Case Study of Siemens

Layoffs- At Honeywell over the past six years , Cote had used layoffs predominantly for strategic changes, permanently eliminating positions they decided did not meet their strategic needs. He would need to decide whether he should restrict layoffs to permanent strategic changes in the business unrelated to the recession, or use them more generally- as his peers would almost certainly do- to extract major cost savings that the company might need to weather the recession.

Introduction Sarah Donohoe, manufacturing engineering manager of the network laser printer division at Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), listened intently to her colleagues at the project review meeting for the development of their latest new product. With Sarah at the meeting were Jane Schushinski, marketing manager, Leo Linbeck, head of product design, and David Hooper, the controller of the division. The main topic for this meeting was the decision of whether or not to use a universal power supply for the next generation of network laser printer, code-named

The layoffs are at the heart of the problem affecting the hospital. From the CEO’s perspective, the layoffs are a response to decreased revenues where the facility has to reduce its expenses to stay in operation. In the case of the operations director, the layoffs are a cost-cutting measure and an appropriate response to reduced activity in the hospital. However, the employees are likely to interpret the situation as a lack of proper management or concern for their welfare (Sobieralski & Nordstrom, 2012).

Company stood to lose reputation and its manufacturing license. There could be damaging legal notices and lawsuits which can harm the company for some time.

While it was foreseen that the company would initially take financial setbacks because of the reorganization, it was not believed that the financial risks would be drastic. However, the impending report that Mr. Elesser has to present to the board will detail a net income that will be nearly 26 million dollars in the red for 2004 (see exhibit 2)3. The blunt force restructuring met resistance on numerous fronts. First of all, the various components of the company did not operate under the same uniformed leadership objectives. Each division was set up to look out for their own interests and markets. When the restructuring plan that focused on a more centralized management process, many of the things that worked for one division did not necessarily work for other divisions of the company. This left some divisions at a severe disadvantage. Another obstacle that worked against the restructuring was the employee unions in which the company had to deal. The unions were not on board with the various downsizing and restructuring methods. In addition, the company had to deal with a couple of different unions which posed a problem with negotiating tactics. Benefit costs were also a significant investment that did not hold up well under the auspice of restructuring.

However, the horizontal hierarchy among the CEO, Vice-President of Engineering, Vice-President of Manufacturing, and the Vice-President of Marketing has not adapted to the changes. In fact, the Engineering department historically been the “strongest and prestigious area of the company” Not only does the existence of the new internal division change the company’s “principal line divisions” behavior, it gravely impacts and emasculates the integrity of the CEO and the vested interests of the remaining divisions and individuals.

Harnischfeger modified employees’ pension plans. A new salaried employees’ retirement plan was designed and the old one was aborted.

All businesses at one time or another will have to deal with employee layoffs due to a re-organization or changes in the economy. Employee layoffs can have a damaging impact to the remaining employee and management staff. There are several solutions that can be done to alleviate the negative impact and the recommendation is to provide managers with the proper training on how to properly handle a layoff so there is a more positive impact on the remaining staff. Proper training prepares managers for

Black and Decker (B&D) was founded in 1910 by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker. By 1917, B&D had world’s first patent in portable power drills. Since then, B&D has been the world’s largest producer of power tools and power tools accessories. The power tools market in 1990 in the US mainly comprised of three segments-Professional Industrial Tools (PI), Professional-Tradesmen (PT) Tools and Consumer tools. B&D was a market leader in America power tools industry worth $1.5 Billion, with a share of 30%. It was number one in PI and consumer segments with a share of 20% and 45% respectively. However, its share in the fastest growing market segment of Professional-Tradesmen Tools was only

Wolfgang Keller is a 34 year old graduate of the Harvard Business School. After a fast moving career building a reputation for turning around failing businesses, Wolfgang Keller once again found himself facing the challenge of turning around a losing business. This time it was as managing director of the Ukrainian subsidy of the Konigsbrau Brewery. The company was experiencing €2.9 million per year with annual sales of €116 million, (Gabarro, 2008). Even though this was a bigger company that he was used to dealing with, he seemed to be well on his way to success after just three years. Sales had increased to €145 million and the company was finally turning a €7 million

The company transformation from private equity ownership with an immediate shift of CEO marked new challenges for the company. The company has been going through rigorous changes to keep up with the strong

Under previous leadership Sigtek was left alone to do its own thing. Now owned by Telwork, Sigtek’s current mode of operation will undergo change. Though

Downsizing has become a commonplace strategy for organizations to adopt in an effort to cut costs, eliminate redundancies, and streamline organizational systems. Over the last 15 years, many organizations have engaged in downsizing more than once. Most companies have learned from the mistakes of the past, but some companies are still trying to use the same tactics today that were used in the mid 1980s, that leave employees reeling.

1. The main criteria FEL uses to assign managers to their projects include time constraints and expertise. Clearly, managers with heavy workloads will not do as well as those without significant current time constraints. Hence, the likelihood that the work will progress smoothly under such managers is greater than otherwise. Expertise is also an important requirement to ensure that a project runs smoothly. Hence, the combination of low time constraints with the highest level of expertise appears to be a good basis for successful projects. However, one potential danger of assigning an apparently random number of managers to teams who need to work closely together could create communication problems, especially if these managers have not worked together before, or indeed if severe personality clashes occur. Hence, it might be a good idea to conduct regular assessments of the progress of the work as well as how well managers function together, particularly in a remote location such as Abu Dhabi.

Downsizing, restructuring, rightsizing, even a term as obscure as census readjustment has been used to describe the plague that has been affecting corporate America for years and has left many of its hardest working employees without work. In the year 2001 we had nearly 1.8 million jub cuts, that’s almost three times as much as the year 2000(Matthew Benz). In the 1990's, one million managers of American corporations with salaries over $40,000 also lost their jobs. In total, Fortune 500 companies have eliminated 4.4 million positions since 1979 including the 65,000 positions cut in February of 2002 (Ellen Florian). Although this downsizing of companies can have many reasons behind it and cannot be