HRM599 CASE STUDY MODULE 2

Bryant Manufacturing Division of Paxton Conglomerates, Inc.

Background

Bryant Manufacturing, Inc. is a global, privately held company headquartered in New York. It employs approximately 8,000 employees (called associates) in more than 45 locations worldwide. Founded by a husband-and-wife team in 1955, its manufacturing operations are clustered in the U.S., Germany, Japan, China and Scotland. There are three sites in Scotland, two in Livingston and one in Dundee, employing approximately 450 people. Bryant produces proprietary technologies with versatile polymer materials used in products in the healthcare and leisure industries. Bryant is known not just for its innovative products, but also for its innovative business style (Bryant’s written business objective is “To make money and have fun”). Bryant strives to create a unique corporate culture. Quite simply, the culture is driven, according to co-founder Gait Bryant, from the need to “foster the creativity and initiative that contribute to technical development.”

Corporate Culture and Working Hours

The organizational culture is founded on a team-based environment where teams are organized around opportunities and leaders emerge. Teams are fluid and comprise followers and leaders. Associates have no defined job titles, only general task/responsibility areas. Leaders emerge naturally by demonstrating special knowledge, a skill and/or experience that will move the business objective forward. According to Bea Grant, an associate in the HR team in Scotland, leaders are defined not by organizational status but by ‘followership’ because of “personal influence, not power.” The roles of leaders and followers are interchangeable by work projects.

All associates have a sponsor, or mentor, assigned to guide them to “chart a course in the organization that will offer personal fulfillment while maximizing their contribution to the enterprise.” In this way, associates can alternately—and simultaneously—be leader, follower and sponsor. Enabling this corporate culture of teamwork is a commitment to four basic principles (as espoused by Gait Bryant) that drive the organization’s activities:

• Fairness ;to each other and everyone with whom they come into contact.
• Freedom ;to encourage, help and allow other associates to grow in knowledge, skill and scope of responsibility.
• The ability to make one’s own ;commitments ;and keep them.
• Consultation ;with other associates before undertaking actions that could affect the reputation of the company.

It is the corporate culture based on the four fundamental principles that integrates and enables work-life balance at Bryant Manufacturing. Bea Grant believes Bryant operates fairly and that associates are not managed but instead manage themselves by being fair, meeting commitments and consulting others as appropriate. Consequently there are very few company policies, procedures or rules; practices develop naturally and do not need to be framed in policies. There are no policies and procedures, therefore, that explicitly relate to work-life balance. However, the company’s approach to work-life balance can be seen in its approach to working hours.

Working hours, according to Grant, are central to Bryant’s approach. There are no set working hours; “people make commitments… they are never imposed and people keep to their commitments.” Grant continues, “Personal and family responsibilities are okay—people have no need to explain if they are not going to be at work, but tend to anyway because we are fair to each other.” When commitments require staffing for specific hours, the team in that area decides individuals’ hours of work.

Some people choose to work from home, and office attendance is recorded only for fire safety. The need to work long hours can arise, as it did for one associate, Ben Stewart, currently a leader, when he was involved in a global project requiring him to spend large amounts of time in the U.S. When a change in his home circumstances arose, Stewart evaluated the time he spent travelling and reduced it significantly by using videoconferencing and conference calls. He adds that his sponsor also encouraged him to travel less, and to take time off to compensate when he does travel.

Outcomes

It is widely believed that Bryant’s corporate culture which encourages a healthy work-life balance directly contributes to the award-winning success the company has long enjoyed. John Kale, a Bryant leader and senior associate in Scotland in traditional, external business terms, underlines this belief. He says, “Our culture and principles drive very high performance from individuals and teams, who are empowered and results-oriented with a strong ‘can-do’ attitude.”

Grant acknowledges that “sometimes it feels like it would be easy and certainly quicker to direct, but in the long-term, we know that doesn’t work.” She is emphatic that “because we are not telling people what to do and when to be here, there is more chance work is going to be done better. Associates buy into what the company stands for, so the quality of input and decisions is better.

For Stewart, one of the challenges facing associates is that it is “very easy to get caught up in the positive environment and find yourself over-committing.” To counteract this, he notes that “leaders, sponsors and associates need to understand each individual situation and act appropriately.” Kale supports this position: “It can be easy to get caught up in an environment of high energy and activity.”

Bryant’s approach to work-life balance contributes to its repeatedly receiving formal recognition for its business efforts.

Way Forward

Continuing to develop associates is seen as central to sustaining the corporate culture and principles that foster work-life balance at Bryant Manufacturing.

Please respond to the following in a well organized, integrated paper:

1. What are the key elements in the corporate culture at Bryant Manufacturing, Division of Paxton Conglomerate, Inc., that may prevent employees from taking advantage of there being no set work hours?
2. How would you describe the management style and management responsibilities in this company?
3. Do you see any ‘red flags’ for potential problems that could occur at Bryant? Please discuss.
4. What are some challenges employers may face when trying to implement Bryant’s distinctive approach to work-life balance in different countries of its Bryant operations?
5. What elements of this company’s approach to work-life balance could be adopted by other organizations?

Bring in at least 5 library sources to help strengthen your discussion.

Please upload your paper by the module due date. Paper length: ;6-7 pages, not counting the cover and reference pages.