Management and Moral Dilemmas:A Case Analysis of John Smithers and Sigtek
MANAGEMENT AND MORAL DILEMMAS:A CASE ANALYSIS OF JOHN SMITHERS AND SIGTEK
At the heart of John Smithers’ dilemma is the failure to implement a total quality program due to a number of organizational factors that came into play within the corporate culture of Sigtek. The company at hand is a small telecommunications firm founded by former employees of Western Electric twenty five years earlier. It manufactured circuit boards for signal handling, and their clients are primarily mobile phone providers and other long-distance carriers. Recently, it was brought by Telwork, a $500 million European firm, which decided to implement a Total Quality program, intending to improve product quality, encourage better management practices, and consolidate all of Telwork’s diverse subsidiaries.
The major problem in the case of Sigtek is the failure of the firm to implement the Total Quality Program as prescribed by Telwork. As a result – and perhaps, due to – various factors within the firm’s operations, the environment has become turbulent, uncertain, and counterproductive. As evidenced by the experience of John Smithers, the company has failed in the implementation of the program, owing primarily to the lack of support by its promoters and backers. At the heart of this problem is the mentality and narrow-mindedness of the Vice President for Operations, Richard Patricof, who, in Smithers’ view, continually and consistently hampered the accomplishments and effectivity of the Total Quality program.
Evaluation of Problem Causes
Upon deeper analysis of the various causes that prevented the effective implementation and success of the Total Quality program, there are particular causes that emerged:
- A lack of vision and “champions” from upper management
Upper management, such as Richard Patricof, failed to endorse and commit fully to the Total Quality program. This is evidenced by the lack of questions when the Total Quality program team attempted to explain the program to the managers.
- Excessive program formality
The division between Smithers and his counterpart in operations, Murphy, made the Total Quality training process difficult and riddled with excessive formality. Where, for example, Murphy was the one responsible for the operations side, Smithers had difficulty resolving problems that plagued his end of engineering.
- High expectations that were difficult to meet
Smithers had known that the culture of the firm was resistant to change. In particular, he feared that there would form a rift between engineering and operations, presenting a barrier to any change program which required that the entire organization unite behind a single cause.
Systems Affected
The systems affected within Sigtek’s businesses are the human resources and, more importantly, the management system of the firm. The human resources systems are directly affected since the Total Quality program involved restructuring of certain departments, and some employees assuming additional tasks for the project. This is evidenced by Smithers’ responsibilities as an instructor and trainer conflicting with his prior work-related responsibilities. More importantly, however, the management system of Sigtek is affected, since, from Smithers’ perspective, Patricof emerged victorious in the end, resisting effective and productive change within the organization, and affecting future management prerogatives that would affect the company’s bottom line.
Alternatives
Smithers’ choice to withhold valuable input and insight to upper management regarding the implementation of the Total Quality program ultimately proved futile and ineffective. Instead, he should have voiced his concerns immediately to representatives at Telwork, where his opinion was perhaps more valued than within Sigtek itself. More importantly, once Smithers pointed out to upper management that Patricof is hindering the total implementation of the program, such as by way of refusing a temporary break in the classes to allow for a much-needed reassessment, he may have had a chance to prove the program successful.
Recommendations
What should John Smithers have done differently?
John should have voiced out his hesitations and concerns immediately once he became aware of their potential. This is essential since there should be a responsive management team that would handle the situation between Patricof and Cross, and respond accordingly. What happened was that John Smithers withheld his concerns and did not voice them out to upper management. Ultimately, this led to a corrosion in trust and the total failure of the program.
Works Cited
Jick, T. D. "John Smithers at Sigtek." Harvard Business School Case 491-035, October 1990. (Revised April 1998.)
