De La Salle University

In Partial Fulfillment Of the Course Requirements In HUMABEH K32

Submitted to: Mrs. Gabuna-Dimapilis

Submitted by: Chu, Alyssa #11010665 Francisco, Bianca #10835717 Gosingco, Richard #10810145 Lim, Janelle #10936335 Lim, Justin #10843132 Pua, Angelie #11045523 Ragos Ty, Shahanie #11043547 Tapel, Amalea #11041099

August 22, 2011

Background Information of the Company History Mercury International Security Printing Corporation (MISPC) is a company that offers services in security printing through the use of the latest and high quality security document production system, printing machines and computer aided security design origination system. It is a company that is dedicated to security document designing and printing. In 1959, Leonard Manalstas Sr., CPA, founded New Mercury Printing Press, which was first designed to print office documents. It was the first private commercial security-printing establishment in the Philippines. It was in 1898 when he finally established Mercury International Security Printing Corporation (MISPC) with the help of his seven children. MISPC is a private commercial establishment registered with the Board of Investments under the Department of Finance, The Republic of the Philippines in 1989. The combination of its technical expertise and state of the art printing machines and equipment enables MISPC to export its services competitively to the global market. From the start, the company has made it a point to conform to the times. MISPC has played a pioneering role in the ceaseless efforts to foil the activities of forgers and counterfeiters without any direct assistance from foreign technology experts. The company has been instrumental to fundamental changes that have led the security printing of cheques and other value documents from its relatively simple beginnings to the highly sophisticated security documents as it is today.

Mission To develop new products that continuously set the industry benchmark To guarantee the highest standard of safety, security and quality in documents of value To provide the fastest turn-around delivery time To provide unparalleled service and technical assistance to our customers Vision To design and print the inimitable security document

Services MISPC provides a highly secure, individualized and cost efficient service. We offer products and systems that are fully customizable and tailor fit to our clients needs. Our assistance goes beyond after-sales services because we believe that a permanent information exchange with our customers leads to continuous product improvement.We also provide investigative and consulting services to guarantee the highest level of security throughout the life cycle of a document. We conduct regular training and educational seminars to ensure that our clients are up-to-date with the latest features as well as the latest developments in the industry.We have also assisted government and commercial banks and other non-bank business establishments in solving their security document issues.

Security For over 50 years, we have continued to protect documents and systems against counterfeiting and fraud by providing customized security solutions with the highest standards of quality and reliability.All of our products are manufactured in our plant under rigid security conditions using the highest quality materials and state of the art machinery. We utilize a range of high security products providing techniques and verification technologies to ensure the legitimacy and integrity of documents of value. Each job is individually tracked and monitored at every stage from pre-press until delivery to guarantee your products quality and safety. Products Cheques Commercial Cheque Books Personal Cheque Books Managers Cheques Demand Draft Cheques Cashiers Cheques Customized Cheques Voucher (padded / continuous form) Gift Cheques

Bank Forms Passbooks (with security in personal ID zone) Deposit Certificates Deposit/Withdrawal Slips Batch Control Slips Special Clearing Receipts Business Forms Sales Invoices Airway Bills Gift Certificates Receipts Others Stock Certificates Diplomas Transcripts of Records Letterheads Memo Pads Calling Cards Posters Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior Key Forces MISPCs people force is consisting of individuals amounting to 105 employees. Currently, there arent any informal groups and formal groups present in the organizationbut it isnt inevitableto forminformal groups around the company. However, it is highly discouraged and they always tell their employees to keep their separate lives from work life. Every employee is expected to work hard to meet its mission and vision. They must all work together in order to provide the products of the highest standard of safety, security and quality. To become a more effective organization, MISPC divides

the workload and assigns every employee a specific task. The companys structure is highly formalized wherein jobs are specified to avoid work clash; and rules and regulations are thoroughly discussed. Being in an industry where security is given with utmost importance, the company makes use of state of the art machinery to combat counterfeiting and fraud. They utilize a range of high security products providing techniques and verification technologies to ensure legitimacy and integrity of documents of value. Lastly, for its environment force, the company constantly interacts with its environment, especially with its suppliers of its raw materials. Just like many other organizations, MISPC is not also safe from competition. However, even though MISPC and their competitors (such as Tone Guide and Captive Star) battle it out in the market, they still maintain proper respect and uphold the proper business ethics.

