1.Operations managers are challenged to honor stakeholders' commitments through their 10 strategic decisions. Based on the articles attached, identify any 3 areas for each organizations where this challenge is successfully addressed.
The following are Home Depot's stakeholders, arranged according to the company's CSR prioritization:
- Customer
- Employees
- Investors
- Communities
Customers. Home Depot considers customers as the most important stakeholder group. The company uses an inverted pyramid management approach that puts customers at the top. These stakeholders are interested in high quality goods and service, combined with affordable prices. Home Depot satisfies customers through a wide array of affordable home improvement products, along with high quality customer service. The firm's stores have experts that offer advice to customers. Thus, Home Depot's corporate social responsibility efforts satisfy the interests of customers as the top stakeholders of the business.
Employees. Employees are the second-priority stakeholders, according to Home Depot's inverted pyramid approach to management. This stakeholder group's interests are job security, high wages, and fair employment practices, as well as career development. In this regard, Home Depot offers training programs for knowledge enrichment. The team-based approach at the firm's stores also facilitates learning on-the-job and organizational learning. In addition, the company offers above-average wages. Thus, Home Depot's corporate social responsibility strategies satisfy the interests of employees as stakeholders.
Investors. Home Depot needs to ensure that investors are satisfied. The interests of this stakeholder group include profitability and business growth. To address such interests, Home Depot has changed its leadership and management to improve service quality and organizational culture. Thus, Home Depot's corporate social responsibility efforts continue to change to satisfy the interests of investors as major stakeholders.
Communities. This stakeholder group is interested about community development support and environmental programs. Home Depot addresses these interests through a number of key corporate social responsibility programs. For example, The Home Depot Foundation gives Community Impact Grants every year to support community development. In addition, Home Depot extends its corporate social responsibility efforts to overseas communities through a responsible sourcing policy that prohibits conflict minerals from Africa. Also, Home Depot maintains its environmental policies that prioritize products from suppliers with acceptable environmental record. Thus, Home Depot's corporate social responsibility efforts satisfy the interests of communities as stakeholders.
The following are Tesla's stakeholders, arranged according to the company's CSR prioritization:
Communities
- Customers
- Employees
- Investors/Shareholders
Communities. Tesla Motors, Inc. is an automotive business that directly satisfies the concerns of communities as significant stakeholders that determine brand image. One of the interests of this stakeholder group is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved or protected. Tesla's electric automobile products address such interest. For example, communities are satisfied with the fact that these products are environmentally friendly because of zero emissions.
Tesla also satisfies communities in terms of this stakeholder group's interest in benefiting from advanced technologies. For example, in 2014, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would allow other individuals and organizations to use its patents. This corporate social responsibility strategy directly benefits communities interested in using or developing technologies, emphasizing Tesla's mission and vision statements.
Customers. Customers affect Tesla's revenues, and are interested in product quality and reasonable pricing. Given such significant impact, the company gives high priority to these stakeholders in its corporate social responsibility programs. To address such interests, the firm continues to seek new ways of minimizing battery costs.
For example, instead of continuing to buy batteries from Panasonic, Tesla plans to manufacture its own batteries to make its electric automobiles more affordable. Also, Tesla continues to expand its network of charging stations. This approach improves customer experience and convenience. These corporate social responsibility efforts ensure that Tesla satisfies the interests of customers as a stakeholder group.
Employees. In designing its corporate social responsibility strategy, Tesla Motors, Inc. believes that employees are a critical success factor in its automotive business. As stakeholders, employees influence business productivity and performance. Their interests include high compensation and significant career opportunities.
Tesla satisfies these interests through a competitive compensation strategy, as well as HR programs designed to enhance skills development and leadership development. Moreover, the company's corporate social responsibility strategy offers learning experiences through collaborative programs with partner firms, thereby satisfying the interests of employees as stakeholders.
Investors/Shareholders. Tesla's early years depended on a series of funding from investors. These stakeholders are important in influencing the capitalization of the company. Investors and shareholders have interests in the profitability and growth of the business.
Tesla's corporate social responsibility strategy addresses these interests through long-term strategies that aim to transform the automotive market. For example, the company's decision to allow other firms and individuals to use its technology patents is expected to increase market demand for electric vehicles, thereby creating growth opportunities for Tesla automobile sales.
The sustainability and environmental friendliness products of the company are also in line with current sociocultural trends, thereby supporting business growth. Considering its profitability in recent years, Tesla's corporate social responsibility strategy satisfies the interests of investors/shareholders as stakeholders of the business.
2. A small factory is producing 6000 small bags per day with the following resources. (Note: Write the formula, units and use two decimal places)
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Labor
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90 hours per day @ $12 per hour
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Raw Material
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300 pounds per day @ $1 per pound
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Energy
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$ 200 per day
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Capital cost
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$ 100 per day
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A. What is the multifactor productivity?
B. What is the percentage and unit change in multifactor productivity if the factory decreased the labor-hour to 25 hours per day?
3. A jewelry factory is producing 3000 pieces of jewelry per day. They consume 7 grams of gold every day and they are charged $35 for each gram.
In addition to that, they use 50 pounds of glue daily with the cost of $2 per pound. Their production labors are working for 40 hours to produce the required amount daily and getting paid by $5 for each working hour and energy costs are assumed to be $6 a day. The factory replaced the gold by silver in which the gram of it costs $30.
Calculate the productivity when gold was used and productivity when silver was used and show if they were able to maintain 5% increase in productivity (Note: Write the formula, units and use two decimal places)