This paper is aimed to consider two important issues connected with the automobile industry. The first is fuel alternatives. The other is the staff and potential productivity. The paper will speculate on how these issues might influence the company’s policies and strategies. Besides, it is going to provide examples of competitive companies’ experiences that can be either adopted or withdrawn. Apart from that, the paper will suggest further recommendations in terms of the issues.
Fuel Alternatives
The first issue to dwell upon is the matter of fuel alternatives. Automobiles cannot be operational without fuel. Besides, due to modern technologies, there are various types of fuel ranging in quality, price, and availability. It is acknowledged that all automobile industry companies happen to face the problem of fuel alternatives. Therefore, the issue is topical for the present research. In this context, it is important to realize that, to be competitive, the company should select fuel that is of high quality and available at a reasonable price. Apart from that, since the issue of environmental protection appears to be critical in present-day society, the selected fuel is expected to be environmentally friendly. What is more, being up-to-date and using the latest technologies tend to increase the enterprise’s reputation. So, the fuel which any automobile industry company chooses should comply with the above-mentioned characteristics and be qualitative and relatively cheap, as well as a cause as less harm to the environment as possible. Hence, the matter of the choice proves to be rather difficult and involves issues of the economy and reputation of the company. This fact underlines the importance of the matter. As for the company’s strategy, it is influenced by the choice, due to the financial and reputational issues being involved. Cheap fuel should not worsen the quality of the production, whereas expensive fuel should not prevent the company from gaining profits. What is more, low-quality fuel is likely to damage the equipment and entrain additional expenses on its maintenance and repair. Therefore, the golden mean is expected to be found (Blais, 2017, Neil, 2017).
The stakeholders in this issue are the top-management of the company. The administration is initially considered responsible for the company’s success. Therefore, they determine its competitiveness in the market. That is why the top-management is supposed to do their best to make the right choice when it comes to fuel alternatives. The management is expected to appoint the responsible specialists to analyze the fuel market, conduct the necessary trials and calculations, and prepare the report. Based on the received data, the administration should make the choice (Maughan, 2014).
There are two examples of competitive enterprises to consider. One of the automobile industry companies decided to use the cheapest fuel regardless of its characteristics. First, this resulted in low-quality production. Then, some pieces of the equipment got broken down. Therefore, the company incurred substantial losses: customers were unwilling to purchase its production, whereas the repair of the equipment cost rather much. Hence, the company went bankrupt because of the wrong choice of fuel. The other company had a different approach. They tested several alternatives of fuel, compared and contrasted their prices and qualities, and selected the most optimal one. At present, this enterprise is prosperous and there is a stable demand for its production. The mistakes of the first company are supposed to be avoided, whereas the experience of the second one should be taken into account and possibly applied (Albeit, 2016).
Based on the above-said, the following recommendations could be given. First, the issue of fuel alternative must not be underestimated. Second, it is critical to realize that quality is uppermost. The major challenge is many alternatives, so it is necessary to understand what is required. So, the administration needs to appoint specialists for trial and evaluation of fuel alternatives to obtain the data which will determine the choice.
Staff and Potential Productivity
The second issue to reflect on is staff and productivity potential. Productivity potential is determined not only by technical equipment but also by human resources. Therefore, the matter of the selection of specialists and the range of their qualifications is a critical issue for the management of the enterprise if they struggle for success in the market. It might be wise to apply the policy of staffing diversity to have a team of various specialists who come from different backgrounds and have differentiated educations and experiences. This will enable combine ideas and work out unusual solutions to the questions which prove to be intricate to tackle (Wood, 2015).
When it comes to the stakeholders in the issue of staff planning, it is necessary to involve the top-management and HR-department. The first one is supposed to outline the staffing set, whereas the others are expected to recruit high-class specialists to comply with the goals which the enterprise has set to itself. Besides, the administration should think of incentives to attract the candidates of a necessary level of qualifications. The HR-department should search for adequate candidates and make them interested in joining the enterprise (Smith, 2013).
There are two examples of competitive enterprises to consider. One of the automobile industry companies decided not to use any incentives and employ candidates that do not ask for large salaries. Besides, they did not pay any attention to the diversity of candidates. What is more, the candidates’ level of education and experience tended to leave much to be desired. So, the HR-department was unwilling to fulfill their duties and hired literary the first people to come to interviews. The result was not positive, since the productivity level fell, and the enterprise incurred substantial losses which resulted in its bankruptcy. The other company was rather serious about the recruitment issue. The administration worked out a program of incentives for the best employers to enjoy. Besides, the HR-department did their best to interview as many candidates for each position as possible. They managed to persuade some of the high-class specialists to join the team, which proved to be beneficial for the company. It should be clear that it is necessary to prevent the first company’s situation from the occurrence and to use the other ones as a good example of staffing (Wood, 2015).
As for recommendations, they are as follows. First, it is necessary to be competitive in terms of staffing. It implies offering incentives for good specialists. Second, it is important to apply the strategy of diversity in the framework of staffing planning. Finally, it is crucial to employ candidates that comply with the company’s requirements. The major challenge is to choose the best candidates for the position. As for the program, an incentive one should be elaborated on.
Conclusion
To sum it up, it is necessary to outline that the paper has considered two important issues connected with the automobile industry which are 1) fuel alternatives and 2) staff and potential productivity. The paper has dwelled upon how these issues might influence the company’s policies and strategies. Besides, it has provided examples of competitive companies’ experiences that can be either adopted or withdrawn. Apart from that, the paper has suggested further recommendations in terms of the issues.
References
Albeit, S. (2016). Automobile industry. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Blais, M. (2017). Automobile industry. London, UK: Pearson.
Maughan, H. (2014). Innovations in automobile industry. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Neil, G. (2017). Automobile industry and innovations. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Smith, K. (2013). Staff and productivity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Wood, M. (2015). Staffing in automobile industry. London, UK: Pearson.