PolyOne Case Study
Background
The Geon Company, since merged with M.A. Hanna to become PolyOne, manufactures PVC compounds.
PolyOne Corporation is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. The company is dedicated to serving customers in diverse industries around the globe by creating value through collaboration, innovation and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Since PolyOne has annual revenues of $3.4 billion, it is a leading global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions.
Impetus
PolyOne taught business ethics to all of its employees worldwide in two to three-hour classroom sessions conducted by senior home office managers who traveled to each location. Then, a question and answer period and the distribution of a brief ethics overview document followed.
Recognizing the need to streamline the process and reduce down-time and travel expenses, PolyOne retained Avatar for two reasons. First and foremost, the company required a new method to teach concepts and principles related to ethical business behavior. Second, it wished to teach its employees how to apply a critical thinking algorithm to cover the thousands of situational demands in which they may eventually find themselves.
Solution
For purposes of the curriculum design, we organized employees into three major job families: executives and management, sales, and manufacturing. Polyone needed to deliver the programs in three languages to thirty locations in seven countries. Thus, Avatar created and produced a multiple-platform curriculum for easier delivery. The curriculum featured self-directed CD-ROMs to teach business ethics issues and improve critical thinking and Facilitator Guides to support group discussions. A comprehensive four-color brochure provided instructions and completed the package.
Results
PolyOne significantly reduced travel-related expenses for delivery of this program. Additionally, employees received the program favorably and lauded the self-directed CD-ROM format.
