Sigtek

If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Sigtek. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Sigtek paper right on time.

Our staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Sigtek, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Sigtek paper at affordable prices !

John Smithers at SigtekSummary In some companies, several things can undermine the implementation of change such as lack of corporate commitment, overly formalized programs, inflated expectations, and lack of initial successes. "A systemic approach goes to the heart of an organization through the attitudes, beliefs, habits, and expectations of all individuals from the top to the front lines." (Juechter 1)

Custom writing offers papers on Sigtek

Three Western Electric veterans founded Sigtek, a small telecommunications company 5 years ago. The last remaining founder, Charles Bradley was serving as an absentee president. The company manufactured printed circuit boards for signal handling which it sold primarily to AT&T and other long-distance carrier. The large technology company that purchased Sigtek ten years ago was hands-off. During this time Sigtek enjoyed sales of $60 million and had a workforce of 1,000 employees. This was short lived due to the stockpile of product Sigtek had in their inventory. The company attempted to install software into a computer system for signal handling. They were unsuccessful in meeting the schedule and sales dropped to about $40 million and the workforce was reduced to 800 employees. During this time another company Telwork, a $500 million European telecommunication company, purchased Sigtek. Unlike the previous company, Telwork made it clear that it would be involved in the business' operation. They wanted to implement a Total Quality Program at each of its subsidiaries. In this case, John Smithers describes how Sigtek failed at its efforts to implement a total quality program. John Smithers was a dedicated engineering manager who was chosen by his manager to become an instructor of the new total quality program. He believed in whatever techniques that would bring about the greater good for the company. This case outlines the difficulties of the quality program, which only lasted about six months.Problem Definition To say that the business environment has become turbulent, uncertain, and fiercely competitive is now a worn-out clich. Many people think the topic of Organization Design is simply a useless academic exercise, which has little practical utility for the real world. Other people think managing and leading organization change simply requires good common sense. But what does it take to manage in a highly competitive and chaotic environment? What sorts of skills, abilities and competencies are needed to become an effective change leader and organizational designer? At Sigtek their approach to change was to implement a Total Quality Program (TQM), which was based on a highly acclaimed model. The purpose of a TQM program is to, "increase the effectiveness of the organization and to develop the potential of all individual members." (Harvey 66) This model was intended to improve product quality and encourage better management practices. Unfortunately the efforts to institute this program failed because those who promoted the TQM did not support it. Evaluation of Problem Causes There were several causes that hindered the success of the Total Quality program. We have diagnosed some of the problems in the following section. 1. Not creating a powerful guiding coalitionTelwork, the parent company wanted to gather all of its subsidiaries under one corporate umbrella. However they provided limited support or direction in implementing the program to Sigtek. A team was sent to explain the TQM to managers at Sigtek, but no questions were asked during the training. Smithers felt that because of the lack of response, either "no one cared, or they did not understand the program." (Rosegrant 4)Charles Bradley, Sigtek's president more or less had a hands-off approach toward the TQM program and appointed Patricof as Sigtek's representative. Patricof was not a change agent and "leaned more toward style and less toward substantive results." (Rosegrant ) Patricof also "rewarded those who parroted his beliefs and those who rarely questioned the status quo." (Rosegrant ) Therefore Sigtek's management team did not have the urgency and desire to change, which was mandated by Telwork. . Not creating a vision As an engineering services manager, Smithers had experience with restructuring and reorganizing departments. He was an enthusiastic leader and had the focus and skill sets to accomplish the Telwork plan. During the training classes with employees, Smithers felt the line workers were all sold on the Total Quality concept. They brought lists of examples of how things were not working in their departments according to the TQM program. Smithers led the workshop participants in locating solutions to their problems and encouraged them to share their ideas with their supervisors. However, the management, which was lead by Patricof did not have the same vision as Smithers, therefore all the training for the line workers was not supported by the management. No meetings were held no grievances were addressed. In the article, "Why Transformation Efforts Fail" it states, "A vision says something that clarifies the direction in which an organization needs to move." (Kotter 6) Without a vision an organization transformation can become confusing and disorganized, which can take the organization into the wrong direction or nowhere at all. (Kotter 6) Smithers, eventually resigns from the program because he felt the TQM began to seem inflated and over ambitious for his organization "instead of being too little, to late, it was way to much, too late." (Rosegrant 7). Barriers between engineering and operations Many barriers existed between the engineering department and operations, not only a physical distance but emotional as well. The conflicts between the two departments had existed for many years and had led to many problems within the organization. There were philosophical differences between Cross and Patricof which formulated a power struggle for months. When Patricof grew more powerful due to the promotion to general manager, and Cross was demoted to overseeing a single faltering product line, this lead to Patricof having full control over TQM. Another barrier was the inflated expectations of the employees. They felt through the training with Smithers there would be constructive changes within the organization, but hopes were dashed when not supported by management. Lastly there was a cultural resistance to change. It is important to note the level in which change is institutionalized in the organization. First, people should be made aware how the new approaches, behaviors, and attitudes would help improve performance. Second, take time with the next generation of management in understanding the new approach. (Kotter 67)Evaluation of Affected Systems The systems that were affected are ethics, finance, human resources and management. Ethically, Smithers agreed to take the teaching position as long as he did not have to lie. He stated that if he had to lie that he would stop doing it, and that he was skeptical about their ability to effect change. Smithers did feel some "ambivalence" (Rosegrant ) and wanted to make sure that he was being honest and credible to his trainees. As the problems with delivery and lack of support by management became greater, Smithers felt that he could have been more direct and to the point than he had been. Since there is not anything specifically mentioned in the article about the finance system, it does mention incorporating Sigtek under the corporate umbrella of Telwork, as well as, "improve product quality and encourage better management practices." (Rosegrant ) The article also mentions "Telwork made it clear that it planned to influence how its new subsidiary operated." (Rosegrant ) It can be assumed that the systems of the organizations would be altered to reflect the overall umbrella and integrate to the Total Quality program. The human resources system was affected with the implementation of a Total Quality training program. This includes new trainers from different departments, as well as, the budget, time, and expenses of running this program would be some of the responsibilities of the human resources department. The management system at Sigtek was heavily bureaucratic. When attempting to implement a Total Quality program, this became the way for Patricof to posses ownership and power within the organization. Smither's perspective of Cross and Patricof is that "Cross appeared to be committed to bringing in new blood and new management practices, while Patricof seemed to lean more toward style and less toward substantive results, as well as, rewarding those who rarely questioned his status quo." (Rosegrant ) The total effect of the program was for Patricof to minimize the influence of Cross, as well as, control the organization without competing. The effort of the organization to create a strong quality program where workers could have input on their productivity became an even stronger dictatorship under the rule of Patricof.

Works CitedHarvey, Don and Donald R. Brown. An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, Inc. 6th Edition. 001.Kotter, John P. "Leading Change Why Transformation Efforts Fail." Harvard Business School Publishing. May 15.Rosegrant, Susan. "John Smithers at Sigtek." Harvard Business School Publishing. 10. Juechter, Fisher, and Alford. "Five Conditions for High-Performance Cultures." Training And Development, May 18.

Please note that this sample paper on Sigtek is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Sigtek, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on Sigtek will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!