Question

Case Study: Johnson Motor Corporation

By: Theresa Ceccarelli, Ph.D.

Johnson Motor Corporation operates several proving grounds worldwide,

for development and validation testing of new vehicles. The company has a long

history in the automotive industry and has a strong reputation for quality and

service. Dan Smith oversees several of these sites. In one particular site in

Michigan, Smith has a garage that consists of 140 full time mechanics, most of

which are men. The Director, Dan Smith has been with the company most of his

career. His reputation is one that demands quality. He likes to keep things

looking clean and orderly. This is hard to do in a garage. He once told them “we

are one of the largest automotive companies in the world and our garage should

look first class.” In one particular instance he asked that the mechanics move

their carts against the wall so that people coming into the garage do not see the

dirty rags on the carts. Once they were moved, the mechanics dropped the rags

on the floor because they had no where to lay them. Smith got mad that the

garage looked messy and forgot that he was the one who asked that the carts be

moved back to the original stations.

Overall, Smith is proud of his department. Most of the previous managers

had taken the company’s buyout offer, leaving the management level smaller and

more agile than the previous years. Despite the concerns from the company’s

recent buyout offers, he believed his group had adapted well. Smith liked to think

they are on top of all communication issues than in previous years. In fact, Smith

would spend a week at a time at the various sites to show his appreciation.

Contrary to what some of the managers felt about the loss of personnel initially,

Smith’s presences usually made the managers feel important, showing that they

were on a first name basis with the director.

In Michigan, recent reduction in workforce has reduced the number of

mangers from what were seven people down to just two. These two managers,

Ed Tyler and Joe Forest, report directly to him and there are several leaders that

report to those two managers. Smith puts in long hours at work, but lately he has

been leaving more of the responsibility to his two managers to run the shop and

various large scale projects. He is granting them more decision-making and

problem-solving authority as they mature. He says, “I am watching you both and

how you handle the job. I want to see how you perform.” One manager, Ed

Tyler was promoted from within the garage and the other, Joe Forest transferred

from the budget department, but both have been with the company most of their

careers.

Ed Tyler has years of experience with the company and the technical

know-how from being a mechanic once himself. He has passed the mechanic

exams that the mechanics are required to take, but lacks the interpersonal skills

which often lead to conflict and performance roadblocks. Although a hard

worker, his personality clashes with the employees that report to him and other

leaders. He talks to his employees in a demeaning manor and comes across as

though he does not care about them. For example, Smith asked Tyler and

Forest to hold a meeting informing the employees that there will be layoffs in the

coming months. Smith said that he could come to the meeting if either manager

did not feel comfortable with the task. One of the deciding factors for who will be

let go will be their education level. Forest and Tyler said they could handle the

meeting. Employees that did not further their education over the years were

disappointed. Tyler’s response was “oh well” and walked away. This was

another example of Tyler’s poor communication skills. Soon after the meeting

someone placed a picture of a donkey with Tyler’s face on it in the bathrooms.

Every day for a week the picture would resurface again. Customers coming into

the garage would ask what the picture was about. It was embarrassing for Smith

who wanted to maintain a high standard of excellence in the company and

industry. Smith has been thinking about transferring Ed to another facility within

the company.

Forest has a master’s degree and has had a lot of shop experience from

another department prior to taking this position. Smith however, wants Forest to

pass the mechanics exams so that he can say he has the same training as the

mechanics that report to him. Forest disagrees because he has a master’s

degree already, but has taken the exam two times and unfortunately has not

passed. He finds himself too busy to study. Despite that, Forest is a dedicated

and hard worker and has no problem taking on new challenges. Smith has

praised him for his style in handling his employees and helping him on specific

projects. For example, Forest was given the direction to resurface the garage

floor. He did this over the holiday break when fewer employees would be there

ensuring less disruption to the department. Forest worked 30 days straight

including the holiday break to ensure it was done right and to Smith’s

expectations. Forest is also very patient and one of his strong skills is listening

and explaining things well. This has come in handy to Smith who from time to

time needed computer help. On one occasion, Malick had not used his printer in

his office because it was not working. His administrator called Forest to see if he

could ask the IT Department to help him. Forest checked it out himself and

found that the printer was not plugged into the computer! Smith asked Forest

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” Smith is constantly concerned about

his image.

In keeping up with high quality standards, Lynn Reed was hired by Dan

Smith to audit the files and make sure there are no duplicate files and that the

department meets the requirements. Her education level is an associate degree

from a small college. Her assignment is to make sure all the files are in order for

inspection by the auditors in a few months and that there are no duplicates.

Lynn’s style is very upfront and direct. However, it is her directness that is

conflicting with the department because she is a finger pointer. If something is

out of place, she finds out whose fault it was and sends an email to Smith,

blaming that particular person thereby, causing commotion within the

department. She has been known to “throw people under the bus” and give them

no chance to explain. For example, Forest deleted old files thinking the

department did not need them anymore. When he realized what he had done he

called the IT Department and had the files restored. When Lynn found out she

emailed Smith and said that Forest has duplicate files and the auditors will not

like the duplicate files. By going above Forest instead of telling him, it caused

concern for Forest. Forest tried to explain to Lynn why there are duplicate files,

but she will not listen to him. She has done this with Tyler and other employees

as well.

