PRIDE Industries
PRIDE Industries was founded by a group of parents in 1966, with an aim of seeking meaningful work for their disabled children after they mature. The parents had the expectations that the disabled children would be able to rise above their disability. PRIDE envisioned the success of disabled individuals, and made them contribute in the development of the society as they were mostly denied the opportunity to participate. PRIDE as an organization partners with others in the society to seek job ventures for the trained disabled individuals as a way of offering support and integrating them with the society.
PRIDE has two divisions; the Manufacturing and Logics Services (MLS) and Integrated Facility Services (IFS). IFS provided a full line of facilities services to public and private sector customers. MLS offered contract manufacturing to original electronics manufacturers as well as Class I and Class II medical device manufacturers.
Facts and Figures concerning PRIDE
There are a high number of disabled individuals in the American population
High unemployment rate in the working age bracket of the disabled individuals in America
Outdated operation machineries in PRIDE industries
Poor economic moments that hit America and the rest of the world
Stiff competition from other industries with related products
Changing trends in the consumer products
Integration of labour goals with consumers demand and requirement
New strategies that made Decision making a challenge
Balancing social capital and meeting social mission
Running capital of the organization
Merging high quality with low cost and meeting deadlines
Key Issues
The following are the key issues that faced PRIDE Industries:
The high number of disabled individuals in America; it was hard to meet the Organization’s goal of providing employment to the high numbers of disabled people. It was estimated that one in every five individuals has a certain kind of a disability. Being the primary purpose of PRIDE to offer employment to disabled individuals, they were way too far to meet the demand of the high numbers.
Outdated machines; from the beginning, PRIDE bought the operating machines at a fair cost since they had been used for many years. As the days went by, technology evolved hence the consumers required products that were up to date and met the technology gauge. PRIDE’s machines had a tough experience in trying to meet the consumers’ demand and preference. With the outdated machines, convincing consumers and suppliers about the effectiveness of the products is a challenge hence causing the market irrelevance. Meeting the deadlines and giving out the required output was difficult as the second hand machines could not get to that standard.
The changing trends in the technology required an organization to keep on changing its products in order to keep relevance in the market. For PRIDE, keeping the pace was a difficult task. The economic situation and the kind of machines they had made it almost impossible to keep up. The managers tried their best to ensure there was an upgrade of the production system. There was need also to install systems that went hand in hand with the disabled and provide them with conducive working environment and boost their output.
Alternative Course of Action
An alternative action is a different course of action than the initially proposed action. The choice made has consequences too hence need to evaluate and value the course taken (Rapoport, 1960).
- Modifying and upgrading the SMT (Surface Mount Technology)
- Engage in other business and income generating ventures to accommodate more disabled individuals and allow them to exercise their different talents.
Evaluation of the Course of Action
There was a need to improve the operating systems in PRIDE Industries and meet the current technology standards. Technology adversely affects the market of the produced products. In order to remain competitive in labor intensive industries, systems used for production needs to be refined. This results in satisfaction of the consumers demand, production of quality products, employment of more disabled people as there is a need for the operation f new systems, improved mass production, and management of the stiff competition in the market (Organization de cooperation, 1999). The refining of the production system may be expensive but it by the end of the day is worth the cost.
Engaging in other money making ventures will help grow and expand PRIDE hence is able to meet the initial set goals and targets. The high numbers of disabled individuals is a big challenge but employment can be realized through risk taking in other ventures. This will also help in making sure the disabled get opportunities in areas that they are best suited in.
Recommended Best Course of Action
The best course of Action is the upgrading and modification of SMT. The primary purpose is to create employment in the business world, which requires a market. For the industry to be relevant to the market, it must produce products that meet the consumer’s expectations. With a running industry having current systems, a person will manage to hire as much disabled people as possible, and get benefits of running and expanding the organization. The reason as to why I choose this course of action and disregarded others is the fact that this action is the core in the running of PRIDE operations. In case the other courses of action are selected the productivity and efficiency of output will reduce drastically as measures to entice clients will not have been put in place. Hence, I recommend the modifying and upgrade (digitalization) of the company’s SMT.
Reference
Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques. (1999). Asia and the global crisis: The industrial dimension. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Rapport, A. (1960). Fights, games, and debates. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Richard Ivy School of Business. (2012). Pride Industries. University of Western Ontario.