The everlasting battle – Managers vs Workers - B8
- Nov 11, 2016
- 2 min read
In preparation for week 9, everybody had to read a case study called ‘‘The hegemonic power of management and the sacking of the night shift: Power-coercive strategies or Machiavellian management?’’ written by Patrick Dawson. When the class started we were split into two groups, one representing managers’ standpoint and the other workers’ standpoint. I will briefly outline main points of the case study and then discuss the useful factors that external parties should consider when deciding on the change.
Night shift workers were overworking washing machines in order to finish before the end of their shift so they can take a collective nap. This was going on for more than 3 years even though day shift workers were aware of that. Managers started suspecting that something was wrong when washing machine failures were mainly recorded during night shifts. They installed the digital tracker in washing machines and realised that they were overused for the first 5 hours of the shift and never used during the other 3 hours of the night shift. One day management sent a secret supervisor to inspect what was going on and he found the workers sleeping. They were all laid off instantly.
I joined the manager's group and after the 10-minute discussion with other group members, we were invited to interchangeably defend our positions. As in many other arguments, we as managers defended ‘our’ decision to lay off night shift workers and workers thought they deserved better treatment while they were still being efficient and they never got a chance to explain themselves. The first thought that came to my mind during the discussion was: ‘’I am finding it hard to justify such a quick decision by management even though workers were clearly in the wrong.’’ Therefore, I would argue that there is a lot to be learned from this case study.
First of all, big changes should never be rushed and decided on straight after the problem is identified. Managers should have checked if there were any mistakes they made that led to this problem. Also, managers should have spent some time thinking about the problem or asking someone external to the problem who could act without an emotional involvement (e.g. consultants). Likewise, it is questionable if the complete shutdown of the night shift was necessary. After all, sacked workers can find a different job while profits from the night shift are fully forgone. Additionally, workers could have complained and sued the company because they were only caught once.
As presented, many problems with this decision can be identified. Therefore, I would suggest that companies look into using similar case studies to highlight the need for thinking and sensible decision making. For example, managers could take the role of employees and vice versa. In this way, a better understanding of the problem can be built. Such an approach can help companies collectively find the best solution while ensuring that everybody knows the reasoning behind the decision. Finally, it is sometimes hard to step back and look at the problem from a different standpoint and this is where consultants could be a great solution. Unbiased suggestions and clear mind can prevent companies from doing detrimental changes. Overall, I found this session extremely useful and definitely plan to use this exercise in future.
See case in the gallery:
Comments