Management and Production at River Woods Case Study - 1

Management and Production at River Woods - Case Study Example A weakness brought to this situation is a lack of flexibility related to not having an adequate reward or penalty system in place that provides recognition for high performers and reprimands for non-productive individuals or work teams. The method of increasing power is to consider the strategic contingencies necessary to centralize the role of plant manager. Rather than simply relying on management meetings to discuss information, the plant manager needs to become more central to the flow of information, knowledge sharing, financing, marketing, and production team activities. By centralizing decision-making, it will increase power and positional status. The current decentralized organization is what is leading to higher absenteeism and the inability to maintain quality standards and productivity. Rather than simply scheduling a meeting and identifying changes required, more visibility is required by structuring and participating in a problem-solving task force. Even though there seem to be positive attitudes about changes as they are being presented by the plant manager, the actions undertaken by managers and staff are less than satisfactory related to absenteeism, productivity, and quality. The plant manager needs to express their own knowledge, skills, and innovations and also provide a forum for the quality control, engineering, production, etc., divisions, to voice their concerns over performance and provide innovative potential solutions. By mediating these problem-solving sessions, more participation and dedication is created through teamwork development and also reinforce that the plant manager maintains the knowledge, skills, and expertise necessary to drive effective leadership policies. This will also increase the plant manager’s legitimacy by constantly rein forcing the company’s core values and show a willingness to model this same quality, productivity and leadership standards to gain commitment.