Management Of Tyco
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Management Planning
Planning is traditionally considered to be one of the four major functions of management, along with organizing, leading and controlling. Essentially, planning is deciding where a company or organization would like to go, why they want to go there, how they will get there, what they will need in order to get there and finally how they will know if they are there or not (McNamara, 2008).
Among all the important actions carried out by management, planning is the first function needed to lay out the foundation and goals a company will pursue. At this point, an organization will attempt to satisfy the first part of the planning process, where they would like to go. These specific goals are set into a mission statement. Tyco’s vision as to why they exist and the essence of their business is as follows (Tyco International, Ltd, 2008):
To be our customers’ first choice in every market we serve by exceeding commitments, providing new technology solutions, leveraging our diverse brands, driving operational excellence, and committing to the highest standards of business practices—all of which will drive Tyco’s long-term growth, value and success.
Legal Responsibility
The best way to reach the goals set forth by this mission statement is to design and implement a senior management structure. Management teams but realize the importance to create new strategic plans in order to address legal, ethical, or corporate responsibility issues because when the credibility of the senior management is at stake and this leads to a break down in authority of command. Any company can place a senior management team in but also will need to ensure the integrity of the team as they will be the point in which all company employees as well as other suppliers and companies will look to for direction and example. Some companies have this team in place for a long time only to find out that there has been a level of corruption taking place at the top which can and usually does have ill effects for the rest of the organization as a whole. In Tyco, for example, the company needed to disassociate itself from its CEO because he had been found guilty of misappropriating millions of dollars.
In 2005, Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco International Ltd., and former Tyco finance chief Mark Swartz were sentenced up to 25 years in prison for misappropriating funds and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company (Associated Press, 2005). The investigation and subsequent sentencing, according to a report on MSNBC by the Associated Press (2005), “exposed the executives’ extravagant lifestyle after they pilfered some $600 million from the company including a $2 million toga birthday party for Kozlowski’s wife on a Mediterranean island and an $18 million Manhattan apartment with a $6,000 shower curtain.”
Tyco was left in a bad light after top level executives were found abusing their own power within the company. Thoughts of companies like Enron were once again swirling in the aftermath, but unlike many of the companies that have made headlines with corporate scandals, Tyco International managed to overcome this tragedy by restructuring and planning. The largest major step to restructuring was a new CEO, Edward Breen. Tyco then planned new goals and strategies and implementing these goals was now the responsibility of the whole company.
Ethical Responsibility
In order to continue to be a successful company, Tyco had to overcome much of the past legal troubles. The illegal practices included, but were not limited to, diluting potentially non-compliant wastewater samples, discarding samples with excessive levels of toxic metals, and omitting samples that were not in compliance for PH (U.S. Environmental Agency, 2004)
A guide to ethical conduct was devised to counteract the bad publicity as well as state to all employees and suppliers as well as the clients and consumers that Tyco managers and employees would conduct themselves ethically as well as following the law too. The Guide to Ethical Conduct focused on four major values: integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability. The guide along with other policies was to ensure that all employees understood what is expected of them as well as to help them to make good decisions.
Social Responsibility
Tyco’s social responsibility and principles are based on the Guide to Ethical Conduct. Much of the focus is on the environment, heath and safety. Tyco (2008) believes, “they have a duty to provide a safe working environment for all our employees, independent contractors, vendors and customers, and will operate our facilities in a manner that prevents harm to public health and the environment.”
This policy provides for a safer workplace for all employees for that they can go home to the community in the same manner in which they came to work. Additionally, Tyco realizes that they are part of a community with many neighbors and they work to be a better neighbor by operating their sites safely as well can being aware of the surround effects to the environment. Recycling programs within the organization are also implements as part of the conciseness to the environment. Finally, Tyco strives to always look for new ways to improve their own performance as well.
Influencing Factors on the Planning Process
In an effort to create a more profitable company, Tyco instituted a policy of acquiring profitable companies then operate them at continually increasing