Introduction/Define the problem

Dorman family has shifted from United States to Mexico in order to establish new plant of their business. While establishing plant Ted Dorman faced several challenges which significantly impacted on their plant performance and efficiency. Manuel who was assistant plant manager at Mexican plant assists Ted Dorman in production processes. He speaks English well which helped Ted in communicating within the organization. Furthermore, there was huge cultural difference between Mexican and US culture. Ted was well briefed regarding Mexican culture however, still he faced several challenges due to cultural differences in two countries. 

Major problem which was the root cause behind every trouble faced by Ted Dorman in plant was communication gap between Ted and his employees. Ted always instructed Manuel to perform tasks however he never spoke to employees himself which is why he never knew the internal issues in the plant. He did not know the preferences of employees which is why his improvement strategies or recommendations did not work. Ted Dorman thought employees at every place have similar thinking and needs which could be dealt with similar strategies. Though, it might be true to some extend but still the attitude of employees was not similar. Their priorities were different which were not identified by Ted while recommending strategies. Moreover, huge communication gap created lack of motivation among employees which directly lead towards lack of employee satisfaction and loyalty. Besides, in order to start up new business enough effective market research also need to be done which also include knowledge regarding legal or political policies of the country.

Three Alternatives

In order to reduce the issues faced by Ted in his new plant three effective solutions could be adopted which are as follows:

Effective communication channels must be adopted by Ted to communicate with his employees. It can reduce the gap between Ted and employees. Ted must learn Mexican language which makes it easy for him to communicate with employees and understand their problems. When there will be effective communication channel between plant manager and its employees, employees will feel more valued. It will also enhance employee satisfaction and motivation for the plant. 

Second effective solution would be adopting effective employee feedback system. Employee feedback system will enable employees to share their problems, views, and feelings with plant manager. Through this strategy, manager will get to know regarding plant problems timely. Moreover, efficient feedback system will help plant manager to reduce plant issues and enhance their plant performance. Besides, when employees will feel appreciated and their concerns will be answered they will become more motivated and loyal to the business. 

Third solution which could impact on plant performance include adoption of effective employee engagement strategies through informal ways. Employees could get engaged through informal ways which include relationship building between plant manager and its employees. When employees have strong relationship with their plant manager they feel less stressed to talk and share their feelings with them. Dedicated and fully engaged employees perform more efficiently and give their full potential for the business. 

Pros and Cons of Alternatives

Pros and cons of adopting effective communication system

Advantages:

• Create strong relationship among manager and employees
• Help manager in understanding employee’s issues
• Create healthy and friendly working environment 
• Make employees more dedicated to the work
• Less conflict situation arises
• Low turnover
• High employee motivation and engagement 

Disadvantages:

• For effective communication, Dorman plant manager need to learn Mexican language
• Employees may feel shy to share their thoughts with foreign boss
• Employees may feel feared while sharing their feelings or issues
• Pros and cons of adopting effective feedback system

Advantages:

• Make plant manager aware regarding employee issues timely
• Provide chance to enhance employee performance
• Provide chance to identify the loopholes
• Build trust relationship among employee and manager
• Reduce delays and errors 

Disadvantages:

• It takes too much time to be done

Pros and cons of adopting (informal) employee engagement strategies 

Advantages:

• Create strong relationship among employees and manager
• Create friendly and competitive workplace environment
• Enhance employee interest in business activities
• High employee motivation and satisfaction
• Issues get easily resolved
• Better understand each other

Disadvantages:

• It may take high cost

Conclusion

Dorman family shifted from USA to Mexico in order to establish new plant however their plant faced huge issues due to ineffective communication with their employees. There was the need to interact with employees in order to underrated their issues feelings and desires. Moreover, communication gap issue was created between employees and managers as manager did not speak their Mexican language. This contributed in raising various issues and inefficiency in plant performance. However, Plant manager needed to interact with employees personally through effective communication channel. This could resolve their much issues and help in creating good relationship among employees and management.