Motors And More Inca Progressive HR Case Study

Motors And More Inca Progressive Hr Case Study

Motors and More, Inc.—A Progressive HR Case Study By Don McCain, Ed.D. Learning Objective(s) Upper-level undergraduate students will work through issues associated with developing and sustaining an HR department to support an organization facing labor shortages and high product demand. At the end of the study, students learn how to: 1. Align HR initiatives with corporate 2. Develop a complete HR organization structure, including roles and responsibilities, and then adjust the structure to support the structure to support the organization.

Case Overview

You are hired as the HR director for the fictitious Motors and More, Inc. Motors and More, a business-to-business sales company, manufactures small motors and accessories for industrial and home products. The industry is highly competitive, and the company follows a prospector strategy. A prospector strategy takes advantage of new markets and products (Gomez-Mejia, Galkin and Cardy, 2001). Organizational emphasis is on growth, innovation and new product development.

A prospector wants to be first to market. To respond to competitive and rapidly changing markets, prospectors have flexible, flat and more decentralized organizational structures. Motors and More is headquartered in a small southern town of 28,000 people, with a low unemployment rate of 3.1 percent. This means that demand for workers exceeds the labor supply. There is a technical school and a community college within 50 miles of Motors and More.

Motors and More’s president is former military and is highly patriotic. He is committed to staying in the community. Recently, several other local companies have experienced labor organizing activities. Motors and More employs 116 people. Until you were hired, there was no HR department.

Recently, the organization’s employee turnover rate has been higher than normal. The marketing and sales department continues to sell products to an expanding market. Because of this increased product demand, output must be increased by 96 percent. Eighty-eight percent of Motors and More employees are Caucasian. With the exception of one female supervisor in the customer service department, the president and all other managers are Caucasian men.

Management promotions have been based on seniority. The local labor market population is approximately 48 percent minority. There is a growing Hispanic and Kurdish population that have not been accepted into the community. All the employees in manufacturing (including quality control), customer service and operations (responsible for shipping and receiving; distribution of raw materials, components parts and finished goods inventory; and maintenance and cleaning) have at least a high school degree or GED. The organization provides some skills training courses.

Assignment Instructions

Please refer to the organizational chart in Figure 1 for more details. Create an HR department strategy fitting Motors and More’s size and structure. Consider which roles are essential, which can be combined or outsourced, and how to structure a small HR team effectively while supporting organizational needs.

Answer the following questions and include your responses in Discussion Board 1 B:

1. Given the size of Motors and More, indicate which positions identified in your typical HR department should be combined or eliminated to reduce the number of HR employees.
2. Provide new job titles and develop an organizational chart specifically for Motors and More’s new HR department. Include the total number of staff for each HR unit.

Use the provided template to structure your answers, ensuring all required information is included. Post your responses by Wednesday and complete two reply posts by Saturday.

Additional Guidance

Motors and More is a small organization; the HR team might include a director, a generalist, and an administrative assistant. You may outsource some functions to maintain efficiency. Focus on including all essential HR functions within a small team and determine appropriate staffing levels accordingly.

References

• Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Galkin, D., & Cardy, R. (2001). Managing human resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Anthony, W., Kacmar, K. M., & Perrewe, P. (2006). Human resource management: A strategic approach. Mason, OH: Thomson Custom Solutions.
• Daft, R. L. (2003). Essentials of organization theory & design. Manson, OH: South-Western, Thomson Learning.
• DeNisi, A. S., & Griffin, R. W. (2001). Human resource management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2006). Fundamentals of organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Jackson, S., & Schuler, R. (2006). Managing human resources through strategic partnerships (9th ed.). United States: Thomson South-Western.
• Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1994). Evaluating training programs: The four levels. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
• Mathis, R., & Jackson, J. (2006). Human resource management (11th ed.). United States: Thomson South-Western.
• Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2007). Human resource management (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
• Robinson, D. G., & Robinson, J. (1996). Performance consulting: Moving beyond training. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publisher.