Report Progress Team 1 The organization our group chose is C & D Scrap Metal located on West 25thnear Shepherd and Durham in Houston, Texas. We chose this business because of a few important factors. First it is a sustainable development organization that recycles and disposes of scrap metal properly; it was easily accessible; it has been in business since 1979; it operates in an ecologically safe manner by complying with all federal, state and local laws. C & D Scrap Metal, a second generation family business, is a member of the Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce and one of the original scrap metal dealers in the Houston metropolitan area. But what exactly does a scrap metal business do? This type of business handles, processes and ships non-ferrous and ferrous scrap metals, such as copper, brass, aluminum, steel, iron and lead, just to name a few. They strip and separate metal into vital secondary raw material used in the production of new high quality metals. In their scrap yards, the more common metals are stacked in piles for customers to browse and chose what exactly they want to purchase. The metals that are not purchased are sent to smelting plants or mills where they are melted down and used as ore. This process helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, about 200 million tons of CO2 every year, by requiring less energy to manufacture products from virgin ore. In addition to collecting and recycling, scrap metal businesses also sell the nonferrous metals they strip, in C & D Scrap metals case they sell over 100 tons
weekly. Because of the increase in export marketing to China and India, metal recycling has a significant economic value and is rarely discarded. In order to assess if there are any management or employee issues, we needed to conduct interviews with a few members of management as well as employees. The first round of interviews was with the President and CEO of C & D Scrap Metal, Dennis Laviage. Preliminary questions were asked to get an evaluation of the methods and processes used by management to motivate employees. The second round of interviews was with Jeff, vice president, and Vicki Grimaldo, administrative assistant and office manager. Three employees were also interviewed at this time of whose employment time ranges from 14 to 19 years of service. An emotional intelligence test was also given to Mr. Laviage. Throughout this project, our point of contact has been Vicki Grimaldo, 713-862-5588. First to be discussed is Organizational Design. Organization Design is a formal guided process for integrating the people as well as information and technology of an organization. It is used to form a purpose within an organization in order to seeks to achievements. The outcome of the design is to ensure that the collective efforts of members will be successful. C and Ds Scrap Metals organizational design takes on a huge role when determining the companys work output. Design is approached as an internal change under the guidance of an external facilitator. Managers and members work together in order to create systems to meet those needs most effectively. The facilitator assures that a
systematic process is followed and encourages creative thinking. At C and D Scrap Metal the company is ran by the owner Dennis and the second hand help comes from the vice president Jeff. These two men are the facilitators for the company because they make sure that employees follow guidelines and instructions for each job that is being done. They are very hands on around the work are, therefore, they provide guidance for all employees. This system could be a bit never racking for some but it provides reassurance to the owner that no employee will be goofing off or not meeting expectations for the day. Accidents and mistakes are common for any job thats why C and D always practice their organizational design they way they do. Employees work with heavy equipments and mistakes can be a dangerous case not only for the employee himself but also his/her co-workers. Managers and staff meet weekly to provide a general overview of the companys achievements, mistakes, and staff promotions or awarding. This then encourages staff to be more active within the organization because its involving them. Creative thinking is very important in a job, thats why C and D scrap metal listens and considers every employees opinion at the meetings. This is a progressive method used in order employees to speak their mind on any given topic. The purpose for a group should be the foundation for everything its members do by having appropriate ways to organize. The idea is to create a way to organize a suitable to others without limiting total outcome. When doing this the manager must consider employees feelings and opinions.