Basic Approaches Being a result-oriented company, productivity and efficiency are the primary consideration of the managements decision for action. As a result, the companys orientation or goals may have an effect on how they manage its employees. As the interviewee recounts, There is not really much growth and development of employees because of the nature of our business (production), but we make sure that decisions and actions will not violate or hamper the rights and welfare of the employees because when this happens, job performance will surely get affected. The managers are highly situational when it comes to making decisions, which means that they are flexible and adaptable to changes according to the circumstances given. Management also gives importance to the implications of their decisions to different parts or members of the organization. As mentioned by the interviewee, Decisions and actions are carefully thought about most especially because this is a family owned corporation. For example, if there is an idea, no matter how good it is, and if it clashes with another family member who is a part of the business, then we just have to scrap that whole idea entirely.

Models of Organizational Behavio

We made use of Donald Clarks survey to assess the organization behaviormodel used by the organization. Here are the results: Item Score 1.a. 2 2.a. 5 3.a. 3 4.a. 5 5.a.4 6.a. 4 TOTAL: 23 Autocratic Item Score 1.b. 4 2.b. 4 3.b. 3 4.b. 5 5.b. 4 6.b. 4 TOTAL: 24 Custodial Item Score 1.c. 3 2.c. 3 3.c. 3 4.c. 4 5.c. 3 6.c. 2 TOTAL: 18 Supportive Item Score 1.d. 3 2.d. 3 3.d. 3 4.d. 3 5.d. 3 6.d. 2 TOTAL: 17 Collegial Item Score 1.e. 3 2.e. 2 3.e. 3 4.e. 3 5.e. 3 6.e. 3 TOTAL: 17 System

As mentioned by Clark, If two of the scores are close to the same, you are probably going through a transition phase. MISPC is probably going through a transition phase from Autocratic to Custodial. This is somewhat true since the interviewee recounts that most of their employees are only motivated by money and security.

Communication Communication between managers and employees can make or break the company. It is very important for the members of the organization to communicate with each other on a regular basis to avoid errors and conflict. Having products that need great attention to detail, employees must communicate with each other especially when mistakes are made. Usually, the company communicates with each other through the use of memo notes for simple reminders and meetings to discuss daily goals and other important issues. The use of technology such as e-mails for communicating hasnt been tapped into by the organization. The hardest barrier to destroy as mentioned by the interviewee is the psychological distance between the managers and employees. Managers are having a hard time in motivating their employees. There is a lack of compassion on the part of the employees as most of them only work just for the sake of having a job and fulfilling their financial needs. Employees with longer length of service tend to have more dedication over the new workers and employees have no strive or

effort to make departments better. Physical barriers include the noise that the machines make and also their work positions wherein most of the workers are working separately that may hinder communication. Semantic barriers are unavoidable as most companies just like MISPC has one. The structure of communication in the company is a downward structure wherein communication usually begins from higher to lower levels of management. Since most of the decisions are made by top management, they are the one whos in charge of disseminating information throughout the organization. They will just tell their subordinates and their subordinates will tell the employees of whatever information they want to spread. Management cannot totally eradicate the existence of rumors. However, management deal with this problem seriously. The human resources department is very strict with gossiping or spreading of rumors, it is addressed as soon as possible because it ruins a department. If termination is necessary in issues of gossiping, it will be implemented. Equal Employment Opportunities The organization has strong anti-discrimination campaigns wherein managers dont discriminate or look down on people because of their beliefs, religion, looks, race etc. All of the employees are treated the same. If someone made a mistake, regardless of their position, they will be reprimanded accordingly. Job performance is measured not because of who they are, but what they offer or bring at the table. In times of promotion, although there is not much room for career advancements, everyone can apply for the job.

