A BMC 205 Business Management Course Case Study by Rufran C. Frago @ University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Given Situation: Potash Corporation is expecting labor shortage and plan to utilize an untapped labor pool that exists in Western Canada of First Nations

1. 2013
Case Study
Abstract:
Potash Corporation is expecting labor
shortage and plan to utilize an untapped
labor pool that exists in Western Canada
of First Nations
Author
Rev. 3
Rev. 2
Rev. 1
Rev. 0
:
:
:
:
:
Rufran C. Frago
October 30, 2013
October 21, 2013
October 19, 2013
October 02, 2013

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGES
1.0
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ................................................................ 3
2.0
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 3
3.0
DECISION MAKING .......................................................................................... 5
4.0
SWOT ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 6
5.0
OPTIONS ............................................................................................................. 8
6.0
RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................... 9
7.0
APPENDICES .................................................................................................... 10
7.1
APPENDIX A - SWOT Table (Palomino, 2013) .............................................. 10
7.2
APPENDIX B - Stakeholders Map (Boundless, 2013) ...................................... 10
7.3
APPENDIX C – Stakeholders Register (TemplatesPMO, 2013) ...................... 11
7.4
APPENDIX D – Stakeholders Management Power and Interest Grid .............. 11
8.0
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 12
9.0
INDEX ............................................................................................................... 13
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3. 1.0
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Potash Corporation of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is the worlds largest producer of potash
fertilizer. The company sees itself as a leader in the creation of diverse workforce and
requires its leaders to set an example. The company expected labour shortages and saw
an untapped labour pool in Western Canada of First Nations youth. A program was
started with the intent of hiring as many as 800 Aboriginal workers over a five year
period (Althouse, N. et al, 2014). The main issue facing Potash Corporation is clear. It
wants to address the projected threat of labor shortage. The company has identified an
untapped labor pool in Western Canada of First Nations (Althouse, N. et al, 2014) and is
considering it as an opportunity.
2.0
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
There are several stakeholders that have vested interests in the success or failure of this
hiring program. Knowing who your stakeholders are is important and the process begins
by developing healthy relationships with them. Stakeholders help decide on issues from
the beginning, during planning and at execution of the program. They should understand
how the project functions, including the program scope, milestones and goals (Bonner,
2010). They are divided into two broad categories, internal and external. Internal
stakeholders are owners, shareholders, partners, labor union, program manager, risk
manager, senior leaders, staffs and existing employees while external stakeholders
include First Nations (Wikipedia, 2013), Metis (Government of Canada, 2013), Inuit,
community, government, professional association, customers, special interest groups, and
suppliers (see APPENDIX B - STAKEHOLDERS MAP
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4. The primary concern of internal stakeholders is how to ensure the program’s success. The
CEO, CFO and the Program Manager would like to know whether there are high level
risks that need to be managed or addressed. Inherent risks like poor planning or missing
program charter and execution plan will be a big concern. Question as to whether the
program will be accepted and embraced by the First Nations leadership should be
confirmed. Will they be interested? What was the initial feedback? The risk manager of
Potash will be interested in the program risk register and the program manager with the
risk response plan, including the resources involved, the schedule, and the necessary
contingency. The labor union would like to know if the program will adversely affect
them. The Safety Officer will ask the critical question surrounding how this will affect
the company’s culture of safety. The Finance Officer will look for the right budget.
The Leaders of the First Nations might check if the selection of candidates is fair. They
will ask about the safety of their constituents or touch on certain environmental concerns.
The First Nation’s Leaders will ask themselves how the employment of 800 band
members will affect their community. On the other hand, some other communities might
question why First Nations are being given preference over them. Existing employees
will want to know their role in this program.
There will be many concerns coming from each of the many stakeholders. Each one has
to be in the loop, prioritized and tabled according to the communication framework and
structure of the program. Effective management of stakeholders is one of the biggest
challenges there is in this program.
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5. 3.0
DECISION MAKING
The decision makers are the stakeholders representing the Potash Corporation, namely
the Board of Director, the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer and the
Program Manager. They are internal stakeholders who initiated the program, own the
charter, who holds the budget and control all other resources that will directly decide
whether the program will continue or not.
External stakeholders like the First Nation, Metis, Inuit, the community, government,
professional associations, special interest group, non-government organization
representatives, and others can only influence the decision but has no direct hand on how
the program will be executed.
The objectives of the decision maker is decide whether there are real benefits to continue
with the program implementation, to approve the overall execution plan, and to make
sure that goals are delivered successfully; on time, on budget, on scope and on quality.
