Company Called Ypf. The Company Is Noted

¶ … company called YPF. The company is noted to suffer from several problems associated with culture change and the need to remain competitive. We therefore begin this work by presenting a problem statement as well as a presentation of the specific problems that affects the operations of the company. We then proceed to the presentation of the alternatives solution for each of the problems that are facing the company. A conclusion is then presented on how to best tackle the issues of organizational change (change management strategies). An implementation of the solution to the problems is then presented in a detailed and systematic manner.

YPF S.A is a company which has undergone a series of changes to its leadership, organizational processes, business processes as well as organizational policies since its inception. In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of the organization. The company is noted to suffer from several problems associated with culture change and the need to remain competitive. We therefore begin this work by presenting a problem statement as well as a presentation of the specific problems that affects the operations of the company. We then proceed to the presentation of the alternatives solution for each of the problems that are facing the company. A conclusion is then presented on how to best tackle the issues of organizational change (change management strategies). An implementation of the solution to the problems is then presented in a detailed and systematic manner.

Problem statement

Ever since YPF S.A was formed, it has suffered from a series of drawbacks as a result of its operating environment. The company's main problem at the moment is however related to the fact that it is faced by a major change in its organizational culture. The privatization, mergers and acquisitions, loss of a transformational leader as well as the creation of new organizational processes and policies has created a resistance to the change process within the organizational framework. Other than this, the company is also faced with a myriad of problems such as;

Resistance to organizational change

The changes within YPF's human resource function

In order to achieve better performance outcomes as well as realize its strategic intentions, YPF S.A initiated a radical change to its organizational design as well as the HR structure. The programs included' promotion from within, identification as well as development of high potential performers, management by objective (MBO), peer recruiting from certain targeted universities, customized training of all of the professionals as well as pay for performance within the entire organization.

Environmental issues:

YPF is faced with a dilemma on how to best formulate strategies as well as practical implementations plans that would enable it to enhance the level of its economic performance.

The environmental challenges facing the company are climate change, carbon as well as the emission of other forms of greenhouse gasses. The concept of energy efficiency is another area of concern for the organization. The company will face series challenges in regard to issue of environmental protection such as maintenance of good air, water and land quality.

Price

This is another challenge for YPF will face, extractive and power companies are cyclical businesses driven by commodity price fluctuations and prices could grow substantially or not. There is no way to predict it or control it. YPF should keep production costs low.

Oil & Gas discoveries

The world's suppliers of oil and gas aim to provide reliable and affordable supply of energy needed to grow the global economy, and to do so without harming the environment. However it's getting harder and harder to find oil and gas, oil and gas reserves are becoming more difficult and more expensive to find and exploit. These areas are far distances from consuming market. So YPF should find an economic ways to solve this problem.

Social and Employee Retention

Social challenges include providing good wages and healthy, safe working conditions to respect for human rights and a commitment to community development. Retaining top talent is the cornerstone of any great recruitment strategy. The ability to retain employees in oil and gas companies is more important now than ever. With growing demand for energy, companies need greater production and a larger workforce. So retain the experienced workforce and their knowledge and skills, is crucial to the future of the industry.

Pipeline integrity

This is an ongoing concern. Aging infrastructure and environmental conditions all can threaten the supply of oil or gas pouring through miles of pipeline. It is also finding it more difficult to locate new pipeline; there are environmental and social concerns blocking new developments or expansions.

Scarcity of Natural Resources

The fact that the company deals in products which are finite means that it has to try to reinvent itself into a sustainable business model.

Political interference

Various forms of political upheavals within the company's country of operation are noted to have adverse effects on its operation. Argentina's violent and highly turbulent political environment coupled by the strong military influence have created constant interference for the operation of the company.

Unmotivated workforce

The fact that the company just has a few programs (performance-based reward systems) as well as training programs does not entirely serve to motivate all employees in the current and future workforce. The company should therefore make efforts of coming with both intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems.

Competition

The company suffers from stiff competition from its competitors who are far much powerful and richer in regard to capital base, technology as well as expertise.

Alternatives (solutions)

Environmental issues

The company must come up with a special department which is mandated with the taking care of all environmental issues. Special focus and attention must also be given to issues of sustainability as well as environmental conservation. A corporate social responsibility programme must also be instituted.

Price

Due to the fact that the price of production is not easy to predict, the company should strive at keeping the production cost low and only investing in the essential parts of the business.

Oil & Gas discoveries

The company must invest in the latest oil exploration equipment and technology that would lead to a general reduction in the oil exploration costs.

Social and employee Retention

The company should institute a rigorous employee motivation program. This is discussed into detail in the implementation part

Pipeline integrity

The company should invest in intelligent piping technologies. This would allow it to easily detect and contain any leaks in its pipeline.

Scarcity of Natural Resources

The scarcity of natural resources means that the company must invest in more sustainable technologies.

Political interference

Political interference must be curtailed by the establishment of good relationship with the government, the people as well as the civil society. This is by following all rules and regulations (laws) that govern operations, environment and human resource.

