American Graduate University Advanced Approach to Leadership Case Study List the facts of the case Describe the problems in the case Reference relevant the

American Graduate University Advanced Approach to Leadership Case Study List the facts of the case
Describe the problems in the case
Reference relevant theoretical models
Offer a prescription or plan to remedy the problem You get along pretty well with all three of your plant managers, but the CEO of
the company is beginning to express concern about your ability to turn the
company’s operations around. What will you do?
? List the facts of the case.
? Describe the problems in the case.
Reference relevant theoretical models.
Offer a prescription or plan to remedy the problems.
Question 22: You are the Chief Operations Officer of a mid-sized window frame, aluminum
siding, and tire recycling equipment manufacturing company located in the
northeast. Your company is organized along product lines, and you directly
I supervise the three people in charge of each of these product lines. The plants for
these products are geographically dispersed over a two state area; the nearest plant
is located only ten minutes away but the farthest plant is a two hour drive from the
company headquarters. Although your company has been financially sound over
the past ten years, over the past four months your company has been experiencing
a serious cash flow problem. You believe part of this problem stems from the
recent downturn in the local, regional, and national economy. However, you also
believe this problem may be due to inefficient plant operations. You have called
in the heads of the three product lines to determine whether plant operations can
be improved to help alleviate the cash flow problem. The following is a more
complete description of the three product lines and the people responsible for
running these operations.
Betty started with the company 20 years ago assembling window frames and has
been in charge of the window frame plant for a little over two years. Betty is in
charge of 12 full time employees, and this is the first formal supervisory position
she has ever held. Because she started at the plant immediately upon graduating
from high school, Betty does not have a college education nor has she had any
formal leadership training. However, as a worker Betty proved to be far superior
to everyone else at the plant. She would often come to work early, leave late, and
because of her expertise would be given many of the special window frame orders
the plant received. When the plant supervisor job came open, you selected Betty
to fill this position because of her expertise and outstanding work performance.
Although Betty was an excellent worker on the shop floor, her performance as the
plant supervisor has been barely adequate. A recent organizational climate survey
showed a majority of the workers were dissatisfied with Betty’s performance as
the plant supervisor. When you talk to Betty about the survey results, she stated
that the workers did not know what they were talking about and they were angry
because she makes them put in an honest day’s work for their pay. Betty has
worked with many of her employees for more than five years and feels a majority
of them are lazy, and says she must closely watch over shop floor operations if the
plant is to meet its production goals. So far, the plant has met its production goals,
but a higher percentage of workers have been calling in sick or reporting to work
late. When you talk to Betty about this problem, she says her workers are just
trying to get out of work.
MLM-27
Chuck is in charge of a 20 person plant which manufactures aluminum siding for
houses. Chuck has 15 years of management experience and has been the plant
supervisor for four years. Although Chuck’s plant has been unable to fill all of the
aluminum siding orders it has received, Chuck believes equipment problems and
the lack of skilled workers are the reasons behind these production problems. The
aluminum siding extruding equipment is over five years old but has had a pretty
good maintenance record so far. Chuck states the reason why the equipment has
such a good track record is because he has dedicated two of his workers to keep
the equipment operating. The equipment manufacturer has gone out of business
and the only way he can get maintenance support is to take his two most capable
workers out of production and dedicate them to equipment maintenance. He has
been hounding you for new equipment for the past year, but the company’s
financial situation precludes you from buying any new equipment in the
foreseeable future. In addition, Chuck states he is having a hard time keeping
skilled workers at the plant. This appears to be true, as the average worker has
only been at the plant for three years. Chuck states he cannot pay his workers
enough to keep them, and as soon as they are fully trained in aluminum extrusion
and siding production they leave to go to companies willing to pay higher wages.
In talking with a few of Chuck’s workers, you find out equipment and pay
problems may only be part of the problem; these workers also tell you they have
no idea what the production goals of the plant are. Chuck only seems to interact
with them when they have a problem, and they feel he is unaware of some of
other issues within the plant. These other issues concern perceived pay
imbalances, a lack of incentives for good work, poor working conditions, and
rumors that the plant may be sold to solve the company’s cash flow problems
(which is not true).
Jay is in charge of the plant manufacturing tire recycling equipment, and recent
environmental laws passed by the federal and state governments makes you
believe this plant will play an important role in the future of the company. Jay has
completed graduate degrees in both organizational behavior and marketing and
has six years of management experience, but he has only been in charge of the tire
recycling equipment plant for a month. The tire recycling plant consists of 30 full
time employees, many of whom have been with the company for over ten years
and are some of the most skilled workers in the company. Because they are both
the most senior and the most skilled, the workers at the tire recycling equipment
plant make the best wages. You had to fire the previous plant manager for
“running the plant into the ground.” Although the previous manager met his
production goals, he did this by promising his workers financial rewards for
working extra hours. Unfortunately, he failed to come through with the bonuses,
and told his workers he could not give them their extra money due to orders from
you. You were unaware of these arrangements, and fired the previous manager as
soon as you found out about them. You believe the plant has the resources and
personnel to meet production goals without these incentives and have hired Jay to
make this happen. However, the workers’ trust in management is at an all-time
low, and you are uncertain whether anyone can turn the situation around.

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