Jamie Jones, Manager of Staffing, has been asked by the CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer), Charlie Jackson, to present one and three-year staffing plans at an Executive Council meeting next month. As DuPont Pioneer has been growing strategically through aggressive acquisitions and product development, they currently have 455 position openings posted, including ninety one in production, sixteen in supply chain management, eleven in HR, and four in general management. But, Jamie is aware that talent acquisition and management is crucial to the longer-term success of this major player in global agriculture. With so much attention focused on present staffing issues, it may be difficult to get the C-suite to think about looming crises in the 2020s.
To effectively address the longer-term issues, Jamie feels that more attention needs to be focused on younger recruits and managers from the 90 countries in which they operate. With such a broad footprint, and financial accountability to DuPont, the corporate culture and values of Hi-Bred International, Inc. are under pressure. Employer Brand and EVP need some attention. And, social media limit the ability of any business to control the message and its image.
Gen X and Y care about corporate Mission and transparency and Life/Work Balance. European consumers and candidates care about the impact of GMOs on health and nutrition. Some question has been raised by prospective candidates about the relationship of integrity and transparency to GMO labeling in the US human food markets. Integrity has also been raised over the official version of the abrupt closure of a 3,000-acre parent seed operations facility in Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii.
https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/2015/05/dupont-pioneer-hawaii-shutters-kekaha-operations.html
Legitimate present concerns also need to be addressed. Uncertainty related to the recent unanticipated retirement of DuPont's CEO and the appointment of an interim CEO who oversaw the sale of major units at Tyco. Substantially lower corn and soybean prices that have drastically impacted agriculture in the US and prompted contemplation of mergers.* Opportunities for growth in Russia and China due to continued failure of central plans for agricultural production. Use of corn for methanol production in the US that had caused the price of this important food staple to rise such that the poor in South America had been seriously negatively impacted. Concerns have also been raised about the inefficiency of turning corn into a fuel.
Assume that you are Jamie. In light of the corporate history, culture and issues addressed in the sites below along with other relevant sources, and, applying concepts addressed in this course, how would you proceed? Please confine your Case Analysis to no more than six (6) pages including references.
Structure:
I. Problem Identification (brief - 1-3 sentences)
II. Analysis (discuss the dynamics underlying the ‘problem' and identify reasonable assumptions you have made).
III. Options (give three, including ‘do nothing')
IV. Recommendation
a. Identify target audience - not your professor, rather, person/persons in organization with the authority to adopt and implement your recommendation.
b. Argue why the option you recommend is superior to the other two.
c. What would persuadeyour target audience to adoptyourrecommendation? What is their perspective/interests?