Topic 2 Human Resources

Review Assignment

1. Create an organizational chart for N-Pharma.

2. As N-Pharma continues to grow, should they pursue internal or external
recruitment?
3. N-Pharma has typically followed a tall organizational structure. What are the
advantages and disadvantages to this? Should N-Pharma consider a flatter
structure in some of it’s locations?
4. Discuss the challenges that a tall structure can pose for chain of command and
communications?
5. Discuss motivational theories that may be effecting productivity levels in the
Canadian subsidiary. How might this be improved?
6. Discuss factors that may be effecting absenteeism in the Australian subsidiary.
How might this be improved?
7. What type of leadership style does Susan James exhibit? Laura Davies? Would
you recommend any changes to this type of leadership considering the situation?
8. Discuss various methods of financial payment of staff. Which do you feel would
be most beneficial within N-Pharma?

The most common financial benefits given to staff of major corporations are
incentives such as piece rate pay, commission, time rate pay, profit sharing, or
profit-related pay, performance related pay, payment in stock options, and fringe
benefits. With each of these comes both advantage sand disadvantages. With
piece rate pay, more productive employees are rewarded more than less
productive ones. This gives the best employees more benefits and also gives
employees motivation to do their job with the utmost efficacy. The downside of
piece rate pay is that because employees are trying to be as productive as possible,
sometimes this has a negative correlation with quality, as employees produce
products they would normally not, because of the extra incentive. Putting
employees on a monthly salary gives employees a stable income and the feel of
increased job security, but with this it is difficulty to reward individual
employees. Paying employees based on commission rewards the employee with
the highest sales volume, so employees feel motivated to approach customers and
actively make sales, but this can also be negative in that salesmen will be
aggressive and feel pressured to sell as much as possible. Profit sharing is a
method where the employees are given bonuses and fiscal perks when the
company does well. This method of motivation encourages not the individual
employee to work his hardest, but to work his best for the entire company to be
successful. Because of the team building aspect of this method I would
recommend this to N-Pharma, as it would increase employee loyalty and give
lower employees the impression that the upper management levels are thinking in
their best interest.
9. What are the advantages and disadvantages to performance-related pay, as
implemented by Susan James in Canada?
10. Laura Davies is looking at non-financial methods of rewarding staff. Discuss
some of these methods and comment on probable outcome.