Structural Variables Affecting Company Performance

The aspect of total compensation refers to everything provided by the company to the employees in exchange for their services within the firm (Johnson, 2018). Some of the elements of the total compensation program include but not limited to the on-site amenities, base salary, benefits, perks, and salary (Webster, 2018). While considering the total compensation aspect, an employee is likely to be making either twice or three times the basic salary. Usually, the company notifies the employees of the additional salary but fail to reveal the exact value of the additional salary on the annual basis. Therefore, this essay has been set primarily to focus on formulating a program that will enhance employee motivation, attraction, retention, and safeguarding of employee rights within the Duplox Copiers Canada Limited.

The fundamental variable that is greatly impacting the company circumnavigates around employee motivation within the firm. Firstly, the company has serious problems in the overall performance.  The overall morale of the employees is quite low accompanied by high employee turnover. Additionally, the company has serious problems with the customers as the complaints are too high. In other words, the customer satisfaction rate is too low. The company is periodically depreciating concerning revenues and profits. The issues mentioned above can originate from different structural variables. Some of the possible structural variables are discussed in the proceeding section of this essay. 

There exists a diversity of structural variables that might be affecting the performance of the company. Firstly, the company is operating under a parent firm located in the United States of America. The parent company sets the prices paid by Duplox Canada despite allowing the company to sell the copiers at any price that the market may bear. This ideology might be one of the factors that are leading to customer satisfaction. In such a case, the pricing strategy of the company depends solemnly on the market forces. Therefore, the profitability of the company is uncertainty. Pricing goods as per the market forces might result in either profits or huge losses. This might be the reason behind the minute profits and low revenue generated by the company.

Additionally, the company might also be applying cost-effective pricing strategy which makes the consumers uncertified with the price of the commodities. Despite, a hierarchical structure causing problems in the organization, the major issues presented by the firm circumnavigates around employee motivation. The technical service specialists have proven to be less motivated towards their work. The turnover rate within the department is too high. The technical service specialists fail to repair the Brocken machinery which is leading to complaints from the clients regarding the quality of the services provided. The performance of the technical service specialists has been questioned and argued negatively by the marketing director.

Management Strategies at Duplox Copiers Canada Limited

Management strategy refers to the manner in which the employees within an organization are managed, supervised and controlled for the achievement of desired goals and objectives (Spacey, 2016).  Following the definition above, a management strategy can also refer to the management structure of an organization. Usually, the management strategy takes either a flat format or a hierarchical strategy. Following the description provided about the Duplox Copiers Canada Limited, the organizational structure of the company can be explained in various ways. Firstly, the company assumes a hierarchical management strategy whereby the company is led by the chief executive officer, followed by the vice president in the marketing and field service departments and finally the directors in various departments. Usually, a hierarchical organizational structure involves a chain of command involving different stages of authority whereby every employee within the organization except the CEO acts as a subordinate to someone else (Meehan, 2018).  Taking the marketing department as a typical example, we have the marketing director to whom the regional branch manager reports. The regional branch manager, on the other hand, supervises the branch sales managers who oversee the office managers and sales representatives. The office manager then finally oversees the office clerks. However, the management strategy of the company can also be described as a functional organizational structure. Usually, the functional organizational structure is used by small organizations when they want to arrange their structure as per the departments (Suttle, 2018). In the case study provided, Duplox Copiers Canada Limited has two vice presidents (one for the marketing department and the other for the field services) to whom other directors within the department’s report.  

The major employee-related problems circumnavigate around low motivation. Firstly, the technical service specialists are currently encountering low attitudes towards their jobs which is a great hindrance to the achievement of organizational goals (Friggstad, 2018). In such a case, employee motivation and self-actualization towards the work is a significant behavior for the achievement of the determined objectives. Additionally, non-compliance among the specialists results in fundamental problems within the firm. Failure to repair the machines has resulted in unsatisfactory among the employees. In such a case, accountability is an essential behavior among the employees for the achievement of the predetermined goals and objectives. Accountable employees built customer satisfaction regarding the goods and services provided by the company.

