The Turnaround and Renewal of Business
Organization chosen - Rite Aid Corporation. This is the final paper (building on the previous paper - which is attached here). ATTACHED ARE "Signature assignment instructions", "week 5-8 discussions (Please use these in writing the paper)', "paper writing guidelines by the professor", and previous paper - written based on week 1- 4 discussions.
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Building on the organization, you selected for the case assignment (Rite Aid corporation), write a 8 - 10 page paper (report) that integrates underlying theories and concepts learned from week 5- week 8 discussions. Please Do not merely respond to the statements below as if you are step-by-step checking the box. Develop, synthesize, and integrate concepts in a comprehensive clear manner to the reader. Hint: Review your previous discussion threads (week 5 - week 8) to recap what you have succinctly written. You have been selected as an internal consultant to the company Rite Aid corporation.
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You recently prepared a report for your company. In the previous report (attached), you had to differentiate between turnaround management and organizational renewal. You have already assessed the following: (1) financials, (2) examined strategy and finance, and (3) justified bankruptcy as a strategy in the turnaround process (if applicable).
Based upon your recent reported discovery you must now address the following:
1. Evaluate fraud and ethics in turnaround and renewal of business:
(A) Provide strategies to minimize the risk
2. Assess the Role of the HRM in rightsizing and downsizing.
3. Formulate the strategy and plan for business success. In your plan consider the following:
(A) The alignment of purpose, performance, principles and other factors to assure business
reorganization success.
(B) A narrative addressing the plan changing the direction of the organization.
4. Propose the process changes, redesign and or reengineering status.
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Writing Guidelines: -
• Running head and pagination. • The length of this paper should be between 8-10 pages (not including the title page, table of contents, reference page and Appendices page). • APA style formatting (7th edition), double spaced, with 1-inch margins and 12 point Times New Roman font. • Add an EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (including THESIS statement) at the beginning of the document; and add INTRODUCTION and CONCLUSION paragraphs. • Please include TITLE PAGE, TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE, REFERENCE PAGE, and any APPENDICES. • Please submit in a word document and NOT pdf version. • Please use HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS to organize your paper. • Use at least 10 academic, peer-reviewed, library trade publications, scholarly or professional practitioner sources, and minimum 36 in-text CITATIONS are required. • You must cite and reference all texts used, including page numbers as applicable to avoid plagiarism. • Please provide verifiable links/web address for each academic reference used. • Paper should be proofread for spelling and grammar mistakes. • Write your paper in an integrated fashion, weaving theory and application. In other words, do not merely respond to each bullet above as a checklist.
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Professor’s Additional instructions –
Please: - Use third person in writing. - Do not use quotes. - Use APA formatting (7TH Edition) of references and in text citations is required. - the following resources are NOT ACCEPTABLE as citations for this paper: • Wikipedia.com • Ehow.com • Dictionary.com • About.com • Smallbusiness.chron.com • Diffen.com • Yourbusiness.azcentral.com • Tjmarino.com • Investopedia.com • Boundless.com and Lumen • CourseHero.com • Chegg.com • Difference between • Answers.com • Any student essay website
The Turnaround and Renewal of Business
Abstract
The previous report on Rite Aid Corporation (RAC) determined that the drugstore company lacked sufficient liquid assets to cover current liabilities and was over-leveraged as indicated by its high debt-to-equity ratio. Moreover, despite having a relatively high inventory turnover ratio, RAC has been unable to convert its sales into profits for the last three years. This report will cover business turnaround management and organizational renewal strategies in relation to the drugstore chain. It will integrate fundamental theories and concepts learned from week 5 to week 8 discussions to address several concerns related to business turnaround and renewal. The first issue to be addressed will be fraud and ethics: the report will propose several strategies to minimize risk of the same. The second issue will tie to the role of the HRM in rightsizing and downsizing. Afterwards, the report will formulate a comprehensive strategy and plan for business success and even recommend the required process changes, redesign, and or reengineering status.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………………………….…..……………………………..2
Introduction…….…………………………………………….……………..……………………..4
Fraud and Ethics in Turnaround and Renewal of Business…….…………………………………4
Strategies to Minimize the Risk……………………………………………………………………5
The Role of The HRM in Rightsizing and Downsizing…………………………………………..6
The Strategy and Plan for Business Success………………………………………………………8
The Alignment of Purpose, Performance, Principles, and………………………………………..8
A Narrative Addressing the Plan Changing the Direction of the Organization…………………..9
Proposed Process Changes, Redesign, and or Reengineering Status…………………………….10
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….11
References………………………………………………………………………………………..12
Business Turnaround Management & Organizational Renewal Strategies
Introduction
One of the constant issues in turnaround and renewal of business is fraud and ethics. Besides bad economic conditions and poor management, fraud and unethical behavior are some of the biggest contributors to business distress. Consequently, any commentary or efforts at company turnaround and renewal must include concrete plans to deter fraud as well as create an ethical atmosphere where employees are naturally inclined to avoid and report any misconduct. It must also include the role of the HRM in improving organizational structure and furthering the company’s strategic needs by managing the employee lifecycle. Sometimes, supporting the business to achieve higher levels of profitability, efficiency, and competitiveness demands downsizing or rightsizing. This report will use these two concepts to illustrate how an effective turnaround and renewal of business is hinged on the alignment of purpose, performance, principles, and other success factors. It will also propose several business turnaround management and organizational renewal strategies in relation to the drugstore chain.
