Introduction
Meeting the increasing needs of customers is a continual challenge in today's business environment. As companies try to increase their market share by providing more services, the methods in which they try to provide them can often undergo significant changes in the organizational structure, from adding new departments within the company, to acquiring other companies to provide those additional products and services. In this assignment, we'll discuss how a simulated merger of two shoe companies, Skechers USA, Inc., and Johnston & Murphy, Inc., integrate their respective human resource polices to accommodate their two separate organizational cultures. We'll provide a brief history of the two companies, along with some supplemental information, and make proposals on how to integrate the most vital issues facing the cultural differences of the two organizations, such as work schedules, mentoring, diversity training, and incentives. For the sake of brevity, our policy merger will only include issues that address the diversity-related concerns of this newly-integrated work force.
Murphy Engagement
Johnston & Murphy
Murphy EngagementBackground and History
The relatively new company Skechers USA, Inc., whose product line targets teens and twenty-something adults, is known for a progressive, younger workforce. Johnston & Murphy, on the other hand, has been in existence for more than 100 years, and targets a clientele of older-generation men. Its workforce is primarily comprised of such, consisting largely of conservative males 40 years of age and older.
Skechers USA, Inc. proclaims itself as an award-winning global leader in the lifestyle footwear industry. Founded in Manhattan Beach, CA in 1992, it designs, develops and markets lifestyle footwear that it says appeals to trend-savvy men, women and children. Skechers claims its success stems from its "high-quality, diversified product line that meets consumers' various lifestyle needs and an innovative global marketing strategy driven by cutting-edge print and television advertising," (Skechers USA, Inc. 2003).