The Case of Littleton Manufacturing

In the mid-1800s lots of things were being made by machine. For example: clothing, shoes, watches, guns, and farming machines were made. In 1840 the workday was 11 ½ hours. The workers were very tired and they most likely would have accidents. Workers and even children were hurt a lot by the machines. In the summer they were hot and in the winter they were cold, because there was not air conditioning or a heater in the factories. There were no laws to help the working conditions, and even to protect them. The owners didn't care about the workers, they cared about the money. Children would work six days a week and 12 hours or more a day. In the factories it was really hard and dangerous. Children would work the machines

The understanding of the goal to be envisioned at Seagram moving forward is to become, remain, and develop an outside reputation as the top beverage company with 15% growth each year (Jick & Peiperl, 2011). The vision must effectively be passed to the 200 senior managers to make it a shared goal to be given and embraced company wide. The hope is that the top managed beverage company will be efficient and customer-centered, recognizing employees, while not micro-managing. The old model, based on decades old vision, needs to be replaced with a quasi-tried vision that has helped Seagram remain as one of the top, well-known companies. The new vision has seen success and is moving the company alongvtowards being the top managed beverage company. There are yet and still steps that will provide some right now actions that may help Seagram reach this goal of being the top managed company in the near future.

TRI uses a top-down method, which in some cases can alienate lower leveled employees. TRI has implemented a few different programs to encourage accessibility, teamwork, and open communication. The company’s “open door policy,” allows for employees to observe and participate in the decision-making process throughout all departments. The company also established cross-functional teams, which increases creativity and increases the employees’ sensitivity on issues that will affect the organization. Cross functional groups provide cross training to the company’s employees. These types of programs display the company’s

Corning has a diverse product line that includes glass, ceramics, tableware, cookware, and auto parts. In order to offer such a diverse portfolio of products, Corning constantly reevaluates its production capabilities and deploys resources to improve productivity. The manufacturing and engineering team was developed internally and tasked with the responsibility of process change and improvement. The M & E team plays an integral part in Corning’s ability to garner new market share and leverage existing opportunities. For instance, the M & E team participated in numerous projects throughout Corning, but its core responsibilities include internal consulting, product quality assurance, and the smoothing the transition of products from R&D to production. The M & E team’s function is to solve problems by implementing long term solutions that facilitate process and quality improvement.

Midsouth Chamber of Commerce Vice President Leon Lassiter is in the middle of transiting systems with several problems arising. Several workstations have had something happened to their data causing several processes to be done manually causing a major inconvenience to workers. As well as Marketing staff has been unable to access the new system causing their work to stop all together. Overall Vice President Lassiter feels

In order to obtain long term success, it is important to strictly follow Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model in the correct order. The first step is to create a sense of urgency among the staff. The PCA called in a meeting and introduced the concept of the change and reason for the change. It was a mandatory meeting and snacks and beverages were served. Several concerns and threats affecting the financial aspects of the company and how to maintain job security were addressed. Employees were asked one by one how they like what they are doing, why or why not they like it, what is important to them and what do they think can be done to improve it. Creating a guiding coalition and directing others in the right direction of change is the

1 two major market areas: The first was to supply products of a type similar to our current electromechanical designs to North American aircraft manufacturers. The second was to design and manufacture electronic products for Europe and North America.

This method will help them find and appreciate possibilities together for pursuing enduring resolutions that will positively impact communities, future generations and the company. It will also ensure that both the company and the communities will always understand each other 's interests, issues, needs and concerns. Also, they support programs and institutions that contribute to building an educated and engaged workforce7. This enriches the individual’s skills and also provides skilled workforce for the company as they will be operating in a knowledge and skill rich environment.

The first object Bob Lazier undertook as the new CEO of Lazier Industries, was to implement a strategic plan that focused on introducing several new products which could be cross-sold to LI’s existing customer base. As a strong believer in the company and it’s potential to broaden its offerings Bob was looking to leverage the strong relationships built with its clients to sell additional lines of components. However, since being placed as the new CEO, a lot of organizational

The information system transaction processing infrastructure was good for a company of their size along with password management and recovery mechanisms. Plus, the company hosts their ecommerce application outside of Vermont which provides more advantage positon on the national internet. Although these are all positive aspects of the system, the system also has numerous flaws. For starters the IT architecture document exists but was incomplete. Secondly, some of the application were connected to the middleware to the core enterprise application, whereas, others run independently. Thirdly, the system was too complex and aging. As a member of the Board of Directors the IT architecture would be a great concern especially the part where all the necessary information resides in one person’s head. The major concern; however, would be with the system stalling during peak experiences.

This approach is useful when that the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change and where others have considerable power to resist. This is the case at Perrier, where an identification of the real problem is essential. When using this approach it allows including the employees in the problem

CoolBurst is a conservative company which undermines creativity in an effort to maximize production and control. The company values its traditional culture, has a “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” philosophy, and does not view innovation as a normal part of business. By not capitalizing on the ingenious creations by Sam Jenkins and Carol Velez, CoolBurst missed the mark of the changing needs of its current and potential customers, and lost some of its market share to competitors. Its’ structure, culture, policies and practices, reward

Prior to the arrival of David Homer, General Mills Canada had been a successful subsidiary of the General Mills brand. Although employees at General Mills Canada have generated positive sales growth every year before his tenure, Homer notices a lack of initiative, drive, and desire to embrace fundamental changes by his employees, a sign of progress hindered by risk aversion. He notices that data is pouring into the company and employees are using this data to analyze potential opportunities for growth, yet they are reluctant to take any actions. Thus, his ultimate challenge is to integrate innovative thinking into the General Mills Canada culture, and determine what “processes and tools” to use to achieve this goal, since employees are

Coca-Cola believes and implements that open communication is the key to effectively solicit and leverage innovative ideas amongst its workforce. For example, global associates and bottling partners have contributed ideas to major initiatives, such as the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games activation. Employee input has been a key ingredient to the Company 's Mission, Vision & Values. Another example of Coca-Cola’s regular dialogue with their associates is their global Employee Insights Survey. In 2010, the results of the global Employee Insights Survey showed improvement across almost all survey categories, including an 84% associate engagement score -- a two- point increase over 2008.

This study examines the current operations of Werner Enterprises, Inc. In doing so, the study surveys the history, guiding stars, external environment, internal environment, and the current strategies that Werner has employed. This study also gives recommendations for new strategies going forward, as well as which strategies should be continued. A plan for how these strategies will be implemented and evaluated follows.