Issues Related to Going Green at Oshawa Industries

Oshawa Industries, a subsidiary of Oshawa Holdings, is a 25 years old plant which specializes in electroplating and metal finishing. Their primary customers are steel manufacturers and automotive plants where they serve as Tier 2 supplier. Despite being a market leader for several years, the organization is encountering several problems both internally and externally. The aim of this paper is to identify those issues that are slowly but surly derailing the company from its track and offer recommendations which can bring them back on winning track.

Part 1: Issues that Oshawa Industries Should Address

Issues related to people alignment. The technical leadership of the organization namely Chet Wainwright is of the view that plating is an “art” which should be directed by an expert and implemented by semi-skilled workers. Hence, there is no formal training in plating or advanced technology for the workers. Whenever they face any problem, they resort to either Wainwright or his two senior planting technicians who would solve the problems through trial-and-error. Moreover, there is no documentation of the nonstandard jobs which constitute nearly 25% of the production, and whatever instructions are written are of ten overlooked by the workers as they find them difficult to follow and still meet production targets. These factors have led to late deliveries, a decrease in productivity and thinner margins.

The plant manager of OI, Gerry Pawlawsky, did not enjoy any autonomy so far as operational changes or expenditures are concerned. He needed to take permission from either Wainwright or Carter. In addition, the management style of the plant manager was inconsistent with employees. He also did not share a strong relationship with the management.

When Mark Talbot joined as the Assistant Plant Manger in OI, he had no direct reporting relationship with anyone as there was no Plant Manager. He reported directly to Wainwright.    

Issues related to reinforcing the new behaviour.

There appear to be no such issues related to reinforcing new behaviour in OI. They seem to be rewarding good work as is evident from the decision to promote Mark Talbot, who was working as the Assistant Plant Manager, to the position of Plant Manager one year ahead of the original plan based on his performance, meticulous nature, and proactive attitude.

However, when it comes to the seniority of the workers the Union contact is full of ambiguity. One the one hand, it states that employees with the greatest length of service will be eligible for greatest seniority rights. But on the other hand, it mentions that the seniority rights will depend on the qualification of the employee to perform the work available.

The relationship between the managerial, supervisory staff and plant employees is very cold. They seldom mingle. They even eat lunch separately. The seven parking areas of OI are reserved for Plant Manager, Assistant Plant Manager, Quality Control Manager,

Office Manager and three visitors. Other OI employees are left with no choice than to park their cars along the side and back areas of the property on a first come, first serve basis. These reflect the sharp distinction that is maintained by the company to between managerial and non-managerial staff. As a result, the supervisory staff found it hard to get their instructions executed. They had to depend on Wainwright who knew each one by name. However, as Wainwright became EVP in the mid-1990s his visit to the plant dwindled along with his personal involvement. This made the position of Plant Manger a crucial one, but due to his lack of camaraderie with the workers, the managerial style of the plant manager became erratic with employees.   

Issues related to leadership.

The leadership of OI is highly centralized. The nucleus of OI has formed by Dean Carter and Chet Wainwright. Both of them were actively involved in the commercial and technical aspects of the plant. The plant managers were powerless and merely working under their directions. This gave rise to several issues.

Firstly, Wainwright being the technical GM did not like Carter’s intervention in the plant. Other managers also follow suit. Secondly, as a consequence, they started avoiding Carter and upward flow of information was disrupted. Thirdly, the post of plant manager changed hands many times which generated a lack of confidence among the plant employees with respect to the stability and authority of the post.

After moving to a consulting role as EVP of OI, Wainwright lost touch with the daily operations of the plant for which the emotional bond between the employees and the organization leadership was damaged. Additionally, he realised that the emerging metal finishing technologies are beyond his area of interest. As a result, the company now needs not just a plant manager but also a successor who is more than willing to take up the onus of re-establishing the old bonding and at the same time will be happy to guide a new recruit in leaning the processes of electroplating.

Issues related to going green.

There are several issues that OI must address in relation to work hazard, environmental pollution, and sustainability. OI employees are often suffering from acid bums, cyanide poisoning, electrical shocks, scalds and crushed fingers due to the presence of chromic, sulphuric and nitric acid and caustic oils in the aging pipes, tanks, and spill pails. The air inside the plant was highly tainted with propane and combustion products from vats, furnace, and forklifts. In many places of the plant natural light is obstructed by equipment both stored and operational. The noise level inside the plant is considerable. All these factors contribute to the health hazard of the employees, contamination of nature, and hinder sustainability of the organization. Moreover, the Ontario Environmental Protection Act has classified almost everything related to the electroplating industry as hazardous because the processes are loaded with acids and heavy metals.

