1. What changes took place at Goodman, and what contributed to the difficulty in implementing them?
Before Ann Bennet’s proposal was implemented, the entire production process is operated by a single worker. The employees are paid according to hourly rate. Ms. Bennet suggested a mass-production format whereby each worker will be assigned to one job only. After the plan implementation, the wages is paid under a piecework system. Ms Bennet believes that by using piecework system as a motivator, the production of the equipments will increase.
In the first shift, the quality and production dropped after the changes. Previously, they produced top-rated quality products among the 3 shifts. Cleverson Anthony is the supervisor of the first shift. He is respected by most of the worker after working for so many years in Goodman Company. Before the plan implementation, he had been planning for retirement. However, he had asked for earlier retirement after working under Ms Bennet’s plan for only two weeks. When the leader cannot adapt to the changes, workers will feel demotivated. Nobody in the first shift likes the changes. Workers complained that products are not being readied properly for another process. They tried to organize a union because they felt that the company looked down at their abilities when their job is simplified. This leads to the proposal failure.
Overall, second shift seem to be a productive group.