Page 347 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

346 Part 4 • Leading
Case appLICaTIon 3
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Teaming Up for Take Off

he Boeing 737, a short- to medium-range twin-engine, the paint process revamped their work routines and cut 10 min-
narrow-body jet first rolled off the assembly line in utes to 15 minutes per worker off each job. It took five years for
67
T1967. Now, almost half a century later, it’s the best- another employee team to perfect a process for installing the
selling jet airliner in the history of aviation. As airlines replace plane’s landing gear hydraulic tubes, but it eventually paid off.
their aging narrow-body jet fleets, the burden is on Boeing to These employee teams are made up of seven to ten work-
ramp up production to meet demand and to do so efficiently. ers with diverse skills—from mechanics to assembly workers
Boeing managers face the to engineers—and tend to fo-
challenge of producing more cus on a specific part of a jet,
aircraft without increasing the Employee teams tackle such as the landing gear or the
size and scope of the manu- INNovATIoN chAllENGE passenger seats or the galleys.
facturing facility. Managing These teams may meet as often
production of the multimil- as once a week. What’s the
lion-dollar product—a 737-800 is sold for $84.4 million— track record of these teams? Today, it takes about 11 days for
means “walking an increasingly fine line between generating the final assembly of a 737 jet. That’s down from 22 days about
cash and stoking an airplane glut.” And Boeing is relying on its a decade ago. The near-term goal is to eventually shave off two
employee innovation teams to meet the challenge. more days.
Boeing has been using employee-generated ideas since the
1990s, when its manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, Discussion Questions
began adopting “lean” manufacturing techniques. Today, em-
ployee teams are continually looking for innovative ways— 10-22 What type of team(s) do these employee teams appear to be?
small and big—to be more efficient and effective. For instance, Explain.
a member of one team thought of a solution to a problem of 10-23 As this story illustrated, sometimes it may take a long time
for a team to reach its goal. As a manager, how would you
stray metal fasteners sometimes puncturing the tires as the air- motivate a team to keep on trying?
plane advanced down the assembly line. The solution? A canvas 10-24 What role do you think a team leader needs to play in this type
wheel cover that hugs the four main landing-gear tires. Another of setting? Explain.
team figured out how to rearrange its work space to make four 10-25 Using Exhibit 14–10, what characteristics of effective teams
engines at a time instead of three. Another team of workers in would these teams need? Explain.