Xerox Case Study Essay

Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).

Mohan Trikha had a vision to maximize the value of two of Xerox PARC technologies: visualization and linguistics, both which were 20 years in the making. Trikha attempted to embed these technologies in as many applications as possible through the creation of a Xerox New Enterprise (XNE), Inxight. His objective was to demonstrate to the Xerox management team through a business plan, the feasibility and profitability of such a spin-out, as well as the validity in its creation to support Xerox’s long-term strategic goals. Trikha needed to assess the impact of recent developments that may blemish his business plan and, at the same time, come up with alternatives for damage control. Trikha attained his product-line management

On the basis of information presented in the case study, the most important effort that Texaco as an organization witnessed was the commitment of the CEO, Peter Bijur, towards introducing the cultural change. The CEO restructured the organizational culture by showing commitment towards diversity by implementing changes in hiring policies, decision making hierarchy/process, reward system and other related rules and policies. As part of the

In business , diversity has seen action in the managing of human resource as essential capital in fostering businesses at a global scale . Diversity is also seen as a concept where differences can be a powerful resource . Based on the Case facts, Xerox value diversity as the most priceless resource to drive the company towards achieving its goals.

So what does diversity mean in today 's corporate world? Many organizations have rapidly become

Diversity and inclusion is regarded as a core value to the company. Open communication channels are established to encourage respect, trust and confidence between the employer and employee.

Managing diversity within a company is an important task that can have a major effect on a business. Diversity is measured in different aspects such as supplier diversity, affinity group diversity, employee diversity and technology diversity. The most common area of weakness in diversity with companies is employee diversity. This area of weakness has been a steady controversy for many large and small companies. Not every company struggles with diversity issues, in fact some companies exceed in being a diverse business. Not only does diversity factors like innovation, enhanced creativity, and cost savings benefit a company but it also puts them in favor with the public eye. Past controversies have shown that diversity can play a key factor in

“Diversity management is the key to growth in today’s fiercely competitive global marketplace”1. Diversity is to have a different people in the same organization and thin with the same group. We are not the same all of people have different ideas, culture and gender. Because now the word be closer like a small village and we should know how to deal with all of people with their own ideas, culture and things. In addition, each people have a specific ability in a specific experience, education and knowledge. So it is hard to get all of that talent from same country, area or zone. So the diversity will help the company to become better from the different talent and ability from each country, because the organization

Xerox hopes to avoid mistakes of the past by having “a system to prevent technology from leaking out of the company”, according to Robert V. Adams, president of XTV. They have a $30 million dollar fund to support this intrapreneurial activity. It has supported a dozen start-ups thus far, only two having failed. These are extremely promising numbers, with 83% of ventures coming to fruition.

population. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential of yielding greater productivity and competitive advantages (SHRM, 1995). Stephen G. Butler, co-chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum, believes that diversity is an invaluable competitive asset that America cannot afford to ignore (Robinson, 2002). Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity (Black Enterprise, 2001).

The overall organizational structure of the FedEx Corporation consists of six independent business units: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks, and FedEx Services, each of these businesses work in different sectors. “Although FedEx Corporation is the parent company of the six independent business units, it still offers strategic leadership at corporate level and they operate on their own and therefore are solely responsible for their decisions and ultimate success.” According to Boundless Management, the FedEx organization operates as a functional structure. “A functional organization is a common type of organizational structure in which the organization is divided into smaller groups based on specialized functional areas, such as IT, finance, or marketing.” Since the above chart displays teams in different parts of the organization, it is clear that FedEx also operates under functional departmentalization. Overall, FedEx puts more emphasis on its greatest asset, its personnel. By creating incentives like career advancement and ongoing career development helps to retain employees and encourages them to attain personal and team goals. It was Fredrick W. Smith, the CEO and founder of the organization whom insisted that employees should be an integral part of

Organizational structure and cultural in FedEx, as stated in the book “The key component in internal environments is organizational culture, or the set of key values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by members of the organization” (Williams, 2013 pg. 60). As stated by Frederick W. Smith Chairman, President and Chief Executive Office “FedEx name is synonymous with integrity and reliability our reputation is an important strategic asset”. FedEx has a reputation for providing fast friendly customer service and satisfaction. “Lawful and ethical behavior is critical to our continued success and it is required, you must comply with those laws and regulations relating to your business conduct” (According to FedEx code of business conduct and ethics 2013, pg. 5).

Xerox is a leading business process outsourcing and document management technology and services firm operating out of 180 countries around the world. In 2014, Xerox reported year end revenues of $19,540 million, down 2.3% from 2013, and a net profit of $969 million, up 17.7% from 2013. Xerox’s operations are broken down in to several main segments:

earned $ 1 billion in profits” (p.31). This is a candid illustration of an organization that was cognizant of a product that was demand by customers; and thus subsequently, erected a product of quality that met the satisfaction of those customers. Henceforth, since the Xerox 914 was the first plain paper copier with patented rights to the Xerox, Inc. the organization enjoyed great competitive advantage to other innovative organizations in its industry. However, organizations have to be careful in implementing radical steps that will inhibit competitors from manufacturing products of similar quality. Mulcaster (2009) states that, “firms that are considering expanding their market share through means of strategy implementation, product improvement, and aggressive marketing in order increase sales and benefit from profits will be challenged by competitors to gain market share” (para. 1). Consequently, other innovative competitors that occupied the same industry as Xerox, Inc. challenged the Xerox, Inc. for monopolizing the market.

Major advantage with this option is the fact that Xerox operates in the market it fully knows, dominates and controls. As a market leader, having gained clear edge over main competitor IBM, Xerox can consolidate its position with the introduction of innovative new product "Book-In-Time solution" that could significantly reduce the publishing costs.