In: Operations Management
Acme Manufacturing (AM) Scenario
Read the following scenario about Acme Manufacturing (AM), a small manufacturing company who manufactures Acme Lawnmowers. This scenario includes many issues where the company is proposing a change in their line of mowers.
Next, imagine that you are the project manager or change manager who will be leading the change for the company.
As the change manager you will need to consider the entire change process and how you apply it to this scenario. Though you may not have manufacturing experience, base your paper responses on the change management assignments and lessons learned for each week.
This scenario will be used in all eight weeks of the course. You will be required to complete a written assignment each week based on this scenario where you will answer questions for the change topic of the week. You must use the scenario and base your answers on readings, outside resources and analysis of the assignments for the week.
Acme Manufacturing Company
Acme Manufacturing (AM) is a mid-sized, non-union company that has been in existence for 20 years. They manufacture a line of lawnmowers consumers use for mowing their lawn.
AM’s profits are falling due to increased competition. In order to be more competitive AM management are taking steps to diversify their product line. Management is moving toward a huge change for the company, adding another line of lawnmowers for commercial use. This will be a change for everyone in the company. Employees are used to building a line of mowers for home use, and have done so since the company was started.
AM is organized as other companies; the President, COO, CFO; the Operations Department who leads manufacturing; the Marketing Department to market the mowers; the Logistics Department who packs and ships the mowers; and the Customer Service Department who leads answering calls for orders, assists in troubleshooting and answers general questions.
They currently have 200 employees, the average age of their workforce is 40 years and many of the machine operators have below average computer literacy. Average job tenure is 7 years. They need to add a second shift to manufacture this product as their current hours of operation and staff cannot meet the demand of this change.
The company will have to make many changes in their operations and organization in order to effect this change to their line of mowers.
This week as the change manager for AM, you must assist the company president with a communications strategy plan and answer the following questions:
***The items that i as change manager will communicate to the management and the employees, would be the extent of change, the impact of change, the change that would occur to the organizational structure, the change in equipment that would be used to produce new mowers.Also informing the employees how the change will impact their pay scales, work timings and hierarchy would be also very important.
Communicating a clear and transparent change plan to the stakeholders and all the employees is very important to build trust and get the acceptance of each and everyone before the change actually happens. Preparing the employees mentally becomes the most essential task so that the company remains stable even after the change and a smooth transition happens.
*** The Communication timeline for me as the change manager would be to communicate the change to employees and Board members before the change is implemented.
The information flow before initiating the change is very important.
The change will only be initiated only after acceptance is received from all the stakeholders whether primary or secondary.
** The most effective communication strategy in this case as per me would be Verbal communication, so that no communication gap is left. Updates can be informed through non verbal and Visual communication, however in the initial stage verbal communication would be the best strategy to transfer the idea to each and everyone involved.