Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant.
Motivating in Good Times and Bad
Kimberley A. Woodward
Southern New Hampshire University
OL 500: Organizational Behavior
Dr. Alston
September 20, 2020
2
Introduction
Engstrom auto mirror plant based in Richmond, Indiana. Engstrom auto is a privately
owned company, whose sole purpose is manufacturing mirrors for automobiles and trucks, the
assistant, Joe Harley, primarily focused their weekly meetings on the failing numbers. By May
2017 both gentlemen came to the actualization that there was a much larger issue occurring and
the looming. With issues regarding productivity Joe Haley stated "we can't climb out of this
downturn with performance like that".(Beer and Collins, 2008) employee motivation had hit a
downward decline as the employees were tired of the Scanlon Plan for bonuses. It was common
knowledge employees were overheard stating 'what's the point of having a bonus plan if no
bonus is paid for months? Employees had clearly lost motivation for increasing performance.
The feeling of trust between employees and management had been shattered. During this
research and examining the information I will dissect the decisions and communications made by
management and its employees. Further looking into positive ways of motivation methods used
and strategic strategies that may be used to increase productivities with the employees and
rebuild the trust between management and employees.
Explanation
Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant had a remarkable sales history of for a period of 7 years, the
sales had quadrupled. A bedroom swing in sales began and 2005 and in the month of June 2006
Roger Bent, was put in the untenable position resulting in laying off 46 employees. The
remaining 205 employees had not received a Scanlon bonus in 7 months. Subsequently during
this time, the remaining employee's morale started a downward spiral Mr. Bent contemplated to
render a decision if the Scanlon plan had outlived its usefulness. The Scanlon Plan is the oldest
organized-wide incentive plan in the United States of America. The plan is predicated on the
employee's performance, with other plans are rooted on the functional work group for that
employee. These plans focus their attention on the cornerstone of "work smarter, not harder"
(Beer and Collins, 2008) with the plummeting of productivity and sales, employees lost
motivation resulting in misgivings between employees and management. Employees were
excluded from the decision-making process. Roger Bent, was compelled to make a decision to
keep using the Scanlon plan or another type of plan to get the plant back on the productive track.
Direction
Upon evaluating possible alternatives, Mr. Bent may continue applying the Scanlon Plan
without any further modifications, modify the Scanlon Plan and adjust accordingly to current
conditions within the plant, or the introduction of a completely new motivational system. As the
Scanlon plan unequivocally is no longer effective at this juncture, it would be prudent to research
other new motivational systems. Incorporating a motivation plan including employees in the
meetings and increasing employee input may be beneficial to all parties involved." Work
motivation is the result of