Del Monte Foods Company
There are certain challenges that hinder various companies from meeting the needs of its stakeholders like community and consumers. Del Monte Foods Company is one of the sellers and producers of canned fruits and vegetables, and also beverages. The leaders of the company should ensure that the needs of the stakeholders, be it investors, employees or consumers, are met. Although the company is faced by challenges in organizational leadership in ensuring that the needs of its stakeholders are met, there are ways that leaders of the company may put in place to come up with solutions to the challenges.
Del Monte Background Del Monte is one of the international companies that deal with food production. Del Monte Foods Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is one of the largest distributors and producers of pet products and packed foods in America. Del Monte Company deals with variety of products essential to consumers who require healthy lifestyle. It is among the largest sellers of canned fruits and vegetables in the United States of America.
The Del Monte Foods Company sells canned fruits and vegetables; frozen fruits, vegetables and soups; and bottled and canned soft drinks. Del Monte has been one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of high quality fresh fruits, fresh cut fruits and vegetables, ice cream, frozen fruits and poultry. They sell prepared fruits and vegetables that are at times packed in cans, and beverages like juices in America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.Del Monte Foods’ vision is to become a global supplier of healthy and nutritious fresh foods, and be able to sell prepared foods and beverages to consumers of all ages. This vision is attainable since for over 100 years the consumers all over the world have trusted the Del Monte® brand as a symbol of high quality products.
The company has a high urge to carry out responsible business practices to meet the needs of its stakeholders. It has provided consumers with high quality products. Moreover, Del Monte offers employment to people according to their qualification. Employment and promotion are not based on race, cultural beliefs, or religion of a person. The Challenges Facing Del Monte Foods Company The company has not been able to meet the needs of the community. The company is not taking part in many of the community programs (like building schools and hospitals) which are aimed at making the community a better place to live in.
The company has not been able to offer products at lower prices, leaving outside people from less developed countries. Many of the Del Monte Foods Company’s products may not be affordable to many people in the less developed countries. Moreover, there is the challenge of providing good working conditions for its employees. The company needs to ensure a hygienic and safe working environment for the employees. All employees should be guaranteed safe working conditions and also conducive working environments. The working place should be well ventilated and not too congested.
However, to maintain safe working conditions in many cases is expensive. Organizational Changes to Address These Challenges Del Monte should have programs that promote welfare of the local communities in which they work. The communities in which the company operates should benefit from the numerous community involvement and charitable programs of the company. These programs should be designed to improve the living standards of the people living in the community. Del Monte should strive to improve the wellbeing of its local communities. It should provide several community heaths, safety and education programs.
Del Monte should come up with the same high quality products but with fairly low prices. The company may pack the products in small quantity to make them affordable to low-income customers. Fresh Del Monte should be committed to uphold the basic rights of its workers, and ensure that they provide all employees with a safe and healthy working environment. They should implemented programs that promote employees’ welfare. It should provide its employees with suitable equipment to ensure their safety.
For example, provide boots to those working in the farms and ear plugs to those working in noisy environments. The company may insure the employees from any accident that may occur. To ensure the safety of the employees, Del Monte should regularly train and educate its farm workers on occupational health and safety. Employees working in the farms should be trained on the responsible use and management of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals used in farming. Safety equipment like fire extinguisher should be in place to ensure safety.
There should be medical clinics that cater for the health needs of Del Monte’s employees. Change Model A model should be put in place to ensure that the challenges are dealt with properly. A model is a set of various ways of enuring effective work. Resource Use & Management Del Monte should implement environmentally friendly activities that can help to preserve and protect natural resources. Natural resources may include water, air, soil and energy. Many communities depend on some of those natural resources; if the company depletes them the community is likely to suffer.
The company should efficiently manage natural resources and use them effectively without harming the environment. The use of natural resources in a responsible manner is essential in ensuring continued production while protecting the environment without affecting human health. Water is an essential resource that is required in almost all the operations in Del Monte Company. The company should come up with ways to conserve and protect water sources like rivers to ensure that they do not dry up. The company should also ensure that the quality of water is preserved The company should put in place measures such as proper disposal of solid and liquid wastes to bodies of water by proper treating of waste before its disposal. Community development programs The company can put in place health clinics that cater for the heath needs of the local community.
It should be open to all people in the community who require testing and treating of certain diseases, and also counseling. Awareness programs like educating the community on ways to prevent certain illness can be put in place. They can distribute mosquito nets as a program to prevent the community from malaria. The company can promote the education of the local people by helping in building of schools. It can also come up with programs to give scholarships to students who are unable to continue with their education due to financial problems. The company can have educational programs of ways to conserve the environment and waste management to reduce pollution in the area.
