RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Bachelor of Business
BB211 Developing High Performance Teams
Trimester 1, 2014

Assignment 1: Case Study Report

Case Study: A PLANT WHERE TEAMWORK IS MORE THAN JUST TALK

Weighting 20% of Final Grade

Case study report 1,500 words (excluding appendices)

Due Date: Sydney 15 May 2014

Instructions

Students are to review the case study “A Plant Where Teamwork is more than Just Talk” and answer the questions and submit the assignment in business report format including an Executive Summary and Appendices.

Criteria for Assessment

Students will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Issues identified
• Level of analysis and application of theory
• Academic style and appropriate use of referencing
• Report Structure, appropriate headings and sub-headings
• Clarity and presentation of ideas
• Application of theory to the issues in the case
• Appropriate use of diagrams and appendices
• Written communication skills

CASE: A PLANT WHERE TEAMWORK IS MORE THAN JUST TALK

Life inside a Cadillac engine plant in Livonia, Michigan, USA, is world apart from the at6mosphere of a typical motor vehicle factory. Hourly workers and supervisors dress much the same and cooperate closely on ’business teams’ that organise the work and make other decisions normally left to management. ‘It makes you feel like a part of what’s going on,’ says Gary 17-year Cadillac veteran, Andrews says he would return to a traditional vehicle plant ‘only if it was a choice between that and hitting the streets.’

Livonia is one of nine General Motors Corp. plants that use the ‘pay-for-knowledge” team concept to make factory work less boring and more productive. This approach differs radically from the practice in most union shops, where workers perform narrow functions. At Livonia, production workers can learn all of the jobs in one section, giving management flexibility in assigning work and filling in for absent workers. Workers are paid according to the skills t6hey acquire, giving them an incentive to learn new ones.

The system was introduced recently, when GM’s Cadillac Motor Car Division closed its engine works in Detroit and moved to the western suburb of Livonia. About 95 percent of the Detroit workers transferred with Cadillac. The local branch was involved in planning the change from the start and even had a voice in choosing salaried employees who would function as the team coordinators. (ATCs such as Andrews, 32 are elected from the ranks.)

Livonia uses less labour per engine than the Detroit plant while producing higher-quality products. It hit the break-even point after one year, instead of the anticipated two years. The scrap rate has fallen by 50 per cent. In a recent year worker suggestions saved Cadillac more than 1.2 million.

The plant, which cranks out 1200 engines a day, is divided into 15 departments that are in turn subdivided into business teams of 10 to 20 workers each, consisting of production workers who assemble the engines and perform non-skilled maintenance duties. The engines are still produced on an assembly line, but the employees have varied routines and participate in decision making. Moreover, dress codes are passé – almost no one wears a tie and some supervisors wear jeans. Managers and workers share the same cafeteria and compete for parking spots.

The teams meet weekly on company time to discuss issues such as safety and housekeeping. They decide when to award rises and rotate jobs and they may even suggest redesigning the work flow. Recently Andrews took it on himself to analyse every job on two teams that attach components to already assembled engines. “I sat with pencil and paper and figured out how to make it easier,” he recalls. His team-mates accepted his idea of spreading the work more evenly along the lines. Within 15 minutes, Andrews says, the changes were made without any downtime or loss of production. His reward: election as ATC.

The 23 members of Andrews’ team rotate among 12 or 13 jobs on the line, 6 engine-repair jobs and 4 to 5 housekeeping and inspection jobs. As ATC, Andrews does a little of everything and helps the team coordinator plan work schedules.

In the old Detroit plant, there were 45 job classifications, each with its own wage rate. In Livonia, there are four wage levels for experienced workers, ranging from $9.63 an hour to a maximum of $10.08 for a “job setter” – a worker who sets up and changes tooling on the line. A worker reaches the top rate after learning all the skills on two business teams.

“In a traditional plant, you might have 90 to 100 job setters, “says Peter J. Ulbrich, until recently Livonia’s personnel manager. “Here, you have the opportunity for 1200 to 1300 people to get there.” This system can produce an expensive work force. “It is a neat way to get short-term productivity results, “says one teamwork expert, “but you wonder what they will do when everybody reaches the top rate.”


1. To what extent and in what ways are workers at the Livonia plant likely to be more empowered than workers at plants that operate in more traditional modes.
2. Are there any other advantages associated with the ‘business teams’ approach?
3. What other measures could be taken to empower workers at the Livonia plant?
4. Are there any potential disadvantages associated with the ‘business teams’ approach?

Adapted from: Bailey, J., Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J. and Osborn, R. (1991). Managing Organisational Behaviour. Milton: Wiley, pages 271-272.