Training and Staff Development HRM 455

Running head: TRAINING AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT Training and Staff Development at Eastman Kodak Name University Course Tutor Date Company Overview and Strategic Imperatives Eastman Kodak Company is an American multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company which is headquartered in Rochester, New York. Kodak operates in consumer digital imaging, graphic communications, and film, photofinishing and entertainment business across the world. The company has been known over the years for photographic film products. It has been dominating photographic film products for several years and had once been able to hold 90 percent of the United States photographic film market share. However, the company began experiencing problems in the late 1990 when it started struggling financial due to the introduction of the digital camera in the market (Mendes, 2011). The company was slow in transitioning to digital photography. The company has not been performing well since has lost sales revenue and the profitability has also gone down. It had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2012. As part of its turnaround strategy, Eastman Kodak has been focusing on digital photography and digital printing. The company spent a lot of million of dollars to establish a high-margin printer ink business in order to replace the dwindling film sales. The company produces expensive printers while sell cheaper ink. The shift to new lines of products such as inkjet printers and digital cameras has been propelling the company towards making it a profitable organization again. The new business units such as home photograph printers, high-speed commercial inkjet presses, workflow software and packaging are expected to double in terms of sales revenue. Kodak has also been litigating its patent so that it may be in a position to generate more revenue and has been able to generate more revenues from patent licensing. It opted to sell off or license its patents in order to avoid bankruptcy (Spector & Mattioli, 2012). Training Program Training program is very essential for an organization to improve its performance since training equip the employees with appropriate skills, knowledge and ability to carry out their tasks and understand the culture of their organizations. Training need not to be a one time event but should be a continuous process. The managers should able to establish an orientation program which cover a broader area and should cover the areas such as introduction to the organization, the job, the target population and people whom the employees will work with (Rabinowits & Berkowitz, 2013). Training that the employees receive from the program should be able to provide them with the necessary skills, knowledge and the strategies that are appropriate for effective performance of their tasks. It should be able to make the employees more innovative so that company may be more competitive in the digital printing and production of digital camera. The employees should be taught new skills that will enable them to grasp new ideas necessary for increasing the company’s innovativeness and performance. The training program that is being put in place by Kodak should have a wide scope and should include training of new employees, employees with prior experience and the executive managers. It should involve the training of the new employees such as new recruits who have no previous job experience. It should also involve training of the employees who have prior experience but have not been exposed to the new products and systems that are being developed. Kodak can also plan for staff development which involves on going training for all staff (Rabinowits & Berkowitz, 2013). This will equip the employees with new skills and will be able to improve their performance. Finally, the training program should cater for the professional development. Goals of the Training Program The training program for Eastman Kodak aims at fulfilling some goals. One of the goals for Eastman Kodak is to develop employees’ competence and positive attitudes. By achieving this goal the company will able to tackle the challenges that come with the changes in technology. The company will be able to compete with other organizations in the digital world. The other key goal of the training program is to keep the employees motivated. Research indicates that employees who have adequate skills and knowledge are motivated to carry out their tasks (Rabinowits & Berkowitz, 2013). Training equips the employees with deeper understanding of the inner workings of the business. They will be able to handle the challenges that are associated with the advancement in technology. Organizational Issue Since the entry of the digital technology in the early 2000s, Eastman Kodak has faced several challenges that have arisen from loss of sales revenue and profit margin in its film business. The rise in use of digital cameras by different groups such as professionals and families has displaced the use of silver halide film and the digital technology has dominated photographic equipment and supplies industry (Mendes, 2011). However, the company had a slow transition into digital technology. The company has been re-investing in new digital technologies such as inkjet printers and digital printers among others. In order to successful overcome the challenge of the digital technology leaders such as Sony, the company has to pursue the strategies that will portray it as modern technology company. There is a risk that it may never be able to compete against the companies whose capabilities are naturally oriented towards the digital age such as Sony Corporation among others (Mendes, 2011). A Flowchart of the Process to Conduct Research A research being conducted starts with defining the research problem. The problem in this case is insufficient training to be able to handle the new products and services. Once the problem has been defined the focus will shifted to the review of the concepts and theories to find the meaning and definition of the concepts in training. It also reviews the findings to know what has already been researched (RD Direct, 2009). The research also involves the formulation of the hypothesis. Some deductions have to be made from the previous findings. The next step is to prepare a research design. This involves obtaining the relevant information and finding the best method to collect information. Once the appropriate design has been prepared, the next step is to collect data (RD Direct, 2009). This will be based on the research design and problem. Once the data has been collected, it is analyzed using different statistical techniques such as ANOVA, regression and correlation analysis among other methods. The data is then interpreted and a report is written concerning the research findings. Figure 1: Flowchart for the research process 1. Define research problem 2. Review concepts and theories 3. Review previous research findings 4. Formulate hypothesis 5. Design research 6. Data collection 7. Analyze data 8. Interpretation and report writing  Training Needs Analysis In order for the organization to carry out a successful training program for the employees, it has to identify and evaluate the training needs of the employees. The company has to identify the areas of weakness that the organization needs to improve on so that it may be able to offer the most appropriate training for the employees that will help in improving their performance. Kodak has to identify the gap between the employees’ current skills and the required skills so that training will ...