Organizational Analysis of Aberdeen Plant for Implementation at Green River Plant

Running Head: ORAGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS: ABERDEEN

Organizational Analysis of Aberdeen Plant for Implementation at Green River Plant

Organizational Analysis of Aberdeen Plant for Implementation at Green River Plant

An organizational analysis was conducted on two of the FMC Corporation's facilities. The Green River plant, Wyoming and the Aberdeen plant, South Dakota will be the subjects of the research. In this analysis we will focus work groups and teams, leadership and the communication process.

Background

The FMC Corporation is a conglomerate based in Chicago, which operates under five major businesses: Industrial chemicals, performance chemicals, precious metals, defense systems and machinery and equipment. Two major plants of the FMC Corporation are the Green River Plant and Aberdeen Plant. Green River is a set of older traditional plants, which have been in operation since 1953 and produces many products, which are distributed to over one hundred customers worldwide. Three newer, smaller plants are also currently in the works for Green River. Green River currently employs 1,150 unionized employees to oversee several product lines in the manufacturing of chemicals. Since the beginning of its operations the plant is part of the Alkali Chemicals Division of the FMC Corporation. It supplies sodium-based chemicals to the detergent industry, large commercial chemical plants, and the glass industry. The current site manager is Kenneth Dailey who is looking at ways to improve the current operations. He recently visited the Aberdeen plant in South Dakota to look at their unique management approach.

The Aberdeen plant is much smaller and simpler then Green River. Aberdeen is a fairly new facility with operations beginning in approximately 1985 but has adopted some new age styles of management. Aberdeen has 100 employees who manufacture one product for one customer. With only a few years in operation and one customer this facility has proven itself to be extremely efficient in manufacturing it. There is no union in place, which allows for a more cohesive relationship between the workers and mangers. The plant currently employs 30 percent women and about 8 percent minorities with a goal of 50 percent women in the coming years. The plant was originally managed by Bob Lancaster, who was known as somewhat of a maverick throughout the FMC Corporation. Lancaster developed Aberdeen using what he called a participative-management system that relied on trust, which allowed for self-directing work teams. The current plant manager of Aberdeen is Roger Campbell who has kept Lancaster's management system in tact and operating smoothly

Situation Analysis

Groups and team work are a big part of the operations at Aberdeen. The participative-management system in place at Aberdeen has become a large motivator for their employees and worked extremely well for them. These groups or teams make up the fundamental work unit at the Aberdeen plant with each team consisting in size from 3 to 16 team members. This is an easier approach at Aberdeen due to the low number of employees (100) and the fact that the plant is only five years old. A recent survey of more than 500 companies offers several reasons why self-directed work teams are revolutionizing their work approach. Some of those reasons are as follows (Williams R. 1995):

* Improved quality, productivity and service

* Greater flexibility