Leadership first assignment

Acme manufacturing company case study

Gov 10

Group A

Student name:Amr Mohamed Ibrahim

Under supervision:Prof DR.Rasha Wahieb
What specific things did Steve do wrong, and
what should have been done in each instance?
• From my point of view, Steve Arnold as a production manager at
Acme manufacturing company, suffered from lacking of effective time
management, planning and setting priorities, and that was clear in
different situations Steve faced all his day long:
• First, he woke up late, as he stayed up late the night before to
finish the monthly production report for his department.
Steve should have set the alarm or managed his time in a better way so
as to finish his report earlier.
• Second, Steve was 35 minutes late for his work, and spent
additional 20 minutes with his friend George, chatting about personal
issues.
Steve should have gone directly to his office as he was already 35
minutes late.
• Third, because of lacking effective time management and planning,
Steve forgot important events in his schedule. His secretary, Ruth
Sweeny, reminded him about the staff meeting with his boss, despite of
receiving an e-mail about it one or two weeks earlier, but he did not take
time to read it or to look at the attached materials, as a result, Steve
attended the meeting unprepared without reading the proposed change in
the quality control procedure, and so, the other production managers
participated effectively in the discussion while Steve contribution was
unnoticed.
Steve should have set priorities and should have got prepared for the
important meetings and events. Also he should have been more careful
in reading important received e-mails.
• Forth, Steve had delegated a rush order for one of the important
client for the company to Lucy Adam, one of the production supervisors
but because of lacking of follow up, he forgot that Lucy was at a
training workshop.
Being a rush order for an important client, Steve should have done the
task by himself without delegation, the other mistake that he at least
should have followed up the task he had given to Lucy.
 • Fifth, Mr. Ferris attended and claimed to have appointment with
Steve who had no entry in his calendar about that appointment. While
meeting Mr. Farris , Steve discovered that Mr. Ferris was from one of
the firms that provided materials used in the production process in the
company. Mr. Ferris asked Steve technical questions that he would not
be able to answer and Steve introduced Mr. Ferris to an engineer to
answer his questions.
Steve should have known exactly who is Mr. Ferris and what he was
going to talk about in order not to waste time with him without
answering his questions and wasting additional time while the engineer
answering Mr. Ferris.
• Sixth, Steve had given top priority to preparing the monthly
production report instead of the quality report, and that irritated his boss
as he needed the quality data to finalize his proposal for new procedures
and that was more important for him than the production report.
Steve should have known that the quality report is more important than
the production report and should have given it the priority.
• Seventh, as preparing the quality report took time more than
anticipated, Steve found himself late for the weekly safety
committee and he had to rush to join the meeting.
Steve should have delegated one of his employee to join that meeting
to save time for more important issues.
• Finally, Steve stopped to talk with his assistant manager about a
problem in the production assignment in the next day for about half an
hour.
Such important work issues needs concentration, careful discussion
and documentation for the solutions and Steve should not have such
conversation while standing without précised thinking.
 What should Steve do to become more effective as a manager?
To become more effective manager, Steve has to do the following:
• Be a model for his employees in following the work rules and
regulations as arriving at work in time and not being late.
• To improve his skills in time management and planning.
• To improve his capabilities in setting priorities and judging the
importance of different issues.
• He must be more careful and more organized in order not to lose
any important issue or waste time .
• He must know when to delegate an employee for specific task and
when he must perform the task by himself. Also he must follow up any
delegation or task he may give to any of his employee.
• He must not discuss important work issues and problems in a hurry
without careful discussion.
• Plan daily and weekly activities.
• Avoid unnecessary activites.
• Make a TO-DO list and determine what to be accomplished.