The company can help develop local infrastructure by building roads to make transportation easy in the area. The company may also improve the infrastructure by constructing high quality bridges and tarmac roads. Human resource managementCompanies should treat its workers fairly; provide good working conditions and offer benefits like housing allowances. They should ensure that employment is not based on religion or race; rather it should be based on a persons’ qualification. Each employee should be respected regardless of race, culture, religion, nationality, sexual preference or beliefs.
The Role of the Leader A leader in a formal, hierarchical organization is a person who is appointed as a manager. In a hierarchical organization there are leaders who have the authority to give instructions to other workers. In formal organization, people know whom to give orders to and from whom to take orders. It is a person who has the right to command and give instructions to other workers using the authority of his position. However, a leader must possess personal attributes to be able to carry out managerial work effectively. In formal organizations, the organization may be divided into departments, sections and positions.
In a bureaucratic organization there is hierarchy in the manner that workers carry out their work. The workers in higher positions in the hierarchy have greater authority over the other workers. In case of problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the organization, the workers should consult those in higher positions in the hierarchy. A leader should have sufficient personal competence, so that the workers cannot disobey his orders. A manager should be a leader who can play his role in the organization well. He should be able to use his authority to give instructions to other workers, and ensure that work is carried out effectively.
A leader should posses the following attributes of a good leader: Hardworking A leader should be very hardworking to be able to mobilize the workers to perform their work effectively. Goal oriented A leader should set goals that are achievable, and mobilize the workers towards achieving these goals. Good communication skills A leader should be able to communicate with the workers well. Good communication ensures that workers understand instructions well to avoid poor performance. A good leader should be able to communicate with the workers freely and clearly so that there is no misunderstanding. Good planner A leader should be able to plan ways on how to achieve the set goals, and should come up with a plan that is suitable to achieve the goals.
Good organizer A lleader should organize work in a manner that there is order in the way work is done. A good leader should organize the number of workers to carry out certain task in production. Time conscious A good leader should ensure that work is finished within set time. A leader should ensure that all employees come to work on time. He or she should ensure that the work is carried out and finished before due dates. Honesty A leader should be honest in all his dealings.
He should pay his employees appropriate wage or salary. The weights and quantities of the products should be the one stated on the package. Confidence A leader should be confident when faced with challenges. He should be able to come up with the solutions to the problems. Other attributes of a good leader may include: positivity, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity and passion The Role of a Leader in the Changed Model The general roles of a leader may involve: determining what to do, how, and by whom. He plans on the strategies to be put in place to come up with good products, and how work should be distributed among the workers.
A good leader comes up with plans that help the company to achieve its set goals by organizing leaders in a manner that makes work effective and productive. To ensure that the needs of Del Monte’s stakeholders of are met, the leader of the company should play the following role: The leader should come up with ways to support the community programs. A leader should employ qualified personnel with medical expertise who works at the company’s clinics. He or she should ensure that the community get medication and is treated as required. The leader should ensure that the infrastructure is improved to make transportation easier.
He or she should ensure the quality of roads constructed to improve infrastructures. The leader should manage available resources and ensure that the workers do not waste them. He or she ensures that resources are without depleting them. The leader should ensure that the company does not pollute the environment. He or she should ensure that the waste products are treated before have been released to the environment or water bodies.
The farming methods should be suitable to avoid soil erosion. The leader should employ trained staff to work on the farms. They should test the chemical content of the soil by doing tests on regular basis. They should also carry out water tests to help in evaluating the condition of the water in the water bodies like rivers and lakes near the farms, and immediately take corrective actions if necessary. Barriers to SuccessThe company may lack enough funds to support all community programs.
The company may require more funds to be able to support the community programs. Waste of resources can be a barrier to success. If the natural resources like water are overused, it may result to depletion, and this may be a problem not only to the community. The resources should be used effectively and to the maximum. Organizational leaders who are not competent to control and organize production process may be a barrier to success.
The leader being not a good planner resulting to workers not achieving the set goals since the plan is unattainable. Plan To Overcome These Impediments. A company should come up with a plan to use a part of its profits to support the local community. The company can also establish partnership with other companies or non-governmental organizations or even with the government. This will minimize the amount of money that will be required to fund the community programs. The company can come up with ways to conserve water and other resources.
For example, it can build dams to conserve rain water instead of just depending on water from rivers. The company may make use of resources like wind, which can not be depleted, as an alternative source. The company may use wind energy to run machines instead of using water energy. The company should ensure that the managers are competent to carry out their roles professionally. It should also have ethics and codes to be followed by managers and workers. This ensures that work is done according to the company rules and regulations.
Conclusion There are certain challenges that hinder various companies from meeting the needs of its stakeholders like community and consumers. However, companies like Del Monte Food Company have used good organization leadership to overcome these challenges. Leaders with the attributes of a good leader may restructure the company to a manner that allows achieving its goals.
