CASE APPLICATION : Common Sense Isn’t Always Common Practice
Imagine that you are the employee involvement coordinator and wish to propose a companywide training in quality improvement to help address the 2 to 3 million dollars lost each month in
scrap, waste, and overtime. Although the training has been developed and four employee trainers
have been certified to present the program, you anticipate a lack of support based on past
experience and comments noted below from management.
Currently. the fifty-year-old pans manufacturing company. Quikparts, Inc. is generating less
than a 3 percent return for stockholders due 10 scrap. waste. overtime. late shipments, and
overall poor quality. Both stockholders and customers are unhappy, and morale and productivity
are low. You know you must try to persuade management to support the EI and training efforts In
the best interest of the company. You perceive the present management team 'Executive
Committee overall to be unenlightened about training. coaching. organizational development, and
that persuading them 10 provide quality Improvement training won't be easy.
A new plant manager IS hired with the mandate 10 "shape up the place. and solve it, quality
problems.'
You propose offering a half-day program. customized for the company entitled "Quality
Improvement," to create awareness and involve employees in applying quality concepts to their
areas. You recommend to the Executive Committee that the program be completed by both
employees and supervisors and managers on all three shifts in the six months. starting in two
weeks.
The plant manager, Nick. considers such training "soft." and he does not want to give
employees time away from their machines. He says employees "need to pay more attention, and
get the pans out the door to meet schedules."
The engineering manager. Joe. adds that when it comes to quality. "meeting customer
requirements should be enough; anything else IS a waste of time."
The general manager, Tom, adds, "I don't read books, and I never did like school-now is not the
time when were so far behind schedule. Three hours of training is too much when they including
the certified employee trainers-are needed on the shop floor. instead of trying to sound like some
expert on the topic. Other companies ,may train, but! don't think we .can afford the luxury right
now."
Mary Alice is the front office manager, and she thinks that "training might give employees and
managers an opportunity to work out some problems together and understand each other's
viewpoint. There is no better time than now to make the time-waiting will just make things worse,
and if things get much worse, none of us will, be here."