Organisation and management issues of Alcan Essay

Organisation and management issues of Alcan - Essay Example s mentioned earlier, aluminium is a long term, and also a capital-intensive business, and as far as Lynemouth is concerned, it had begun its operations in the year 1972, and one of the major costs of operation was the power that it had to use for the process of smelting, twenty fours hours a day, all year round. In the year 1990, the plant had about 780 employees, the majority of whom were male, and who had been with the plant since its inception. Work organization was traditional, and the work turnover was low. (Newell; Scarbrough, 2002) There was in addition, a perception that the organization desired to impose changes, by using parts of already existing agreements, instead of involving the Unions. While the employees also reported that the management was not alt all communicative with them, the Union had to take up the cause, and it was requested that the management cooperate with trade unions to establish a better relationship with the employees, because the productivity of the plant was declining as a result of dissatisfaction. Gradually, there was overcapacity with the opening of new plants, and the price of aluminium started to fall, and employment also started to decline from 56,000 to 46,000. In 1991, one of the two pot lines of the plant had to be closed down, and there was a redundancy of fifty percent of the entire workforce. With only one line of operation, Lynemouth was faced with great difficulties, and the management found that they would have to somehow raise efficiency levels immediately, so that pro duction would be improved. Soon team working was brought in, with the cooperation of the trade unions, and in 1994, direct supervision was abolished, and in its place, team leaders were appointed to supervise operations, but the problem was that he could... There are certain specific issues in the Alcan Case that can be analyzed, like change, teamwork, and the managerial structure of the organization. Today, Alcan is entirely different in several aspects, from the Alcan of a mere four years ago. The company has grown operating earnings of 18% annual compound rate and has also managed to invest $8.8 billion for developing and to maintaining the growth of the organization, mainly through acquisitions and taking advantage of internal opportunities, like for example, the expansion of the Alouette Center in Quebec. These were some of the numerous strategic investments that Alcan had embarked on in the recent past, and it is because of this that Alcan has been able to effectively strengthen its global presence, and also maintain its stability and sustainability. Today, it can be stated that the main strengths of the company lie in the unique combination of its strong and committed workforce, and also because of its strong network of operation s. (Innovative aluminium and packaging Solutions Worldwide.In addition, its excellent customer base, in combination with the management’s decision to embark on and to maintain a sustainable and an innovative strategic alliance with its numerous customer and suppliers, making the organization one of the most dynamic and multilingual and multicultural organizations in the global world of today, with more than 70,000 employees in about fifty-five countries all over the world.