...RL Wolfe: Implementing Self Directed Teams Analysis RL Wolfe Introduction I always believed that pushing down responsibility to the folks that are integral to a process or goal was the way to enjoin employees in decision making. I believed (and still do) it imparts a degree of ownership and license that can have far reaching benefits in terms of efficiency, cost savings and innovation. I believe that hierarchical, authoritarian organizations are dinosaurs in many ways and can truly miss an opportunity to glean ideas and participation from staff that can have dramatic results for an operation. Self managed work teams is a concept that was introduced in manufacturing facilities in the 40’s but really began getting traction in the late 70’s and 80’s. RL. Wolfe’s, specifically John Amasi’s, experiment while directionally correct has not produced the kinds of results expected by him or his management. While they have shown modest increases in productivity they have fallen short in hitting the goals hoped for by Amasi projected to be around 95%. (Although still currently higher than the other Wolfe facilities) I think the process and outcome to date has to be frustrating as it appears from the study when management feels they have done everything correctly. This included bringing in fresh eyes from their Austin and Columbus plants. They worked with union issues and established new ground rules and...
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...Enhancing production through team-building mechanisms Improving Production and Quality through Self-Directed Teams at the Corpus Christi Plant Sullivan University MGT 510 Jermaine Paul Enhancing production through team-building mechanisms Executive Summary This proposal highlights the benefits which can be achieved using selfdirected teams (SDT's) at RL Wolfe's, Corpus Christi Plant. Increases in productivity of 13% to boost productivity beyond the 95% production margin can be achieved if the following issues are resolved at the plant. At present, the company is struggling with the issue of inequality amongst workers. Line operators feel inferior to technicians and are therefore unwilling to give full support in team based efforts. This has filtered into the creation of a new company culture where distinctions amongst employees titles suggests their hierarchy. Continuous occurrence of these issues will lead to a reduction in production as evident with the present target of the third shift not being met. The present morale of the line operators is low and unless boosted will result in a continuous erosion of the company culture. To address the following issues management needs to reduce the concept of distinction between employees. Working as a team, no employees should feel less valuable than the other. The culture of a team as a component needs to be emphasized within the company with performance appraisals apportioned first on a team basis and then on an individual...
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...Introduction Self-directing teams (SDT) were implemented at RL Wolfe plastic manufacturing company in order to improve productivity (Garvin & Collins, 2009). Background The director of production and engineering – John Amasi introduced the SDT to the plant in 2004, but he finds that there is still areas to be improved when he re-visits. (Garvin & Collins, 2009). Problem There were no set goals for neither management nor the employees and there were no formal individual performance reviews. Line operators and material handlers felt less valued in the cooperation which lead to miscommunication between line operators and technicians and resulted in high turnover. Opportunities The majority of the employees agreed to participate in the SDTs. In SDTs, teams function individually and therefore everyone’s opinion is considered. Every employee gets the attention this way which makes them feel they matter in the organization. Therefore everyone will try their best to achieve the company goals which will improve the production. At the same time, it’s also important to set goals and evaluate the employee performance. Recommendations In a team, a demand or need for performance is more important than team building exercises. A team should have a common need to perform (Mark M. Chatfield). Also the teams should be provided with goals and boundaries and they must be assessed with performance reviews (Ray and Bronstein, 1995) Conclusions SDT performance and outcome can be...
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...James Wolfe!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Tina! September 28, 2014! ! ! ! James Wolfe, a British army official, played an important role in the history of Canada and is notable for his victory over the French at the Battle of Quebec in Canada. He was born on January 2, 1727 at Westerham, Kent, the eldest sibling of Colonel Edward Wolfe’s two sons. Wolfe attended school at Westerham and later on at Greenwich, where he continued his military career, entering his father’s Marine regiment as a volunteer at thirteen years of age. From the age of fourteen, he starting actively involving himself in his military career and took part in The War of the Austrian Succession and later on dealt with the Jacobite rising. Thereafter, he spent a few years in Scotland, and would eventually returned to Britain.! ! ! After James Wolfe’s successful campaigns in the Seven Years War and his admirable comportment in Louisbourg, he was chosen to lead the British assault in Quebec City by William Pitt the Elder. By the late June of 1759, Wolfe’s convoy had reached the island of Orleans, opposite of Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River. The French defenders lead by Marquis de Montcalm were entrenched along the river frontage, and James, being unable to lure Montcalm out of his defences, ordered an very unsuccessful assault on the Beauport shore east of Quebec. Following his terrible failure Beauport, Wolfe sent Brigidier James Murray to target French stores and shipping in an attempt...
