BM6013 : MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR

CASE STUDY TITLE: LIGHTING ACTION

GROUP MEMBERS
NAME

MATRIC NO.

ELVICA MADING

MB 1512070 T

NINA SHENNA KOSUMIN

MB 1512025 T

VERONICA GNANASEGARAN

MB 1512176 T

AZIMAH AZIZ

MB 1512057 T

1.0

Lightning Action: An Introduction

Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn Bhd. is a resource-based manufacturing company
producing rubber goods and was established in January 1960 under the
Malaysian Company Act. The Tyre Division of the Company was weighed down
by increasing absenteeism, malingering and production delays on the part of the
tyre operators. Consequently, the productivity and quality started to decline and
these led to complaints from customers and dealers who had asked the Supplies
Manager to replace tyres, which damaged within three months of usage. On top
of that, a great number of rejects had been received for replacement as well as
from the Inspectorate Unit. All of these put Mr. John Ho, the Production
Manager, under much pressure. The previous week, they had also received a
special order for production of 10, 000 truck tyres for the government and this
order was urgent. Feeling disturbed and stressed over the declining quality and
production, Mr. John Ho summoned the Worksite Chairman, Mr. Tan See Seng, a
senior operator with eighteen years service, to his office. Mr. John Ho found out
that the quality and production problem started due to the protest of the
employees on the company breach of contract. The employees were unhappy
and kept complaining about the poor food (rotten meat) and uniform supply (two
sets instead of three sets) since the Collective Agreement was signed in
December the previous year. Unfortunately, the meeting between Mr. John Ho
and Mr. Tan See Seng did not reach any mutual agreement. In fact, Mr. John Ho
did not care about the employees welfare and used foul language while denying
the responsibilities he had on his employees. He even threatened to get the
employees sacked if the tyre quality and production continue to decrease. In
regards to this case, a meeting was held between the NUEMRP (National Union
of Employees Manufacturing Rubber Products), J.C.C (Joint Consultative
Committee), Ministry of Labor Liaison, Senior Director, Secretaries and other
managers involved to assign an advocacy to reach a mutual understanding for
the sake of the company wellbeing.
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2.0

Problem Statement
2.1

Upper Level Management Problems

The Managers, especially the Production Manager and the Industrial
Relations Manager abandoned their employees welfare issues and did not
kept their words as per contract/agreement signed in December the
previous year.

2.2

Communication Problem
The Managers did not have a proper meeting previously that led into
argument between the Production Manager (Mr. John Ho) and the Senior
Operator (Mr. Tan See Seng. Failure in communication occurred when
proper meeting was not being held and when the Production Manager
started to use foul language against the Senior Operator.

2.3

Employees Problem
Due to the breach of contract, employees in the Tyre Division of the
Company started to misbehave by plaguing absenteeism, malingering and
production delay. The employees were complaining about rotten meat as
their food as well as concerning their uniforms. As a result, this led to
protest demonstration at the canteen.

2.4

Production Problem
Due to existing problems as listed above, the tyres production and quality
had decreased. There were numbers of complaints received as well as
defected tyres that needed to be replaced.

3.0

Alternative Strategies
3.1

Focus on employee welfare at the workplace

i.

Give Reward
To decrease absenteeism, increase productivity and workers
motivations to do work properly. Employees who arent rewarded
typically lose the motivation to continue on at a higher level. By
offering rewards, managers reignite an employees motivation and
determination and maintain high morale in the workplace. Even
verbal recognition, such as saying "Good job" or "You've been
handing in some great work recently" is a reward in the sense of
employee appreciation.

ii.

Provide good quality food

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 2005,
nutrition provided in the workplace has direct impact on workers
productivity. In fact, the Health Organization (WHO) says that
adequate nourishment can rise the productivity levels by 20
percent.

The employees productivity level of Syarikat Getah

Bagus Sdn Bhd. has dropped because they are not supplied with
good meal at the workplace. If the company provides good meal
to their employees, it will give the employees the ability to be
productive as well as increasing the morale. The company may
also create a food preparations guidelines or a food quality
standards in the canteen. The canteen must follow the guidelines
to prepare foods. Providing good meals for the employee can
encourage. Good food = Satisfaction = Productivity

iii.

Provide sufficient uniform as promised.

The company has promised to provide 3 sets of uniform to each of
their employees, but instead they only provide 2 sets. Since the
worker need to change their uniform every day, the workers has
no choice but to wash their uniform once they arrived home. If the
worker forgot or too tired to wash their uniform, they wont have a
clean uniform to wear for the next day. This situation caused the
employees feel burdened and stressed. Wearing a clean uniform
can influence the employees motivation to work and enhance their
productivity.

iv.

Feelings of being appreciated.

Since employees generally wanted to do a good job, it follows that
they also want to be appreciated and recognized for their work.
Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn. Bhd. need to make sure that their
employees know that they are being appreciated and treated
professionally by the management. The management cannot
simply threatened to terminate the employee without trying to
discuss with the employee. The management need to solve the
main problems, not terminating the employees.

3.2

Improve workplace communication

The management of Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn. Bhd. must communicate
effectively with their workers in order to increase the productivity, operate
smoothly and improve workers productivity. Effective communication
leads to an improvement in overall Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn. Bhd. overall
operations. Employees that receive the most effective communications
from their managers produce high quality work productivity. Other than
that, effective communication can increase employees job satisfaction. If
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managers of the Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn Bhd. are willing to listen to the
employees and respond to their complaints, therefore it will lead to an
increase in employee job satisfaction. Workplace communication can also
have a positive effect on absenteeism and turnover rates in the Tyre
Division of Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn Bhd. Communication flow is very
important to workers. Employees of the Tyre Division have to feel secure
that they are receiving truthful and updated information from superiors.
They also want to have the ability to share ideas, thoughts and concerns
within the company.

