Acetate Department

SWOT Analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses
·         Effective organizational culture ·         Selective product line ·         Effective research and development strategies ·         Strong implementation strategies such as adapting new organizational structure	·         Performance lag during re-structuring process ·         Judgment errors by the operators which have resulted to considerable losses ·         Minimal change in production after re-structuring
Opportunities	Threats
·         Increasing consumer demands ·         Possibility of management organization improvement	·         New government polices and regulation ·         Employees’ layoffs can yield to low knowledge transfer rate ·         Possibility of production outsourcing to 3rd party

 

Question 1

Citing from the case of Acetate department, it is factual that before the re-structuring, the production was still high compared to case after the technological change (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012).  Additionally, the variety of tasks was lower where the conversion process during production was more assessable before the re-structuring. Before the technological reform, large number of employees specialized in specific tasks which translated to few errors and problems together with less absenteeism cases (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). To the perception of the employees, the department was conducive and pleasant in terms of working environment. Precisely, there was less for the employees to do which inspired most of the employees to spend their entire career life in the company even in one department. Additionally, the employees were motivated by benefits, bonuses, good pays and mostly by presence of a dartboard in the working area (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). After changing the Acetate department, technology replaced batches to constant processing where tasks that were undertaken by the employees were now being undertaken by automated machines. This means that the machines resulted to the compression of the employees’ number by 50%; from 40 to 20 employees (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). A large number of the employees that were mixing the batches were replaced by the single automated machine. Furthermore, it was recorded that after the change, the absenteeism rate increased considerably which was accompanied by judgment errors by the operators of the machine thereby affecting production substantially.

Question 2    

Citing from the case study regarding the Acetate department, it is factual that the case exhibits what the consultant ought to do prior to implementing any technology change and innovation particularly in a production department (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). One of the things that the consultant ought to consider prior to making an implementation with regard to technology change is management implications. Thus, it is exhibited that for Acetate department, continuous technology changes and process were partially executed in the department. This is proved by the fact that the number of the employees was compressed by 50% regardless of the huge technology shift. Thus, it is noteworthy that for such a technology change, the anticipated implications include incessant and considerable increase in production, few judgment errors as the machines are automated and requires less supervision, and employees’ commitment (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). Contrary, it appeared that instead of increasing the production substantially, the cost remained slightly the same. Furthermore, instead of increasing accuracy during production process, it appeared that cases of judgment errors increased which resulted to substantial losses (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). Most importantly, the motivation of the employees dropped which yielded to a significant increase in absenteeism cases compared to the situation before technology change. Therefore, it is worthwhile to assert that technology change in Acetate department posed no significant change in the organization particularly with regard to production. Additionally, this case can be used to prove the fact that downsizing in an organization is not an effective approach of increasing production. This is supported by the evidence that despite cutting off the number of employees by half, the production remained slightly the same showing that though it lowered the cost of production, it did not increase production volume as expected. Contrary, it resulted to other inevitable problems such as judgment errors and absenteeism.

Question 3         

Prior to the technological reform in Acetate department, the lower level of production in the department consisted of two mixers, two helpers, and the group leader under the command of one supervisor (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). After the technological restructuring, the level was replaced by one handler, one pump operator, and two head operators under the command of one supervisor. Therefore, the type of production that was adopted by the department was continuous process production strategy where the department moved from mass production to continuous production process. Thus, in assessing whether the organizational culture and other characteristics fit the technology, it is true that the culture fits citing from the requirements of implementing continuous process production (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). For this technology, the department should have highly skilled employees, low dignified procedures, informal communication, low centralization, and organic structure. Thus, it is true that acetate department has fulfilled all the characteristics required to conform to the technological restructuring adopted. The organizational goal of Acetate department during implementation of the technological restructuring was to enhance the production process by shifting from large batch to continuous process production (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2012). However, apart from believing that acetate department organizational structure fitted the technology, it is noteworthy that the reason for the slight change in production volume can be based on the choice of the actual number of employees to retain.

Question 4       

As aforementioned, the reason for the slight change in production volume after the technological restructuring can be based on the layoffs. From the implications that the technology yielded, it is exhibited that the motivation of the employees decreased which affected their commitment. Compared to the case before the change, there was a sense of teamwork, interdependence, low task variety, and analyzability of the conversion process. Therefore, in this comparison, what the situation after the change lacked is the employees’ motivation with regard to the sense of teamwork, lower task variety, and interdependence. This is the main reason why absenteeism cases were fewer before the change compared to after the change. As a result, one of the improvements that I can recommend for acetate department to realize their financial investment in the new technology is selection of the appropriate number of employees that fits the technology. This can be achieved by assessing the appropriate number of employees that promote the sense of teamwork and interdependence in the work place. Therefore, instead of 50% layoff, the department can decrease it to not less than 25%. This will have no significant effect to the employees’ sense of teamwork. Additionally, this will retain the analyzability of the conversion process in order to mitigate risks such as judgment errors by the operator.

Reference

Daft, R. L., Murphy, J., & Willmott, H. (2012). Organization theory and design. Andover: South-Western College Pub.