The first compensation program employed by the company is sales promotion. In this case, fifty percent of the total salary of the sales representatives rely solemnly on the sales volume. The remaining 50% of the salary acts as the basic salary to the sales representatives (Friggstad, 2018). On the other hand, the technical service specialists are paid an overtime salary in addition to the flat monthly salary. The technical service specialists also benefit from the annual appraisal from the FSM. The compensation of the inventory management director is based on his/her ability to minimize the carrying charges of the inventory.

Employee-Related Problems and Motivation

On the other hand, the compensation of the technical training and support director base on his/her ability to maintain a lower cost of the department. Additionally, the training and support director is compensated in accordance to the level of recovered cost obtained from the technical service department. However, the compensation system lacks fundamental components such as salary surveys, policies and regulations, pay structures and job analysis and job description (buscouncil.ca, 2018). Such components are essential for a successful compensation system.

Even though we expect the designed compensation system to promote hard work, accountability and loyalty among the employees as compensation is linked to the performance in the work area; the scenario is different for Duplox Copier Canada Limited. Typical examples to illustrate this ideology are the sales representatives who fail to employ the machine due to their fear of increasing the expense that may hinder their total sales due to the competition in the market. In such a case, the sales representatives are operating in their interest at the expense of satisfying consumer needs and preferences. Therefore, the compensation program does not promote the desired behavior of the employees.

The compensation program of the company is not in alignment with the managerial style. As viewed under the hierarchical structure, we expect the compensation of the employees to be by the ranking. The highest in the rank receive the highest pay. Otherwise, in the functional organizational structure style, we expect the vice president of the marketing department to earn the same as the vice president of the field services.  However, the ideology does not apply for the Duplox Copier Canada Limited as everyone is compensated as per the performance of the individual.

Setting up a compensation strategy that will lead to the achievement of the motivation of the workers and retention within the organization entails taking different factors into consideration. Firstly, I would purport a compensation program that imitates the management style such that the employees are paid a basic salary revel that is dependent on their ranks. Additionally, the compensation program should take into consideration the legal framework which includes employee rights and equity (Magee, 2018). Additionally, the compensation program should include the performance management system (Lotich, 2017). In this case, the employees are compensated by their achievement and contribution to the overall goals and objectives of the company. Finally, the compensation program should be flexible to be adjusted with accordance to the trends in the salaries of the workforce in the market environment. However, the company must ensure, its employees are compensated better than the market trends to promote retention and motivation ion the organization.

References

buscouncil.ca (2018). Components of the compensation system [online]. Retrieved from: https://www.buscouncil.ca/busgurus/media/pdf/Compensation-System-en.pdf [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Friggstad, S. (2018). Duplox Copiers Canada Limited.

Johnson, R. (2018). Total compensation: Definition, Strategy and Elements [online]. Retrieved from: https://study.com/academy/lesson/total-compensation-definition-strategy-elements.html [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Lotich, P. (2017). Seven keys to an effective compensation strategy [online]. Retrieved from: https://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/compensation-strategy/ [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Magee M. (2018). Employee compensation law and legal definition [online]. Retrieved from: https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/employee-compensation/ [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Meehan, C. (2018).  Flat Vs. Hierarchical Organizational structure [online]. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/flat-vs-hierarchical-organizational-structure-724.html [Accessed on 9, October 2018)

Spacey, J. (2016). Examples of management strategies [online]. Retrieved from: https://simplicable.com/new/management-strategy-examples [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Suttle, R. (2018). Types of organizational structure in management [online]. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-organizational-structure-management-2790.html [Accessed on 9, October 2018].

Webster, S. (2018). The difference between base salary and total compensation [online]. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-base-salary-total-compensation-21449.html [Accessed on 9, October 2018).