As manager of a department at a significant sized manufacturing company you are responsible for many things. The gist of your role however, as manager, is essentially to ensure the smooth day-to-day operation of your particular department. Included in this is the financial aspect of your entire department which involves tracking, reporting, some recording, analyzing and budgeting any financial aspects of the department.

You spend a lot of time working on the financial side of the departments operations. You consult with your staff and collect all pertinent data to make wise decisions along with keeping company goals in mind.

Things are always tight in this manufacturing industry it is a common product but profit margins are tight and thus any actual or budgeted (projected) cost savings are always looked upon with favor at every level of the company but especially at the upper levels of the company. As a large company there are many levels of responsibility. You, as manager of your department, report to a senior manager who is responsible for a regional division of which you are just one of several local area departments.

You have recently found out that your senior manager has been changing your departments financial numbers and financial projections without consulting with you and without communicating the changes to you. These changes, while making profit margins look acceptable and meeting company targets, will have a significant negative impact on your department over the next several years both from a human resource and manufacturing standpoint.

Are there issues here? What should you do?

address 2 or 3 issues and analysis for this scenario