Duchess University Case Analysis

Analyze the existing situation

In April, three employees left the company and two spots are vacant. The senior buyer position will not arrive till late May. The two vacant positions are purchasing manager and junior buyer. The purchasing department has been doing well in some areas, but they are performing low in cycle time and number of suppliers per employee. Jim, the director of purchasing, and the purchasing agent, Theo, feel like they are doing too much supervising not allowing them to focus on more important work. Junior level employees feel like they are not given an opportunity for promotion where there is a 25% increase in salary. New systems are going to be implemented and the employees must be ready for change.

Identify the major issues and problems

1- vacant spots (short term)

Unfortunately, one employee died and two other positions left thus leaving vacancies within the university’s staff. However, a senior buyer has been hired, but will not be starting until May. As for the other two positions they still remain vacant.

2- Lack of organization (short term)

With a lot of work, but not enough employees, Certain people are doing work that should be done by other positions therefore making it more difficult for for those to do the work that is assigned to their original positions within the company.

3- Upcoming system upgrade (short term)

The employees must get familiar with the new system upgrade which is a web-based processing of product requisition. They will need to do their day-to-day responsibilities while learning the new system upgrades and potentially running the risk of delaying operations.

4- Lack of promotion opportunities (short term)

Because the university chooses to fulfill position with people who are not currently within the organization, the Junior purchasing level employees are getting frustrated that they do not have the opportunity for a promotion to a senior purchasing level. Due to this frustration the company may continue to face a high turnover rate.

5- budget cut (long term)

They need to be able to react to a 2% budget cut as well as future budget cuts of around 3%-5%. The government grants have been reduced and a cap of 2% on tuition increase has been placed which is one of the university’s huge revenue generators.