Another issue related to going green is that the pollution control equipment is very expensive. The organization must make provisions for the added cost without affecting its competitive advantage.

Part 2: Recommendation

Recommendations related to people alignment

OI leadership should set the vision of the company clearly and communicate that to all employees directly so that they know what goal they are working for and that their contribution matters.  

They should link everyday efforts with the overall objective of the organization. This will help the plant manager and the employees to visualise how their contribution is adding up to execute the company strategy and achieve success (Harrison).  

The plant manager must be given more autonomy and a clearly defined jurisdiction within which he can take decisions. For every small issues, she should not depend on either Cater or Wainwright’s permission. This will make him more responsible and accountable for his performance.

The management of OI must ensure that the post of plant manager does not become a musical chair. The incumbent should be given adequate time and enough opportunity to develop a stable rapport with the plant employees.

For this purpose, the choice of plant manager must be made with a long term view in mind.

OI management must think of empowering their plant employees through formal training which will lower their dependence on Wainwright who is not in a position to devote time in the plant or two of this technicians.

The processes and procedures both standard and non-standards should be documented in a way that reflects the true picture of the plant operation.

The organizational structure must be well-defined.

There must be transparency from the top.   

Recommendations related to reinforcing the new behaviour

First and foremost, the ambiguity in the seniority issue of the employees must be resolved. There must be very clear spelt out parameters for job security and job opportunities.

Efforts must be made to break the ice between the supervisory staff and the plant employees. OI management can think of a spacious office canteen where all staff members can gather for their lunch and mingle with each other. This will ensure that they grow friendship and bonding outside work also.

The OI management must encourage the supervisory staff members to know their team members better and develop a rapport with them. They can think of announcing an award for a manager who maintains the best relationship with employees (Rebecca).

The plant employees must be allotted space for their vehicles to park. This will give them the much needed dignity and help to bridge the gap with the managerial staff.

     Recommendations related to leadership

The highly centralized leadership of OI may not be greatly suited for the company to face growing competition. They need diversity in their leadership which will bring in varied ideas, better perspective, widespread knowledge, a variety of skills and enriched experience.

The mid-level management should be vested with greater power and autonomy so that they can lead their teams and guide them appropriately to success.   

 The senior leadership of OI must be involved in all the aspects of its operations but should maintain the fine balance of not interfering into others domain.

The leadership must ensure that there is unobstructed information flow upward. For this said purpose, they need to create direct and transparent communication channels. There must also be a communication channel that ensures the downward flow of communication (Phillips).

The senior management of OI must devote time in looking for a successor who can take the company forward.   

Recommendations related to going green

Since OI comes under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act which considers all the aspects of electroplating industry as hazardous, it is the primary responsibility of the OI management to ensure an injury-free and least hazardous work environment for the employees.

They must device a sustainability policy.

Equipment with advanced technology and air purifiers must be installed so that there are the least noise and air pollution.

The layout of the plant needs to be changed so that it is well lite all the time. If necessary, equipment can be stored in a separate space.

The company must bring the plant employees under insurance cover so that they get adequately compensated in case of accidents.

 No doubt, all these will be expensive, but OI must accept this cost for the sake of sustainability and good reputation which in turn will allure both customers and talents for their business. 

   Conclusion

Maintaining the market position in the face of growing competition becomes even challenging when there exist internal problems in the organization, which calls for an urgent solution. For OI, resolving the internal problems is a not a matter of urgency, but it is their utmost priority. An organization run by a nucleus formed by two people with highly centralized leadership style is sure to fall flat in the face of emerging competition and changing market demand. To ensure its survival, OI must adopt changes right from its people alignment, leadership pattern, use of technology to marketing strategy and sustainability policy.     

Works Cited

Harrison, Kate. ”Employee Alignment: The Secret Sauce to Success”. Forbes, 12 Oct. 2014. www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2014/10/02/employee-alignment-the-secret-sauce-to-success/#2b4092eae024.

Rebecca, Michelle. ”Positive Reinforcement in the Workplace”. Training Industry, 2018. trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/positive-reinforcement-in-the-workplace/

Phillips, Abigail. ”How to Lead Your Team Through Change”. The Entrepreneur, 1 Aug. 2014. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235832.