Operations Management Analysis: Service Adhesive Ltd Case Study

This report analyzes the operational challenges faced by Service Adhesive Ltd, focusing on issues related to an unskilled workforce, the use of short-term contracts, and the transition to a team-based working structure. The report examines the negative impacts of these factors on efficiency, performance, and team spirit, highlighting problems such as quality control issues with temporary staff and potential clashes between permanent and temporary employees. It further explores the barriers to implementing a team-based approach, including unclear roles, communication issues, and employee resistance to change. The report also addresses the need for improvements in production costs and product quality, suggesting that a team-based working structure, coupled with workforce development and a positive work environment, could be a solution. The report concludes by discussing the challenges Service Adhesives might encounter when implementing employee empowerment, such as resistance from managers and potential breakdowns in organizational structure. The analysis is supported by references to key management theories and research.

Running Head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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Operations management
12/13/2018

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Q1.
Service Adhesive Ltd represented the issues of unskilled workforce, which negative impacts
their efficiency and performance. Thus, the company at present employs 20% of their
workforce on the basis of short-term contracts, as the solution to their fluctuating orders in
the organisation. The approach of hiring and maintaining the 20% workforce on short-term
contracts basis will have major impact on their decision to adapt to the team-based working
structure. The case mentioned about the people working on short-term contracts, there were
certain issues related to these temporary staff in the organisation. Temporary staff in the
organisation overlooked the quality factor in the procedures used, and they also did not refer
to the written material given to them. This situation further led to the clashes between the
permanent and temporary staff working in the organisation, which would affect their team
spirit to work together. Thus, the organisation will fail in attaining their goals and objectives
due to the ineffective team-work, and unhealthy relations between them (Goetsch and Davis,
2014).
Q2.
Service Adhesives Ltd needs to change their working styles, and organisational culture to
improve their efficiency and low performance. Transition from a traditional work structure to
a team-based working structure, the company will face problems and there will be certain
hindrances in consideration to the team roles, and the positions held by the people in the
organisation. Five layers of operational management from the plant director at the top
position, leading to the shop-floor operatives at the lower-level of management, in the
company requires each position and role to be defined aptly. This will be one barrier as the
employees in the team-based approach will not be clear about their roles and position,
ambiguity of roles, communication issues, employees will resist to the change in the
organisation. Lack of effective communication in the team due to any one member, will lead
to a major impact on the work and performance of the whole team (Armstrong and Taylor,
2014).
Q3. According to the case the issues of the ineffective improvements initiatives in the past,
relates to the lack of cohesion in the organisation amongst the members. There were mainly
two issues described by the senior management, increasing production cost and inferior

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product quality, which were the results of inefficient workforce and coordination between the
employees. Yes, team based working structure can be the solution to these problems in the
Service Adhesives. However, the organisation’s management team need to focus on the other
factors, such as hiring competent workforce, providing training and development to them,
maintaining cordial relations and happy work environment in the organisation (Coetzer, Inma
and Poisat, 2017). As these were also the major reasons for the failure of the initiatives taken
in the past.
Q4 Employee empowerment is found to be the base or critical component of team-oriented
work culture in the business environment, which an organisation may find difficult to
implement. Service Adhesives may face number of challenges in implementing the approach
of employee empowerment, includes rumours spread by one or two employees in the
organisation. Some managers may be reluctant and undervalue the employee’s ability to
handle empowerment, and treat them in a negative way. On the other hand, the company
encounter breakdown of organisational structure, as the employees may take charge in taking
crucial decisions, without considering the opinion of their superiors. Lack of training to the
employees may lead to a problem to them to work towards the introduced change in the
organisation, and the results will be intuition-based rather based on the established policies
and strategies formulated by the managers in the organisation (Hanaysha, 2016).

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References
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. United Kingdom: Kogan Page Publishers.
Coetzer, A., Inma, C. and Poisat, P. (2017) The job embeddedness-turnover relationship:
effects of organisation size and work group cohesion. Personnel Review, 46(6), pp. 1070-
1088.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B. (2014) Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, Australia: Pearson.
Hanaysha, J. (2016) Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and
employee training on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioural
Sciences, 229, pp. 298-306.