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Case study No.1 |
Removal of a factory
It happened in the United Kingdom. One can well imagine how much problems it might cause if the supplier of a Boeing 747, that values more than 100 million English Pounds, falls in delay. The English company at issue 'has grown out' of its manufacturing site and the new location it had chosen was a couple of hundred miles away from the old one. The management of the company realized the perils involved in moving the factory including the risk of losing their most significant customer. It also became clear soon that the company had no expert of its own specialized in removal. The management could also clearly see that it would present a great risk if they assigned the job of removal to the project manager of the company, who was otherwise an excellent organizer, but had never participated in similar projects before. Finally, they decided to employ an interim manager for the implementation of the removal. In fact, they had no other choice; no company can afford to keep an expert in reserve for a special occasion such as the moving of a whole factory. So they contacted a well-known interim management firm and provided it with the description of the project. After having studied the job carefully, the interim management firm offered several candidates for the performance of the job within a few days. Finally, Mr. Peter Smith was selected as he had the necessary experience and pronounced project manager faculties and had been participating in the performance of similar projects for 25 years in Europe, Asia and Australia, especially for blue-chip companies. Mr. Smith soon turned up at his working place, and, to the management's greatest surprise, it took him only a few days to understand the special function of each division and factory unit and to prepare the schedule of the removal. Mr. Smith, with a newcomer's eye, could detect all anomalies that the people working at the company could no longer perceive in the course implementing consequent austerity programs. As Mr. Smith kept telling them: "As a project manager coming from outside, I have the faculties to become an integral part of the company within a short time and to prompt the management and the workers to co-operate. However, it does not mean that I can overlook the shortcomings I have revealed in the company's operation." The removal went on smoothly and did not cost more than planned. Boeing, the biggest customer of the company, congratulated its supplier. The letter of congratulation stressed that the expertly implementation of the removal had further increased confidence in the supplier. Next year, at the time of deciding about acquisitions and the customer judged suppliers' offers, secure supply was a decisive factor in awarding the tender to the company at issue.
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