Case Study Example: Human Resource Management at Denny's and Continental Airlines

1. Dennys

Key points to Denny's turnaround in terms of diversity are the diversity training to change the cultural system and the structural change in terms of employees, suppliers, and franchise sales managers. With regards to cultural change, all employees and the management underwent intensive training on diversity, while other trainers were retained to new hires. The training was intended to equip the employees with skills and awareness on diversity. With regards to structural change, the company assessed its ten core competencies and included management of diversity. As a result, it opted to increase the number of women and minorities who were being hired to work for the company, with more being included in the supervisory positions. More minority suppliers were hired to supply purchases of the company, with 17 percent being paid to the minorities. 42 percent of the franchised restaurants are also owned by minorities.

From the turnaround strategies implemented by Dennys, other companies are made aware of the importance of diversity in any company. Any company should not be quick to shelve any discriminatory practices that have been witnessed within the company. Similarly, the former CEO of the parent company refused to rely on excuses as a way of rejecting claims on diversity issues. Instead, the company implemented strategies to enhance diversity in all branches of the company. Another lesson learned is that for diversity measures to be implemented in any company, the full support, and cooperation of the management is vital, so as o ensure that these measures are successful. This is evident from Dennys which ensured that every member of staff was included in the diversity training.

From the study, diversity impacted the company positively. Diversity allows room for innovative practices (Smyth, 2015). Diverse individuals come with new ways of distributing goods and services, ones which may be cheaper and appealing to consumers, thereby earning the company increased revenue. It also cultivates a meritocratic culture that provides a comfortable working atmosphere for employees, thereby allowing them to maximize their full potential. This results in increased performance, thereby benefitting the company. This will enhance the reputation of the company, thus increasing its customer base, and allowing it to retain more customers (Mayhew, N.d). These are the possible impacts of diversity on the company.

2. Continental Airlines

When managing a distressed organization, the specific steps to take include identifying the reasons for the distress so as to come up with strategies for revival. The second step is to cut down on the cash outflow so as to retain money for changes that may be required. This will include layoffs, so as to reduce money being paid to employees. The third step will entail organizing a committee to come up with revival strategies, including the budget for implementing these strategies and the time frame for the implementation. The final stage is the implementation of these strategies while restructuring the organizational structure of the company to a more efficient one.

The primary causes for the sudden change in employee morale resulted from their involvement in making trivial decisions that would involve them, such as the layoffs that were being made since the airline could not afford to pay all the workers. The management also consulted them regarding their issues and formed a committee that would deal with these issues. The CEO was also considerate enough to privately contact employees and follow up on the calls they left on his voice mail. This showed the employees that they were highly valued by the airline, and thus strove to provide better services to customers of the airline.

As a way of ensuring that the Continental continues to improve its performance, several strategies can be employed. Firstly, continuous training of employees on strategies such as total quality management is important in further improving the performance of employees (Sullivan, 2011). Another measure is to ensure that all supervisors and management are capable and efficient in management since the success of the workforce is dependent on the guidance of good leaders. This will mean getting rid of any ineffective leaders. Adopting new strategies every five years will also be important in maintaining a competitive edge.

Employee contribution can be in different forms such as working in teams and job enrichment. These methods will improve the performance of Continental Airlines by increasing their productivity and efficiency (Mosley, 2011). This will result in high customer satisfaction. Teamwork makes it easy for the management to monitor all employees and evaluates the quality of their work, thereby rectify any mistakes and reward those who have been most efficient.

3. Wrongful Discharge

From the employers perspective, the principle of employment-at-will favors the company since the employee is at liberty to fire an employee at any time without presenting any reason for termination of employment. This gives employers the opportunity to wrongfully fire employees based on personal reasons (Doyle, 2016). From the employees view, this type of employment provides them with protection from illegal termination due to discrimination reasons. It, however, does not alienate them from unlawful termination since they can be discriminated without notice and without receiving reasons for termination.

Based on the case presented, Majestic is likely to win the case. The company has proof of poor performance by Angelo, which it presents by stating that he was unable to meet the new quota sales for him, and was thus proving to be inefficient to the company. Majestic is also able to defend itself from the accusations presented by Angelos attorney and has provided a convincing argument for the case.

Majestic can prevent future litigations by following up on the claims that have been made by the employees and validate how true they are (BTLG, N.d.). Reports of similar forms of harassment should be dealt with, by firing the perpetrators. The company should also be ready to compensate workers who have been fired illegally. In addition, it should also amend policies regarding employee contracts to avoid firing innocent individuals such as Angelo who despite his perfect sales record, was fired after one shortcoming.

References

BTLG. (N.d.), Employee Litigation: Some Proactive Steps for Prevention and Mitigation. Retrieved from http://www.btlg.us/News_and_Press/articles/employment%20litigation%20prevent.html

Doyle, A. (2016). What Does Employment at Will Mean? The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-employment-at-will-2060493

Mayhew, R. (N.d.). Business Advantages of Diversity in the Workplace. Chron. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-advantages-diversity-workplace-3126.html

Mosley, E. (2011). How Employee Engagement Drives Business Success. CEO. Retrieved from https://chiefexecutive.net/how-employee-engagement-drives-business-success/

Smyth, Y. (2015). 4 Business Benefits of Diversity. Hays. Retrieved from https://social.hays.com/2015/10/13/4-business-bnefits-of-diversity/

Sullivan, J. (2011). Increasing Employee Productivity: The Strategic Role that HR Essentially Ignores. ERE. Retrieved from https://www.ere.net/increing-employee-productivity-the-strategic-role-thathr-essentially-ignores/