Roles Roles of employees were delegated as soon as they start in their jobs. Management gives enough training and orientation on what theyre supposed to do to avoid overlapping of roles. Top management was more hands on before but now they try to trust the supervisors to do HR work, be more active, look at the quality of their employees and to learn how to reprimand. Organizational Culture

The interviewee revealed that she couldnt remember as of the moment any assumptions, beliefs, values and norms that are unique in their organization. However, they make use of a formal way of communicating culture. Everything is written in manuals and grouped together by departments with an existing system to be followed per department standard procedures which must be followed step by step. The organization also values investiture wherein management gives importance to the work attitude of the employees. The organization even values the attitude more than education and experience of the employees. They have a long list of policies regarding behavior and conduct of the employees. Policies include attendance, job performance etc. Furthermore, given that employees are different individual who have different set of needs and motivation, the organization tries to adapt to the changes that sometimes result to revisions of policies. Motivation and Reward System When there was a misconduct that an employee made, it is always the managers role to persuade the employee to behave properly in the future. There are times, if the misconduct is serious enough, the manager have to choice but to fire the employee. Every business has its own rule for employee motivations such as rewards, recognition and retention and also has its own rule for employee grievances and discipline punishments like suspension, discharge and dismissal. There are two kinds of discipline system--- the traditional discipline system and the alternative discipline system. Mercury International Security Printing Corporation uses the alternative discipline system. They use this kind of method to effectively resolve, reduce or even eliminate workplace disputes that arise from circumstances where disciplinary action is appropriate. Mercury International Security Printing Corporation uses the four progressive disciplinary action steps--- verbal warning, written warning, suspension and termination. It depends on the severity of the problem and the number of occurrences. Progressive discipline means that, with respect to most disciplinary problems, these steps will normally be followed. A first offense may call for a verbal warning; a next offense may

be followed by a written warning. Another, it may lead to a suspension; and, still another offense may then lead to termination of employment. Employees who receive verbal warning by the managers means that they manager is requiring improvement and describes what must be done to meet performance expectations. Employees must be told that their jobs may be in jeopardy and, when applicable and that failure to make the necessary improvements may lead to termination. A written warning outlines specific problems, describes what must be done to meet performance expectations. The manager tells the employees how and when they will be given feedback on performance. The manager also outlines assistance and support to be given and gives a time frame within which the deficiencies must be corrected. It is expected that problems like tardiness can and should be corrected immediately; the inability or unwillingness to perform a particular function may take substantially longer time to address. There are two kinds of suspension that a manager can give to an employee--unpaid suspension and paid suspension. Unpaid suspension for one to five days may be used as a corrective measure in cases such as when the supervisor believes extenuating circumstances resulting in unacceptable performance call for disciplinary action short of dismissal. Paid suspension is usually used when the supervisor believes there may be grounds for dismissal, but requires time to investigate the situation. Employees who do not meet expectations in the time period specified will have their employment terminated. Here are some of the discipline and warning procedures of the company. Action 1st Offense 2nd Offense Termination 3rd Offense 4th Offense 5th Offense

Reporting for work 3-day under influence the suspension of

alcohol or drugs Refusing to be

tested

if

reasonable belief is suspected Intentionally misusing damaging Company property property or the of 3-day or suspension Termination

another associate Smoking in 1-day 3-day Termination

unauthorized area Repeated to punch

suspension suspension Written Warning 1-day suspension 3-day suspension Termination

failure Verbal own Warning

timecard daily Leaving 1-day 3-day Termination

department during suspension suspension working without supervisor's permission Posting or Verbal Written Warning 1-day suspension 3-day suspension Termination hours

removing notices warning on the bulletin without companys approval Failure to wear Written Warning board the

1-day suspension Written

3-day suspension 3-day

Termination

specified uniforms

Stretching breaks Verbal

Termination

or

otherwise Warning

Warning

suspension

wasting time Unauthorized absence Inability unwillingness work harmoniously with other associate Harassment or Written Warning 3-day suspension Termination Written Warning or Verbal to Warning 3-day suspension Written Warning 3-day suspension Termination Termination

intimidation of an Associate by

another associate Intentionally 3-day Termination

browsing through suspension personnel records other than his/her own without permission records

