Slade Plating Case Management Summary Essay -- Business Management Stu

Slade Plating Case Management Summary Despite the success of the Slade Company as manufacturer of metal products designed for industrial application, the production manager, Ralph Porter, was concerned about the dishonesty among employees in the Plating Department. Some of the workers were misusing the punch in-out system for those who wanted to leave early or arrive late. Given the long working hour and low payment, they lacked of motivation in performing their tasks, resulting in the dishonest action. However, because of informal groupings among some of them, they operated as a team to work harder doing peak orders. Therefore, the desired output of the department was still satisfied. Yet, some employees who were not in the main group were slack off and misused the system even during the peak period, which potentially resulted in internal conflict in the department. Thus, in order to motivate employees and prevent the dishonesty, we propose to remove punch in-out system and launch a better payment system with both financial and non-financial incentives. Also, the working environment should be improved with various campaigns to enhance the unity in the department. We also move an employee who could not perform fully his talent to other department to maximize his capacity. With these solutions, the Slade Company could motivate their employees, encourage the teamwork, avoid internal conflict, and finally increase the productivity in the Plating Department. Analyzing the present situation There were 38 workers in the Plating Department of the Slade Company. Their jobs, working conditions, values and tasks varied significantly. They were all dependent on each other as they only received their workload after work at the previous stage was done. Work was supervised by a punch in-out system and a supervisor, Otto Schell. Payment was low and the working hours were long due to the company policy to keep training and benefit cost down by requiring overtime instead of hiring new workers. In addition, informal groupings were formed in the department, which significantly affected the daily run of the work. The largest group was the Sarto group, which could practically influence the whole department as others tended to copy this group’s ideas and values. Without doubt, this group was a real driving force of the department, both ... ... However, for Herman Schell, he is found to be inappropriate and non-manageable and thus to be removed from the department, to say, â€Å"promoted† to other department to maximize his personal abilities and talents that we unfortunately cannot utilize in this department. This, we acknowledge, is a very easy and usually not the manager’s way to solve an issue like that. But we believe we just identified the case when a significant and sustainable change is not likely at all and by getting rid of him would eliminate the conflict source from the group and enhance group dynamics on the floor in all. Of course, a con to that is the feeling of safety, the lifetime job experience of the workers. Yet, we believe this does not endanger the good workers’ positions and therefore does not pose threat to the regular employee. A reason why he might not have been sacked before – apart from the general practice of the department – is probably the family ties to Otto Schell, the supervisor. In our opinion, such ties can be good but in no way shall be hindering performance, and this shall not be a base for delivering improper results both professionally and personally in the workplace.