dec tos Toc off du ins pr fit th B Case 3: Operations Problem You are the plant manager of a pillow factory in the midwestern part of the United States. Approximately a year ago, it became evident that your factory and other factories within the firm could be doing better in terms of both production and quality. Operations experts at the corporate level searched for ways to increase production and quality at the firm's facto- ries. They recently lobbied for, and got members of top management to agree to the implementation of a new work system at the firm's factories that, among other things, simplifies job tasks by making them more repetitive. But to their surprise, expected increases in productivity have not been realized, at least at your factory. In fact, production and qual- ity have dropped, and to make matters worse, the amount of employee turnover has risen, which has only served to increase your costs. You suspect that certain aspects of the new work sys- tem may be responsible for the deteriorating per- formance. This view is largely shared among your management team, which includes several produc- tion supervisors (each in charge of a section of the factory), as well as your supply chain and human resource managers and comptroller. Together, they have a great deal of expertise in operational, finan- cial, and people-oriented issues. In one-on-one dis- cussions with you, they have suggested that the drop in production and quality (as well as increased turn- over) might be attributable to things such as poor training of the operators, too much repetition in job tasks, lack of the ability to talk with fellow employees while doing job tasks, and poor morale. Clearly this is an issue about which there is considerable depth of knowledge, feeling, and concern. In the past, your management team the factory has shown that they truly want the organization to succeed, and if given the opportunity, they can work together to make it happen. Also in the past, you have shown a tendency to include the management team in your decision-making processes, and they are accustomed to such involvement. that you see Today, you had a phone call with the chief operation officer of the firm. She had just received your pro- duction figures for the last six months and was call- ing to express her concerns. She indicated that the problem was yours to solve in any way fit , even if it means scrapping the new work system that had been more or less forced upon your factory. But at the same time, she would like to see definitive improvements in both production and quality in the near future. You share her concerns, and you know that your management team is also concerned and wants things to improve. The problem is to determine what should be done to rectify the situation and how to engage in the appropriate decision-making pro- cess to make it happen. In this particular instance, how should you proceed