Human Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Capital - Essay Example This is a case analysis of the Riordan Manufacturing, a global plastics producer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion. Production is divided among three plants: plastic beverage containers in Albany, Georgia; custom plastic parts in Pontiac, Michigan; and plastic fan parts in Hangzhou, China. Research and Development is conducted at corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. Riordans major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufacturers. The cause of the problem that Riordan Manufacturing is facing is rooted from several strategic changes in the way it manufactures and markets its products. The declining sales and uneven profits over the past two years not only forced the company to change its sales processes, but prompted them to adopt a customer-relationship management (CRM) system. So now customers are serviced primarily by sales teams rather than single salespeople, with each team focusing on a particular customer segment. Teams typically include a sales person, product engineering specialist and customer service representatives. The company is hoping that the team approach will improve sales. With some work being redirected to a new manufacturing facility in China, and plants have been restructured into self-directed work teams, the changes implemented have caused the employee retention numbers to decline. An employee survey showed a decrease in overall job satisfaction, particularly in the areas of compensatio n and benefits. Riordan’s employees comprise three major demographic groups. Baby boomers make up the bulk of the managerial and about half of the manufacturing