3.3

Build good manager-employee relationship

The managers of Syarikat Getah Bagus Sdn Bhd. must have a good
relationship with their employee. Good relationship with the employee will
have a critical impact on workers performance. Manager and employee of
the tyre division must work together towards common goals. For the
employee to work together effectively, they must understand the goals.
Poor understanding of the goals will results in work inefficiencies, lower
work quality and low employee morale. When employee understands the
common goals, manager of Tyre Division can cultivate an atmosphere
focused on problem solving, removing performance barriers and delivering
outcomes. As a result, the workers feel more valued and find their
working more motivating, which lead to a greater commitment to the
company, better individual contributions and higher employee satisfaction.
These create opportunities for increased collaboration and greater
efficiencies, leading to improve team and division performance.

4.0

Evaluation of alternative strategies

4.1

Focus on employee welfare at the workplace

a) Positive outcome
i.

It can create happy employees. A happy employee will be

productive and do his jobs correctly.

ii.

It can improve employee loyalty. In the long run, employees

who are taken care of by their employers are less likely to jump
ship and change companies or careers. Even in situations where
it might be possible to make more money with a different
company, the employee who feels accepted and deeded by
their employee may not even consider other jobs offers when
they come along.

b) Negative outcome
i.

Employees will go beyond their limits if everything is taken care

of by the company

4.2

Improve workplace communication

a) Positive outcome
i.

Good communication skills help to reduce the barriers erected

because of language and cultural differences. Companies that
provide communication training to domestic and international
employees

reap

the

benefits

of

effective

workplace

communication. Companies can avoid cultural confusion and

miscommunication by training international employers early in
their careers and on a regular basis. Effective communication
causes productivity to increase, errors to decrease and
operations to run smoother.

ii.

Effective communication in the workplace helps employees and

managers form highly efficient teams. Employees are able to
trust each other and management. Effective communication
reduces unnecessary competition within departments and helps
employees work together harmoniously. The result of a team
that

works

together

is

high

productivity,

integrity

and

responsibility. Employees know their roles on the team and

know they are valued. Managers are able to correct employees'
mistakes without creating a hostile work environment. A
manager who openly communicates with his subordinates can
foster positive relationships that benefit the company as a
whole.

iii.

An improvement in employee morale can result from effective

communication. Although pay is a concern for many workers, it
is

not

their

only

concern.

Employees

appreciate

good

communication coming from management. It produces a

healthy work environment. When employees are satisfied with
their jobs, they are able to efficiently perform their duties with a
positive attitude. Failing to communicate effectively in a
workplace leads to frustration and confusion among employees.
However, managers can alleviate such problems by keeping the
lines of communication open.

b) Negative outcome
i.

Workplace conflict
When one employee spreads false rumors about another staff
member, the result can often be a verbal or physical altercation
between the two parties. But conflict resulting from negative
communication is often not that straightforward. For example, if
an administrative assistant relays instructions from her manager
that are incomplete, but she does not realize they are
incomplete, then any anger resulting from the incomplete
instructions would be directed at the assistant, but she would
not understand why the conflict started.

4.3

Build good manager-employee relationship

a) Positive outcome
i.

Employees will trust and respect their managers.

When the sense of trust is strong between an employee and
manager, it adds efficiency to other elements or workplace
productivity. A strong senses of trust in an employee-manager
relationship may also encourages loyalty from both sides. When
a manager asks an employee to go beyond his job duties to get
an important project don, the employee trusts that he can do
the job and agrees to put fort the extra effort.

b) Negative outcome
i.

Employees will be too close to their manager; therefore they

will respect them as a friend not as a manager.

5.0

The Best Strategy and Justification

The best strategy that the company should take is by focusing more on the
employees welfare. The welfare measures aim at integrating the sociopsychological needs of employees, the unique requirements of a particular
technology, the structure and processes of the organization and the existing
socio-cultural environment. It creates a culture of work commitment in
organizations and society which ensures higher productivity and greater job
satisfaction to the employees. Due to the welfare measures, the employees feel
that the management is interested in taking care of the employees that result in
the sincerity, commitment and loyalty of the employees towards the
organizations. The employees will work with full enthusiasm and energetic
behavior which results in the increase in production and ultimately the increased
profits.

6.0

Implementation
6.1

Employees welfare
a) Short term
i.

Employees need is satisfied.

If the management take good care of their employees, the
employees will be working happily because all of their needs
are being satisfied. The voices of the employees are being
heard by the management. Employees will give full corporation
to the company and they will work more efficiently thus will
give productivity to the company.

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b) Long term
i.

The company will get quality products

If the employees are being heard by the management and are
taken care of, therefore, the employees will work more
efficiently and will produce more productivity to the company.
More productivity = quality products. If the company provides
quality products, the image of the company will rise in the
industry. More customers will come to them and the company
will get more profit.

7.0

Conclusion
Today, welfare has been generally accepted by the employers. Each employer
depending on its priorities gives varies of importance to labour welfare. There
has been a growth of benefits for a number of reasons. Industrialized society
makes it difficult for people to provide themselves with needed protection from
the vicissitudes of the economy. Thus, organizations are often seen as having a
social responsibility to provide these protections, both to care for their employees
and to provide a service to society. Unions have also found it useful to demand
benefits. They see the need to provide protection for their members, and the
organization is the group that they can directly affect.

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