Luggers vs. Butchers
The Luggers Versus The Butchers
Background
Food Merchandising Corporation has a warehouse located in a small city in New Jersey. The warehouse stocks certain types of meats and then ships them to various stores. Trucks or freight cars are used to transport the meats. The warehouse has two separate groups to process the beef, one being the warehouse men, also known as the luggers, which transport the beef within the warehouse to freezers to await the butchering process, which is handled by the butchers. It is important that the process be expedited in order to move the product out as quickly as possible to meet demand.
The company goals are straight forward; maintaining efficient interdependent groups that work together to achieve success. The luggers transport and stock the beef for the butchers, who then butcher the meat into smaller wholesale cuts. The meat is then restocked and ready for shipping out based on order requests. If all groups fulfill their job tasks and work jointly to expedite process it is a win-win situation for all. However, that is not the case as the organization’s structure is wavering due to employees having their own agenda while management is sitting on the sidelines observing rather than being active participants. The luggers have taken control of their space in the warehouse and rearranged it to their advantage. They turned the tables on the butchers, who once held the higher-esteemed position with higher wages and less physical labor. Through innovative transport rails and team effort, the luggers now have more earning potential than the butchers and put forth less physical effort than previously required to complete their tasks. Management, once a strong presence, has now been placed on the sidelines due to a change in political power that was diluted by the presence of the union and managers and employees that have formed alliances. From a company point of view, the warehouse is producing and meeting production goals, but from a
Background
Food Merchandising Corporation has a warehouse located in a small city in New Jersey. The warehouse stocks certain types of meats and then ships them to various stores. Trucks or freight cars are used to transport the meats. The warehouse has two separate groups to process the beef, one being the warehouse men, also known as the luggers, which transport the beef within the warehouse to freezers to await the butchering process, which is handled by the butchers. It is important that the process be expedited in order to move the product out as quickly as possible to meet demand.
The company goals are straight forward; maintaining efficient interdependent groups that work together to achieve success. The luggers transport and stock the beef for the butchers, who then butcher the meat into smaller wholesale cuts. The meat is then restocked and ready for shipping out based on order requests. If all groups fulfill their job tasks and work jointly to expedite process it is a win-win situation for all. However, that is not the case as the organization’s structure is wavering due to employees having their own agenda while management is sitting on the sidelines observing rather than being active participants. The luggers have taken control of their space in the warehouse and rearranged it to their advantage. They turned the tables on the butchers, who once held the higher-esteemed position with higher wages and less physical labor. Through innovative transport rails and team effort, the luggers now have more earning potential than the butchers and put forth less physical effort than previously required to complete their tasks. Management, once a strong presence, has now been placed on the sidelines due to a change in political power that was diluted by the presence of the union and managers and employees that have formed alliances. From a company point of view, the warehouse is producing and meeting production goals, but from a