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...“BBBBUUUUZZ!” The doorbell rang. It went on for a good half minute. “Ugh, who could be ringing the doorbell at this time of day?” Angeli grumbled as she wearily got out off bed to answer the door. “Good morning-!” A guy greeted cheerfully. Angeli, not knowing who was standing in front of her, was still in her jammies and had her eyes half-closed. She then felt a light slap on her cheek. “What the?! First, you ring the doorbell early in the-” She ranted but stopped when her vision finally cleared and saw Harry standing on their doorstep. “I never knew this was how lovely you looked in the morning.” Harry joked and let out a laugh as he let himself in. “You were saying?” “What are you doing here? It’s 8 o’clock in the morning!” Angeli asked grumpily as she sat herself by the kitchen counter. “I was wondering if you knew where Niall wandered off to last night.” Harry said. “Niall? I don’t know. Wasn’t he with you guys last night?” Angeli asked, deciding to make herself some breakfast since she doubted she’d be getting anymore sleep. “Um, yeah, he was. Thing is… I think I dozed off pretty early last night and then when I woke up, he wasn’t in his room so I thought he maybe went somewhere?” “Harry?” A small shaky voice joined in the conversation. “Mariah!” Harry smiled and Mariah’s eyes suddenly widened. “Um, Mariah? Are you okay?” Angeli laughed as she nibbled on her breakfast sandwich. “Yeah yeah, I’m okay. I look terrible and Harry’s here...
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...be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also appeared apart of and star of the bestseller, The electric Kool-Aid acid test, by tom Wolfe. Ken Kesey’s first novel was “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” was published in 1962. His second novel, “sometimes a great nation “, followed in 1964. The style of writing in the book is in modern times. The language is appropriate for people of ages 12+ to read. The plot of this story begins with...
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...be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also appeared apart of and star of the bestseller, The electric Kool-Aid acid test, by tom Wolfe. Ken Kesey’s first novel was “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” was published in 1962. His second novel, “sometimes a great nation “, followed in 1964. The style of writing in the book is in modern times. The language is appropriate for people of ages 12+ to read. The plot of this story begins with Randle p. Mcmurphy being sentence to...
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...| Hero Does Not Fit | Does James Wolfe Deserve the Title ‘Hero of Quebec’ | | Zachary Bliss | 12/6/2012 | Dr. Daryl White HI2600 | The battle of the Plains of Abraham was a turning point in the Seven Years War once the British defeated the French at Quebec they never relinquished hold of the city. It did not signal the end to the fighting but it gave the British the upper hand. The French army commanded by Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm was much larger than the British force commanded by Major-General James Wolfe. Montcalm had the help of François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, the governor of Trois-Riviere and when Great Britain declared war on France he commanded the advanced guard of Montcalm’s forces. While Wolfe is heralded as a hero in Britain he does not deserve the title ‘Hero of Quebec’. There is no doubt that James Wolfe was a tremendous leader. He certainly has the history to prove it. He was not however, the best tactician. He had joined the army at the age of fifteen and he was a Lieutenant Colonel and commanding his own regiment by the age of twenty-three. Francis Parkman describes Wolfe as “ardent, headlong, void of fear, often rash, almost fanatical in military duty, and reckless of life when the glory of England of his own was at stake”. He contains the qualities necessary to lead an army and did so quite effectively. His army stood triumphant at the end of the fighting but the British did not really win the battle; the French lost it....
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...be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also appeared apart of and star of the bestseller, The electric Kool-Aid acid test, by tom Wolfe. Ken Kesey’s first novel was “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” was published in 1962. His second novel, “sometimes a great nation “, followed in 1964. The style of writing in the book is in modern times. The language is appropriate for people of ages 12+ to read. The plot of this story begins with...
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...Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada. James Wolfe was born in England into a military family. Both his father and grandfather were officers in the army. From an early age he was determined to have a military career. Wolfe joined his father’s regiment at age 14. He transferred to the army the next year and saw service in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scotland. By 23, Wolfe was a colonel. He earned a reputation as a leader and trainer of soldiers. He was a superb battleground commander. After his heroism at Louisbourg, Prime Minister Pitt made the young ambitious Wolfe the commander of the Québec expedition. Born January 2, 1727 (Westham, Kent, England) Died September 13th, 1759 (Quebec) (Aged 32) Rank: Major General Years of Service: 1740- 13th, September 1759 Allegiance: Great Britain Service/Branch: British Army Commands held: 20th Regiment of foot Battles/Wars: War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748 - Battle of Dettingen (1743) - Battle of Lauffield (1747) Jacobite uprising 1688-1746 - Battle of Falkirk (1746) - Battle of Culloden (1746) Seven Year War 1756-1763 - Raid on Rochefort (1757) - Siege of Louisbourg (1758) - Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759) As Wolfe lay dying on the Battlefield...
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...Death of General Wolfe - Heroism and Nation Yu Su 211553930 VISA 1900 A Karen S Stanworth Tutorial 16 Olena Korolevych Benjamin West’s work “The Death of General Wolfe” is an historical oil painting, that reappearance the death of British general James Wolfe in the Battle of Quebec, this is a description of “heroic behaviour” of General Wolfe to snatch loose to victory in the attack. The painting express the heroism of Wolfe and the cruelty and bloody colonial war between nations. The work has spawned countless copies since original one painted in 1771, but there are only five large version painted by Benjamin West’s own hand, the one located in Royal Ontario Museum is the last version painted. [[1]] The painting contain a historical event in the back, the main character James Wolfe was a Marine officer in the beginning of the colonial war, but after he victory many battels, he was promoted to a general of the Quebec war in 1759. [[2]] His main enemy is the French army who occupied Cape Breton Island. Wolfe’s army meet a defeat from French army, during the battle, Wolfe had been wounded three times, but he did not leave and continue command his army, he was dead until the city was overcome. [[3]] Wolfe was a hero, because he died for the country, for protect the land, the island might belong to French without him. He sacrifice his life for the army. Wolfe was responsible...
