Scenario-Leading and Implementing Required Change in an Organization

You are a mid-level manager in charge of the overseas manufacturing coordination division of a communications equipment design and manufacturing technology company located in Richardson, Texas. The primary purchaser of your company's products is AT&T. In this facility there are design engineers, communication engineers, manufacturing engineers, cost engineers, logistics personnel, accounting personnel, and a variety of mid-level and upper-level management personnel. All design and engineering work is done at the facility in the United States; however, all of your products are manufactured in the countries of China, Indonesia and South Korea.

Your supervisor has just informed you of a major restructuring initiative in your division aimed at decreasing product manufacturing time, improving overall manufacturing efficiency and reducing personnel costs. It is also imperative that quality remain high with these changes. You are to be the lead person in charge of this important effort and it was stated that this initiative came from the highest management level in the organization and is non-negotiable.

The work group that you oversee, in addition to yourself, consists of 4-design engineers, 3-manufacturing engineers, 2-cost engineers, 2-logistics personnel and 2-manufacturing technologist personnel at your location in Texas and they function as a cohesive team that has worked together on a variety of communication equipment products for more than 3-years. You also have another 6 people assigned to your team that coordinate and interact with the respective manufacturing companies based in the countries where the actual manufacturing of the products takes place. Including yourself, there are 20 people in your work group.

Questions:

1. Describe the process that you would go through in order to develop an action plan that addresses and accomplishes the reduction in manufacturing time, improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces personnel costs that your employer has charged you with.

2. Describe how you would address the issue with your work group and how you would involve the members of your work group in the development of the final solution to the situation at hand.

3. How would you turn this unpleasant and unpopular situation into a positive experience for you, your work group and the organization you represent?