Dupont Case Study
As w e walked t hrough t he m anufacturing areas o f Dupont, t he p lant m anager, Tom
Harris, g reeted e ach worker by name. The p lant was o n a site t hat s tretched over 10 acres beside t he South River on t he e dge o f t own a nd it was t he major employer in t he community.
The p lant s eemed t o b e a p ermanent fixture, o r a t least m ore p ermanent t han most things. There had been changes, big ones, b ut t he p lant was still t he plant. The
Orion m anufacturing operation h ad b een s hut down, t he e quipment dismantled a nd s ent t o China. As far as I could find o ut early in my work there, t hese changes, despite their magnitude, w ere s een as doing t he r egular business o f t he e nterprise. No o ne f ramed t he c hanges as needing unusual attention, so t here was n o c hange m anagement design. The projects-getting rid o f o ne o peration a nd installing a nother-were p lanned a nd e xecuted just like a ny project. Change m anagement was n ot a rubric used t o e ither accomplish o r explain w hat was going on. More changes were coming, w hether t here was any formal practice o f c hange m anagement o r not. The plant w ould s oon e nough look very different from w hat I s aw on t hat first t our with
Tom.
I first m et Tom when he came t o t he
University o f Virginia seeking t o m ake contact with t he academic community in o rder t o bring some o f t he l atest thinking in busines~ t o his o peration. His i nterest lay in ir¢roducihg his m anagers t o n ew ideas, a nd in applying those. ideas t o improving t he plant. He was n ot, h e said, looking for solutions t o specific problems, b ut r ather in improving overall organization effectiveness. This was important because h e was under increasing pressure t o d o m ore with less.
In February this general bulletin was s ent t o all employees, a nd I b egan t he field-work from which a portrayal o f t he work culture would b e built.
Gib Akin, a
Harris, g reeted e ach worker by name. The p lant was o n a site t hat s tretched over 10 acres beside t he South River on t he e dge o f t own a nd it was t he major employer in t he community.
The p lant s eemed t o b e a p ermanent fixture, o r a t least m ore p ermanent t han most things. There had been changes, big ones, b ut t he p lant was still t he plant. The
Orion m anufacturing operation h ad b een s hut down, t he e quipment dismantled a nd s ent t o China. As far as I could find o ut early in my work there, t hese changes, despite their magnitude, w ere s een as doing t he r egular business o f t he e nterprise. No o ne f ramed t he c hanges as needing unusual attention, so t here was n o c hange m anagement design. The projects-getting rid o f o ne o peration a nd installing a nother-were p lanned a nd e xecuted just like a ny project. Change m anagement was n ot a rubric used t o e ither accomplish o r explain w hat was going on. More changes were coming, w hether t here was any formal practice o f c hange m anagement o r not. The plant w ould s oon e nough look very different from w hat I s aw on t hat first t our with
Tom.
I first m et Tom when he came t o t he
University o f Virginia seeking t o m ake contact with t he academic community in o rder t o bring some o f t he l atest thinking in busines~ t o his o peration. His i nterest lay in ir¢roducihg his m anagers t o n ew ideas, a nd in applying those. ideas t o improving t he plant. He was n ot, h e said, looking for solutions t o specific problems, b ut r ather in improving overall organization effectiveness. This was important because h e was under increasing pressure t o d o m ore with less.
In February this general bulletin was s ent t o all employees, a nd I b egan t he field-work from which a portrayal o f t he work culture would b e built.
Gib Akin, a