Appointment to a position requiring higher qualifications such as greater skill or longer experience and involving a higher level of responsibility, a higher rate of pay, and a title change is considered a promotion and will be classified as such in all personnel documents. MISPC promotes employees to supervisor when real talent is seen. Another factor is the attitude of the employee towards his/her work, co-workers and management. Incentives play a major role in motivating employees and encouraging them to achieve higher goals. In any organization, incentives work because employees are then goal-driven and push themselves to achieve their targets. Each company has a reward system in place to motivate their employees. This reward system is based on incentives like an increase in the salary, cash, gift or a holiday. Compensation is offered

to each employee based on his or her performance on the job. Incentives are usually seen as short term motivators for employees. Hence, incentives are used a lot to motivate sales employees so that they achieve their targets. In MISPC, if the employees work beyond what is expected of them, they gain additional allowances. The company also gives bonuses on company gatherings such as Christmas parties and summer outings.Managers must maintain a good balance as a person and at the same time, motivate the employees. Motivating employees at the right time and for the right reasons puts the employee in 5th gear. They feel good and that pat on their back boosts more confidence making them deliver what was impossible some time ago. In other words, their productivity increases. This is an underlying reason in the importance of motivating employees.

Leadership and Empowerment The Mercury International Printing Security Corporation or MISPC started out as a business with the aid of the members of Mr Leonardo Manalastas family. Over the years, the company has started to grow and to venture into more diverse kind of products and services. MISPC has grown both locally and internationally, and what came with the growth of their business empire are the growth of the number in their employees, and the growth in terms of the work weight. As of the moment, MISPC is considered as a small enterprise in terms of their capital asset, and yet, a medium enterprise as well in terms of the number of their employees which is 195. When MISPC was just starting out, the top management was much more hands on with the company and its employees, but now the company is trying to be more lenient and trustful to the companys supervisors to do Human Resources work, to be more active, to be more meticulous on terms of guarding the companys employees, and its production, and to learn how to reprimand, and handle different cases between the employees within the company. Since the company is fairly of middle standards, the workforce of the company is divided among several departments that work and carry on through the different jobs done to produce the level of the services they cater. The committees are The Administrators, The Accounting Committee, The Stripping Committee, The General Binding Committee, The General Services Committee, The Check Revising Committee,

The EDP Admin, The EDP Production, The Finishing Unit, and The Delivery. With this being said, the employees of the company dont usually put on any efforts to make any departments better. Since most of the work in the company is routinely, most of the efforts on making any departments better come from the top management. The top management communicates and links with their employees through the departments. The management is very formal on how they interact with their employees. Every kind of work or form of communication is in a form of a written document, which would then be grouped by the different departments. The different departments would then follow a standard procedure or an existing system that would ensure the finishing of the job. The company also communicates through different meetings that would allow everyone to voice out their concerns. Through this, the top management makes decisions and resolutions that would not defy nor abuse the human rights and interests of their employees, because doing so otherwise would equate to a low job performance rate. In addition to this, every judgement and performance of the top management is cautiously thought of because MISPC is a family owned corporation. A decision, no matter how good it is, is totally scraped out if it clashes with the interests and beliefs of a member of the top management. The top management, however, is very particular with its set of beliefs and ethics as a group, to the point that when one goes against them, termination of employee is instantly implemented. However, when one violates the rules of the company, depending on the weight of the violation, punishments are served. The company punishments are as follow: verbal warning, written warning, suspension for three to sixty days, and eventually, termination. The company is also very articulate of its rules and expectations from their employees regarding the companys policy on behaviour and conduct in terms of behaviour, attendance, and job performance. However, when one exceeds the top managements expectation of them, or has done an excellent job that would benefit the company as a whole, rewards are also given to their employees. When one has done an exceptional job for the company, no matter how limited the rooms are for career advancements in their kind of work field which is production, one can be promoted as a supervisor. In addition to this, when an employee is seen with real passion, determination, and the right attitude for the job with regards to himself, his co-workers, his work, and the management, then bonuses and incentives