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...Introduction: RL Wolfe purchased Moon plastics, located in Corpus Christi in 2003. The manufacturing facility produces high-density polyethylene pipes. (David A. Garvin, 2009) Background: John Amasi, the director of production and engineering for RL Wolfe, implemented self-directed teams at the Corpus Christi plant after seeing reports of 30% to 40% improvement in productivity. (David A. Garvin, 2009) Problems: The Corpus Christi plant has run into a few problems. A few issues they are having are recognizing individuals, the shifting of boundaries between management and workforce decisions, and the old ways of the company is creeping back into the culture. (David A. Garvin, 2009) Opportunities: There’s plenty of opportunity for the Corpus Christi plant to solve the few problems it has with SDTs. Morale and productivity is higher there than the other two plants in Columbus, OH and Austin, TX. (David A. Garvin, 2009) Recommendations: There is a need for continued training. Employees will revert to a hierarchical structure within their teams unless they’re trained differently. (Tudor & Trumble, 1996) Training should be done over time rather than in one lump sum. (Wellins, 1992) The plant should implement performance based compensation for meeting company goals through teams. (Tudor & Trumble, 1996) The teams could earn bonuses for exceeding goals and divide it equally. (Wellins, 1992) Management should only define the essentials of the work processes and leave tasks...
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...Introduction: In 2003, RL Wolfe had purchased moon plastics – a small plastics manufacturer in Corpus Christi. The design capacity of this plant is 2250 tons of high density polyethylene pipes per year (Garvin & Collins, 2009). Background: A 300,000 square foot facility in Corpus Christi ran four plastic extrusion lines to produce high density polyethylene pipes for the natural gas and oil industry (Garvin & Collins, 2009). Problem: RL Wolfe’s Corpus Christi plant was under performing at 80% to 82% of design capacity and management wants to run the plant at 95% or more of plant capacity (Garvin & Collins, 2009). Opportunity: The Corpus Christi plant can increase the annual production by building relationships between employees, modifying job description and improving the moral of the employees. Recommendations: Employee needs lot of training in team skills, employees on the team must be interdependent and the team must be established for the tangible business reason (Caudron, 1993). Need to improve recognition and reward system because these are the primary factors which affect the employee’s values and beliefs (Boon, 2005). Conclusion: The move to the self directed teams requires changing the attitudes of people, organizational structure, information patterns, rewards and compensation system. References: Boon,Q.EE. (2005, March). Self directed work team’s effectiveness: The impact of team characteristics and team task design. Retrived March, 2005 frot ...
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...Introduction: The case was analyzed to determine the impact of the SDTs on organizational efficiency, proficiency, and overall effectiveness. Background: In 2003, John Amasi, the Director of Production and Engineering for RL Wolfe introduced the concept of Self Directed Teams into their newly acquired plastics manufacturing plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. Problems: Line workers were treated a lower grade than the maintenance staff. Lack of incentive for extra work and the lack of empowerment for decision making. No control over the day to day activities and no team work Oppotunities: The key Advantages Self Directed Teams are improved quality, productivity and service, greater flexibility, reduced operating costs, faster response to technological change, better response to workers' values, increased employee commitment to the organization, ability to attract and retain the best people. Recommendations: The management team needs to relook its commitment to the self-directed approach and commit to the goals and objectives of the SDT concept. Information by way of feedback from the coordinators and teammates need to be sought to understand the problems with the self-directed teams. There should be continuous training and development for the various line operators and technicians. Employee empowerment and motivation Conclusion: In my opinion SDTs have proven to be an effective tool for improving productivity and staff moral; there are several areas that need to...
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...Introduction Self-directed teams (SDTs) with setting boundary for decision making between Self-directed teams and management will not only yield "High Productivity"(95% or more of plants design capacity) but also committed workforce with high level of satisfaction in their work. Background RL WOLF privately held plastic manufacturer head quartered in Houston, Texas brought Moon Plastics a small, family owned custom plastics manufacturer in Corpus Christi. It is a 300,000 square foot facility ran 24 hours a day over three shifts. Each shift has 27 workers with most of the activity focused on bringing raw materials to hoppers, running lines and transporting pipe away from the finishing lines. John Amasi director of Production and Engineering had implemented self-directed teams (SDTs) in 2004, but the plant was running only between 80% and 82% of design capacity annually. Problems As SDTs allowed each employee to determine their own job responsibilities and involved in overall process of the organization employees, employees want control over the amount of overtime they work and when they work on it , employees are looking for individual recognition and performance evaluation done by the peers are raising a host of questions. Opportunities By increasing the coordination between coordinators and team members and recognizing the employees who are really working will help motivate other employees and will in turn help achieving the goal of 95% of plant production capacity. Recommendations...
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