The Dashman Company was a decentralized manufacturer of military equipment. Each plant operated independently, resulting in uncoordinated purchasing. A new VP of Purchasing mandated that purchase contracts over $10,000 be approved by headquarters one week in advance. However, the purchasing executives at the independent plants resisted this change and did not follow the new directive. The causes of resistance included lack of personal explanation from the VP, executives' aversion to change due to their age, and insufficient time before a peak purchasing period. Improved communication and flexibility in implementing the new policy were recommended to gain acceptance.
The Dashman Company was a decentralized manufacturer of military equipment. Each plant operated independently, resulting in uncoordinated purchasing. A new VP of Purchasing mandated that purchase contracts over $10,000 be approved by headquarters one week in advance. However, the purchasing executives at the independent plants resisted this change and did not follow the new directive. The causes of resistance included lack of personal explanation from the VP, executives' aversion to change due to their age, and insufficient time before a peak purchasing period. Improved communication and flexibility in implementing the new policy were recommended to gain acceptance.
The Dashman Company was a decentralized manufacturer of military equipment. Each plant operated independently, resulting in uncoordinated purchasing. A new VP of Purchasing mandated that purchase contracts over $10,000 be approved by headquarters one week in advance. However, the purchasing executives at the independent plants resisted this change and did not follow the new directive. The causes of resistance included lack of personal explanation from the VP, executives' aversion to change due to their age, and insufficient time before a peak purchasing period. Improved communication and flexibility in implementing the new policy were recommended to gain acceptance.
The Dashman Company was a manufacturer of equipment for the United States armed forces. It had a decentralized structure and each plant functioned as a separate independent unit. Due to the current structure the purchasing procedures of the units had never been completely coordinated which would create increasing difficulty in securing certain essential raw materials. A new VP of purchasing had been appointed and his initiative to centralize the companys purchasing procedure had not been perceived well. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: The directive to clear with the head office all purchase contracts worth in excess of $10000 atleast a week before they were to be signed was not followed by the independent units. PROBABLE CAUSE AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SOLUTIONS: 1. Problem with the mode of communication. Mr. Post had not met more than a few of the purchasing executives personally before passing the change in the purchasing procedure. This did not bode well with the executives since such a massive change in structure would have needed personal visits to explain them the reason and vision behind such a change. It is advisable that all the purchasing executives may be briefed in personal so that the process can be streamlined and can be convinced of the probable benefits of the new policy. Else the most feasible communication channel should be chosen considering the urgency of the decision. 2. The organisations resistance to change. A probable cause may be the age group to which the executives belong. If they belong to a higher age group, they may be more resistant to changes in their role in the organisation and the organisation structure. If they are, then they would not have taken well to being given directives as to how to operate in such a case. The president Mr. Manson should have convened a meeting of all executives to appoint Mr. Post as VP of purchasing. In such a situation, the stand of the president would have been evident to all the executives. In such a scenario, there should be proper flow of communication and information down the hierarchy. 3. Timing of the announcement. The peak period of purchase was hardly 3 weeks away. Therefore, its entirely probable that the purchasing executives wouldnt have had enough time to clear contracts with the head office and making purchasing decisions in time. A thorough investigation should be done to find out the root cause of the problem and the executives should be made to understand the gravity of the decisions they take and how it would affect other plants and the entire organisation as a whole. Further it could be entirely probable that $10000 could have been a pretty big amount in those times and all individual orders would have been under that limit leading to no communication to the head office. 4. Alienation of plant heads Regular follow up and follow up reports can be submitted by the plant heads. This would help being transparency to the system and the issue of alienation can be approached by this system.