Business Analysis of Gulf States Metals Inc.

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Business Analysis of Gulf States Metals Inc.

Gulf States Metals Inc. (GSM) is a large nickel refinery plant that

has suffered poor financial performance and is under the threat of

being shut down by its parent company International Metals Inc. This

paper aims to, firstly, analyse the issues that are contributing to

the low performance, secondly, to provide some options for moving

forward and thirdly, to present a set of substantiated

recommendations. The analysis will be tackled through a multi-frame

approach, incorporating a structural frame, human resource frame,

political frame and symbolic frame as proposed by Bolman and Deal

(1997).

Structural Frame Analysis

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The structural frame asserts that organisations exist to achieve goals

and objectives, and that they must be designed to fit the

circumstances according to goals, technology and the environment.

Organisations are thought to increase efficiency and enhance

performance through specialisation and division of labour. To ensure

that the divisions work together, appropriate forms of coordination

and control are essential to ensure that individuals and units work

together in service of organisational goals. The structural frame also

assumes that problems, and performance gaps, arise from structural

defects and can be remedied through restructuring (Bolman and Deal,

1997; Burnes, 1996).

GSM's overall structure is hierarchical...

... middle of paper ...

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Dissertation Abstract, 95001,136

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