The influencers have different objectives. They might focus on ensuring that First Nation
prospects are given fair and equal treatment. In addition to that, they want to know
whether Potash has a good method of selecting right candidates, and that First Nations
youth who will be eventually hired are given adequate training and a safe working
condition, and with equal Union rights and privileges.
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6. 4.0
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in the Potash Corporation First
Nations’ Hiring Program (Wikipedia, Wikipedia-SWOT Analysis, 2013).
It is another form of qualitative risk analysis. Since risk is relative, I have to pre-qualify
the below statement as coming from an owner’s standpoint.
The strategy of training and hiring First Nation prospects that has full support from
Potash management is a strong foundation to start with. Other strengths that can be
considered are the orientation provided by management to all its staffs and employees
teaching them about the First Nations culture as a bridge of understanding to get more
support and cooperation. The program has the support of Senior Leaders and Staff. An
aboriginal local labor force is practically cheaper than a foreign work force. It is also
good optics politically speaking. Five years is more than enough time to implement &
complete the program. An ongoing collaboration with the First Nation has already
started. Key performance indicators are clearly laid-out. Rewards and compensation
program are in place. Intensive training program is available. First Nation’s school is
expected to welcome the program with open arms as they receive funding and
professional directions to improve aboriginal education geared to the program’s success.
The five years might not be enough to implement the program was one of the
uncertainties listed and can be considered a weakness. It is not clear as to what required
knowledge and skills are needed. A general curriculum adapting to Potash requirement
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7. might be being too simplistic and will not deliver adequately. Changing the same
curriculum to a more specialized course will require a bigger commitment not identified
previously. Critical key performance indicators seem not very clear. There are no details
as to the rewards and compensation involved in getting band leaders to agree other than
potential future employment to their children. The integration of company culture with
the First Nations culture might be a natural barrier that can prove difficult to surmount.
Business culture might conflict with First Nation’s culture. There are no details as to the
length of training per prospect is given. There is possible difficulty in attracting and
maintaining interest of First Nation prospects. There is some uncertainty regarding First
Nation’s commitment to continue collaboration and cooperation. The criteria and method
of selecting the right First Nation candidates for training & subsequent employment was
not stated.
Some First Nation prospects might be slow to learn or might fail testing. No
contingency was mentioned.
The opportunity to earn a living and be employed by a well-known business organization
as Potash is a perception that can be quite useful for this program to succeed. The labor
shortage problem is a known quantity that will only strengthen the support for the
program by almost all parties. The chance for more First Nations people to work in
Potash is an opportunity to demonstrate the business perspectives to them utilizing the
knowledge gained by members as they get convinced and refocused on being permanent
employees of the corporation.
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8. Threats can come in many forms such as disputes with First Nation elders, bandleaders,
other aboriginal groups, or even with the student prospects themselves on various
subjects of interests such as compensation, benefits, implied promise, unspoken
expectations, imaginary wrong-doing, and more. A run-in like can be very sensitive and
has the potential to disrupt the program or even the operation of the company. Other
threats are miscommunication, schedule delay, economic downturn, changing
requirements, political, labor unrest, influx of foreign workers, take overs and
acquisitions, mergers, and many more.
5.0
OPTIONS
The next step is to prioritize the impact. In other words, which of these strengths really
help you accomplish your goals, which of these weaknesses really hurt you the most,
which of these opportunities (fully realized) would have the greatest positive impact, and
which of these threats (if they came to pass) would hurt the greatest? The highest risks
will have the necessary contingency plan and the lower risks will be included in the
watch list (Palomino, 2013).
The options available can be extracted from the result of the overall program risk
assessment on the basis of the SWOT and/or the Risk Register information. Each critical
activity in the program that is tied to a risk event (or events) will have to be assessed and
an acceptable response plan identified. For example, the risk of a program schedule
delay can be the result of a risk event being triggered. Or it can be directly tied to a
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9. stakeholder. As soon as it happens, an approved response plan shall be activated and the
corresponding contingency utilized.
6.0
RECOMMENDATIONS
I recommend the development and maintenance of a Stakeholders Register (see
APPENDIX C – STAKEHOLDERS REGISTER). This register should be included in
the overall program execution & communication plan. The register is a simple table with
the specific stakeholder name, contact detail, requirement, and classification. It is a
living document that needs to be updated (and it will be updated many times) as the
stakeholders specific information changes. After identifying the stakeholders, the
program manager spearheading the initiative has to find out their individual expectations
and make a strategy to manage those. All this information should be in the register. The
stakeholders listed on the stakeholders register must be classified according to their
power, influence, and interest, see (TemplatesPMO, 2013) and
(AgileProjectManagement, 2008). By following the aforementioned recommendation,
the register will be able to guide the program manager with necessary information how to
effectively manage expectations. This will also facilitate risk management involving
various stakeholders as a whole. The rationale is this: if a room has 20 different
stakeholders, it is wiser to deal with them according to their salience, power, and
influence or else waste a lot of time and achieving finally nothing. We want to talk to the
right person!
