Case Study of Volvo

Case Study of Volvo
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Case Study of Volvo
Introduction
Volvo Cars is a leading company in automotive manufactures. Its experience in the automotive industry spans more than nine decades (Sitecore, 2021). Today, Volvo cars boast of delivering an agile, innovative, and efficient digital experience associated with a positive company outlook. However, just like any company, Volvo has had its fair share of problems primarily emanating from its production line. The problem resulted in increased rates of absenteeism and staff turnover. This state raised tension among the company’s top management. The company’s leadership resolved to overhaul its production line while emphasizing teamwork and company culture anchored on FIKA. Each worker was required to complete at least 40-hour workweeks. Although the move to change the production line of Volvo has been lauded for having positive outcomes, several doubts exist, especially about the efficacy of the program. This paper examines the effectiveness of the new program instituted at Volvo and implications for managers guided by McClelland's achievement motivation theory and Bureaucratic management theory.
Description of the Management Elements of Volvo’s New Production Approach and Accompanying Outcomes
Recruitment and Selection
Human resource management is an essential department in a business endeavor. It ensures tasks are correctly defined and employees' concerns are given utmost priority. Fayad and Easa (2020) argue that a flexible human resource management plan is a recipe for enhanced strategic engagement, creativity, and innovational behavior. Recruitment and selection are the critical elements of human resource practice. This feature demands companies to ensure employees are appropriately selected and duties are properly outlined (Cooke, Dickmann, & Parry, 2020). Volvo’s resolution to reorganize its workforce reflected this human resource (HR) feature. In particular, the company did not conduct a new recruitment process; instead, it utilized the already existing workforce. But in this case, it was more concerned with having smaller, self-managed groups. This selection has comprised a group of employees between 5 and 12. This selection was done correctly because the grouped employees had undergone a rigorous interview before being absorbed into the company. After the selection, employees were provided with new roles dictated by HR policies that mediated role repetition experienced in the previous workforce. For instance, Volvo employees were required to be responsible for the assembly of a complete vehicle. This move ensured that each employee would be easier to manage.
Training and Development
Training and development is another critical element that defines the significance of HR in a company. This feature is evident in Volvo’s program. Ensuring that training and development achieves its intended objective is imperative to emphasize employee engagement (Fayad &Easa, 2020). In this case, the older workforce was not retrenched. Instead, the company decided to retrain them to achieve professional competence with the company footing the finances for the professional development course...