Organizational Culture
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Dailey will need to ask himself these questions in regard to structure and what type is effective at each location in order to make changes at Green River.
Aberdeens is very effective, using participatory style of management (team approach) with shared decision-making power, which empowers the employees, and increases job satisfaction, job performance and overall employee morale. Production is high. There is a culture of high morale and unity. The employees are committed to working as a team toward a common goal to meet the objectives and the mission of the Aberdeen plant.
However Green Rivers is not effective, as employees have reported low motivation, low job satisfaction and low overall moral. Instead, there is a culture of low morale and suspicion – a culture that lacks unity and cohesiveness, a culture that promotes low employee motivation and low productivity.
Will the same structure used at Aberdeen work for Green River? Why or why not?
Yes, but it will look slightly different. The differences must be considered between the two. First, Aberdeen had only a single customer, while Green River had over 100 and distributed its products worldwide. Second, the Aberdeen facility employed only 100 people, while Green River had 1,150. Third, Aberdeen produced basically a single product, while Green River had several product lines. Fourth, Aberdeen had been a new start-up five years ago. While the first of the several Green River plants was begun in 1948. (Clawson, 2005) Dailey was supervising the start-up of three new plants in his complex this year, though, and recognized that similarity. Fifth, the two units functioned in very different industries-Aberdeen in defense and Green River in chemicals. Finally, Aberdeen had no union, while the Green River site worked with the United Steel Workers of America.
Despite these differences, there were several features of the Aberdeen management approach that were either appealing to Dailey or suggested that the Aberdeen approach might fit his operation at Green River. Operating under FMC corporate guidelines, both management teams enjoyed, along with the other 87 FMC North American sites, considerable flexibility in how they ran their businesses.(Clawson, 2005) Both units also had a common link to the FMC corporate image and objectives and thus had some similar operating values and systems. Also, productivity in the Aberdeen plant had grown dramatically since its opening and that costs had continued to drop. Finally, Daileys principles and values upon which the Aberdeen system was built aligned well with his own (i.e., this is very important because he would need to using participatory style management style – I have already sent an excellent article in one of your previous posts). As Dailey listened to his team describe the Aberdeen system, he continued making mental notes and questions about the system and its applicability to the situation in Green River. (Clawson, J. 2005)
It seems that groups and team work would work at Green River if leadership style can transform from authoritarian to participatory style management, which seems possible because Dailey says that these are in line with his own values and principles.
He needs to successfully implement a more flattened organizational structure at Green River, (similar to that of Aberdeen), although the operations management at both plants will still be from the top.
Based on the culture, what else can each location do to make positive changes in this area? Aberdeen culture seems to be exactly what it should be, and it is going to act as the role model for Green River.
To implement these recommendations at both facilities Dailey will need to consider the following recommendations.
Call a group meeting with top management to discuss and assess the openness to participatory management techniques (i.e., team work, communication that is open and inviting input from all team members etc.) He will also need to provide training in different leadership styles (i.e., participatory style techniques) and the team work approach for the top management, training for employees in teamwork, communication styles and work on forming work groups.
Dailey will need cooperation from top management for sure, and some basic levels of commitment from the staff, although top management will act as a role model of participatory management which will lead to empowerment and commitment of the staff over time. It will move the culture form one of suspicion and low morale to a culture of high morale, motivation and performance. It will take time.
I would recommend these strategies to Kenneth Dailey to consider as he plans to build inter-group relations and further develop the Green River facility organizationally.
(Note that in management theory there is no agreement about what is the ultimate BEST style. Everything depends on circumstances.) Dailey would need to consider the following:
1. What are the attitudes of the general culture of the people in which the organization operates?
2. And is this changing?
3. What is the prime task of the organization – to carry out strict technical procedures or to be creative or both?
4. Is the organization competing with similar organizations in a changing market?
Organizational structure and culture that focuses on the identification of employees with their employing organization has a long tradition. Over the last decade or more, major advances in this area have derived their impetus from social identity theory (SIT, Abrams & Hogg, 1990; Hogg & Terry, 2000; Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986). Social identity theory provides a robust framework for examining employee identification in organizations, and for an intergroup perspective on