Focus on the high critical risks only and keep the low risk one on a watch list to monitor
changes as they might become critical. This approach lines up with the Pareto 80/20
principle, where it is believed that 80% of the problems are due to 20% of the causes.
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10. 7.0
APPENDICES
7.1
APPENDIX A - SWOT TABLE (PALOMINO, 2013)
7.2
APPENDIX B - STAKEHOLDERS MAP (BOUNDLESS, 2013)
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11. 7.3
APPENDIX C – STAKEHOLDERS REGISTER
(TEMPLATESPMO, 2013)
7.4
APPENDIX D – STAKEHOLDERS MANAGEMENT POWER
AND INTEREST GRID (AGILEPROJECTMANAGEMENT,
2008)
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12. 8.0
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AgileProjectManagement. (2008, February 21). PMI PMBOK 4 – This Time It’s
Iterative!-Collaboration. Retrieved from Leading Answers:
http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2008/02/pmbok-4-thisti.html
Althouse, N. et al. (2014). The Future of Business, 4th Edition. In e. a. Althouse, Creative
Thinking Case-Potash Corp- Diversity & Safety (p. 270). Ontario, Canada:
Nelson Education Ltd. Retrieved from The Future of Business 4th Edition.
Althouse, N. et al. (2014). The Future of Business, 4th Edition. In e. a. Althouse, Making
the Connection-Analyzing the Business-Chapter 7 (p. 188). Ontario, Canada:
Nelson Education Ltd. Retrieved from The Future of Business, 4th Edition.
Bonner, T. (2010, October 28). Stakeholders in Project Management. Retrieved from
PlanningBright Hub-Project Management: http://www.brighthubpm.com/projectplanning/93262-stakeholders-in-project-management/
Boundless. (2013). Business Stakeholders. Retrieved from Boundless:
https://www.boundless.com/management/ethics-in-business/businessstakeholders/internal-stakeholders/
Canada, G. o. (2013). Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Retrieved
from Canada.gc.ca: http://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014642/1100100014643
Grebinski, L. (2011). Potash company employs Aboriginal hiring strategy to fill labour
shortage. Retrieved from AMMSA:
http://www.ammsa.com/publications/saskatchewan-sage/potash-companyemploys-aboriginal-hiring-strategy-fill-labour-shortag
News, M. (2011, October 7). Tribal Council Signs Deal With Potash Corp. Retrieved
from MBC Network: http://mbcradio.com/index.php/mbc-news/10458-tribalcouncil-signs-deal-with-potashcorp
Palomino, J. (2013, January 22). The Actionable SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from
ValueProp Interactive: http://www.valueprop.com/blog/2013/01/the-actionableswot-analysis/
Sage, C. (2011). Chiefs want to be consulted in potash development. Retrieved from
AMMSA: http://www.ammsa.com/publications/saskatchewan-sage/chiefs-wantbe-consulted-potash-development
TemplatesPMO. (2013). Identify Stakeholders Templates. Retrieved from Templates
PMO: http://www.templatespmo.com/identify_stakeholders.html
Wikipedia. (2013). WikipediaFirst Nation. Retrieved from Wikipedia The Free
Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations
Wikipedia. (2013). Wikipedia-SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from Wikepedia Free
Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis
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13. 9.0
INDEX
APPENDICES .................................... 10
APPENDIX A ..................................... 10
APPENDIX B ..................................... 10
APPENDIX C ..................................... 11
APPENDIX D ..................................... 11
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................... 12
Business culture .................................... 7
commitment .......................................... 7
community ............................................ 3
contingency plan ................................... 8
critical activity ...................................... 8
difficulty................................................ 7
expectations........................................... 9
External stakeholders ............................ 5
First Nations .......................................... 7
INDEX ................................................ 13
integration ............................................. 7
internal stakeholders ............................. 4
labor shortage ........................................ 3
manage expectations ............................. 9
opportunity ............................................ 7
program risk register ............................. 4
qualitative risk ....................................... 6
RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 9
rewards .................................................. 7
risk management ................................... 9
Risk Register information ..................... 8
shareholders .......................................... 3
special interest groups ........................... 3
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ............. 3
stakeholders........................................... 3
Stakeholders Register............................ 9
strengths ................................................ 6
SWOT analysis ..................................... 6
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................... 2
Threats................................................... 7
weakness ............................................... 6
Notes:
This is a case study prepared for BMC 205 Business Management Course, University of
Calgary under the guidance of my capable Teacher Jacklynn Holmes.
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