Competition

The company must establish a competitive advantage by investing in better technologies to allow it reduce production costs and subsequently provide services at a better price. The company must also use better logistical support to ensure that it remains profitable.

Change management

For YPF to succeed in being profitable in the current and future dynamic and highly competitive marketplace, it must initiate a transformational program based on the principles and ethics of change management. Change management is a difficult exercise as indicated by the work of Sirkin, Keenan and Jackson (2005). Change management refers to the systematic approach of dealing with the change to an organization's culture.YPF must adequately teach its workforce and management how to embrace organizational culture change. This is because a successful adaptation to the changes to the organizational culture is very crucial for the present and future survival of YPF.

According to Mabin, Forgeson & Green (2001), resistance to organizational change can be classified into three main categories; these include individual, organizational as well as group. The organizational factors are derived from the threats that are caused by poor organizational structures and processes. Organizational culture change is a great threat to the social norms as well as group cohesiveness within the given organization. According to Bernerth (2004) personality traits are another source to resistance to culture change within an organization.

For YPF to succeed in the implementation of effective change management strategies, it must be guided by the conceptual framework that was advanced by Lewin (1951).The force field theory developed by Lewin is very crucial for the successful change management at YPF. This means that the organizational change at YPF should be carried out in three distinct stages at all times. These stages are unfreezing, moving and refreezing as indicated in the work of Levasseur (2001).

Conclusion

Change management

For YPF to succeed in being profitable in the current and future dynamic and highly competitive marketplace, it must initiate a transformational program based on the principles and ethics of change management. Change management is a difficult exercise as indicated by the work of Sirkin, Keenan and Jackson (2005). Change management refers to the systematic approach of dealing with the change to an organization's culture.YPF must adequately teach its workforce and management how to embrace organizational culture change. This is because a successful adaptation to the changes to the organizational culture is very crucial for the present and future survival of YPF.

According to Mabin, Forgeson & Green (2001), resistance to organizational change can be classified into three main categories; these include individual, organizational as well as group. The organizational factors are derived from the threats that are caused by poor organizational structures and processes. Organizational culture change is a great threat to the social norms as well as group cohesiveness within the given organization. According to Bernerth (2004) personality traits are another source to resistance to culture change within an organization.

For YPF to succeed in the implementation of effective change management strategies, it must be guided by the conceptual framework that was advanced by Lewin (1951).The force field theory developed by Lewin is very crucial for the successful change management at YPF. This means that the organizational change at YPF should be carried out in three distinct stages at all times. These stages are unfreezing, moving and refreezing as indicated in the work of Levasseur (2001).

Organizational change

A review of the YPF case reveals that there are several instances of organizational change. Organizational change happens at YPF in order to ensure that the organization has the best performance. Organizational changes at the company were instituted by the adoption of key changes that were necessary for the company to keep up with the various demands of the operating environment. Armstrong (2009) mentioned that each and every organization must experience organizational change with organizational change being the single most constant thing in the organization. Kotter (1990) mentioned that all organizations are in a constant state of changing flux. The concept of organizational change is an inevitable one as is indicated in the YPF case. Organizational change is therefore a very permanent aspect of every organization. Mullins (2010) reiterated that all organization who engage in the constant quest for survival via adaptation to the latest trends, innovations as well as leadership must be prepared to manage the organizational change which comes with it. The factors that resulted in the organizational culture change at YPF are; Privatization, mergers and acquisitions, loss of a transformational leader as well as the creation of new organizational processes and policies all of which have created a resistance to the change process within the organizational framework.

These changes had generally created a change in organizational culture and hence a resistance to the change process. It is therefore important for every organization to ensure that the problems that are caused by the resistance to changes in organization culture are dealt with appropriately as indicated in the work of Czerniawska (2005).

The changes within YPF's human resource function

In order to achieve better performance outcomes as well as realize its strategic intentions, YPF S.A initiated a radical change to its organizational design as well as the HR structure. The programs included' promotion from within, identification as well as development of high potential performers, management by objective (MBO), peer recruiting from certain targeted universities, customized training of all of the professionals as well as pay for performance within the entire organization.

Conclusion

Determination of the success rate of the proposed change program

The success rate of the proposed change program will be determined by asking the company's executive each of the four factors contained in the DICE (duration, integrity, commitment, and effort) score framework (Sirkin, Keenan and Jackson,2005).

DICE Score = D + (2 x I) + (2 x C1) + C2+ E

D (Duration) = 4 (The project will take more than eight-month)

I=1

C1(Senior Management Commitment) = 1 (will take more than 50% of the time available to staff)

C2 (Local-Level Commitment) =1 (Senior management is willing to support the change program)

E (Effort) =3

Therefore the DICE score is:

DICE Score = 4 + (2 x 1) + (2 x 1) + 1+ 3=4+2+2+1+3=12

The DICE score is 12. Since the DICE score lies between seven and fourteen, the project is most likely to succeed and it is in the Win Zone.

