1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this report is to evaluate and diagnose the problems existent in Lizard Lick Fine Paper Mill, and how they have caused the company to lose their competitive edge. Solutions and interventions are also to be identified for the problems diagnosed, and an action plan for all parties involved in the necessary changes within the company will be developed for implementation.
1.2 Scope
The scope of this report remains primarily within the company, and focuses on the problems that exist in it, not on some of the external elements that may also have an effect on the problems. The report will also zoom in only on the five main people as introduced and interviewed, namely George, Joe, Joani, Jonathan and Daniel, seeing that they are employees who plays the most important parts in the entire production process.
1.3 Methodology
To do this report, a diagnosis of the company will first be done, using the open-systems model, and based on the organisational, group and individual-levels. Data collected will be analysed using content analysis, summarising all interview comments into meaningful categories of the issues in the company (Waddell et al., 2004).
After diagnosis of the problems, all plausible solutions and interventions for each problem will be identified, and they will then be evaluated to recommend the best alternatives with respect to its respective problem. An action plan will then be developed based on the recommended interventions, and the people needed for the change to be implemented will be assigned to their roles in the action plan.
1.4 Assumptions & Limitations
Lizard Lick Mill is assumed to be an open-system organisation, easily affected by their external environment, and their production process and ways of doing things have not changed over the years. In this report, where focus is on the paper division, the only relevant clients who have an effect on the change attempt are assumed to be George, Joe, Joani, Jonathan and Daniel, and these five employees will basically represent all their subordinates in their respective departments wherever applicable, and hence will reflect their subordinates' thoughts.
1.5 Background
Lizard Lick Mill is one of the many plants under the paper division of a natural resources company. They provide fine paper for many large paper users, and used to enjoy the reputation of high productivity with record output and high return on assets (ROA) in the post-World War II years.
However, productivity and ROA has plummeted over the last few years. Not only have raw material and operating costs increased, the quality of Lizard Lick Mill's paper has decreased, leading to an increase in customer complaints. Employee morale has also dropped, and therefore there is a need to intervene to find out the exact problems in the company and improve the situation before it worsens.
…
