CASE PREPARATION FOR CLASS DISCUSSION
NUCLEAR TUBE ASSEMBLY ROOM (A)
And PROCESS ENGINEERING PROPOSAL
Is Ralph Langly a ‘good’ manager? Why? What does he actually do? Is the NTA room an effective organization? What are the behaviors and structural variables that help produce such high productivity and satisfaction? Why do the NTA Room workers behave as they do? What are the ‘norms’ of the room? Why? What do they get out of it? What needs are being met? How? What is the impact of the process design, layout and product design of the NTA room workers’ behaviors? How different are the formal and informal organizational structures?
What accounts for the improvements in productivity? Is the improvement ‘sustainable’? What needs to be done next? What about Harold Singer? What is his role? What are his motivations? Why? Is his behavior ‘functional’ (positive) or ‘dysfunctional’ (negative)? Why? Any advice for him?
Read and evaluate the PROCESS ENGINEERING PROPOSAL. What impact will it have on the NTA workplace? Productivity? Satisfaction and Morale? Why? What should Neil Goodrich do? Why? What should Ralph Langly do? Why? (HINT: reconsider the issue of what are the rewards of working in the NTA room?) How will the Socio-Technical-System of the NTA room change? Will this be positive or negative for the workers, for the firm, for Ralph Langley? Is there a ‘conflict’ between the needs of the workers and the needs of the firm?’ If so, can this conflict be solved? How?
Discuss the above questions on the NTA room and the Process Engineering Proposal. Is the process change necessary for the firm? If so, how should it be introduced and implemented? What should happen to the current workers and to Ralph Langley? Can Ralph manage the ‘new’ system? What should be the roles of Ralph Langley, Herb Singer, Neil Goodrich and the current NTA room workers if the change is deemed needed? Finally; would things have been different in the NTA room if ‘Ralph’ had been ‘Rachael’? In what ways? How might the implementation of the PEP proceed differently? (Hint: do the STS Worksheet and analyze the ‘5 R’s’ for before and after the PEP. How do they change/differ?)
LIMIT: Write 3 PAGES + EXHIBITS