Business
This paper will provide a reflection of my experience at Hemlock Tax, outlining the different organizational aspects of the company. My job in data entry has enabled to realize and appreciate the primary goal of Hemlock. Since its establishment in 1997, the goal of the company has been to provide high-quality services to its clients. Hemlock has two main strengths: availability of a highly-skilled workforce with varied skillsets in public accounting and a relatively small operating expense which constitutes high-profit margins. The company’s main weakness comes from the highly seasonal nature of its business. Since tax time is limited, the availability of work throughout the year also becomes difficult.
When it comes to accomplishing the goals of the company, I think that all segments of the organization work together. All departments at Hemlock, from data entry to public accounting, are all driven by the primary goal of providing high-quality services to clients. The decision-making process at Hemlock is more or less centralized. This means that major decisions are usually made by members of the executive and departmental heads. The decisions made at the top brass are then passed down to the rest of the workforce. Therefore, not all stakeholders are considered in the decision-making process.
I do not entirely agree with the management’s centralized approach to decision-making. For instance, the management recently decided to reduce the workforce without consulting the workers affected. As such, several employees found themselves out of a job without prior warning. The management should, therefore, involve employees when making such drastic decisions. As much as low-level employees are sidelined in the decision-making process, the management is always quick to respond to issues affecting staff at the workplace. The management has put up a consultancy service which welcomes all employees to bring up any matters affecting them, which are later passed on to the management.
The organizational culture at Hemlock is relatively difficult to comprehend fully. However, I can say that the dominant culture at the company is that of change. This transformational culture has seen the company embrace new changes in business such as technology and globalization to improve the quality of its services. Regarding fairness, I think that Hemlock is fully committed to treating all its workers and stakeholders with dignity and respect. For instance, the company quotes the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964 in its mission objectives by stating that it aims at treating all stakeholders equally regardless of gender, racial, or religious differences.
Hemlock promotes good ethical practices at the workplace. However, I noticed that the company conducts excessive monitoring of its employees by looking into their private emails and other operations. I responded to this by raising this issue with the HR department who are yet to respond decisively. Nevertheless, Hemlock still has a strong code of ethics which is shared with all stakeholders. During the hiring process, all new employees are made aware of this code of ethics. This system serves to guide them in their interaction with customers and other employees. I firmly believe that Hemlock promotes corporate social responsibility to a certain degree. For instance, the company is usually involved in tax awareness programs to bring tax education to the public. These programs aim at educating the public regarding the importance of paying taxes and the kind of taxes that they are legally and ethically bound to pay.
Works Cited
Hartman, Laura. Perspectives In Business Ethics. Chicago: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.
Hemlock. "Hemlock Associates Income Tax and Small Business Services." 2016. Web.
