Japan Auto Sales Case Study

Handling Differences at Japan AutoFORTES, PERALTA, QUIRONG

Facts of the Case

Japan Auto Sales Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center

Large Japanese-owned automobile manufacturer

Built on commitment to quality Customer satisfaction

Supports continuing education, diversity

Future career opportunity and growth Minimum bachelor’s degree

Facts of the CaseMain Characters

Barbara Smith 30 years old, ambitious From outside Transportation Company Started as LAPDC as office clerk Promoted from secretary to department specialist Responsible for core and obsolescence programs Quest for career growth Almost completed general education requirements for

Associate of Arts Degree Misunderstood demeanor

Regarded as harsh and argumentative

Insulted many associates

Insinuating superiority as she’s in college

Failed to remember, other have degrees

Associates believe they should be respected

Internal customers


Chrys Haber

37 years old

3 years now with LAPDC

Joined Japan Auto as an Assistant for Facilities Department

Promoted to Claims Specialist she’s approximately 4 months with

department niow

Made friends quickly

Known by fellow associates and management as high energy, dynamic,

Considered an asset


Marcia 38-year old Smart yet insecure Sympathetic towards Barbara

Trying to be different and move ahead Constantly afraid of hurting others’

feelings Always strove for acceptance by associates Not guide and encourage Barbara to

follow development plan Allowed Barbara to do as she pleased

Created major hostility who wanted to get promoted too

Not give same opportunities to other associates

Favoritism Created antagonism and lack of loyalty

Point of View

Management

Address issues with Marcia, Office Manager Chrys and Barbara, Associates

Statement of the Problem

What strategies should management implement to improve interpersonal relations among the

employees in order for the company to achieve its organizational goals in a frictionless

environment?

Objectives

Achieve organizational goals

Improve interpersonal relations among employees

Lessen professional friction among employees

Have a more cohesive team

For Marcia to be an effective and efficient office manager/leader

Areas of ConsiderationSWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS Encourages career advancement Incentivize degree holders Diversity: well-balanced mix of gender and

ethnicity. Cross training: associates develop plan for career

growth. Both Barbara and Chrys great professionals,

strong personalities. Chrys’ confrontation had a positive impact on

Barbara’s work ethic. Associates are ambitious and enthusiastic. The office had an exceptional team environment. Despite her mistake when she became harsh

towards Barbara, Chrys’ ability to see her mistakes can quickly fix teams before going out of hand.

Employees try to resolve conflict at their level first before bringing it up with management

WEAKNESSES Marcia’s weak personality empowered Barbara’s poor

attitude.

The associates didn’t confront Barbara directly to talk about their problems with her.

Barbara has a tendency to look down on her colleagues, which resulted to many disobediences like not participating in claims training

Carolyn’s inassertiveness reinforced Barbaras uncooperativeness in cross training

Chrys, despite her objectivity, became emotional when she confronted Barbara.

Areas of ConsiderationSWOT ANALYSIS

Opportunities Better working relations

Camaraderie might lead to surpassing sales targets, expansion.

Improved internal communication

Working relations will lead to a happier workplace, to consumer satisfaction.

Threats Competitors take advantage of the

internal conflict

Anger and negative emotions to make future confrontations more rabid, painful.

Employees misaligned with the objectives of maximizing profit and minimizing cost in an organization.

Quality of products and services may suffer due to internal conflict

Areas of ConsiderationSWOT

The SWOT suggests:

Management team did great job prioritizing employee career growth, education Require a bachelor’s degree

Advantages of diversity Employees of different ethnicities, gender mixture created along with cross training Understanding of diverse customer base Result: highly skilled associates.

Associates embraced career growth path

Allow themselves to improve technical skills.

The problem lies: Marcia inassertiveness Barbara’s aggressiveness, myopic view, lack of

humility

Alternative Courses of ActionACA1

ACA1: Engage in Team Building Activities to Foster Closer and Smoother Working Relations and Understanding among employees.

A. Create Venues for interaction -who share or like to develop similar interests -force the employees to interact more and to bond more with each other Yoga and Pilates Club Arts and Crafts Club Photography Club Cycling Club


B. Employees to engage in programs that emphasize Character-building

Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Efficient People Seeking to understand,

then to be understood Being proactive, not

reactive Loyalty to the Absent Think Win-Win


Advantages: Closer professional and personal relationship Character-building activities

Encourage to think long-term move towards common good

Long-term investment in people gives lasting results Covey’s Program

lessen backbiting, tone down emotionally-charged environment encourages people to practice thinking Win-Win Situations for others and themselves.

Disadvantages: Might need to spend on materials and manpower to manage an Employee Center to

run and coordinate the various clubs Character-Building Programs like Covey’s are expensive, take at least one work-week to

facilitate Results take time to be seen and felt


Invest in Marcia’s leadership education stronger, more assertive office manager Leading team to achieve organizational goals

Advantages Marcia to become better leader, rallying her team to

achieve organizational goals Marcia to be an able leader, ensure smoother

working relations among her subordinates Armed in handling discord and disagreement from

her subordinates


Invest in Marcia’s leadership education stronger, more assertive office manager Leading team to achieve organizational goals

Disadvantages Too much focus on Marcia Too dependent on one person. What will happen when she resigns Training will also entail cost Danger of Marcia resigning anyway, wasting leadership training


ACA3: Status quo. Barbara now more cooperative, sensitive Chrys more introspective Marcia now assertive, gave opportunities to other associates.

Advantages No cost Everybody given chance at peace, at their own pace

Disadvantages High risk of regression Management not really know what actually changed internally among

employees In the dark

Recommendation

ACAs 1 and 2 are tied at the top

Programs are slowly but will surely deliver frictionless, smoother and better working relations among the employees

ACA 1 lowest score in ease of implementation anticipated additional manpower and cost

Recommendation

ACAs 1: bond and friendship developed among employees will take time to happen

ACA2: perfect score in ease of implementation only involves training and educating one manager, Marcia.

ACA 3, perfect score in ease of implementation doing nothing lowest in effecting better relations among workers Will just leave people wondering what happened

Recommendation

Two-pronged approach ACAs 1 and 2 More venues for employees to bond and get to

know each other better Train Marcia to lead her team as real office manager

Conclusion

Case shows despite the good execution of employee programs Educational growth and career promotion lack of interpersonal skills may impede the success of such

objectives.

Importance of soft skill/human skill

Barbara’s lack of interpersonal skills have caused a conflict May have impeded the growth of other associates

Good that associates resolved issue within their level before raising to management

Management Levels and Skills Needed

Needs

Needs

Needs

Conceptual

Skills

Human

Skills

Technical

Skills

Supervisory or

Operational Mgt

Middle

Management

Top

Mgt

As a manager moves from the supervisory to the top management level,

conceptual skills become more important than technical skills, but

human skills remain equally important

Source: Management by Stoner and Freeman

Thank You!

Documents

Japan Auto Sales Case Study