are given. In cases where in the employees work beyond the expectation of the top management, the employees gain additional allowances, seasonal bonuses on top of the 13th month pay, outings and team building bonding, seasonal parties, and etc. The company also considers their leadership style as directive, for the reason that everything has to come from the top management, which would include certain instructions for the different departments that would allow them to focus on their given task assignments, and work schedule. However, the company is also supportive with their employees due to the fact that they try to remain family-oriented, but in the same way, they also try to be professional. In terms of the companys decision making, their leadership option is mainly autocratic II since the top management usually brings together people, gather information and data, and decides based from what they have obtained. In addition to this, the company also sometimes brings together their officers and supervisors for a brain-storm session that would allow each division and department to be more vocal about their thoughts on certain things. However, the company already has a system created, so decision making is also usually based on that and the top management. Understanding Individual and Interpersonal Behavior The company has estimated to have over 100 employees which all have positive work dispositions. The company feels that these employees are satisfied with the jobs they have in such a way that they are able to sustain their financial needs. The tasks of the employees are substantially increasing as the company applies job enlargement by increasing the number of machines handled by the employees. Due to the routine nature of the job at the company, the management cant apply job rotation or job enrichment for its workers. The company applies all the types of disciplines in progression. The company first encourages its employees to follow the proper standards set by the company. If the employees fail to follow these standards, they have to face the consequences of their actions. Repeated infractions cause the need for them to have more severe penalties.

As one community, the employees of the company have mutual trust for each other and on the job. The employees whistle blow almost half the time, most especially when they are stuck in the middle of a difficult situation.

Interpersonal Behavior The most common type of conflict experienced by MISPC is due to discipline problems of the employees. The employees cannot seem to stick to the routine and procedures of the company. The cause of this conflict lies in their desire to change the procedures, because they say that it is easier not to follow them. They will actually follow these procedures for the first 6 months of the companys activity, but when the management doesnt check it anymore, they will slack off. This prompts the management to reprimand them to resolve the issue. The management uses its personal and legitimate power for various situations. They influence them by showing them and making them feel that their employees can trust them and that they are concerned about them (the employees) not only in the level of their job and work but on a personal level as well. Some of the employees immediate superiors aim to be approachable to them by open door policy. These individuals can let employees visit their office anytime whether it be work related or personal. The supervisors and management are open to help their employees with possible favors, but the management does have their limitations. Understanding Group Behavior at Mercury International Printing Corporation At Mercury International Printing Corporation, the most basic and permanent groups are those which are divided through having specific departments within the organization. Since they are in the business of producing security documents, it is important to strictly follow their strict system in doing their everyday operations. This is also the reason why they have division of work specifically to certain departments with one supervisor each. The following departments are the following: y y Administration Accounting

y y y y y y y y

Stripping General Binding General Services Check Revising EDP Administration EDP Production Finishing Unit Delivery

For each department, there is only one supervisor with a formal power given over the rest of the employees. He is also the only person who can relay employee messages and problems to top management, unless there is a necessity or an approval for the employee to directly go to top management. This is because MISPC follows the strict system which they have been implementing ever since, gives importance to hierarchical status and position and lastly to wants to maintain order within the powers in the organization. Also, MISPC does not have a formal Marketing department because they consider the members of the family as the Marketing arm of the organization. That is why; a Marketing sector has not yet been formalized with a system with regards to its existence in the organization. The company also holds daily meetings with each departments supervisor and at least two corporate officers coming from top management. In these meetings, the group only talks about the daily production of the organization. While some minor problems are brought up by the supervisors (like a need for additional staff, etc.), there are no major decisions to be made. If however, there entails a major decision making, members of the top management will hold a meeting wherein they will brainstorm as a group in order to reach a consensus among them. They give great importance to a unanimous decision because they are a family-owned firm. They give importance to the feelings and input of everyone so that they will be able to maintain and build the familial relationship side of the business. As a matter of fact, the interviewee even told the group that even though there is a great idea that was brought up during these meetings, but a family member or more does not think that it is a good idea or have ill feelings

towards the idea and conflicts arise, the whole idea will be dropped and scrapped out of the agenda instantaneously. At MISPC, having informal groups formed is highly discouraged by top management. They actually openly discourage their employees to bring in their personal lives into their work lives; they openly tell their employees to separate the two and to not have best friends, buddy-buddies or relationships within the workplace. They believe that once informal groups or relationships have been formed and set in the organization, it can hamper the performance of the employees, thus affecting the overall production of the firm. However, they do also take into consideration that the formation of informal groups cannot be avoided in the workplace. Though, the formed informal groups are actually hardly seen in the workplace because of the strict policies Catherine Manalastas, the Human Resource Director, implements within the organization. Catherine Manalastas can only speak on behalf of its employees cohesiveness in terms of their work relationship. Because as previously mentioned, they do not want to mix the personal lives with the work lives. She told the group that they are able to have an average cohesiveness. Perhaps a reason for this is that the employees just came to work for the simple reason of working. Since informal groups and personal relationships are not very much welcomed into the workplace, the employees also have a hard time assessing their relationships or the trust they put into their other co-workers. Though an average cohesiveness is already a good sign of employee interrelationships, managing a tight-knit workforce could even further strengthen the core assets of the company: the people. Because of the tight following of hierarchical structures and the system, the only reference group the entire organization uses is top management. They only follow the beliefs, customs, authorization, and decisions which the top management makes. Other decisions are deemed not to be valid unless it goes through top management. The only authoritative group with the power over all the employees is the members of the top management and after them are the supervisors. Work in the organization is divided among the specific departments mentioned previously. Because of the routine job it takes to produce the security documents, each department is well specified with the job type and description needed for each activity. Based on the information stated, we can

