FMC Aberdeen vs. FMC Green River Plant

FMC Aberdeen vs. FMC Green River Plant

Background

Kenneth Dailey has been the site manager for FMC Corporation's Green River facility for 18 months. He is currently supervising the construction of three new, smaller plants at the facility. Based on what he has heard about the results achieved at the FMC Aberdeen plant as well as their different type of organizational structure and management, a team was sent to the facility to research their operating procedures and determine if they will work at the Green River facility. The key areas of the Aberdeen management approach which appeal to Dailey include their continued increase in productivity at Aberdeen while reducing costs, and the fact that the principles and values of their system align well with Dailey's. (Clawson, 2005)

There are a number of significant differences between the Aberdeen and Green River plants which must be considered throughout Dailey's evaluation. These include (Clawson, 2005):

Key Area Aberdeen Green River

Customer base Single customer Over 100 customers

Worldwide product distribution

Employees 100 1,150 this will increase with the opening of the 3 new plants

Product line Single product Multiple product lines

Plant start-up 5 years ago 1948

Plant facility Single plant 2 existing plants;

Adding 3 new plants

Industry Defense Chemicals

Union affiliation None United Steel Workers

Bob Lancaster, the first plant manager at Aberdeen, built the organization's strategy based on the ‘participative management system'. Lancaster was involved in the creation of the Aberdeen plant from selecting the location through to plant start-up, selection of the management team, and beyond. The key principles which would govern the Aberdeen plant included: 1) entire organization is built on trust; 2) need to eliminate fear from employees altogether; 3) eliminate supervisors and foreman by organizing self-directed work teams; 4) expectation that people will assume and exercise responsibility; 5) employee's are salaried and their pay is based on their ability to contribute; and 6) maintain high standards of quality and service. (Clawson, 2005).

Roger Campbell is now the manager of the Aberdeen plant. He has embraced the management philosophy of employee participation in all areas of plant management. Because of this, he has continued to show an improvement in production and reduction of costs at Aberdeen to FMC's Corporate Office. He has also encouraged visits to the Aberdeen plant to review their management style and organizational culture, with the belief that this type of system could work at any FMC plant location.

An analysis of the various areas of organizational behavior (OB) is the key to determining if the Aberdeen management style will fit at the Green River facilities.