The Goodman Company Case Analysis

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Entrepreneur looks within the company for opportunities to improve their subgroups. Disturbance Handler is the act of corrective action of responding to events/ circumstances out of their control. Resource Allocator is the act of determining the distribution of their resources within the company. Negotiator is the responsibility of representing the company in negotiations i.e. employee grievances. Bob adhered to the decisional roles required of a manager, he acknowledged ways to encourage productivity after the repetitive process was implemented. Therefore his production output did not suffer as the other shifts did.

Cleverson Anthony and Norm Leonard were ineffective managers, they were unable to ease the transition of the new production process. Norm and Cleverson did not understand their role as managers Cleverson and Norm appeared to be inefficient at stimulating their workers to attain the goals of the company. Even before the new production process there was already an issue with the first shift they felt undervalued and it got progressively worse when the process was changed.

Satellite Problems

Communication throughout Company

Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning (Robbins and Judge, 2011, P. 343). The directional flow of communication in a company plays a key role in the effective transfer of the overall goals of the company throughout the chain of commands (Lunenburg, 2010, P. 3-4). The plan was accepted by Goodman and the members of the board. It was then sent to the production supervisors for implementation. There was no meeting between the board and the supervisors, there was just a trickle down of information. When a change that affects the production of the product there should have been a communication flow throughout the levels of involvement from each level of company. A manager is in a position to inform the board if the desire to increase production was feasible, considering their job is to understand every aspect of the company to be able to make decisions based on what the work force they monitor is capable of. It is possible that because the supervisors were ineffective managers that that information would not have been reliable enough whether to implement or not to.

In the case of Norm, he did not communicate with the workers and treats his job and theirs as separate entities rather than a flowing channel, he does follow the rules and regulations set by the company even when it changed. His conclusion about the dramatic decrease in production because of Jim Flask reassignment was correct but for different reasons Jim took up the responsibilities of communicating to his shift therefore they would come to him instead of Norm because he did not communicate with his employees. It is very possible that the workers did not come to Norm because the kind of relations he established and expected.

There was no upward flow of communication, from employees to managers in the first and second shift. Managers were unable to relay information about what the employee needs were and how things may be improved to encourage productivity and overall a high morale.

Lack of Motivation

Shift one workers felt unappreciated and felt like the company under value down due to the change in production process, as well as they felt as if they made the company what it was. However managers should know how to motivate employees, a popular incentive is to provide stakes in the company to employees so that employee’s interests are commonly aligned with the owners. As a result employee would work harder to generate profits for the company which would mean generating profit for themselves.

Another way of looking at this problem would be to acknowledge Adam’s Equity Theory. This theory was based on the belief that people want there to be fairness and justice in social relations (Mindtools.com, Adam’s Equity. 2015). In the case of shift 1, they worked at the company for a very long time and they felt like they deserved to have some economical reward because in them working there for the long period of time they felt like they contributed greatly to the company. So in taking Adams Equity theory into account the Input was effort, skills, time and loyalty, and the output to them would be an economical reward. If an employee perceives what has been outputted to them as unjust they may become motivated to reduce productivity by decreasing their input into their job.

Lack of Team Work

“Two or more people who meet regularly and influence one another over a period of time, perceive themselves as a distinct entity distinguishable from others, share common values and strive for common objectives” (Shaw, 1981, P.210). Teamwork is important in a company, it allows a group to get task and projects done. A team leader helps motivate and increases workplace morale (Small Business - Chron.com, Importance of Teamwork 2015). Shift one workers didn’t not socialise with each other apart from Cleve, Joe Bob and Fireball. As a result there was no cooperation between the workers, so they did not help each other adjust to the new process or provide help to each other. Therefore they fell below the production quota. Cleverson is considered the group leader in this situation, he only appears to talk to Joe Bob who is the first press operator, instead of leading his group in completing the set goals.

Decrease in Production

This was a result of lack of transition from old production process to new production process, as well as managers not adhering to their roles as managers. In shift 3, Bob engaged in all the roles required of a manager which resulted in good production output rate.

Alternatives

- Enrol Supervisors in a Management Training

- Pros – The managers will be effective managers once they understand their roles and duties as managers. Jim Flask may be able to advance showing employees there is room for advancement.

- Cons – May be costly depending on the amount of training required.

- Remove Ms. Bennetts Plan

- Pros – Production will increase to the original quota.

- Cons- Management would still be lacking and company will not have reached desire to increase production.

- Make Supervisors meet at the end of the week to discuss the challenges, problems, wants and needs of the employees.