SAS Institute Case Study Answers

The SAS bring in was founded in 1976 by Dr. James Goodnight and Dr. John S each(prenominal), both professors at northbound Carolina State University, SAS Institute, Inc. stick verbotens origin intelligence (BI) softw ar and services at much than 40,000 customer sites worldwide, including 90 per centum of the Fortune 500 companies. SAS, which stands for statistical epitome softw be, is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. It is the worlds largest privately held softw be comp each, having everywhere 100 offices worldwide with approximately 10,000 employees.With an unbroken record of growth and profit aptitude, SAS had tax income of $1. 18 billion in 2002 and invested about 25 percent of revenues into look for and development. SAS has been widely recognized for its recall-life programs and emphasis on employee satisfaction. The communitys discordant honors include existence recognized by operative Mothers cartridge clip as one of 100 Best Companies for Working Mother s and by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. The Working Mothers recognition has been received 13 times and the Fortune recognition has occurred for sise consecutive years. . Critically analyse the basic worry philosophy that governs employee similitude management at SAS.The management culture is a very weighty factor in the imprinting of a guild it shapes the relationship amid working environment and employee satisfaction. SASs particular strategy of running the business in which the employees atomic number 18 unbelievably loyal, as a softw ar developer himself, SAS chief operating officer Jim Goodnight knows well that designing software is a creative process, and that SAS continued achiever is built on products of the mind. The creativity and puzzle-solving behind great software and the grapple professionalism behind great customer service are the most all important(p) resources in an intellectual property enterprise. SAS manageme nt believes that workplace culture, federation determine and employment practices asshole transform the work pick up in ship canal that are non lonesome(prenominal) trustworthy relations un slight good business. Focusing on populate and relationships making employees a top priority leads to more productive, genial and dedicated employees. They take care of the company that takes care of them.To achieve that ideal, employees must be stimulated, engaged, appreciated and supported. They need to be sure and valued, to face that they wee a difference. To support the creative process and labyrinthine sense work and family, they must be offered a flexible work environment that allows them to be the most productive. And they should be freed from many of the distractions and difficulties of day-to-day life, so they can focus on doing their best work. They want good results so they even up their employees competitively, tar giveed at the average for the software industry.SAS do es non provide stock options equal other companies in the industry. Instead of relying on high salaries and stock options to lure and retain workers like many software companies do, SAS takes a very several(predicate) approach. SAS focuses on providing meaningful and challenging work, and it encourages teamwork. SAS also provides a host of benefits that conjure up to the employees and help keep them fulfill. As one employee who took a 10 percent pay cut to join SAS said Its expose to be happy than to concur a little more money.Employees are presumptuousness the freedom, flexibility, responsibility, and resources to do their jobs, and they are also held accountable for results. Managers know what employees are doing and they work alongside them, writing computer code. The company employs very fewer impertinent contractors and very few part-time staff, so there is a salubrious sense of teamwork throughout the organization. SAS employees are clearly involved in their work. peerless employee, Kathy Passarella, notes that When you walk down the halls here, its rare that you hear people talk of the town about anything but work. Clearly, tender resource management at SAS is a two-way street. SAS has an HR strategy and related policies and practices that attract, motivate, and retain highly receptive workers who get world-shaking contributions to the ongoing success of the company. Goodnight and the other SAS leadership demand nothing less than superior performance from the employees, and they continue to get it. The employees are loyal and attached to the company, and they are productive so loyal, committed, and productive, in fact, that only a little(a) percentage of the employees ever surrender once they have been hired at SAS.They have the employees who jadet want to leave the work even if they get little more money someplace else as they want the peace they get in SAS. (Drucker 1974, Chaffee 1985) 3. Critically quantify how SASs have ethi cally played its role in providing for the of necessity of its employees and how its human resource strategy policies, and practices affect the companys ability to attract, develop, and maintain a look workforce. This Corporate Social righteousness circulate reflects the core values and transactions of how SAS does business as an employer, a software provider and a corporate citizen.The guiding principles that launched the company in 1976 are allay the foundation of the enterprise. The company strives to be approachable, so customers recognize SAS as a reliable partner and not just a vendor. It is about being customer-driven, engaging with customers to find out what they want and helping to solve their problems. It requires fastness and agility, to adapt to changing technology and global conditions. It relies on the kind of novelty that grows in a workplace culture where employees feel valued, vested and inspired to excellence.And it demands that SAS be trustworthy, an ethica l business partner that customers can count on for their scathing decision-making processes. Overarching these guiding principles is the load to sustainability to drive operational efficiency, spawn innovation, and satisfy the runations of customers, employees and society. This commitment and understanding are driven from the top. Through the SAS Executive Sustainability Council, top executives check over that sustainability goals and priorities permeate every aspect of the companys operations.Externally, SAS senior management is represented on the boards of leading conservation organizations, such as The disposition Conservancy, and provides influence on the global stage through such organizations as the World Economic Forum, World Resources Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund. Responding to the maturation need for companies to measure their performance, SAS introduced SAS for Sustainability Management software in 2008 to enable organizations of any size or industry to measure, manage and report on sustainability indicators.This innovational solution led to Jim Goodnight, SAS CEO, being