see that MISPC uses a mechanistic form of organizing because of their use of the traditional hierarchical system. Catherine Manalastas believes that there is great teamwork among departments because of the clear cut division of roles and skills to be needed and done per department this is probably because of the routine nature of the business, so that people were easily getting used to the processes and the systems they follow. The employees also have a very supportive environment as top management gives great importance to their employees. As a matter of fact, employees who do work beyond what is expected from them are given rewards such as additional allowances, bonuses, summer outings and even parties. The great group relationship in the workplace may be accounted for the strict policies being implemented because of the strict system they use and the routine nature of the job because MISPC does not actually engage in team building activities to strengthen the relationship of their departments. The only informal team building activities they have is when the whole company goes to an outing and certain activities are done together. Other than that, they do not spend extra money just for team building activities. In conclusion, the group behavior seen in MISPC is almost purely on a work relationship basis because of first and foremost, the nature of the business, secondly because of the strict policies being implemented by top management themselves with regards to this, next is because of the existing systems that have been with the company for more than 20 years of the existence of the business and lastly due to the fact that the company is following a very traditional hierarchical system within the organization. However, the owners must realize that even though they keep a keen eye on these matters, the formation of informal groups is inevitable and that they should also be open to catering to the personal lives of their employees as well in order to build stronger lasting and long lasting relationships and even a greater sense of trust between the employee-employer or between employees themselves.

Change and Its Effects As the saying goes, The only permanent thing in this world is change. Change is inevitable. We cannot prevent it, and if we do not adapt to it, we stay behind. In business, change is constant, and to keep up with the ever-changing times, an entity must constantly seek to improve itself to be able to provide its clients excellent services and value for their money. MISPC, like most businesses, began from scratch. It started from providing simple security printing services and developed into a highly sophisticated security printing business that it is today. The company was able to do this because it was able to adapt to the constant changes that time foreordained. Along with this, the company itself implemented countless changes, minimal or major ones, to continue its operations. In MISPC, change is implemented through written documents and

announcements wherein a formal agreement between the employees and those in charge is required. As easy as it may seem, implementation of change is not always flawless. Oftentimes, the company meets a resistance to change and employees find it quite difficult to adapt to it even if they already agreed to. In general, people are generally afraid of change because there is uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Therefore when change is implemented, employees will tend to stick to the old system for the reason that it is more familiar and comfortable to them. What the company does to let the employees adapt to change is to reward the angels and starve the demons. Angels are the employees that greatly contribute to the success of the company and follow the rules religiously. On the other hand, demons are those that do not contribute to the performance of the company and just do things that are against the rules. Usually, managers devote a majority of their resources in punishing the demons while ignoring the angels. This can lead to cause the angels to leave the workplace and search for better jobs. Rather than doing this, the company focuses on rewarding angels and starving the demons. Minimal resources should go to these employees because they prove to be liabilities and do not help the company in any way. Oftentimes, the company just resorts to termination of these demons. This is due to the fact that the company is in the high security industry, wherein things are very sensitive, thus compliance with the rules and possible changes should be a must.

However, these drastic measures were only taken by MISPC for only a couple of times, because the event of resistance hardly ever happens. This is because the managers in MISPC are very skilled in a way that they can successfully implement change without creating any extreme difficulty for the employees. The management consistently supports the employees during the three stages of change, namely unfreezing, changing and refreezing. When the rare event of predicament arises, the management sees to it that they can provide assistance to the employees in the best way that they could.