Is Empowerment a Valuable Tool for Increasing Efficiency and Essay - 4

Is Empowerment a Valuable Tool for Increasing Efficiency and Effectiveness in Today's Organisations - Essay Example The paper tells that the purpose of empowerment is to get employees to take responsibility for producing results rather than merely â€Å"following rules and regulations without producing tangible results†. It includes various factors such as re-engineering and re-designing existing delivery processes to make them less error-prone, more efficient, effective, and timely. Re-organization of the company’s operations to eliminate wastage of resources and personnel and replacement of earlier methods of working with information technology are also reforms that empower the workforce. Replacement of old tasks with high technology equipment or new approaches would require staff training for new responsibilities. Any anxiety on the part of workers should be addressed by human resources personnel to help employees increase their skill sets, and when any jobs become obsolete the employees should be helped to find comparable jobs within the organization. Employee empowerment has bec ome an increasingly popular concept in organizations because of growing global competition and rapid technological change. These require intensive organizational changes in employee management, for increasing organizational competitive advantage in the expanding market. Employee empowerment is a significant change initiative because it is critical to organizational innovation and effectiveness. The key element in empowerment is that it increases the level of motivation of an individual employee at the lowest possible organizational level when he is delegated with authority to make decisions. There are two distinct definitions of empowerment. As a relational construct, empowerment refers to one’s power and control over other employees, and to the transference of such power from management to an employee with less decision-making authority.

How an organization overcame a public relations crisis Case Study

How an organization overcame a public relations crisis - Case Study Example Johnson & Johnson’s is a very successful company. Its vision focuses on being of service to the community and committing itself to serving their clients. The mission statement is no different. The company seeks to provide its clients with the best possible product and services. According to the company, this must meet safety and ethical regulation. Looking at the Tylenol crisis, the reader will understand just how timely response to company crisis is essential in winning the trust of the consumer. Before the Tylenol Crisis, the product was the most successful over the counter drug in the US. It had over a hundred million users. Through the first 3 quarters of 1982, Tylenol was bringing in about 19 percent of Johnson and Johnson’s profits. The product accounted for 13 percent of the company’s growth in sales and over 33 percent in profits growth per year. In terms of the market share, Tylenol had over 37 percent making it indomitable. The drug outsold four of its closest competitors combined. Later in 1982, for reasons not known to anyone, a presumably unknown person or persons put cyanide-laced capsules in place of Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules and then resealed the packages. The malevolent person(s) then deposited the drugs on shelves of at least six pharmacies or more and popular food stores in Chicago. Seven people died from using the capsules. The media can be damaging to the reputation of any company. In most cases, it may have some alteration, or have interest on one side. While a given piece of information can have different meanings depending on how it is covered, the media will always find the way that the piece attracts as much heat or attention as possible. Concerning Tylenol crisis, the media focused on how a trusted consumer product had brought about deaths of the American citizens. While this is true, the fact is that the company was not to blame for the unfortunate events. The media made a very bad name of the brand that