When Burton Lee took over as plant manager for the Sanctuary division of a large manufacturing company,

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Question:

When Burton Lee took over as plant manager for the Sanctuary division of a large manufacturing company, he saw the opportunity to transform the lowest performing unit as a pathway to his promotion into top management.

It was obvious to Burton that changes had to be made at Sanctuary. The division’s reputation as the weak link in the company, with excessive machine downtime, backlogs, and complaints about quality, negatively affected employee morale. In a down economy, rumors often circulated that the Sanctuary plant might be closed.

“My academic background taught me that there is a logical way to approach and solve problems. Manufacturing is often stuck in the past—the way it has always been done.Over and over in manufacturing you find that individuals in management have come up through the ranks and are reluctant to change—often even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Because they are stuck in this mindset, they are reluctant to explore ideas, to stay on top of manufacturing trends, or to see the bigger picture. I believe that innovation in thinking, in technology, in streamlining processes and empowering employees is crucial to success at Sanctuary.

“When I came here to take over Sanctuary, the plant was a mess, to put it bluntly. We were awash in paper. We were stuck on the traditional assembly line. When I talked to line supervisors, I felt like they were channelling Henry Ford. We needed a new paradigm, a new culture that was not stuck in the past. We had to end the backlogs, move product faster, and improve the quality. I can’t do that. The workers in the plant have to do that. But they need the tools to work with. What was it that Churchill told FDR in World War II? ‘Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.’ That was the culture I wanted here in Sanctuary.

“I explored everything, talked to everyone, and investigated what was working in other industries. I knew we’d have to take these individual tasks and build a system to coordinate them into complex, but not complicated, inter- actions with specific targets that raise overall equipment effectiveness. The question was how could we do that?

“When you look at this logically, when you venture outside of your comfort zone and see what other industries have done, you discover a number of models and you find that there are resources in the form of technology and software out there that can help. I somehow managed to convince top management to invest in a pilot project with software that enabled us to create a virtual plant to look at every aspect of the operation—plant layout, material flow, machinery, everything. Initially, my on- site management team really got into this. With this software, we could simulate various problems and do some ‘what-if’ analysis. The idea was to create lean manufacturing clusters that could serve as a benchmark for the rest of the company.

“On the line, we moved toward dividing the assembly line into cells of self-managed teams. The idea is to empower and motivate the workers to make real-time decisions. Employees seemed enthusiastic and eager to have more control over the day-to-day operations. Supervisors were the first to balk, worried that they were losing prestige and that seniority was being shoved aside, as one long-time supervisor claimed, so that ‘Joe Blow, who’s only been on the line for ten months, can start making decisions.’ Likewise, there were some line workers who balked. You would think that the opportunity to change from being essentially a cog in the wheel to becoming part of a dynamic, self-managed team would be appealing to everyone. But I guess some are afraid of decision-making and feel a need for constant guidance. For some workers the mention of self- managed teams produced a ‘deer in the headlights’ reaction.

“It should be obvious that these steps would bring improvement, but in order for this whole process to work, we needed worker cooperation and full management support. We had started making some progress and seeing some improvement in production and quality, when suddenly it was as if top management put on the brakes. We need resources and time to make the changes. Managers at other plants complained of preferential treatment for Sanctuary and argued that they were expected to produce and deliver while we were sitting around ‘playing video games’ and ‘holding hands’—a reference, I’m certain, to the new software and the self-managed teams. Corporate repeatedly delayed funding for the new equipment and training that could transform this plant into a 21st century manufacturing division.

“I admit that I am shocked and disappointed that so many people in this organization fail to see the rationale here, which is obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain, and that they are failing to support our efforts. I’m showing them data that supports everything we’re attempting here at Sanctuary. We’re getting knee-jerk reactions when we need enlightened leadership. Now I’m wondering, what is the next step to go forward? A major success is being taken from me. And I heard informally that I am not a candidate for promotion.”

Discuss two Sources of Conflict in the Sanctuary Initiative? Explain.