Case study of a leading organization in business school

Structural Problem

There are a number of structural problems that arise. There are no formal processes for the production process, leading to ad hoc solutions. Among the 8-woman team, there is no formal specialization -- there should be, since each thinks she has a specialization. There is no incentive-based compensation so the workers only work to their comfort level. Worse, progression through the pay grades is strictly based on seniority, rather than a meritocracy. Motivation was based in part on managerial accounting figures, like the direct labor costs, even though these are not directly related to the workers' output. The equipment was antiquated, which held back productivity. Another structural issue is where Fisher ad libs the production planning second-guessing the production planning department. Clearly, there is a lack of control that would prevent this.

There are also training issues at work. Sometimes the engineers don't do things like testing because they do not know how. This also occurs with production staff, who also feel that they are put into positions of doing work that they do not really have the ability to do. On a structural level, there is no one person who is responsible for oversight, so not only do issues occur but they often go unreported. The case writer seems to be the one finding out about some of these issues. At least, that is the way that the case is written. I guess we can write in first person since that's how the case was written.

As far as communication issues go, oversight seems to be an ongoing issue at the company. Workers take breaks on their own schedule, with no real oversight, for example. Management does not appear willing to exert control here. Larry Fisher is an effective communicator, judging by the responses of his staff, but otherwise there are definitely issues with communication in the company. Norms are not outlined. There are frequent examples of workers who are ad libbing without telling people, and this results in nobody in the company actually knowing what is going on. Upper management does not appear to have any control -- all of the control and communication derives from Fisher and from the team's internal culture.

The team's culture is what drives its success. Larry Fisher is largely responsible for guiding team culture, for example removing one team member who could not or would not assimilate with the team culture. The result is that team members get along with one another, and there is harmony there. However, the company itself has no specific organizational culture or group norms, and that does drift down to the operational level. . The company's culture is quite permissive and that allows the team to do things like test their own products. While Fisher is okay as a functional manager, his superiors are doing nothing to foster an effective corporate culture.