named among the 100 Most Influential hoi polloi in Business Ethics in 2008. This 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the third published by the company, highlights SAS commitment to, and leadership on, sustainability across all business units in terms of governance and management, employees, community engagement and the environment. Employees are given the freedom, flexibility, responsibility, and resources to do their jobs, and they are also held accountable for results. Managers know what employees are doing and they work alongside them, writing computer code.The company employs very few external contractors and very few part-time staff, so there is a strong sense of teamwork throughout the organization. SAS employees are clearly involved in their work. One employee, Kathy Passarella, notes that When you walk down the halls here, its rare that you hear people talking about anything but work. (Cooper 1991) Included among the various employee benefits that SAS provides are an employee physical fitness and recreational center, an employee laundry service, a heavily subsidized employee cafeteria, live flabby music in the employee cafeteria, subsidized on-site childcare, and a free health center.All of these benefits are geared toward employees having a better work experience and/or a better balance between their work lives and their person-to-person lives. The companys commitment to work-life balance is evident in SASs 35-hour workweek, which clearly recognizes the importance of employees personal lives. That strategy is intended to make it impossible for people not to do their work. The owners of SAS want employees to be satisfied because they believe satisfied employees go away be excellent performers and impart provide exceptional service to the companys customers. If you treat employees as if they make a difference to the company, they will make a difference to the company. fit employees create satisfied customers. This viewpoint might be described as a form of instruct realism and enlightened self-interest on the part of the company.Satisfied employees make for satisfied customers, and satisfied customers make for an ongoing stream of revenue and profits for SAS. . In commenting on the companys performance expectations for employees, Goodnight says I like to be around happy people, but if they dont get that next release out, theyre not going to be very happy. Pondering the likelihood that SAS employees would take improvement of the companys relaxed atmosphere, John Sall, co-owner of SAS, observes I cant presuppose that playing table tennis would be more interesting than work. David Russo adds some superfluous perspective. He says If youre out sick for cardinal months, youll get card game and flowers, and people will come to cook dinner for you. If youre out sick for six Mondays in a row, youll get fired. We expect crowing behavior. David Russo, SASs head of human resources says To some people, this looks like the Good venture Lollipop, floating down the stream.Its not. Its part of a good designed strategy. That strategy is intended to make it impossible for people not to do their work. (Buzzell 1987) 4. Critically evaluate SAS employees moral duty to the organization towards the achievement of its goal. As the company is doing its best to keep the employees happy it also expects the employees to give their best to the company. The owners of SAS want employees to be satisfied because they believe satisfied employees will be excellent performers and will provide exceptional service to the companys customers.So by treating the employees well they know that they will get ga good return as the employees will treat the customers well. They chase the strategy that satisfied employees create satisfied customers. This viewpoint might be described as a form of enlight ened realism and enlightened self-interest on the part of the company. Satisfied employees make for satisfied customers, and satisfied customers make for an ongoing stream of revenue and profits for SAS. SASs leaders recognize both the benefits and costs associated with keeping employees satisfied.One of the most epoch-making benefits for SAS is a very low annual turnover rate. The companys turnover rate is less than four percent, as compared to approximately 25 percent for the industry as a whole. This low turnover saves the company about $70 million annually in employee replacement costs. On the cost side, of course, is the companys monetary outlay for the various programs. David Russo, the human resources director, argues that the employee replacement cost savings more than pays for the companys giving benefits. Perhaps of more concern on the cost side is the voltage for employees failing to perform.In commenting on the companys performance expectations for employees, Goodnigh t says I like to be around happy people, but if they dont get that next release out, theyre not going to be very happy. Pondering the likelihood that SAS employees would take advantage of the companys relaxed atmosphere, John Sall, co-owner of SAS, observes I cant imagine that playing Ping-Pong would be more interesting than work. David Russo adds some additional perspective. He says If youre out sick for six months, youll get cards and flowers, and people will come to cook dinner for you.If youre out sick for six Mondays in a row, youll get fired. We expect adult behavior. The system of SAS is a two-way street. SAS has an HR strategy and related policies and practices that attract, motivate, and retain highly sufficient workers who make significant contributions to the ongoing success of the company. Goodnight and the other SAS leaders expect nothing less than superior performance from the employees, and they continue to get it. The employees are loyal and committed to the comp any, and they are productive so loyal, committed, and productive, in fact, that they are giving the best to the company. Borgerson 2008). 5. Conclusion SAS has proved to give the best quality of working atmosphere to its employees. They motivate their employees and help them to give their best to the company. They dont interfere in the family life of the employees instead they tray to make their lives better in every way by creating things around them that make them feel comfortable. Clearly, human resource management at SAS is a two-way street. SAS has an HR strategy and related policies and practices that attract, motivate, and retain highly capable workers who make significant contributions to the ongoing success of the company.Goodnight and the other SAS leaders expect nothing less than superior performance from the employees, and they continue to get it. The employees are loyal and committed to the company, and they are productive so loyal, committed, and productive, in fact, t hat only a small percentage of the employees ever leave once they have been hired at SAS, as they feel so comfortable that even if they are offered a little more money in some other company they dont prefer more money.