When the desire outcomes are similar as well as culture methods should be easier to practice and exercised. At C and D scrap metal the diversity ration is not as good as it should be. It is a company dominantly worked by minorities. These are mostly unskilled laborers apply but through the companies design, many employees get encouraged to stick around for a long time. The company has a high number of employees who have been working for the company for more than 10 yrs. This demonstrates the companys positive plan helps to keep employees working hard stick around for a very long time. Organization design begins with the creation of a strategy in which everyone will agree with actions practiced. Its purpose is to ensure the company improves in every aspect needed. C and D Scrap Metal set strict rules and guidelines for all employees in order to reach the expected goal of the week and also to improve in any area it may be lacking. Its design is to have a facilitator guiding everyone through their work. The company has been in service for a very long time so therefore their methods of running a business can be considered successful. Secondly, we evaluated and analyzed C&D Scrap Metals organizational culture. Organizational culture plays a significantrole in the success or failure of a company. Organizational culture can be defined as a pattern of shared assumptions that the group learned as it solved problems of external adaptation and internal integration. These learned behaviors are passed to new members and determine how a company operates. Culture is
rooted in a companys history and collective experience. A companys culture can be divided into three basic parts: artifacts, adopted values, and underlying assumptions. Artifacts are objects that take on the symbolic meaning of an organization. Adopted values refer to the procedure an employee follows when facing a certain problem. The procedure was determined as a similar problem occurred in the past. As the procedure produced positive results, it is now considered a value. Finally, we arrive at our final classification; underlying assumptions. In order for a person to fully understand an organizations underlying assumptions the person must indeed be a member of the organization. A companys underlying assumption is exhibited in perceptions, thoughts, emotions and behaviors by members. If a company were to try and change its culture, this area would propose the most resistance. Now that the general structure of organizational culture has been outlined, I will relate each pillar to the culture exhibited by C&D Scrap Metal. C&D has a long history in the Houston area. It is a family owned and operated business and has been for the last forty years. The company has a strong culture exhibited internally and externally. Some employees have been with the company for over twenty years. They have a strong connection to the company and what it represents. The physical location itself could be considered the artifact in this situation. The location to which they have reported each morning represents years of labor, a source of income for their family or a source of pride as they feel good about the work
they do. Further, C&D Scrap Metal has a defined set of values it exhibits daily. Vice President of Operations, Jeff Johnson, comes from a military background and he adheres many of the same principles to the company. He approaches problems and issues in an organized and well thought-out manner which has proved effective in previous occasions. He expects the same logic to be applied by employees as they carry out the days duties. One factor that contributed to a strong organizational culture is the presence of a mission statement. C&Ds mission is to provide quality service through responsible handling, processing and shipping of non-ferrous and ferrous scrap metal. This clearly defined statement provides an outline for all work to be done in the company for managerial staff and company employees. With each person working towards a common goal a sense of unity is established thus strengthening the culture of the organization. Third is the variable of underlying assumptions. Underlying assumptions are the most complex and can differentiate immensely from other organizations. Underlying assumptions include the perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of an organizations members. Underlying assumptions has a slight undertone of group think, in my opinion. It assumes all employees and staff exude the same thoughts and perceptions. I do not feel like there was a great bit of this at C&D. Each member seemed to contribute their own opinions and ideas to aid in the progress of the company. I think if there were a strong branch of underlying assumption with in a company, a form of synergy may form thus hindering the growth of the company. From this we
can determine the final division of organizational culture, underlying assumptions does not play a significant role in the company. C&D Scrap Metal, like most companies, relies heavily on the functionality of its employee teams. Most of the organizations work in teams. When the employees were being interviewed, an obvious conflict was revealed. While the management told us that their employees were working together as a team and they have respect for each other, as well as the employees were aware the principles of team work; the employees told us a different story where theyd rather working individually. First off, we need to have a clear understanding about the important of team work within the organization. Team is a groups of people working together to achieve common goals. Some teams dont need a leader but most of the other teams just cant work well together without a team leader. This is when the team leader has to really know how to motivate his/her teammates. Do you think of your group as a team? They won't think of themselves as a team if you don't. Do you reward team performance, or only individual achievements? You won't have much success in team building if you don't reward team performance. Let your group know that they are a team, that you expect them to perform as a team, and that you will reward their successes as a team. That's the first step toward the effectiveness of team work. C&Ds owner himself plays the role of a leader. The company is growing fast and very well known. So obviously, hes doing something right.
But why the employees are not satisfied about team work? Are they working under the pressure of being fired or any other threats? For those questions, we dont have the answers yet. Sometimes, people working well together because they dont have a choice? Most of us are selfish individualists. We watch out, first and foremost, for ourselves and do what benefits us most. We have to be motivated to include anyone else. Fortunately, it is pretty easy for us to see the benefits of including others, so most of us do that readily. Without focused team building efforts and activities, teamwork success rarely happens itself, there is simply too much space for problems. It could be different personalities, instead of complementing and balancing each other, may build up conflicts. Or even worse, some people with similar personalities may start fighting for authority and dominance in certain areas of expertise (which some employees did think that because they have been there for a longer time, they should have the right to tell the others what to do). There may be a lack of trust and openness that blocks the critical communication and leads to loss of coordination in the individual efforts. This is why every team needs a good leader who is able to deal with all such team work issues. To increase the teams effectiveness, some of these techniques could be used: Make sure that the team goals are totally clear and completely understood and accepted by each team member.
Make sure there is complete clarity in who is responsible for what and avoid overlapping authority. For example, if there is a risk that two team members will be competing for control in certain area, try to divide that area into two distinct parts and give each more complete control in one of those parts, according to those individual's strengths and personal inclinations.
