team members to take on more will be vital to reshaping the structure of the workplace. A person that can take on a lot is diligent, able to do work on time, and ambitious. On the other hand, a person that might take on little is likely to be specifically interested in one area of news writing/reporting.
- I would advise Andrea to temporarily increase paychecks for employees coming with the recent changes, settling into a more nuanced structure afterward. Those that work more should have their compensation increased. The problems associated with the process would come from potentially unequal treatment and the need to equate payment with the increased workload.
- I think Andrea should carefully listen to the staffers during the change. Their input can be invaluable towards deciding on new news categories, working on team organization and the overall plan moving forward. A lack of direction can be a likely consequence of giving employees a voice, but it can be mitigated through careful consideration and leadership.
- To maintain a sense of meaning, Andrea has to work on integrating new technology and online presentation into the traditional process of news reporting. The combination of modern and well-established can serve to revitalize the workplace.
References
Mujtaba, B. G., & Senathip, T. (2020). Layoffs and downsizing implications for the leadership role of human resources. Journal of Service Science and Management, 13(02), 209.
Onyeche, C., Ibatere, S. H., & Obin, K. I. (2021). Covid-19 Pandemic, Hospitality Industry and Employees Downsizing: Appraisal of Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. European Journal of Social Sciences, 61(1), 85-94.
Schulz, A. C., & Johann, S. (2018). Downsizing and the fragility of corporate reputation: An analysis of the impact of contextual factors. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 34(1), 40-50.