Leadership and Management

Laura is the Plant Operations Manager of an aerospace manufacturing company that produces both commercial and military aircraft. She is the lead supervisor that oversees all projects from fabrication through delivery. She reports directly to the regional General Manager. Overall, the agency has been cautious in hiring this year. Federal cutbacks have reduced funding for military contracts and increased the competition for government grants. In addition, the economic turndown has discouraging air travel which is hurting orders for commercial operations.

In addition to the external challenges, the plant has also been struggling internally from high staff turnover. The plants turnover rate is 39%, which is alarmingly higher than the industry standard of 7.9%. In that past six months, two lead line-supervisors for military projects have left. This leaves the plant in a perilous position challenged with meeting the increasing demands from military contracts. As well, three key design engineers have left the plant to work for a local competitor who offers higher pay and better benefits.

Laura has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, she supervises two lead engineers who in turn are responsible for the five line leads each. Both lead engineers have been appointed within the last six months.

Manager 1: Kevin has a specific background in research and development. He manages research and development for military contracts and the assembly operations for the military prodjects. Kevin supports his staff and is very organized; however, he often takes a very black and white view of issues and has on more than one occasion reprimanded personnel for minor protocol violations. Upper-level leadership values Kevin's design and development skills and the authority he displays over those in his charge. Kevin is very motivated and driven and expects the same from his staff.

Manager 2: Linda has a strong background in aerospace design and 14 years of experience in manufacturing. She manages staff that works on commercial projects within the plant. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. She is very organized and has a wealth of experience in the evaluation of manufacturing and assembly processes. Linda is a very capable multi-tasker but can sometimes take on too much. Recent health issues have been a concern.

The lead engineers are sensing that staff are becoming over worked as everyone is taking on increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staff has also mentioned that Laura's "glass half-empty" conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. In addition, Laura has not shared budgets with the plant's supervisors, so they are having difficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. Laura claims that she has not received enough information from the finance department to complete the budgets. However, the finance department said they had sent her all the information they have available. Rumors are starting to circulate that the plant is considering mass layoffs in favor of automated assembly lines.

As staff becomes distressed, the lead engineers are becoming frustrated. They feel like they are unable to advocate for their staff or problem solve without key information, like the departmental budget.

Discussion Questions: Fully explain each question, using the resources provided and the information covered in chapters 15 & 16 answer the following questions:

1. Using the information covered in Chapter 15, how can Laura most effectively use both management and leadership skills in her role as plant operations manager? What combination of the two do you think would work best in this setting and why?

2. Using the information covered in Chapter 16, what steps could be taken to build staff confidence?

3. What advice would you give Laura on improving her leadership skills and to the managers on improving their management skills?

4. Which leadership style do you think a leader would need to be effective in this situation?

Citations must be used, citations may only come from scholarly articles. Include both in-text citation within the answer and full citation under references that includes the full website.