Smith is concerned with resolving common problems that can negatively

affect team productivity. At a meeting with Joe, Dan talked about whom Lynn

should report to and what he expects from her. He says that she is very

knowledgeable in the auditing processes. Forest tried to explain that she comes

across as wanting to “throw people under the bus” and that she should not work

in their department. Smith agreed that she can be difficult, but said he wanted

Lynn to report to Forest. He said originally that he was going to have Lynn report

to Ed, but that he felt it might lead to more commotion within the garage. On top

of that, Ed does not want to work with her either.

Assignment

Now that you have read the above case study, imagine that you have

been hired by Johnson Motor Corporation as part of a consulting group to identify

communication issues and make suggestions on ways the company can

continue to move forward. Address your response to the David Lean the CEO of

the Corporation. They asked that you report on the culture and climate of various

departments. You have been assigned to report on this department and define

any communication issues that they may have that keeps them from moving

forward. What are the issues? What solutions and recommendations do you

have?

When writing the memo you should provide a brief description of the

problem(s). Identify the facts and discuss the key problems. Make

recommendations evaluating the following:

 How should Joe handle Lynn? Why? What about his supervisor, Dan?

 Is Smith putting too much pressure on Forest to perform?

 How do the cultural values at Johnson Motor Company relate to

communication, information flow and openness?

 What should Smith do with Ed Tyler? Should he be transferred?

 Is Smith addressing the communication issues in the department or

avoiding them all together for Forest and Tyler to deal with. Is this fair?

Are they ready/experienced for that?

As a consultant, you need to be honest but tactful in your recommendations.

Remember

Overall, this assignment has five elements that are all inter-related.

1. Carefully read the “case study” and type a letter/memo that details your

specific analysis and recommendations about how problem presented in

case might be approached and solved. This document should be

formatted for reading ease, not a page of text. Make sure you use

headings, bullet points and bold to make it easy to read.

Answer 1

The biggest issue under Dan Smith with Johnson Motor Company is that he feels they have no communication problems. Dan Smith's demand for quality and rigidity hasn't allowed formal or non-formal lines of communication developed in the unit and he's the one calling all the shots without realizing that he's harming the employees more than anyone else. E Smith is more concerned about his reputation as a perfectionist and he thinks he can get away with his style and place and force himself on others for a lonely time in the company. He should understand that he must be transparent, honest, make only reasonable demands and create a culture of transparency and collaboration & cooperation so that the unit continues to do well with the human resources available. Not all of Dan smith handles the communication issues properly with his team.

The style of leadership is autocratic and the atmosphere of company is closed where things just move in one direction, which is Dan Smith, and he calls the shots. There is no division and allocation of responsibility and no proper cohesion is formed in command of direction. Forest and Tyler have no separation of duties and accountabilities. There's clearly a lack of coordination between line and staff.

Forest and Tyler are overburdened, having failed to meet Dan Smith's unrealistically challenging expectations. These are both assets to the company if adequately used in the specific structures these are experts in. Dan Smith still looks at them because they have met his standards and this also does not help them with their subordinates to establish a healthy channel of communication. In this type of scenario, the subordinates will attempt to buy the superior and challenge the head of the authority directly to demonstrate their ability and potential, which again puts both Forest and Tyler's ability under question mark. Dan Smith has to show a lot of faith in Forest and Tyler by acts and in front of the team to correct things. Besides that he must motivate them to take corrective action and set standard operating procedure to fix anything they feel is hampering the lines of communication.

The proposed course of action to improve matters is as follows :

• Dan Smith should be asked to put his workers to practical demands.
• Dan will follow policies that are more open and fair, and demonstrate confidence in his subordinates. He would provide them with team specific roles and responsibilities, thereby building a chain of hierarchy and direction and command cohesion.
• The line and staff should work within the given job description and only topic of high importance that requires attention from Dan Smith should be reported directly keeping the immediate superior in loop.
• Dan Smith will work with Lynn with current liabilities as a valuable asset. This means she has the knowledge and desire to do her job but she needs time and effort to refine her abilities so she becomes a successful employee. She ought to be talking about organizational mannerism, the principles of jurisprudence and the importance of team work and "throwing people under the bus. "There's no point in keeping her in the organization if she doesn't improve her attitude. Either she needs to polish her interpersonal skills or she needs to look for an alternative is the only option she should get. She is adding fuel to the organisation's fire right now.
• Forest that has excellent leadership skills and ability to plan and learn new things, Lynn's manager should become. Unless and until things become pressingly difficult, Lynn should be told never to ignore him.
• Joe Smith exerts too much pressure on Forest to pass the mechanics exams. There is actually no need for the same as Forest has all the resources and skills required to prove its value which is far superior to Dan Smith. What he needs to settle in the new role is his time and Dan will provide him with the required supporting role to improve his leadership qualities. In years to come, he will be proving a great leader for the company.
• The company should have an open mind to thoughts, facts and suggestions. With a lot of empathy and consideration, care must be taken to establish trust and worthy relationship among employees. This is going to take time but should be an immediate management move.
• Ed Tyler should have ample time to develop interpersonal skills and come to the level of management standards. Until that time, tasks that require further action should be allocated to his expertise. He can thus contribute, gain confidence and at the same time learn and become knowledgeable in the areas that he lacks. He should not be granted an individual assignment until he learns and demonstrates higher levels of interpersonal skills. He can be moved to any other position due to poor interpersonal skills, as he has lost respect and goodwill among the colleagues. Nevertheless he should be clearly mentioned the reason for the transition and assurance should be taken from him that he would change to become a better leader to his subordinates.

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