Question

Binney & Smith (B&S) operates a plant in Lindsay, Ontario, to produce crayons. Their Crayola brand is familiar to almost all pre-schoolers and elementary school children in North America. In 1992, the production goals for the Lindsay plant were doubled, to 4 million 16-stick boxes of assorted-color crayons. Little more than a year earlier, the plant produced about a quarter of that volume. Maybe somewhat surprisingly, employees have been very receptive to these much higher production goals. These employees, most of whom have been with the company for at least ten years, indicate that they’re more excited about their jobs and more satisfied with their working lives than ever before. Workers at B&S traditionally knew their own jobs well, and many of these jobs were repetitive and unchallenging. For instance, one job is to run the machine which glues labels to crayon sticks— 172 labels per minute. The label-gluing machine operator was an expert at his job but knew little about the other jobs in the plant. To get the increased production, management redesigned the label gluing machine operator’s job and almost everybody elses. Workers in the Lindsay plant now do their jobs in teams and are encouraged to learn the jobs of everyone else on their team. Team members regularly rotate jobs to increase their skills and reduce boredom. These teams have taken on the responsibility for solving their work problems. And employees in the plant now also have taken charge of tracking production, changing layouts as needed to solve quality problems, and conceiving and implementing cost reduction ideas like recycling waste. Employees receive no financial or material rewards for accepting these new changes. What they do get is increased recognition, the opportunity to learn new tasks, and greater control over their work. The results have been extremely encouraging for both employees and management. Employees have increased job satisfaction and self-esteem. And the plant has more than doubled its profit in the first year of these new changes. Additionally, employees at Lindsay now have greater job security than they had before because the plant has eliminated the 15 to 25 percent cost disadvantage it previously labored under compared to the company’s sister plants in the United States.

Questions

1. B&S’s historical turnover rate has been very low. Why do you think that is? Shouldn’t a plant with boring and repetitive jobs like gluing 172 labels a minute on crayon sticks have high absenteeism and turnover?

2. Explain why, in spite of tremendously high new production goals, B&S employees seem more satisfied with their jobs than ever.

3. What according to you is the role of the employees attitude in shaping his/her behavior towards his/her work?

Note: The questions are from Organizational Behavior perspective. Each question carries 5 marks. Answer should not exceed 600 words.

Answer 1

1) Binney and Smith ( B&S) have a low turnover rate in the past because the majority of the jobs are not must challenging and repetitive. Lower productivity can be due to the low number of inexperienced employees ( lack of incomplete training). This statement is particularly true for industries that have a comfort level and repetitive work. Lack of innovation may decrease the morale and interest of employees. It is impossible to develop the company if the workers are not giving up to mark performances. Making the tasks more enjoyable can help employees to improve their productivity levels. Moreover, redesigning the nature of work can boost employees morale and product outcomes. Indeed, a repetitive and boring job such as gluing 172 labels a minute can result in high absenteeism and turnover but the company is ensuring that worker maintains the production levels by employing techniques of job rotation to increase the skill of employee and introduce an element of innovation in the work in the present which helps the company to maintain its production levels.

2) B&S employees seem more satisfied as the company is implementing techniques to boost the morale of employees and productivity levels. Employing techniques of job rotation can increase the skill of employees and introduce an element of innovation in the work which helps the company to maintain its production levels. Also, the employees are taking charge of production levels, quality problems, and implement cost reduction ideas. The employees have greater control over their work and learn new tasks each day which can promote innovation and interests among them. The plant has also eliminated the 15 to 25 percent cost disadvantage which offers greater job security to employees. Greater job security among employees can lead to greater satisfaction among them.

3) I think there is a great role of attitudes in shaping behaviors of employees. The attitude of employees and their behavior at the workplace has a direct relationship which means that a good attitude towards the work can result in productive outcomes and vice versa. In a department, where employees have great trust and liking towards each other can result in a positive attitude which may lead to productive outcomes. In contrast, negative attitudes develop when the employees are forced to work for extra hours without any reward or incentive which can lead to a low-performance level. The managers that have a positive attitude can motivate the employees to achieve the goals. Dislike of work can decrease productivity. Thus, a positive work attitude is essential and it develops productive thinking and productive behaviors among employees.