Riordan Manufacturing Is a Global Plastics Producer

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics producer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of over $46 million. The company can attribute much of its success to excellent customer service, high quality products and repeat business. Employees are a treasured commodity -- the work environment emphasizes cooperation, high moral character, and professional development.

Riordan Manufacturing has established a series of business systems and subsystems to continually improve operations. Having an effective business system, with details housed within lower-level subsystems, is the only practical way to manage the important details of an operation (Mossholder, et al., 2011). Human resources and Legal are integral departments that contribute positively to the company's overall success.

Riordan Manufacturing's Human Resource department uses an Information System (HRIS) that was implemented in 1992. It tracks essential HR functions such as salaries, hire dates, seniority records, tax information, PTO records, performance evaluations and disciplinary records, and other confidential employee details. Despite the system that is in place, current practice involves a great deal of manual data entry and importing or coding data into the system from various external sources. Specialized forms are often completed by hand, signed off by management and typed into the HRIS system by payroll clerks. In similar fashion, a training and development specialist manually records employee information in Excel spreadsheets. Individual applicant information is maintained by recruiters in Excel, while resumes are kept in an internal filing and storage area. A third- party vendor oversees all worker compensation records, taking important information outside of the organization without an easy method for accessing this data. Individual managers track Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation requests. Employee relations specialists record and track all Equal Opportunity (EO) issues and keep all records locked in secure file cabinets.

These subsystems have several points of vulnerability. The manual entry processes carried out by the employee relations specialists, training managers and recruiters can easily be compromised or result in a high number of errors or misplaced/lost files. There is no consistent security involved for confidential employee information such as social security numbers and compensation information. Another weakness is the lack of a disaster recovery or backup system in the event of fire, flooding, or theft. Historical information would be lost should a major catastrophe occur. Recommendations for improvements are moving to a centralized system where information can be securely stored with login/password access for key employees who may need to access and/or cross check records. Automated processes to import and archive data should be established. Cross training is highly recommended rather than the practice of having one employee serving as a single point of knowledge for areas such as training and development.

The Legal Department is managed by Mr. Bradford, Chief Legal Counsel. He handles all of Riordan's patent applications and basic legal matters. Taxation, litigation, real estate issues, employment law, customs regulations and other, more complex matters are handled by the outside firm of Litteral & Finkel under the supervision of Mr. Bradford. All communications between Riordan and the law firm flow through Mr. Bradford's office. The Chief Legal Counsel does not have a very extensive background in law; therefore, his limited legal knowledge is a weakness for the organization. When encountering complicated matters, he must engage the assistance of Litteral & Finkel. While this practice is common in business, if budget allows it would be more efficient to have experienced in-house counsel and a team with supporting members (a paralegal for example). Riordan is in need of a business system to answer and track company legal questions and archive historical information. Key personnel should be identified and granted access to this system, should Mr. Bradford be unavailable or leave the company.