Build trust with your team members by spending time one-on-one in an atmosphere of honesty and openness. Be loyal to your employees, if you expect the same.
Allow your office team members build trust and openness between each other in team building activities and events. Give them some opportunities of extra social time with each other in an atmosphere that encourages open communication. For example in a group lunch on Friday. Though be careful with those corporate team building activities or events in which socializing competes too much with someone's family time.
Be careful with interpersonal issues. Recognize them early and deal with them in full.
Don't miss opportunities to empower your employees. Say thank you or show appreciation of an individual team player's work.
Don't limit yourself to negative feedback. Be fare. Whenever there is an opportunity, give positive feedback as well.
Finally, though team work and team building can offer many challenges, the pay off from a high performance team is well worth it. As a group, we concur ethics should be considered as an important foundation for an organization. Ethics plays an important role at C & D scrap metal. C&D is a second generation family business based in Houston. Their business practices and general respect for employees confirms ethical values as an important factor in this family business. In any organization, ethics helps set thestandards. Ethics can determine what action is right or wrong. However, in an organization, the right thing is not always easy to identify, especially in a family-oriented organization. Ethical values are the guidelines for employers and employees. Some of the values to which a moral person is expected to comply to are; respect, honesty, fairness, and responsibility. To avoid unethical behavior, managers should treat their employees as they would want to be treated. Ethical issues in the workplace are not easily recognizable. Ethics can at times fall apart when an organization does not have a solid foundation. Ethical issues are often complex. The negatives effects of ethics within an organization can be huge and if the organization misleads it could result more problems. An example of potentially unethical behavior with in the company is that fact that employees dont feel their opinion is valued. They are required to follow the instruction given to them. They employees seem to want to be appreciated more as a contributing force in the success of the business.
With that recognition we can assume they would like to be allowed variation in their day to day work as at time it can become mundane. The company accepts their social responsibility by buying back all types non-ferrous and ferrous scrap metals including copper, brass, aluminum, steel, insulated wire, radiators, nickel, stainless steel, alloys, iron, lead, and exotic metals. With the reuse of those metals the company deters pollution thus attributing to the beautification of Harris County. The company always gives their valued customers the highest market price when they want to sell their scrap metals. A great strength of C&D is its great public relations maintained by supporting The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as lifetime members, The Houston Farm and Ranch Club, and The Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce. The company also is an Official Corporate Sponsor of Houston Rockets. The company strives to give customers the greatest satisfaction thus contributing to community welfare. Diversity in the work place refers to the differences of the people that are part of an organization. These differences could be of gender, race and ethnicity, age, physical abilities, experience, and job title among others. An effective diverse work relationship is of serious importance for the companys success. Diversity in a company can bring extra benefits and extra challenges, therefore a company that wants to excel among its competitors, needs to take advantage of it and focus on the similarities rather than differences.
In terms of diversity, C&D Scrap Metal is somewhat a diverse place. The types of diversity found are race and ethnicity. C&D Scrap Metals managers are Caucasian and the rest of the employees are either Hispanic or African American. There is not diversity in age since most of the employees, managers, and the companys owner, are of middle age. The age factor has to do with the experience of the employees in the field, which is another type of diversity. Most of the employees count with at least fifteen years of experience in the metal industry and have been with the company for at least five of those years. Some of the employees have learned their skills by working for this company and have only worked there ever since. When it comes to genders diversity, due to the type of industry, there is only one woman in the company who does the administrative as well as their payroll, the rest are males that deal with the manual type of labor. There is also not much difference in the employees physical abilities. All the employees are required to do similar types of jobs that are related to heavy lifting, metal collecting, and forklift driving, therefore to be employed with the company a person must be capable of doing the mentioned tasks. In this company, there is diversity of tasks, but not diversity of job titles, there are only three people in the highest positions that oversee all the work done in the company, the rest of the companys human resource just does the manual work and comply with what is required from them.
