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Chapter 11  
Workforce

 

 

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Chapter Overview

Chapter 11 provides an overview of one of the most important, but difficult to manage, resources--the workforce. As managers have embraced concepts that require more employee involvement in process improvement efforts and decision-making, more skills are needed.  As managers strive for greater customer loyalty better relationships between customers and employees are needed.  Workforce productivity is critical to the firm's success, but workers are often the first resource to be eliminated when demand drops. The paradox created by the workforce being the most important but also the most easily eliminated is at the root of many business problems.

Chapter Resources

Esources 
Esource   11.1  When talented employees have choices for whom to work for, those companies that treat employees well benefit. You can take a look at Fortune's List of the Best Companies to Work For  and see how companies stack up.
Esource 11.2  The popularity of project teams and team decision making has created a large industry ready to meet the training needs of business.  Consulting companies specializing in team skill development are common.  The Innovative Edge  is an example of a firm dedicated to providing team development services to business.
Esource 11.3  The use of temporary or contingent workers has brought an entirely new dimension to staffing decision-making. An industry that started out dominated by providing temporary secretarial staff has grown to provide virtually any type of expertise. Kelly Services is one of the most widely known temporary services in the world. Kelly's current staffing services go far beyond traditional office help.

Reel Operations Streaming Videos

Reel Operations 11.1 In Caterpillar: Team-based Reengineering for Process Improvement we get a real-world example of how a company uses teams to enhance the likelihood of success for reengineering projects.  The result is better focus for projects, better results, and increased profitability.

Interactive Models 
Interactive Model 11.1 The Learning Curve Interactive Model 
The Learning Curve Interactive Model is introduced in Chapter 11 to enhance understanding of how learning rates affect time and costs. By manipulating the input variables (learning rate and costs) the user sees precisely how changing the learning rate can change the relationships among various costs and impact profitability.

Excel Tutors 
note: network users may see a dialog box requesting "Please enter your authorization information." Just click "cancel" and your browser will automatically load Excel.
Excel Tutor 11.1 Excel Tutor 11.1 Using Excel Spreadsheets for Standard Time Calculations
Excel Tutor 11.2 Excel Tutor 11.2 Using Excel Spreadsheets for Work Sampling Calculations
Excel Tutor 11.3 Excel Tutor 11.3 Using Excel Spreadsheets for Learning Curve Calculations

Supplementary Readings 
Supplementary Reading 11.1  In Virtually There? (Fast Company, March, 2002) new tools and tactics are describe to aid teams who may be a world apart geographically.
Supplementary 
Reading 11.2

In The New Face of Leadership, (Fast Company, May, 2001) Shell CEO  Steve Miller provides his strategy for increasing the diversity of his work force.
Supplementary 
Reading 11.3		 As automation and communication technologies advance, the role of the worker changes. In Even the Supervisor Is Expendable, Business Week, July 23, 2001 the role of the worker is examined as manufacturers become more highly automated.  In many cases, machines that use to be monitored in the factory are now monitored at headquarters.

 

OM Exploration

Check it out: Internet Reference Sites 
The following cites offer additional information for workforce management.
Center for the Study of Work Teams American Management Association
   

OM in Action 
OM in Action 11.2 Steel Dynamics offers a range of incentives to its workforce, to improve processes and reduce costs. Read the statements provided by Steel Dynamics employees.
a. How does Steel Dynamics maximize the potential of its employees by utilizing their knowledge? Provide some examples of this approach. 
b. How do Steel Dynamics efforts to maximize the contribution of employees contribute to profitability?
c. Can any business implement this approach? Or is this specific to the steel industry or other specific industries?

Online Business Tours 
Online Business Tour 11.1 The manufacture of different products can require dramatically different levels of skill. Take the Steinway Factory Tour.  The processing steps unique to Steinway Piano production differentiate it from competitors.
a. What processes unique to the Steinway production method are described? What attributes of the piano are created by these unique processing approaches? Describe the skill required of the employees needed to accomplish the processes included in the tour. How important are these skills to the competitive success of Steinway?

Take the video tour of the Yamaha Guitar Factory (page down and click on the video controls)

b. How would you compare the strategies of Steinway and Yamaha? Describe the skills needed by the Yamaha employees that perform the processes in the tour. How do the different strategies of these two companies affect the type of employee skill required?

Letter from the Top 
Letter from the Top 11 .1 Levi Strauss & Co. Chairman Bob Haas describes a tough year in the 2001 annual letter to shareholders.  That report goes on to present, in writing, a description of the LS&CO. Way, and the LS&CO Values and Vision.  Levi Strauss has long been visibly socially active and has taken on many causes that have added to a loyal customer base.  Read the LS&CO. Way (pp. 13-15).  
a. What implications does the ethical and social responsibility stressed by LS&CO. have for employees? Does this apply to all employees or just executives?
b. In this context, how to the actions and beliefs of its employees add to (or detract from) the value LS&CO. creates?

Putting It All Together:  Virtual Case Study
Putting It all Together 11.1:  In A Speedy Makeover at Penney's, (Business Week, April 29, 2002) the Penney's turnaround is given a positive review. CEO Allan Questrom provides his perspective in the 2002 letter to shareholders.  In that letter, Questrom mentions the importance of a skilled and dedicated workforce as being necessary for the success of other initiatives.

a. What does a skilled and dedicated workforce mean for Penney's versus Eckards? Are they different? How would you describe the skills needed for each?
b. Despite Questrom's praise of the importance of worker skill, he has eliminated store manager's ability to make stocking decisions and instituted a centralized purchasing system. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this system? 

Read Penney's Position Statement.
c. How does Penney's target customers affect the skill requirements of their employees? Should their employees be part of the customer target group? Why or why not?

Additional Reading
Additional 
Reading 11.1
By Asking for Less, These Workers Get More, Business Week, May 13, 2002.
Additional 
Reading 11.2		 True or False: You're Hiring the Right People, Fast Company, February, 2002
Additional 
Reading 11.3		 And Now the Just-in-Time Employee, (Business Week, August 28,2000)  
Additional 
Reading 11.4		 Mining a Company's Mother Lode of Talent, Business Week, August 28, 2000.