MEMO for What would be the best workplace environment and culture for Pigs R US

Memo to:
From:
Date: 3rd November, 2019
Subject: What would be the best workplace environment and culture for Pigs R US be in 2040, and what challenges could the company face in implementing the vision?

Currently, PRU jobs are mostly manual, especially in areas concerning slaughtering and packaging of products. Another thing to note about the company is the structure. Currently, it is hierarchical company with most information flowing from the top to the bottom. Additionally, most of the employees are full-time employees, and there are no freelance employees. Since technology is advancing at high speed, it is highly likely that in 2040 PRU working environment will change completely. One of the changes that are likely to occur is the type of jobs that will be available by then. For instance, there are jobs that will be faced off, and there are those that will be created in the process. For example, it is highly likely that the slaughtering of pigs will be automated, and thus slaughtering job will be gone. However, maintenance of slaughtering machines jobs will be created. In snapshot, changes will be there, and they will be of great magnitude as discussed below.
Degree of automation
Slaughtering equipment market currently worth about 7 billion and it is expected to reach 9 billion by 2023 (MarketsandMarkets, 2019). With same projection by 2040, it is expected to be worth $16 billion. As the market grows and competition increases, thus the cost of acquiring these equipment reduces. Therefore, it is highly likely that by 2040, the working environment at PRU could move from physical to semi-automated to fully automated process. According to Del Castillo (2017) automation in the meat industry started in 1990s. Therefore, PRU has been late in updating their system to encourage automation. Besides, Del Castillo (2017) noted that slaughtering system and meat processing system are not fully effective in performing entire task especially since they are not perfect in gesturing what needs to be done when animals are of different sizes. According to Photonics (2019) introduction of artificial intelligence in robotics is likely to improve productivity and reduce the defect rates in manufacturing. If the same technology advancement is applied in meat processing technology, it is highly likely that by 2040, there will be technology for fully automated slaughtering systems.
Organization structure
In the past, the structure was largely hieratical. However, as time passes thus there is the need to have a structure that allows people from different levels of the organization to have a say. Traditionally, it was viewed that hieratical system would work for any organization and it has always been the preferred model for organization structure. However, in the modern business environment people work differently, and the rise of gig economics has resulted in the need for more robust working conditions. Therefore, in future, there is high likelihood that collaboration would be preferred to taking orders from above (TechRadar, 2019). With full automation, the jobs of slaughters, packers, and any low-level jobs are likely to be faced out. However, new jobs will be created including the jobs for maintaining machines. Jobs that are likely to be maintained include those for veteranizes and meat quality checkers. Although machine can provide key quality measurements, it requires a person to interpret and verify. The machine spare part industry is also likely to be created and thus will take in more additional people to work there. The fact that some freelance technician are also likely to be employed, it means that the flow of power will change too. For instance, people would no longer work solely from offices and thus it will come with flexibility. In such situation, it is difficult to fully control how employees work. It should also be noted that most people will be employed in service sectors such as customers care and system development. Therefore, ideas will be worth more than physical effort. In such a situation the structure is likely to adjust to adopt from top-down to horizontal structure where information flow in two ways from the top person to the lowest level employees as well as from lowest level employee to the topmost person in the organization.
Actual work environment
Today at PRU, people work in offices, and they are required to report to their jobs for 8 hours shift as required or as normal operation in organizations. In 2040, the working situation is likely to be totally different. For example, machines will be doing entire physical activities. Therefore, anything else could easily be done at home via the internet. Today meetings are held without having to meet in conference rooms or meeting rooms. Similarly, in 2040, commands to increase production or slow production would not require physical presence, but with the help of smartphone applications, the production manager will easily alter production. Since machines will usually wear and tear, it will require technician to be physically present to repair the machines. Maintenance staff will also be required to be physically present at the plant to check and correct robot errors.
Type of culture
With change of organizational structure in the future, so will the culture. Organization structure largely influences the culture of organization. For example, if the company uses top-down approach with regard to power, there is less likelihood that lowest level employee can contribute to decision making, and thus, ideas to improve the company from the lowest-ranked employees are usually shunned. The fact that organization structure is likely to change to horizontal one, it means that flow of idea from all employees including the lowest-ranked would be encouraged. The structure is also likely to accept the services of freelancers especially in marketing, sales, and technology (Fein, 2019). In such cases the company is likely to be diverse in terms of culture and languages.
Challenges
One of the challenges that PRU will face in implementation is high finance requirements. Shifting from physical working conditions to automated is very expensive. First, because the company needs to purchase automation and second because it needs to compensate the employees when they are terminated. More so, it need to retrain employees that will be retained. Some of the costs incurred include severance costs, accrued paid time off and continuation coverage (Blakely-Gray, 2017). Besides high financial requirements for implementation, the company is likely to face resistance to change (HEATHFIELD, 2019). Most of the top employees are already used to be in command and relinquish it to accept ideas from lowest level employees may not be easier for them. Also, 2040 is far from 2019. Therefore, the needs and aspirations of the company may have changed by then, or the need for automation may even be seen as not effective, or the government may prevent companies from fully pursuing automation to save jobs.



References
Blakely-Gray, R. (2017). There's More to the Cost of Firing an Employee Than Meets the Eye. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/training/blog/cost-firing-employee-termination/
Del Castillo, A. (2017). Robotics in the meat industry, a sign of times to come?. Retrieved 3 November 2019, from https://medium.com/@ETUI_org/robotics-in-the-meat-industry-a-sign-of-times-to-come-40f716bb99b7
Fein, P. (2019). Creating an Evolving Future-Focused Organizational Culture. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://www.td.org/insights/creating-an-evolving-future-focused-organizational-culture
HEATHFIELD, S. (2019). How to Reduce Employee Resistance to Change in the Workplace. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-reduce-employee-resistance-to-change-1918992
MarketsandMarkets. (2019). Slaughtering Equipment Market Worth 8.28 Billion USD by 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2019, from https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/slaughtering-equipment-market-worth-828-billion-usd-by-2023-682265131.html
Photonics. (2019). AI-Powered Robot Could Improve Productivity, Reduce Defects in Optics Manufacturing. Retrieved 3 November 2019, from https://www.photonics.com/Articles/AI-Powered_Robot_Could_Improve_Productivity/a65192
TechRadar. (2019). The future of workplace collaboration. Retrieved 3 November 2019, from https://www.techradar.com/news/the-future-of-workplace-collaboration