Making Hotplates - Assignment Example

Making Hotplates Making Hotplates Changes in the Work Situation The changes in the work situation that accounted for the significant increase in productivity and decrease in controllable rejects was having the finished product directly identifiable to the specific worker’s performance. Unlike the first process where parts of the hotplates were manufactured through an assembly line, the similarity in parts produced made it difficult to identify which worker manufactured which particular part; and thereby, the lack of accountability and ability of the workers to discern their exact contribution to the final products made work routinary, redundant, demotivating and unchallenging.

As revealed, “specialized jobs became very boring” (Gachire, n.d., p. 8) and the change spurred motivation and improvement.Drop in Absenteeism and Increase in Moral The significant increase in performance and job satisfaction that was made possible with identifying the finished product to specific workers likewise contributed to the significant drop in absenteeism and an increase in moral. Likewise, by soliciting the suggestion of the workers who are most knowledgeable in ways of improving their jobs (Gachire, n.d.), there was a marked improvement in moral in conjunction with increased motivation, drop in absenteeism and increase in overall performance and productivity.

Major Changes in the Situation The major changes in the situation include enjoining the workers to work on a new process work flow that would enable each worker to assemble the hotplate completely. This change provided effective motivation to drive these workers into improving performance and productivity since each output could be easily identified and accounted for by the workers. Therefore, each worker did their best to ensure that the finished product is free from any quality defects. The proposed change was effectively envisioned and implemented by the manager, with inputs and suggestions discussed initially with the workers.

As initially indicated, the rejects were virtually controllable; meaning, the operator could easily prevent their occurrences. Therefore, the changes were controlled by the workers under the governance and motivation provided by the manager.Old Assembly Method If the workers went back to the old assembly line method, the same high rate of absenteeism, high rate of rejects, and low productivity and morale would ensue. As evaluated, as premised from behavioral management theories that focus on determining the job design’s link to productivity, satisfaction and motivation, the old assembly line method is too structured, routine, and redundant that prevents workers from being challenged and in putting their creativity to the test.

As such, from the old assembly line method, since workers just see that the output of their daily production are just parts of the hotplate, they could not envision any direct contribution to the final product. This makes them sloppy and indifferent to exert excellent efforts since quality control (or the inspector) would not be able to clearly detect which worker produced the hotplate parts with defect. Overall, there was therefore absence of rewards and sanctions that contributed to low morale, high rate of absenteeism and low productivity and job satisfaction.

ReferenceGachire, B. (n.d.). The Evolution of Management Theory. Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.elearning.strathmore.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=37247