ENGSTROM
In the past years, Engstrom Auto Mirror plan adopted the use of technology in production. The change was not easy as the organization suffered several problems such as long delays and loose of customers. The then manager could not find the solution for the situation, and so he resigned. A new manager Ron bent was hired to bring an improvement to the organization productivity.
The new manager Ron bent had a strong belief in worker incentive programs and he, therefore, wanted to introduce it at Engstrom. According to Beer and Collins (2008) Bent had strong feelings about group incentive plans and suggested that a Scanlon plan was the best for Egstrom given the challenges it had faced before. Scanlon plan states that workers will be responsive to the new ideas because they feel like part of the company extensive program and there is good communication network in the organization (Beer and Collins 2008).
After the adoption of the Scanlon plan conflicts in the plan eased as most employees had accepted the plan. With the proposal, higher profits, quality products, and employees’ good financial records were achieved. This did not stay long as workers started complaining of distrust in bonus calculation and the question of fairness (Beer and Collins 2008). The workers’ morale decreased, the sales figure depressed, and poor communication between the workers and management. When Joe joined the managerial team, it was evident that workers were dissatisfied and when he reviewed the reports and talked to the workers, he suspected stealing had been going on (Beer and Collins 2008).
According to the case study, it is evident that the Engstrom auto mirror plant has organizational problems such as low productivity and poor quality goods which result in its downfall. Despite Ron Bent, the manager, urgent need to make changes, he does not have a solution to these problems.
Beer, M. Collin, E. (2008) Egstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivation in Good and Bad Times.Havard Business School.
