Black & Decker - Eastern Hemisphere and ADP Initiative Case Study

Black & Decker - Eastern Hemisphere and ADP Initiative - Case Study Example Also, they faced certain challenges in these regions. Bill Lancaster, after his appointment as President in October 1995, wanted to set things right in his region i.e. Eastern Hemisphere. Bill Lancaster had certain concerns with relation to the Eastern Hemisphere organization and wanted to acquire a clear understanding of the scenario by discussing and seeking views of the existing employees and members of the Management Advisory Council (MAC). His prime concern was the fact that he found significant disparity in the ‘management styles’ that existed in the region. He found that certain managerial styles emphasized on employee empowerment whereas, others belonged to old authoritarian method. From his observation he felt that a few managers were bad managers. The other aspect was related to the growth and development of the people as he felt that in this region quite a few people were stagnant in their position. The other crucial matter of concern was with regards to exist ing process of management assessment as well as development system. They followed MBO-type system which had been discarded in the US a few years before. Bill Lancaster observed that these concerns required immediate addressing in order to not only increase the organizational growth in the Eastern Hemisphere organization but also to instigate human resource growth and development. ... ADP method of appraisal was observed to be one of the best tools available to provide employees with set goals and career plans similar to MBO process. The added benefit that ADP provided was that it was undeniably superior to MBO in guiding people towards growth prospects. The ADP plan followed six steps appraisal process which was in line with the 3600 appraisal method. This plan worked as immense aid for a manager as they were provided with the feedback about a subordinate who was reviewed by his peers and also by himself. It helped to reduce the burden of evaluation of an employee by a manager and also it provided a varied perspective towards an employee which in the long run helped in building leaders for the future which was greatly required in the Eastern Hemisphere organization. Thus, ADP had undoubted potential to develop people which was a major weakness in the organization. 2) What Concerns Do Asian Managers Have About ADP? How Substantive Are These Concerns? In the US, th ere was certain skepticism with ADP. The concerns were regarding its acceptability among the employees other than the senior level. It was also thought that the 3600 feedback process will give rise to biasness as popularity of an employee with the managers of would play a major role in getting a good review. The enormities of the process of collecting as well as processing of the feedback were also a major concern. The process was also thought to be devoid of providing any reward for a job done well by an employee. These concerns that were quite substantial in the US were seen to be raised in some form or the other among the Asian managers. The concerns among the Asian managers were that Asian people were generally thought to be averse from criticism