Story: Larry wanted Michael to take over the firm so that Larry could focus on his favorite part of the business, which was redesigning the car and inventing new products. Michael agreed to help his father, and had visions of making the company a self-managed organization where workers had as much control as possible. Michael knew that he and his father had different visions for how Westward should be managed. Larry was an entrepreneur who liked to invent things, but he did not like paperwork. He was always tinkering with the car, improving it because he enjoyed responding to customer feedback. For him, the best way to grow Westward was by improving the design of its product. It was his company, his car, and he called the shots. There were few written policies, and a very limited paper trail. Inventory and parts were especially problematic, and often the assembly line had to wait for a rush-order of missing parts. Westward’s employees were happy that the firm was going to be managed by someone with Michael’s administrative and organizational skills, and glad that Larry would stay on as Vice-President of Research and Development. Michael’s management style was the opposite of his father’s. Rather than top-down control, Michael wanted the firm to have bottom-up control where members had control over their work. Michael wanted to be treated like a member of the “team,” a team where everyone in the organization did their part and respected each other. Michael wanted everyone to have ownership of their jobs and to enjoy their work. He also wanted everyone to be empowered to make decisions about their jobs, including what time they arrived in the morning and when they left at the end of their shift. After all, they were the experts in the work that they did. Michael created a “What’s Happening” binder that he left on the staffroom table; it contained letters to suppliers, customers, and financial reports. He wanted everyone to know what was going on. Michael started to hold weekly staff meetings, where problems were discussed and decisions made. Michael’s most important contribution was to overhaul the management information systems at Westward. He revamped everything from human resource management to accounting to operations management. He knew that getting the right information into the hands of employees was key to his vision of a self-managed organization. His new systems provided basic information that had not been available at Westward before—like how many parts there were in inventory—and it was welcomed by everyone. At first, Larry despised the system because it demanded that everyone— even Larry—had to account for each part and piece of material being used. Michael also overhauled the accounting system, which made it easier to find out which custom orders were more profitable, the costs associated with adding special features to the vehicle, and which components to produce in-house and which to buy from suppliers. Compared to his entrepreneurial father, Michael had a different set of values and ideas about control, and a different way of relating to others and of making decisions. This, in turn, resulted in him developing different information systems. However, even six months after his arrival and making all these changes, most employees at Westward had not embraced Michael’s management approach. They had spent years working under Larry’s approach, and most did not buy into his son’s vision for a self-managed organization. Then unexpectedly Michael left Westward and Larry took over the management duties again. Although Larry appreciated the systems improvements that Michael had made, Larry was quick to revert to his “old school” approach to managing the company. And employees, who were very familiar with Larry’s management style, were ready to embrace it. Michael’s vision for a self-managed firm and his changes seemed destined to fail. However, the story does not end there. One year after his departure, Michael’s idea of a self-managed organization had actually started to take hold at Westward. This happened in large part because of the way that Michael had designed Westward’s management information systems, which Larry had not changed after Michael’s departure. By working in accordance with these information systems—which Michael had designed to support his vision of a self-managed organization—workers at Westward began to experience firsthand what Michael had been trying to accomplish. They grew to enjoy the empowerment that the information systems provided. Question: Why was Michael Mauws unable to get the employees to change their views about how Westward was managed while he was CEO, but they changed their views after he left?
Story:
Larry wanted Michael to take over the firm so that Larry could focus on his favorite part of the business, which was redesigning the car and inventing new products. Michael agreed to help his father, and had visions of making the company a self-managed organization where workers had as much control as possible.
Michael knew that he and his father had different visions for how Westward should be managed. Larry was an entrepreneur who liked to invent things, but he did not like paperwork. He was always tinkering with the car, improving it because he enjoyed responding to customer feedback. For him, the best way to grow Westward was by improving the design of its product. It was his company, his car, and he called the shots. There were few written policies, and a very limited paper trail. Inventory and parts were especially problematic, and often the assembly line had to wait for a rush-order of missing parts.
Westward’s employees were happy that the firm was going to be managed by someone with Michael’s administrative and organizational skills, and glad that Larry would stay on as Vice-President of Research and Development. Michael’s management style was the opposite of his father’s. Rather than top-down control, Michael wanted the firm to have bottom-up control where members had control over their work. Michael wanted to be treated like a member of the “team,” a team where everyone in the organization did their part and respected each other. Michael wanted everyone to have ownership of their jobs and to enjoy their work. He also wanted everyone to be empowered to make decisions about their jobs, including what time they arrived in the morning and when they left at the end of their shift. After all, they were the experts in the work that they did. Michael created a “What’s Happening” binder that he left on the staffroom table; it contained letters to suppliers, customers, and financial reports. He wanted everyone to know what was going on. Michael started to hold weekly staff meetings, where problems were discussed and decisions made.
Michael’s most important contribution was to overhaul the management information systems at Westward. He revamped everything from human resource management to accounting to operations management. He knew that getting the right information into the hands of employees was key to his vision of a self-managed organization. His new systems provided basic information that had not been available at Westward before—like how many parts there were in inventory—and it was welcomed by everyone. At first, Larry despised the system because it demanded that everyone— even Larry—had to account for each part and piece of material being used. Michael also overhauled the accounting system, which made it easier to find out which custom orders were more profitable, the costs associated with adding special features to the vehicle, and which components to produce in-house and which to buy from suppliers.
Compared to his entrepreneurial father, Michael had a different set of values and ideas about control, and a different way of relating to others and of making decisions. This, in turn, resulted in him developing different information systems. However, even six months after his arrival and making all these changes, most employees at Westward had not embraced Michael’s management approach. They had spent years working under Larry’s approach, and most did not buy into his son’s vision for a self-managed organization.
Then unexpectedly Michael left Westward and Larry took over the management duties again. Although Larry appreciated the systems improvements that Michael had made, Larry was quick to revert to his “old school” approach to managing the company. And employees, who were very familiar with Larry’s management style, were ready to embrace it. Michael’s vision for a self-managed firm and his changes seemed destined to fail.
However, the story does not end there. One year after his departure, Michael’s idea of a self-managed organization had actually started to take hold at Westward. This happened in large part because of the way that Michael had designed Westward’s management information systems, which Larry had not changed after Michael’s departure. By working in accordance with these information systems—which Michael had designed to support his vision of a self-managed organization—workers at Westward began to experience firsthand what Michael had been trying to accomplish. They grew to enjoy the empowerment that the information systems provided.
Question:
Why was Michael Mauws unable to get the employees to change their views about how Westward was managed while he was CEO, but they changed their views after he left?
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps
