ABX Company: Business, Society, and the Planet Analysis and Report

This report analyzes the ABX company's business practices, focusing on its impact on employees and society. The company, specializing in automotive parts, faces challenges stemming from authoritative management, which leads to high staff turnover. The report details the scenario, highlighting the introduction of performance-based pay for supervisors, which demotivates employees and stifles communication. It explores the perspectives of different stakeholders, including the management, employees, and HR manager, and examines the dilemma faced by employees regarding whether to voice their concerns. The report also discusses the development of scripts reflecting stakeholder viewpoints and proposes potential solutions, emphasizing the crucial role of the HR manager in fostering a better workplace environment and addressing employee grievances to improve employee retention and overall company performance. The report is based on the principles of corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting.

Running Head: BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE PLANET
BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE PLANET
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

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Scenario development
The concerned organization, ABX, aimed at developing automotive parts for the industry
and has been prospering with their business model. However, the business structure and
management approach affected the capability of the organization in maximizing the operations of
the same as per the increasing needs of the customers. The managers in the organization
developed authoritative control over the operations of the workforce. The different changes that
are undertaken by the organization are specifically based on the authoritative control of the
management over the workforce which induced a fear of termination among the employees and
restricted their voice related to any concern that are being faced by the same. However, the
organizational managers noticed that the authoritative control over the employees have resulted
to an increase in the staff turnover rates over the years. The management and the hierarchy felt
reluctant towards the issues and concerns that are being faced by the employees and curtailed all
channels of communication while imposing different changes even though it resulted to high
turnover rates.
The organization developed a change in the remuneration policy, in August 2016,
through the introduction of performance pays only for the supervisors while negating the
expectations of the subordinates for the contributions that are made by the same towards the
organization. The performance pay to the supervisors will be based on the productivity of their
entire team. The organization believed that the supervisors were the one who contributed to the
productivity of the venture. Despite this situation the organization still made a profit of US$1.5
billion in September 2016 through increased efficiency of the employees. The CEO of the
organization and the other management level authorities developed policies with the objective of

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empowering and motivating the supervisors to enforce huge work load on the subordinates with
the objective of ramping up the production. The workforce feared of being terminated but the
concern affected their morality and motivation towards the contributions that the organization
expected out of its workforce. Most of the employees took the initiative of conveying their
concerns to the higher authorities but that resulted to their own termination from the
organization. The workforce in the organization was left surrogated as the organization kept on
hiring cheap labours from the market while maximizing their staff turnover rates. It seemed that
the company did not care to retain the skilled workforce as it simply aimed at improving the
production at the cost of the sentiments and the motivation of the employees. Therefore, the
management did not pay heed to the requests that are being made by any single employee and
terminated the same to set an example to the workforce.
The organizational management threatened the workforce of termination which again
created a vibe of fear among the existing employees who was at the verge of giving a voice to
their values. The management of the organization aimed at curtailing the unity among the
employees through developing preferences for some of the employees while disregarding he
others. The inequalities in the workforce also contributed largely to the conflicts among the
fellow workers and the subordinates while encouraging the authoritativeness of the management.
On the other hand, the rising conflicts encouraged the employers in making a move towards
making the employees ready for any change while curtailing the unity.
The logic for authoritativeness as per the organizational managers is to provide the
employees with a dual choice of adhering to the policies that are made by the management or
leaving the organization. Therefore, in this relation, most of the employees have readily accepted
the different changes in the organizations with the objective of saving their employment in the

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organization. The organization also identified that the lower skilled employees would find it
difficult to find prospective jobs in the economy which would curtail the same of raising their
voice for safeguarding their values. Therefore, the organization developed policies with the
purpose of imposing regulations and changes that might not be accepted the employees but even
then they would not be able to counteract on the situation.
The development of the performance policy for the supervisors and team leaders
demotivated the employees as they believed that they were not rewarded for the contributions
they made towards the organization. However, the authoritative control of the organization
affected the capability of the employees in placing their voice with proper rationality on the basis
of their needs. On the other hand, the fear of being terminated also affected the capability of the
employees in forming unity among the same. Moreover, the lack of proficient communication
and negotiation with the employers also restricted the chance of the employees to make the
managers aware of the issues that are being faced by the same while operating on the different
job responsibilities. The rate of staff turnover was noticed to grow by 3% every year since the
implementation of the policy on August 2016.
The organization aimed at improving the situation through recruitment drives for
continuing with the free flow of operations. However, the lack of retention of the employees
affected their capability of maintaining the uninterrupted functioning of the production lines. In
this situation, the organization undertook a consultation with a HR manager on how the situation
might be controlled. The HR manager was himself confused of the situation as he joined the
company in the year 2018 and was unaware of the policy that restricted the growth and
motivation of the employees towards their respective job positions. Due to the increased fear of

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being terminated most of the employees chose not to communicate their concerns with the HR
manager, Mr. Yu, which incapacitated him in identifying the issue underlying the situation.
Script development
Character 1: I think the most important aspect in this dilemma is resembled with the decision
making of the employees whether they share problem with the new HR manager or keep it
secret.
Character 2: I think being informed about the problem of the employees, the dilemma is rested
on the decision making of the HR to make the right step to change or continue the practice as it
was.
Character 3: No! Absolutely not. You got the entire perspective wrong. I corroborate with the
argument of character 1 because it is the problem of the employees rather than any HR manager
oriented problem. Moreover, I can say that the HR yet to get informed about the real problem of
the employees. Out of fear the employees could not express their grievances to the HR. The fear
of termination is responsible for their hostility towards the new HR. In one hand, they like to
share their problem with the new HR manager. But then they fear that it will get them
terminated. In this scenario the dilemma is that the employees could not digest the discriminatory
incentive practice but they fear to place it to the HR department.
Character 2: All right! I got you. It means the dilemma is associated with the interests of the
employees rather than the problem of the new HR manager to analyse the grievance of the
employees.
Character 3: True!

