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.llLTE Eagle Smelting Akoto, a master mechanic, is foreman of the machine shop. Under him are three trainees, a half dozen semi-skilled workers, and five fully qualified mechanics. The machine shop operates regular daytime hours, except when overtime work becomes necessary. Job requests are usually submitted to the shop by section heads, and requests are often supported by drawings or lists of specifications. Akoto assigns tasks each day, but usually the work itself requires only a minimum of supervision. One sunny Friday morning in June, events got off to a bad start. The smelter's locomotive broke down while carrying a "rush order to the dock. The breakdown was reported to dock Captain Luke Hardy just as he was leaving for the "morning conference", a short daily meeting with the plant engineer and the plant manager, held to discuss and deal with routine operational problems. Hardy raised the matter immediately when the meeting began. Holt, after hearing details, realized a part would have to be fabricated, and promised delivery of it by 1.45 that afternoon. Allowing for proper installation, this timing meant that the locomotive would be running again in time to catch the final shipment of the day. The arrangement called for swift action, but Holt was confident that his target could be achieved even though special problems were involved in the fabrication of the required part. The special lathe needed for the job had recently become unreliable. While still functioning well at low speed, it tended to vibrate badly when operated at normal or high speeds. This vibration made precision work difficult and would, Holt feared, soon ruin the machine itself. The service representative from the manufacturer was due to visit the smelter to repair this lathe the following week, and Holt had hoped to keep it out of service until then. The present emergency, of course, made its use unavoidable. He felt, however, that the job could be done satisfactorily at low speed without risk to the machine and thus did not raise the problem for fear of lengthening the meeting. As the job was urgent, Holt decided to leave the meeting early, and went straight to the machine shop to get work on it started. Foreman Akoto, having made his daily work assignments, was over at the personnel department looking into a complaint by his mechanics that too much was being deducted from their salaries for the company's pension plan. Knowing that Akoto was 12:27 Back
12:27 LTE Back Eagle Smelting As the job was urgent, Holt decided to leave the meeting early, and went straight to the machine shop to get work on it started. Foreman Akoto, having made his daily work assignments, was over at the personnel department looking into a complaint by his mechanics that too much was being deducted from their salaries for the company's pension plan. Knowing that Akoto was likely to be there a while, Holt decided that the work being done by Asumang, one of the senior mechanics, was not urgent, and assigned Asumang to the job. Asumang, a fully qualified mechanic and one of the most experienced and skilled men in the shop, had at one time been considered for the post of machine shop foreman. However, Macrae and Holt both preferred Akoto, another excellent mechanic who, at 48, was just a few years younger than Asumang. At first, Asumang had taken the missed promotion badly, but he soon seemed to settle down and accept the situation. In assigning the priority job to Asumang. Holt specified that the machining should be done at a low speed. Asumang knew the machine well and had in fact reported the problems in operating the lathe just two weeks before. Holt was thus quite confident that Asumang could do a high-quality job, as he had on so many other "rescue-operations in the past. After giving Asumang his directions, Holt left the machine shop to attend to his other duties. Most Friday mornings these took him to Shoprite, where it was his custom to stop and sometimes do a little shopping for the weekend. He felt free to do this as he often started early and worked late into the evening without overtime when his job required. In the late morning, Macrae, on one of his frequent walks through the smelter, happened to stop by the machine shop. Seeing that Asumang was at work on the locomotive part, he stopped at his work station, where he discovered that Asumang was operating his machinery at low speed. "Where's your foreman?" asked Macrae. Asuman said he didn't know. "How about Mr. Holt?" Asumang replied that he didn't know where he was either. Macrae muttered to himself, told Asumang to speed the job up, and hurriedly took off for his office. Holt returned to the machine shop a little after noon, and dropped in on AKDIO, who, after
12:27 LTE Eagle Smelting "Where's your foreman?" asked Macrae. Asuman said he didn't know. "How about Mr. Holt?" Asumang replied that he didn't know where he was either. Macrae muttered to himself, told Asumang to speed the job up, and hurriedly took off for his office. Holt returned to the machine shop a little after noon, and dropped in on Akoto, who, after returning from the personnel department and making a rapid tour of the machine shop, had gone straight to his office to deal with a backlog of paperwork. Holt explained the trouble with the locomotive, and after a brief conversation they decided to visit Asumang's work-station to check on progress. The lathe was vibrating badly, and making an unpleasant whining sound. The part being tooled by Asumang was obviously not going to meet the required specifications. "You knew the lathe shouldn't be run at this speed", said Holt in a fury. "You've messed up this job on purpose. You're fired." Turning to the foreman he told him to make arrangements for Asumang's severance pay and to see that someone else took over the priority job. He then returned to his office. A few minutes later, Akoto sought him out there and told him that he was not justified in firing Asumang. "He speeded up the job because Macrae ordered him to," explained the foreman. "He says Macrae is the boss, and he did what he was told." Holt, on hearing this explanation, strode over to Macrae's office and burst in without knocking. "The machine shop's my area of responsibility," he shouted. "By sticking your nose in this morning you've ruined the rush job on the locomotive part and probably scrapped an expensive lathe to boot. If that's the way you run things here, then I quit." "You're right," Macrae shouted back. That locomotive job was a top priority, so why weren't you or Akoto overseeing it? Was it in danger of interfering with your personal business? I know your Friday morning routine! I accept your resignation." Discussion Questions How would you explain the situation described in this case? What do you think could bo inotood? Back
Discussion Questions How would you explain the situation described in this case? What do you think could have been done instead? What recommendations would you give to prevent future occurrence of similar situations? *Source: adapted from The Highlands & Islands Company and altered for the purpose of this discussion written by an anonymous author. Page 3 of 3