Fontana Engineering: Management & Organization

Essay by KrezayUniversity, Master's September 2008

download word file, 14 pages 0.0

Fontana Engineering Plc (hereinafter referred to as 'Fontana' or 'the company') is a medium sized manufacturing firm that has entered into an employment relationship with its employees. An employment relationship is regarded as a socio-economic exchange between the employer and the employee and in contemporary society; money is the most direct and, for most people, the most significant element of the exchange. Other important factors in the relationship between employers and employee include hygiene factors (the job environment e.g. the policies and administration, the kind of supervision workers get on the job, working conditions, security, interpersonal relations etc.) which lead to job satisfaction.

In this case, the company does not seem to have a vision or mission and its relationship with its employees can only be described as one that is failing to achieve any meaningful purpose. There is a serious communication gap between the management and its employees which is costing the company in terms of waste; waste of time, money, resources and capabilities.

In order to understand behaviour within the organisation, it is important to assess the way the managers perceive the different groups within the organisation and how these groups perceive each other and management. Fontana appears to have adopted a unitarist perspective on employee relation. The management is the sole legitimate authority and seems to take decisions in ways that suggest that what is good for the firm is good for the employees. Whilst this may be so, there is no way of knowing as these decisions are not communicated or explained to the employees. It is expected that if the management does not involve the employees in decision making then they cannot expect them to be enthusiastic about carrying them out. They do not seem to understand what management is doing or why they are...