When it comes to Multiculturalism, C&D Scrap Metal seems to respect and value its employees. According to C&D Scrap Metal, the company gives good health benefits. This is practice not all small or medium size companies tend to do since can be considered an unrecoverable expense. This is a practical way of how this company appreciates and shows that value its employees. Additionally, we analyzed leadership and its role in the company. Leadership is the influence of others. The main job of a leader is to get things done through others. Leadership and management are different in many aspects. Such that management is there to ensure that the day to day happenings are going accordingly, but leadership is supposed to make sure expectations are being met and at the same time promoting a better way of building the company. At C&D leadership plays a huge role in how the company operates and will succeed in future endeavors. C&D leadership practices three methods of leadership, thusproving there is no one right way of leading. They use participative leadership, achievement oriented leadership and formal leadership. If an employee feels they have a good idea for the company they will take it into consideration, instead of just blowing off the employee. By doing that theyre only empowering the employee to know that their thoughts and opinions do count for something and just doesnt go in one ear and out the other and at the same time it will make the employee feel as if they truly are apart of the team. Each week leadership and management go over the previous weeks
outcome, whether it be positive or negative. They give a general overview of profits, accidents and recognition for the employees and it also gives the employee an opportunity to speak up in regards to any issues they may or may not have with the company. Dennis the owner and Jeff the vice president lead by example, they truly practice what they preach. If they feel any employee is having a hard time getting the hang of the business they will give them a one on one right there on the spot to make sure theyre safely working. Leadership ultimately leads to motivation if the employee feels that the leadership team is doing a sub par job it will trickle down to the laborers and in return cause the company not to do to well and eventually go out of business. So as a leader one must be strong and supportive of their team members and not belittle others around them. By being a strong leader and letting an employee know they did something wrong or right and sticking behind the employee will only encourage the employee to do a better job on a more consistent basis, rather than just doing it close to evaluation time or bonus time. As a leader you must know each and everyone of your employees and their skill level so that if a task needs to be assigned you know what that particular employee is capable of handling., this will help strengthen the employer to employee relationship. We believe for the most part that C&D Scrap Metal is a good company to work, whether youre a skilled or unskilled laborer. The majority of the
employees have been there for well over a decade or more, so that just tells us the they have bought into the strategies of leadership and management, with that being said the company will continue to go forward and grow because of its employees and leadership team and the determination of the entire team. One big key factor is that employees view working for the company not only as a job but as their own personal business so that also helps with the longevity of C&D Scrap Metal. Finally, as a team, we assessed motivation and its method of implementation in company. Motivation is defined as forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work. Motivation plays a key role in increasing productivity, satisfaction, and improving a business as a whole. We discovered that C & D Scrap Metal satisfies all of the lower-order needs according to the Hierarchy of Needs Theory. First, they definitely meet the physiological needs of their employees by paying an hourly wage in order for employees survive and put food on the table. Although there are safety hazards with the scrap metal industry, C & D also provides great security, protection, and stability in day to day life by providing a great benefits package and enforcing strict safety guidelines to follow at work. Judging by the dedication of long term employees, we believe that C & D scrap metal also meets the social needs of its employees by giving them a sense of belonging.
Meeting these lower order needs has resulted in success for the business. However, we believe that there is room for improvement in order to increase productivity and overall value of the company while making it a happier environment to work in. A few reasons why we came to this conclusion stemmed from the employee responses to our questions. Below are a few responses that we feel could change Do you feel that management values your opinion? No What have you done that shows initiative and willingness to work? Show up on time Does the company allow you to provide suggestions or input towards decisions for the company? No If the employees felt valued at work, perhaps they would work harder to uphold that value and respect given to them by upper management and their peers. If they felt valued and appreciated, they might be motivated to do a lot more than just show up on time. Individual meetings with management in order to motivate each particular employee and discuss positive goals and movement within the company would help. Whether used or not, management can also ask for employee input and suggestions allowing them to feel that they can possibly make a difference If you could change anything about your job what would it be? My own performance What motivates you to do well at work? Customer contact and having a reputation for good work.
The two questions above show that this employee wants to improve his performance and iswilling and able to do if the sources are available. He is eager to improve his self worth. The employee is motivated by his customers. What else can C&D integrate in order to motivate him further? Change of title? Written acknowledgement or reward? If we meet the higher-order needs of employees, including esteem and self-actualization, there will be individual satisfaction as well as better results for the company. Many other answers lead me to believe that managers at C&D are respected and looked up to for support and performance advice. However, would each employee be more motivated to enhance their performance and self worth if they felt that, they, themselves had a more important role or felt valued in the company? Would such changes be beneficial for the scrap metal industry structure? How can they make this happen? Further investigation will determine the answers to these questions. In this assignment we have been able to immerse ourselves in a business otherwise foreign to all of us and experience and analyze business management. We were able to see first hand the way a management style filters down to each employee. We have assessed C&Ds design, culture, teams with in the organization, ethical and social responsibilities, diversity, leadership and motivation. C&D Scrap Metal was gracious allowing us to experience their business. With their help, we have been able to learn much
about business management that we will be able to apply later on in our lives.