Analysis of the Case of the Machinists’ Mutiny
Mike trail (Trail manufacturing company’s CEO) developed a program to revolutionize the manufacturing capabilities of the firm. CEO developed a plan that would cost the firm 4 million US dollars and required the installation of six computerized machining centres (Bruce, p.4). However, the program faced resistance when six out of eight officers from the production team who included the company’s most respectable mechanist refused to continue to corporate in the implementation of the program.
Technology, the need for short production time and rivalry are the forces that led Mr Mike to develop a plan to do away with the old screw machines (Bruce, p.11). However, the project faces several handles during its implementation due to management and employees’ issues. The CEO did not incorporate another department such as the marketing department in the decision making. He informed the other employees because the rumours had been going on regarding the new project. The employees are scared of losing their jobs as a result of the implementation of the latest computerized machines.
Action plan
As a CEO, Mr. mike should know that the change is a process that requires proper planning and unforeseen events can happen (Bruce, p.10). Therefore, mike should not set unreasonable deadlines for the workforce as he did with the implementation of the new project. As the CEO, should take over the management of the entire project and set deadline in consultation with other employees such as sandy. The involvement of other employees in the decision-making would ensure that the issues of conflict of interest, design and control would not arise in the future. Consequently, the project would run smoothly until the end of the project.
Mike and the team should define their business correctly and set a clear vision of their venture. That way, they can project the resources they will need to make complete new computerized machine. Also, CEO, should take the leadership role and guide the team foreseeing the implementation of the project (Bruce, p.11). In that context, the CEO will be in a position to create harmony in the integration process of technology and the employees. And as a result, the issue of software incompleteness in some stages will not occur.
The project should align with the company’s objectives (Ajay et al.). In that case, the CEO should eliminate any goal that does not align with the firm’s objectives. The CEO and employees are not in agreement regarding a new project because of: deadline and design of the project. Moreover, the older employees who have been in the organization for an extended period feel that the CEO does not recognize their status company. As a result, the employees feel that their value in the business longer in need. Consequently, the business may fail if it does not iron out the issues with the former employees.
The former employees, such as sandy, have played a critical role in the company start-up, and still, the new employees rely on him to solve complex programing issue (Bruce, p.7). Therefore, it is critical for the CEO, to explain the program in details and ensure that such employees are brought on board on all major decision making to avoid future confrontations (Jan et al. p.205). Also, Mike should be flexible in the implementation of the whole project. Because the company cannot do away with the plan to please the employees, the only way is to manage the entire process amicably. The implementation of the new project should be in the continuum as the other screw machine runs. The process should continue until the whole project is complete since the company is making a profit on both of the machines.
Work cited
Chew, W. Bruce. “The case of the machinists’ mutiny.” Harvard business review 68.6 (1990): 11-1.
Mendling, Jan, et al. “Structuring Business Process Management.” The Art of Structuring. Springer, Cham, 2019. 203-211.
Sharma, Ajay, et al. “Application and Analysis of Hyperspectral Imaging.” 2019 5th International Conference on Signal Processing, Computing and Control (ISPCC). IEEE, 2019.