Fraud and Ethics in Turnaround and Renewal of Business
Companies under stress during organizational restructuring tend to experience higher cases of observed misconduct. Employees are more likely to commit fraud at work during times of widespread organizational change since top executives and managers are less likely to be on the lookout for unethical practices (Smith, 2004). Still, the turnaround and renewal of business provides a good opportunity for company leadership to develop tangible strategies and policies against fraud and ethical breaches. Periods of intense organizational change are opportunities for company executives and managers to develop comprehensive policy documents that not only call on staff to help fight fraud and unethical practices, but also factor in every possible vector risk. The turnaround and renewal of business period is a chance for company executives, managers, and auditors to develop anti-fraud controls and ways of implementing them. It is a time to identify instances of flawed or insufficient human execution of internal controls and replace them with more effective ones. It is also the time when visible, vocal leadership support for company ethics can inspire support and compliance from all employees. During periods of organizational change, leadership support for integrity ensures that the message filters down through all organizational levels, from finance to human resource to procurement.
Strategies to Minimize the Risk
The first strategy to minimize the risk of fraud and ethical breaches is developing a code of ethics that clearly communicates to all staff everything they need to understand about detecting and reporting fraud as well as behaving ethically at work. This code of ethics must detail the responsibilities of each stakeholder in deterring fraud and unethical practical including company staff, suppliers, investors, consumers, and communities (Murphy & Dacin, 2011). It must also describe what is and is not acceptable behavior, where the code of policy applies (not just within the company premises but also outside the office), whom to inquire for advice when faced with an unclear situation, why integrity is important to the company and its stakeholders, as well as how to report cases of fraud and suspected ethical breaches. The second strategy to deter fraud and unethical practices is conducting regular anti-fraud and integrity training. This training should include top management and discuss the code of ethics as well as explain any conduct issues that might be unclear.
The program should explain the company’s disciplinary policy in relation to handling all conduct violations and ensuring consistent enforcement of code of ethics. The third strategy to prevent fraud and ethical misconduct is having top executives lead by example. It is important for company management to set the right tone by modeling the right behavior. When company leaders honor and observe the code of ethics, employees are much more likely to follow suit and even report any misconduct that they witness (Sabău et al., 2013). The fourth strategy to lowering the risk of fraud and ethical breaches is establishing safe channels for reporting fraud and unethical behavior. Employee tips are the most effective way of detecting fraud and therefore all company employees must have the means to report workplace misconduct anonymously and without fear of retaliation. Timely reporting of fraud and ethical breaches is critical to crisis resolution and recovery.
The Role of The HRM in Rightsizing and Downsizing
The role of the HRM during downsizing is to eliminate redundant staff positions and manage the effects of organizational contraction. Laying off workers is riddled with ‘people’-oriented challenges, which require complex HR interventions and support (Papalexandris, 1996). For instance, the HRM is responsible for conducting redundancy interviews: the HRM has to select staff for redundancy based on their job performance or prevailing conditions, over and above, select those employees who will be offered a place in the downsized organizational structure. This selection process has to be fair and consistent with labor and employment laws. The HRM is also tasked with informing all affected staff in an honest and transparent manner, sometimes offering exit incentives to communicate the organization’s respect to both departing and surviving employees.
Exit incentives may include providing support to fired employees as they seek the next placement such as by giving good recommendation letters as well as linking them with other potential employers and outplacement consultants. It is also the HRM’s responsibility to manage the change process by providing support and motivation to the surviving staff. Downsizing is a difficult time for everyone and it is not uncommon for the morale and engagement levels to drop. The reasons for the downsizing...