XEROX-People Problems

1. XEROX-People Problems

2. STRUCTURE • Introduction on Company • Background • People Problem 1 • People Problem 2

4. AN INTRODUCTION The word "xerox" is commonly used as a synonym for "photocopy" For e.g. "I xeroxed the document and placed it on your desk."

5. HISTORY TO PRESENT • 1938: Chester Carlson, a patent attorney and part-time inventor, made the first xerographic image • He spent years trying to sell his invention without success (to IBM, General Electric etc)

6. Chester Carlson’s first Xerographic Apparatus

7. Contd. • 1944: The Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, contracted with Carlson to refine his new process, which Carlson called "electrophotography." • 1947:The Haloid Company (Founded in 1906),manufacturing photographic paper, approached Battelle and obtained a license to develop and market a copying machine based on Carlson's technology.

8. Contd. • Since electrophotography seemed a cumbersome word decided on the word "xerography" derived from the Greek words for "dry" and "writing.“ • 1948-58:Haloid coined the word "Xerox" for the new copiers.

9. First Manually operatedcommercial xerographic copier(1949) • Changed its name in 1958 to Haloid Xerox Inc

10. 1959: Came out with First photocopier, the Xerox 914 which sold more than 200000 units between 1959 and 1976.

11. First Desktop plain copier(1963)

12. Contd. • 1961: The company became Xerox Corporation after wide acceptance of the Xerox 914 • 1963:First desktop plain copier is introduced • 1973:First Colour copier introduced

13. First colour copier (1973)

14. 1970: The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center opened (For R&D) • 1977:First laser printer introduced by Xerox

15. 1990’s- turned its product into a service, providing a complete "document service" to companies • Supply, Maintenance, Configuration, and User Support

16. TODAY Xerox today manufactures and sells a wide variety of office and production equipment

18. Products: • Office printers • Office copiers • Multifunction printers and copiers • Fax machines • High volume production printers and copiers • Workflow solutions • Software • Scanners and projectors • Computer monitors

20. FACTS • Offices in Europe,Africa,Middle East,India and parts of Asia • In over 130 countries worldwide • A $16 billion company

21. Contd. • 53,700 employees worldwide • No. 142 in the Fortune 500 companies.

22. DIVERSITY At the end of 2006, Xerox's U.S. work force was 14.4 % African-American, 6 % Asian and 0.8 % Native American. Women made up 31.5 % of the total U.S. work force.

23. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY • Assists more than 400 social, civic and cultural organizations • Provided more than 40 grants to university research programs

24. Contd. • Designing and building "waste-free" products • Scholarship support at more than 140 colleges and universities to prepare students for careers in business, science and technology

25. Quality • Rated among the world's best by independent testing organizations • Won 25 national quality awards in 20 countries

26. Top Competitors • Canon Inc. • Hewlett-Packard Company • Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. • Lexmark International, Inc. • Pitney Bowes Inc. • Ricoh Company, Ltd.

27. Loopholes • Ignored new entrants like Canon, Ricoh • Operating cost was high • Products of relatively inferior quality compared to its competitors • Return on assets came down to less than 8% and market share in copier came down sharply from 86% in 1974 to just 17% in 1984

28. In 1982,David T. Kearns took over as the CEO • Average cost of Japanese machines was 40-50% of that of Xerox

29. Measures taken • Launching a program referred to as ‘Leadership through Quality’ • Management layers were cut • Greater authority delegated to lower levels • Employees were allowed to participate in decision making

30. In 1980’s Xerox bought Kurzweil, Datacopy and Ventura companies that specialized in optical character recognition, scanning and fax machines • It also diversified into financial services, insurance and investment banking

31. Allaire succeeded Kearns as the new CEO in 1990 • In 1992 Xerox entered into various tie-ups with Dell Computer Corporation and Microsoft • Company announced a major restructuring program including a 10% reduction in the workforce

32. In 1993 Xerox announced a company wide initiative to reduce costs drastically and improve productivity • It indicated that it would reduce the worldwide workforce by more than 10,000 and close a number of operations • This restructuring program achieved cost savings of $ 770 million in 1996

33. In 1998 Xerox announced another round of worldwide restructuring, including elimination of 9000 jobs through VRS, layoffs and closing of various facilities • This program included cutting costs by $ 1 billion, sale of $ 2-4 billion worth of assets

34. In the same year, Thoman replaced Allaire as the CEO though Allaire continued as chairman • Despite these restructuring efforts, poor market conditions resulted in the company reporting a loss of $ 257 million in 2000

35. In August 2000,Paul Allaire,Chairman of the leading document management company Xerox, fired the company’s CEO Rick Thoman

36. Allaire said," We are grateful for Rick’s contribution in leading the company through a period of major repositioning.However,both Rick and the board felt it best for the company to move forward with an experienced Xerox team that will lead Xerox people and efficiently execute the strategy

37. PEOPLE PROBLEMS - I

38. Chairman Joseph C. Wilson, his successor Kearns . • Wilson brought progressive HR people from outstanding institutions. They build a very people oriented tradition that became famous for its training, development and sales selection policies.

39. HR Policy • People would be treated with respect at all times. • People were treated fairly and generously. • Compensation was designed to be competitive. • Xerox could attract quality people.

40. Employee Motivation 1980, Xerox faced a stiff competition from Canon and Ricoh in the low end copier business. Company decided to opt total quality movement and cut manufacturing costs Fights back efficiently through employee participation

41. Developments in Xerox • Allaire replaces Kearns as the CEO in 1990. • Reid, an integral part of HR function for three decades leaves the organisation. • William F. Buehler , who had just 2 years of HR experience replaces Reid. • Employees perceive Buehler’s appointment as the decline in HR role in Xerox’s corporate setup.

42. Contd….. • Many HR executives who were part of Reid’s team left the company. • The culture of employee involvement seemed to be disappearing. • The sense of dissatisfaction with the top leaders kept moving good people out of the company. • Employees promotions were not carried out as per the company policies.

43. Contd.. • People with good relations with the top management were being promoted. • Beuhler was promoted within two years of joining the HR department. • Xerox kept loosing its top employees and found hard to attract new as well.

44. The Change • Thomas took control of the company. • Found severe lapses in HR control systems for eg. No parameters to measure per employee income. • He observed that Xerox had lost its focus from customer service.

45. PEOPLE PROBLEMS – II

46. THOMAN’S REORGANIZATION PLAN

47. FOCUS AREAS • Digital equipment • Digital solutions • Industry-based targets

48. RESULTS • Commissions reduced significantly. • Sales representatives began losing their accounts. • Sales staff attrition increased by 100%. • No proper training.

49. FURTHER DECISIONS…..

50. Large scale layoffs I. 12000 employees II. 4500 employees Reactions – • Strongly opposed. • Thoman had to leave Xerox.