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Character 1: You know this is very common in most of the organisation where lack of safety
and highly unsecured workplace environment creates a barrier between the organisation and
employees. In fact, it also affects the organisational performance as the employees feel down and
do not have the motivation to perform well because no matter how well they do, the organisation
does not recognise their efforts.
Character 3: So, I presume there are three stakeholders in this scenario like the company
management, the employees and the HR manager.
Character 2: I refuse! Do not you think that the HR manager is also a part of the company?
Character 3: It true. But at least he has the guts to help the employees by listening their
grievances.
Character 1: You think so. At least I believe as far as the HR manager is part of the
organisation, he never ever do anything out of the box for the sake of his own job (laugh).
Character 2: You are making a point. I support. In fact, I feel the same that there are only two
stakeholders in the scenario, the management and the employee.
Character 3: Or you can say the employees and the employers in a wider context. But I suggest
that as the HR is going to play a key role in the context therefore, we can segregate him from the
rest of the management.
Character 1: Definitely! It would be fun to see how the shift changes from the employees’ court
to the management. Let’s keep it simple as there are three stakeholders, the top management, HR
manager and the employees.

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Character 2: Ok! Let’s talk about the main arguments and the rationalisation behind each of our
perspectives.
Character 3: May I start at first?
Character 2: Sure. Please proceed.
Character 3: I think the company should reconsider and reshape its incentive and remuneration
strategy for the sake of the employee benefits. You know, once I read in an article that the
remuneration or money is considered to be the most important motivational tool for the
employees. Therefore, it will be effective for the organisation to set an effective remuneration
practice and the make the employees happy.
Character 1: How do you make such an argument? I can see the company does not have any
intention to go for the benefit of the employees. It is more concentrated into its own benefits.
Therefore, it will never be possible that the organisation really takes great care by restructuring
its remuneration framework.
Character 3: So what do you propose?
Character 1: I presume the HR manager has a big role to play where he can change the
organisational environment at first. It means the focus should be imposed on changing the
organisational environment before doing any good for the employees. Therefore, the HR
manager is responsible to deal with the situation and take most of the responsibility to harness a
good relation between the organisation and the employees. As you know that HR manager plays
a crucial role in the form of a medium between the organisation and the employees so that in this

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case also it will be effective to give the role to HR management to take the initiative personally.
Character 2: Right. Then?
Character 1: The first step of the HR manager will be organising a meeting with the senior
managers and finds out their expectation from the employees. After that it will be proper to sit
with the employees and listen to their grievances. It will definitely work. Because the
management is smart to grasp the importance of talent management and they want to secure their
business in the competitive market. As a result of that a good workplace environment can be
established where the people can feel free to express their grievances without having any
hesitation.
Character 2: It seems a very detailed and time taking proposition. I think they should file a joint
petition to the management. It will not be possible for the management to terminate all of them.
Character 1: But this is not a permanent solution. It is very critical and I think bringing
confidence among the employees is the most vital point which can be served with my
suggestions.
Character 3: Yup! I feel the same. However, the time consume part does not fit with the issue of
reducing the employee turnover or even bolster their decision making practice. So, I think the
process should be more crisp and to the point.
Character 2: So what do you suggest?
Character 3: I feel it would be a better process if the HR manager will make a meeting between
the employees and the management.

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Character 2: Are you crazy! It would be a catastrophe because nobody will share their views
properly.
Character 1: See! I presume the HR manager should convince the management specifically
about the importance of employee retention and the legal aspects that can create an obstacle for
terminating the staffs randomly. Actually, it is the role of the role of the HR manager to set better
policy and convince the top management to follow it.
Character 3: You are trying to say the HR management is the protagonist to make an amicable
relationship between the top management and the employees. It is true that the HR manager
plays a significant role in the process of establishing an effective and unique organisational
environment. However, it is not possible for the HR manager to act alone and mitigate the issue
by himself only. All those actors like the top management and the employees should also enact
accordingly so that the situation will be handled properly.
Character 1: It is important to note that the purpose of this conversation is to resolve the ethical
dilemma among the employees. Therefore, a confident approach and good relationship building
with the HR manager will definitely help them to get things done as per their own needs. In
addition to this, it is also important for the top management to get in touch with the HR manager
in a daily basis for getting any kind of update from the employees. A two ended approach by the
top management and the employees is the only process that can able to resolve the ethical
dilemma among the employees effectively.
Character 2: I appreciate your concern and believe that will definitely help to make the situation
better. In fact, I acknowledge the problem same as you projected. It will definitely help to make a

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good relationship between the employees and the top management and both will feel the same to
procure a transparent share of thoughts for the sake of the organisation.
Character 3: I am also supporting your thought and looking forward to get success by
implementing the practice effectively.