Implementation

Organizational change

A review of the YPF case reveals that there are several instances of organizational change. Organizational change happens at YPF in order to ensure that the organization has the best performance. Organizational changes at the company were instituted by the adoption of key changes that were necessary for the company to keep up with the various demands of the operating environment. Armstrong (2009) mentioned that each and every organization must experience organizational change with organizational change being the single most constant thing in the organization. Kotter (1990) mentioned that all organizations are in a constant state of changing flux. The concept of organizational change is an inevitable one as is indicated in the YPF case. Organizational change is therefore a very permanent aspect of every organization. Mullins (2010) reiterated that all organization who engage in the constant quest for survival via adaptation to the latest trends, innovations as well as leadership must be prepared to manage the organizational change which comes with it. The factors that resulted in the organizational culture change at YPF are; Privatization, mergers and acquisitions, loss of a transformational leader as well as the creation of new organizational processes and policies all of which have created a resistance to the change process within the organizational framework.

These changes had generally created a change in organizational culture and hence a resistance to the change process. It is therefore important for every organization to ensure that the problems that are caused by the resistance to changes in organization culture are dealt with appropriately as indicated in the work of Czerniawska (2005).

Employee motivation as well as reward

Motivation, a term which refers to the willingness of an individual or a given group towards the exertion of high levels of efforts aimed at achieving the set organizational goals is a concept which is usually determined by the ability as well as the efforts of the concerned parties to certify their needs as indicated by the work of Robbins (2005).At YPF, there is a general trend towards the implementation of motivational and employee reward systems. It is worth noting that some efforts were made to link the level of employee performance to their pay via a bonus scheme called BONACC. The promotions from within as well as customized training programs are also great additions to the company's reward and employee motivation programs. Some of the programs are not appreciated by all employees.

Hafiza et al. (2011) reported a direct relationship between motivation and employee productivity.

Human resource is one of the most crucial functions for gaining competitive advantage within a given corporation. The resource must be harnessed via the deliberate motivation of the existing workforce via intrinsic and extrinsic means. YPF can gain profitability as well as sustainability by the deliberate motivation of its workforce.A reward system is one of the best ways of motivating an organization's workforce (Carraher et al.,2006).

Employee motivation

Employee motivation is an important activity for each and every organization. Motivation is noted as a psychological process that is used as the basis of all forms of behavioral intentions and purpose. The concept of motivation can be explained to imply a set of forces that cause individuals to engage in certain behaviors and ovoid engaging in others (Mathibe,2008).The wok of Passer and Smith (2004) indicated that the concept of employee motivation means a process that heavily affects the level of persistence, vigor of direction as well as direction. On the same note, the work of Coetsee (2003) indicated that the concept of employee motivation denotes the forces of interaction that are present and active within an individual as well as between people and their environment. The work of Kreitner and Kinicki (2007) indicated that the current understanding of the motivational theories and practice represents a set of psychological processes that can lead to arousal, persistence to various actions within a voluntary and directional framework.

The work of Werner (2002), however indicated that motivation is a concept which is both intentional and directional. Within a workplace setting, the concept of motivation refers to the degree of willingness that a person or a given team has towards the exertion of adequate efforts aimed at the achievement of a set of organizational goals.

The concept must be conditioned by both the need and desire of satisfying the individual's and team's needs as noted by Coetsee (2003).On the contrary, Bole and Rosile (2004) however resented the idea of employee motivation and regarded it as a puritanical and yet repressive ideology that is a mere buzzword used by capitalists to exploit and overwork their workers.

YPF should therefore make efforts to motivate its employees so as to make them ready as well as willing to effectively work at their very best. This is because optimal performance by the workforce leads to a reduction of running costs and a maximization of performance outputs. When unmotivated, employees are unwilling to give their best and they generally make the operating costs to increase while reducing the level of profitability for the given organization.

The motivational theories that appear relevant to the YPF situation are;

The human relation approach

According to this theory, employee are motivated by certain social parameters/factors other than the concept of money. This implies that employees are normally responsive to the social environment of their workplace. Moorhead and Griffin (2011) mentioned that job satisfaction is an important motive in the process of improving the level of employee performance.

The need theories of motivation

According to this theory of motivation, people are motivated by certain deficiencies that affect one or more of their important needs as indicated by the work of Daft and Lane (2007).People are therefore in a constant quest of satisfying their very demanding needs. This important process of achieving their needs is what acts as the very basis of their motivation. The Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the Alderfer's ERG theory are important in explaining this viewpoint.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs theory, individuals are motivated by the deficiencies that they have in their needs categories as noted by Montana and Charnove (2008) Individuals are therefore motivated by the deficiencies in one or more of their need categories.

Reward systems

The company must ensure that it appreciates the concept of performance-based rewards in the motivation of its workforce. It can employ a series of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in its programs. The extrinsic rewards are those rewards that externally benefits an individual and it includes items such as money, status symbols, employee benefits as well as general praise as noted by (Benabou and Tirole,2003). Intrinsic rewards on the other hand are derived from a persona internally.