Consolidated Products – When Phil Jones Case
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When Phil Jones took over as manager of Consolidated Products the entire plant became divided. On one side were the assembly workers and machine operators, and on the other, was the supervisors and plant manager. The days of open two way communication where information flowed freely from top management to the line workers, vise versa, were long gone. Almost all communication was at a standstill. The only information that was flowing was orders and demands from top management downwards. Mr. Jones imposed strict rules and regulations on all supervisors, and they were instructed to do the same with the line workers. Phil was only interested in cutting costs, and one of the ways he did this was by enforcing strict orders and demands that all workers had to abide by. The flow of upward communication from line workers had become non existent.
Not one of Mr. Joness new plans took employees welfare into account. This was painfully obvious to the employees, and many of them started harboring feeling of resentment and disgust towards management. The supervisors were given strict orders they were forced to enforce upon their workers. Unrealistic quotas and goals were put into place. This was completely opposite from what they were used to under previous management who gave them free rain to manage their departments as they deemed fit. Under this new system employees no longer trusted management, and there was no longer any upward communication from line worker to supervisor to plant manager. A barrier of communication became to exist between managers and line workers. The employees felt disrespected and did not want to offer any helpful tips or information to their supervisors or managers.
There are many barriers that impede the flow of open communication in this plant. Most importantly, the employees do not trust the plant managers, and resent their supervisors for not sticking up for them. If there is no trust their can be no communication. On the other hand the plant manager feels that the employees are merely disposable and have nothing of value to share with management. Having this type of stereotype formed towards your workers before you even start you job is very arrogant and reckless. Mr. Jones does not feel he needs to address his workers on a personal level, he feels the only time he should be communicating with the line workers is to give them orders or repremand their actions. Mr. Joness needs to keep in mind that large increase in employee turnover translates into large increase in expenses. It also seems that the plant supervisors are resentful towards Mr. Jones. By the end of his first year there three of the seven supervisors left to take other jobs. The supervisors feft that they knew how to do their job and did not appriate that their every move is now dictated by upper management. They have no more freedom to act as a manager, they are there simply