Organizational Effectiveness for American Express

The company to be considered is American Express, and the subject of human resources planning or staff planning will be examined in terms of achieving greater organizational effectiveness by aligning the staff and staff planning with the overall business strategy of the company. American Express had a solid reputation and a strong position in the marketplace, but more recently the company has experienced problems based on competition from various credit card services, other financial institutions, and changes in the economy. Some of the company's problems have been directly related to the labor force and to ideas about downsizing and creating a more competitive company structure.

Human resources have to be considered in terms of the particular product and service mix of the individual company, the business environment in which it operates, the challenges is faces, and the skills and capabilities of the potential work force at every level.

The American Express Company has a long history. It was formed in 1850 by Henry Wells and his two main competitors when they combined their delivery services into American Express. The founders are related to another important American financial institution--when directors of the company balked at expanding to California in 1852, Wells and his vice president William Fargo formed Wells Fargo. American Express itself merged with Merchants Union Express in 1868 and developed a money order to be in c

ooks for clues about what will be required by examining information-based organizations such as hospitals and universities. Drucker's examples lead to an analysis of the requirements for the information-based organization, its most likely management problems, and other elements that will make up this future business structure. He finds that what is needed most is clarity: Information-based organizations. . . require clear, simple, common objectives that translate into particular actions. At the same time. . . information-based organizations also need concentration on one objective or, at most, on a few (Drucker 49). Drucker also finds that in this type of organization, everyone will have to take information responsibility. Inter-relationships based on information and information need will drive the organization. Middle-sized companies, says Drucker, already understand information responsibility, and everyone in the organization will have to consider what they have to contribute to the organization and its members as part of their personal responsibility. This also means that they need to consider what information they themselves need, and it is quality of information rather than simple quantity that is most important.

Category: Business - O