Reference no: EM132822396

Questions

Determine one or two specific metrics that the company should use, explaining how suggested metrics support the company's goals. For each company goal, first suggest a metric that would support the goal, then provide rationale.

• Discuss the importance of alignment of metrics across departments. Consider the following in your response:
• How will cross-departmental metrics inform overall organizational performance?
• Which metrics are important to align across which departments?

Company Overview

Your company manufactures technology components that are used in automobiles, and you distribute your products to automobile companies. The company is doing well and is hoping to expand and take on more contracts within the next five years. As part of this expansion initiative, upper management has recognized a need to revisit how they obtain and measure data. This will be the first step to developing a process to inform strategic operations and support the company in meeting its goals.

Key Stakeholders

Upper management consists of Vernon along with CFO Alexandra Cortez, CIO Taylor O'Connell, and director of human resources Maria Santos. These stakeholders are primarily interested in the larger impact to the company, but they plan to come together afterward, and will apply their specific area expertise to determine an approach to move the company forward.

Current Measurements

The company currently measures the following:

• Sales
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Manufacturing cycle time

Company Goals

Over the next year, the company would like to reach the following goals:

• Increase sales by 5% by obtaining contracts with one or more automobile manufacturers
• Reduce the manufacturing cycle time by 10%
• Implement strategic measurements and practices to evaluate and improve plant safety and reduce number of injuries by 50%

Departments

The following departments function in support of Industrial Inc. and it's upper management:

• Financial
• The financial department maintains the company's accounting and financial records, and is responsible for maintaining and reporting assets.
• Customer Service and Sales
• The sales department is responsible for serving automobile manufacturers that the company currently works with and working to obtain new contracts. It also fields questions, responds to concerns, and presents issues to management.
• Human Resources
• The human resources department recruits new employees and manages current employees. It also manages job postings, employee contracts, and relevant paperwork.
• Quality Assurance (QA)
• The quality assurance department inspects the items produced to ensure that they are in alignment with company and industry standards. It escalates any major issues to management.
• Production
• The production department is the largest, and it consists of the manual laborers who assemble the parts and the managers who oversee them.