Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant Case Study

Type up notes on reflection after a lesson, (log these as daily entries like a paper journal/diary) in

Our task for the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant case analysis was to identify the main problems of the company as well as it’s managers’ decisions and to find reasonable solutions by taking into account roots from where they have been appearing. This case is extremely relevant because it looks at organizational behavior everyday problems and analyses issues of building relationships with employees. All our assumption will be based on Organizational Behavior theoretical background in order to find solutions and alternatives for the particular company’s case. The main aim was to figure out how to increase company’s productivity, employees’ motivation and management strategy.

1 There are large market places in this field. (Small farmers, Medium Farms, Large Farms)

In May 2007, the Engstrom Auto Mirrors plant was facing the crisis. The business was doing badly and the sales had started to decline in 2005. Thus, there was a steep reduction in plant productivity and employee morale was all time low. The company used Scanlon Plan as an incentive for staff. The core element or foundation of the plan was concept of participative management, where management and staff together will decide the bonuses based on revenues for that year.

The Engstrom Auto Mirror plant is located in Richmond, Indiana and employs around 200 or more people. The plant has been going through some changes over the last few years and has seen a decline in employee motivation. The focus today will be to determine some of the root causes of the problems facing the plant from an organizational view and a human behavior issue. The bottom line is determining how to solve the issues the company is facing and move forward. Some of the questions that will need to be answered is, “why is motivation at an all-time low, is the Scanlon plan benefiting everyone in the company and can the plan be revamped with

The Scanlon Plan can be used as a major catalyst to turnaround the plant by emphasizing more on productivity. The more they work the faster they roll towards their bonuses; this magical spell is a win-win situation for both the employees and the management. The management can cruise steadily over the wave of bonus motivated productivity and the employees can reap the benefits from the high production rate in terms of bonuses. The plan can be redrawn and a slight change can be made by making the entire plan revolve around the concept of productivity. When productivity assumes a prime position in the plan, employees will strive hard

Ineffective communication can be devastating to a department within an organization. This usually occurs when managers do not meet with staff regularly to check in or update staff of new occurrences. Even if the manager does follow through with regular meetings the manager must abide by the three “C’s” rule of communicating with clarity, completion, and conciseness (Juneja, 2011).

* Increased Stress - As employees are stretched to meet job requirements, their stress levels rise and they become incapable of maximizing their performance.

Engstrom should provide a space in which workforce can communicate by having managers listen to them and asking them questions. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them. For Engstrom creating teams and committees with members from each production department to management is important. A committee can help improve the line workers morale with ideas such as improvement for production, and meeting delivery deadlines. A committee of managers from each department within the plant who will work with plant line workers to make suggestions and improvements for employee morale and improvement. The teams formed should be from all functions and staffed with members whose talents match team tasks. Committees are

During May 2007, the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant faces a low employee morale issue. The newly appointed manager, Ron Bent, sees a decline in work place productivity and culture throughout his recent years of working at the plant. When Bent joined the company, it was facing a similar issue of low morale. He then decided to introduce the Scalon Plan, an incentive program for the employees, to raise morale. The program was successful when it was first introduced but ran into problems time after. Bent was faced with many challenges with the Scalon Plan that caused him to ask many

Assuming perfection (no busy-signals, no customer-abandons), a Customer-Svc Rep can handle (8 hrs) ÷ (130.65 sec) = 220.4 calls/day, or 206.6 calls/day with a 30-min break. A Data-Entry Operator can handle (8 hrs) ÷ (37.5 sec) = 768 calls/day, or 720 calls/day with a 30-min break.

One of the valued but demanding customer, who had considered Engstrom as a certified supplier, was requesting a large order but Engstrom was unable to deliver on time due to the low productivity problem. The plant manager along with his assistant were already dealing with the troubling numbers when this happened. While the task was a tough bone and not easy to tackle, and there were a lot of factors needed to be taken in to consideration. The leadership started to analyze and break down the main causations other than the overall economic trend that dragged the company into the turmoil, as it turned out, it was the low, frustrated employee morale and diminished work satisfaction.

To answer these questions, the recommendation is the Ron and management team work with employees to comprehend the underlying issues behind their dwindled productivity, identify likely solutions to the issues and make changes to the Scanlon Plan to enable the incentive plan effectively motivate the employees. It is important that employees are involved throughout the entire process and that any adjustments, no matter how small are presented honestly to the employees.

Consistent and methodical communication is necessary when implementing an incentive pay plan. It will ensure employees understand what is expected of them while decreasing the likelihood

Employees require motivation, reward and encouragement for maximum productivity. Punishment to workers not performing is also mandatory to prevent cases of poor performance. Ethical considerations must be looked at and employees must follow rules and company policies for plans made by management to be successful. Workers and management relate like a family and this has enabled the company perform to its expectation. These plans are aimed at ensuring total customer satisfaction and delight.