Case_Study

Case study: Figgie International (Part Four) Written by Danting WU “The few, the proud, the totally insane” & World Class' What’s that' Abstract of these two parts: Dr. Figgie wanted to make Clark Reliance be a world-class project. Although the project was failed, Harry didn’t blame the doctor for the problems. He thought the trouble was in the difficulty of what the company wanted to do. No company had ever implemented world-class manufacturing in a production environment like Clark Reliance. Problems were constantly surfaced. Nevertheless, Figgie let his son try the same thing with the big company’s money. To change Clark Reliance to a word-class manufacturer in 10 to 12 weeks seemed a difficult and impossible task for the whole team. Although Dr. Figgie and Schwartz approved everything, Deloitte consultants controlled the information and by doing so made key decisions and they wanted to operate with “minimal human effort”. Actually, they did make some strides. In order to get approval from other directors of Figgie divisions, they gave benefit to them. With all those perks it was a good bet they would go along with the “world class” plan. Therefore, the plan got the approval to get started. Lawson and Giffi became the consultant of Figgie because Lawson had a good relationship with Dr. Figgie and he had a good inside source at the company. There was no way the rest of the conglomerate could swallow the Valdez initiatives as quickly as Dr. Figgie had suggested to the board. Moreover, Deloitte & Touche hadn’t done any studies to determine if the Valdez program made economic sense for Figgie. The consultants had no data backing up their claims that the savings from Valdez would more than pay for the consulting fees and add more money to the market value of Figgie International. Indeed, both Lawson and Giffi could give a simple definition for “world class manufacturing”. As things got more complex, though, a mini- rebellion stirred within the ranks. Their projections were far too flimsy for Hard Core. The presidents left the meeting on Valdez in 1991, frustrated by a lack of satisfactory answers. They doubted the integrity of the projections prepared by Lawson and Giffi. Deloitte & Touche had started grading the division managers. Most managers who opposed the Valdez team got low grades and were candidates for termination. Those who embraced Valdez reforms made the honor roll. From these two parts of the case study, we can learn from: 1. Without professional and technical background The consultant team was not qualified. They were selected just because the good relationship with Dr. Figgie. That’s a wrong precondition to find a working partner. 2. Diagnosis current situation They should not make a decision in such a short time; they should emphasize goals and processes precisely. It’s a long-term effort led and supported by top management, to improve an organization’s visioning, empowerment, learning and problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management of the organization culture- with special emphasis on the culture of intact work teams and other team configurations-utilizing the consultant-facilitator role and the theory and technology applied behavioral science, including action research. 3. Data Gathering The change approaches need clear goal and objectives. And quantifiable data is important to make a decision. However, they didn’t do any research to get the data before starting the project. 4. The Human Resources Frame (Relationships +Harmony) They neglected who actually held the power while changes of organization. They should respect every division managers’ opinions, rather picking up those opinions which approved the plan. Indeed, the top management should establish harmony relationship with division managers in order to reduce the resistance of changes. 5. The Structural Frame (Goals) Although the company had made a great plan on becoming a world class manufacture, nobody knew that what was world class and what was that' That was very surprised issue. In fact, the goal of company was lost by itself during the changes of implement.