Why do you think the autocratic approach worked so effectively for four years in this situation?
I think the autocratic approach worked for four years because it just took that long for the effects of the rigid management to work its way down to the supervisors and employees. In regards to the production level of the mill being low when the new plant manager arrived this probably put employees on the spot of fear of losing their jobs. This therefore increasing production. With the new management, style put in place with strict rules this changed the authority from being lax to tight allowing at first people to come together and get on the same page. In time, the authority and responsibilities was taken away from supervisors so employees are
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First of the biggest problems is the fact that there is no trust from the mill manager. Trust is necessary in anything you do in business. The issue with not having trust is that it does not allow the opportunity to delegate tasks and levels of management are bypassed.
This said there are so many levels of management. According to the organizational chart, there are seven levels of managers or supervisors above the employees. With there being so many levels the issue here is, all levels seem to have a different set of expectations for each other that communication is a mess. In this case, there is too many levels of management.
Another problem is that employees do not accept the supervisors’ job in return not accepting their authority. The issue with this is that supervisors’ having little authority is useless because even the higher supervisors do not support it.
Therefore, in the end I feel that trust, communication and too many levels of management are the biggest problems leading to no acceptance of authority and lower production.
Develop a set of recommendations that you or your consulting team will present to the mill manager. Include suggestions regarding his leadership
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Doing this would also would allow the authority to be widespread doing away with the dictator style that middle managers felt existed.
Next, it is clear that communication is a big problem as foremen do not feel like upper management is hearing them likewise top management does not feel like the foremen understand them. With this being the case, they need to hold a meeting for all employees and managers. During the meeting, they need to be specific with the expectations of all employees managers included. The holding another meeting individually with each manager to set production goals.
Lastly, I would defiantly recommend taking some team building exercises with all of the managers to improve the trust issues at hand that the mill manager has with his management. When they are able to build trust and gain some authority in reasonable quantity this should eliminate a lot of the low morale and encourage empowerment by motivation with managers and employees alike, thereby increasing production that is lacking in this
The primary problem would be the structure of the organization. This is due to the fact that there are thirteen departments in total which would lead to the failure of the ability to concentrate on long term viability of the business.
1. Why do you think the autocratic approach worked effectively for four years in this situation?
The next problem is an Autocratic Leadership. In an autocratic leadership employees have no say. All decisions are made by the management. This is a problem because even though management may know what is best for the company, they do not know what is best for the employees. They should listen to the employee’s ideas and not dismiss them immediately. (toolbox, Leadership Styles: Autocratic leadership)
In asking the consulting firm for assistance, President Paul Willard stated that the main issue within the organization was a “power struggle between people and departments.” This is precisely where the issues in both the sales and production departments are stemming from. After analyzing the situation, several issues can be pointed out in the sales department, the first being the leadership style of sales executive vice-president Ernie Lane, the second being the dramatic shift in the work force, and the third being the lack of motivation and compensation to maintain morale, satisfaction, and productivity. Most importantly, all the problems are
1. Management Improvement - Mr. Walsh should take up management degree. He needs to learn employee empowerment and delegation. He needs to learn employee empowerment and delegation. The plant manager needs to be trained on leadership since he has no experience in management. He should also start hiring a public relations specialist and a marketing specialist to improve on these two aspects of the business.
Something as simple as working with the customers is a major part of management. When the plant was having problems with its throughput, instead of changing their whole system to keep things the same for their customers, they asked the customers if they would be alright with having a change in their products from the plant. The customers loved their idea and agreed to go ahead with the change. This shows that sometimes it’s okay to take risks by asking the customers if they’re alright with
Occasionally, management strife and issues will occur because basic human nature instinct calls for disagreements and social interferences. However, it depends on the upper level of management to deal with problems that occur in a timely and effective manner that benefits all parties involved. There are a number of reasons that management discrepancies may occur, with the leading being various attitude problems. If team members feel underappreciated or taken advantage of they will show their disgruntled feelings, and it can cause serious issues if not handled immediately. The second are communication issues, ...
Restructure the company and clearly define job responsibilities. This would result in a more efficient operation within and between departments and ensure that people know exactly who is responsible for what tasks. This would also reduce the need for Mr. Wallace to get involved in settling disputes and improve the overall moral among the managers.
This allowed for him to inspire loyalty within his administration. I have your back if you have mine type mentality.
It is very clear that the problems experienced in the companies are not lone standing but in most of the cases they are dependent on each other and there are strong bonds or relationships with regards to the cause and effects between them. It is therefore important to form or establish a strong cause and affect between them.
The main problems that are affecting the company were the high level of labour turnover, below target production rates, high levels of scrap, the employees had little input in the decision making, therefore resulting in low motivation and job satisfaction, and didn't have enough feedback on there performance. Added to this was the conflict between the supervisors and employees in the production and packing areas, and the grading and payment levels wasn't satisfactory to the employees.
...ially our management team, many of the issues brought to my office may be avoided. The problem begins with a lack of communication and our management team does not seem to ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the lack of communication within their areas.
According to Parkinson’s Law the growth in the number of managers and hierarchical levels is controlled by two principles: (1) “An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals,” and (2) “Officials make work for one another (Parkinson 14).” Hence, managers are building an empire for themselves, a tall hierarchy. The higher the empire increases, the higher the managers position become in the organization.
Organizations, much like people, come in all shapes and sizes. While they may differ in values, beliefs, and purposes, the majority of businesses have similar organizational structures. The most common being a hierarchical structure. This structure is typically composed of at least three levels of management which include top management, middle management, and first-line management. Although all three types of managers contribute to planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the organization; they differ in the way they influence these functions. In addition, each level has different types of job positions and responsibilities which will now be discussed in detail.
Effective communication is more than just barking orders, or speaking loud that makes every person afraid. It is the ability to have the words spoken processed in the minds of the workers, which will enable them to carry out their assign tasks with a very small number of hindrances. Often times there is a failure in communication once lower-level management departs meetings with higher echelons, that often leads to loss in money. “What is important is that the parties recognize the misunderstanding and address it rather than allow it to evolve into a more damaging level of conflict” (Runde & Fanagan, 2007). Not only does misunderstanding lead to conflict between supervisors and employee, when tasks are not clearly stated it can lead to conflict between workers trying to accomplish day to day operations. This starts with the entire organization understanding and using feedback in not only corporate meetings, but in all facets of the company. One way top level management could ensure this is being put into practice on a regular basis is, perform random checks with lower-level workers.