Slade Plating Case

Slade Plating Case Analysis

After reading the Slade Plating case our group sat down to discuss how we felt about the whole situation. We analyzed the case as a whole and then split it up into different sections. We were guided into finding two emerging systems that were present in the Plating Room. We found that the two emerging systems were the card punching system and the obvious subgroups. Furthermore we were asked to try and analyze the situation and give Ralph Porter some advice on how to handle the situation. We analyzed the situation as best we could and came to some progressive conclusions.

In the Slade Plating case, there are two obvious emergent systems within the company. The first one is the time card system that Tony Sarto’s group has created where a few of them are punching the time cards of their co-workers who were leaving early. Each member of the Sarto group would take a turn staying late, usually just once a week, and punch the time cards of the remaining group members allowing them to leave early but still receive the extra pay. In addition, if a group member was going to be late to work, the group would punch their time card so it appeared as if they had been there on time. With this emergent system, the Sarto group established several norms. Primarily, each member understood that they would all take a turn staying late to punch the time cards. Secondly, group members were aware that they must give prior notice if they expected to be late to work and that they must be in before 8:00 a.m. in order for someone to punch them in.

The second emergent system at Slade is the formation of subgroups. Subgroups are often inevitable as people are more likely to want to associate with a group and work together than be by themselves. They are also powerful and important because they are organized, which guarantees that processes are as efficient as possible and that no part of the process would be repeated unnecessarily. Within the Plating Room of the Slade Company, two main groups formed among the employees; while the remainder of the people kept to themselves or associated with only one or two other people. The first and largest group is the Sarto group, consisting of about eight people of the highest productivity skill ratings and led by Tony Sarto, the most respected member as well as the member with the highest authority. The Sarto group ate together, went out after work together, and operated as a group to complete work as efficiently as possible. There are several norms that were formulated within the Sarto group as well. First and foremost, the members of the Sarto group all valued not only the quantity they were producing, but also quality and inventiveness. In judging an employee’s work, the Sarto group did take into account how much the employee was producing but they were not as impressed if the product did not meet the high standards of quality they had set The Sarto group also highly valued being willing to help others, both in a personal and work related way. Moreover, the members of the Sarto group were all in accord that they would neither work too hard or not hard enough and that employees who did either would be excluded from the group.

The other subgroup in the Plating Room is the Clark group, run by Harry Clark. This group consisted of five people of slightly lower productivity skill level than those in the Sarto group. The members of the Clark group tended to mimic the behavior of the Sarto group but never reached the same level of quantity, quality, or inventiveness. They also didn’t help each other out on the same level of that of the Sarto group. The Clark group did not go out together on a regular basis but made it a point to do so once or twice a year. Additionally, though they never matched the volume of work of the Sarto group, they still managed to maintain a relatively high level of productivity.

Due to the fact that the Sarto group is bending the rules of the company by taking credit for hours they never worked, Ralph Porter, the production manager of the Slade Company, is