Alcan case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alcan case study analysis - Essay Example In its entirety, business management is highly critical and constantly evolving especially in the aspect of resources, and this is the central idea where the Alcan case revolves around, managing the work force, because people is the most essential asset of any business that hopes to be successful for the long term2. In the Alcan case, the conflict created by lack of communication and the inability to effectively manage the work force created placed the smelting industry at risk of loosing enormously even to a point of closure. The succeeding paragraph will therefore attempt to dissect each of the issues contributing to the tension as well as the solutions that were implemented, ending the rift between management and labor union. The main issue involved in the Alcan Case is Industrial labor relations creating an impact in the productivity of the manufacturing plant. In an industry that utilizes human resource as the main key to productivity, human resource management plays an imperative role in the sustainability of that industry whereby excellent degree of skills are required to handle issues from recruitment requisites, skills training and performance ensuring personnel and management policies conforming to regulations. Managing the work force as well production is a very complicated task that requires a higher level of understanding of theories related to management and organization. There are many proponents to these theories, and almost all of them are relevant to the issues present in the Alcan Case. It is important to note that the core of the Alcan issue involves the increasing grievances of the workers owing to the tension within. Among the theory applicable to this case is the system theory whereby managers are to recognize the various parts of the organization when attempting to resolve issues There are several contemporary theory of management, among them includes contingency, system and chaos theory. Contingency theory asserts that when managers make a decision, they must take into account all aspects of the current situation and act on those aspects that are key to the situation at hand3. System theory on the other hand, helps managers view the organization from a broader perspective, since this theory brought a new perspective for the interpretation of patterns and events in the workplace. It recognizes various parts of the organization, specifically the interaction and coordination within central administration with its programs, engineering with manufacturing, supervisors with workers. Chaos theory recognizes that events indeed are rarely controlled. In his article, Mcnamara claimed that many chaos theorists refer to biological systems when explaining their theory and suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity, and as they do so, these systems become more v olatile (or susceptible to cataclysmic events) and must expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain stability. Mcnamara further said that this trend continues until the system splits, combines with another complex system or falls apart entirely. This trend is what many see as the trend in life, in organizations and the world in general4. The underlying root cause of the Alcan/Lynemouth smelting industry was a classic case of human resource mismanagement. There was an