40Note: write in APA format and must site references whenever quote from any book, journal or website. Also mention any assumptions that you may be considering in answering your questions.A.Smith compressors Ltd. is a company based out of Ontario, manufacturing and supplying compressors to various industries since 1980. In 2004 they bagged a very prestigious contract to sell their products to Brazil after PM of Canada signed on a bilateral trade deal with Brazil. To support the increased demand in production, Smith compressors invested in a new production facility in Nova Scotia. 1st shipment left for Brazil in the summer of 2005.Everything was working well for Smith compressors until recession hit the world markets in 2008 and by 2010 Smith compressors was struggling to keep itself above the water. Eventually they decided to close down their facility in Ontario and laid off 250 employees. Fast forward 2014, encouraged by better economic environment Smith compressors reopened its closed-out facility in Ontario and made a cautious start of production. It penetrated in newer growing markets in Asian countries and in couple of years it was producing at its full capacity. Happy days were back again.2018 onwards Smith compressors however started facing problems with it’s labour unions regarding wages, benefits & working conditions at the plant level. High turnover of supervisory and managerial level staff was also becoming a big challenge for the company to deal with.
After they failed to manage this situation, Smith compressors hired your company for external intervention and bail them out and put them back on track. Other information available:Smith Compressors Ltd. Is the 3rdlargest compressor manufacturing company in Canada employing about 1200 employees serving domestic as well as international markets.After about 4 weeks of investigations by interacting with all stake holders your team came to the conclusion that employees at all levels are unhappy. Apart from many other points following were the 2 main reasons of discontenta.No guidelines for appraisals leading to random promotions/increments/transfersb.Poor benefits & relatively lower pay specially at the supervisory levelsIn your recommendations you are required to suggest the; 14marks1.Well-developed appraisal system for:a.Front line production workersb.Front line managersc.Sales staffd.Top brass (Senior Management Team)2.Make recommendations for compensation and benefits for; 14marksa.Front line production workersb.Front line managersc.Sales staffd.Top brass (Senior Management Team)NOTE: Mention assumptions if any
B. Looking at the present market trends the think tank at CanAsia trucking Co. (CAT) have decided to foray into the home delivery business by the summer of 2020. CAT is a transport company offering B2B servicers, mostly moving products from factory warehouses to retailers. Having a fleet of 500 trucks they had been moving food products from coast to coast in entire North America since 2000.32 years old Peter, the new CEO at CAT is a young and veryenterprising man. He made a presentation to the board of directors about how online buying has taken the world by storm hence convinced the board to dive into this home delivery business (A shift from B2B to B2C) bringing products at the door steps of the consumers. Board wants to take a cautious approach though. They asked Peter to start a home delivery pilot project that could be scaled up in the future.Minutes of board meeting were sent out to all departmental heads briefing them about the home delivery pilot project. Later, Peter sent out the following briefing to you, the HR head requesting to do the needful with regards to manpower planning and recruitment;Pilot project requirements;Identified Market to serve: Metro Vancouver➢Delivery drivers required : 30 with their own Vans (minimum1 ton capacity)Note: Delivery drivers should be able to pick up 60 to 80 Lbs. Weight➢Dispatchers : 2
Note: (dispatchers provide interface between the client and customers and schedule deliveries and allocate them to drivers)For this pilot project internal administrative staff services could be used for payroll etc. So no need to hire any admin staff as of now. However, there is a need to source a good dispatch software for scheduling deliveries and fleet management. Peter asked you to identify the most suitable dispatch software for the pilot project keeping in mind that if we succeed CAT will like to scale up the operations and go countrywide. QuestionsA.Review the chapter “Selection” to identify and explain which testing methods would be most suitable for the following;I.Delivery drivers .Dispatchers .Carry out a research on available dispatch softwares in the market. Choose one which in your opinion is the best suitable for this pilot project
