Inventory

What problems are facing Erik Peterson? 1. Unclear reporting structure 2. Inventory control 3. Personnel issues: a. Chief Engineer b. Subcontractor c. Employee salary issues d. Conflicts / poor relationships between various positions 4. Lack of clear direction / consistent decisions / communication from corporate 5. Lower level of actual experience from those in higher management 6. Zoning issues 7. Lack of support from corporate regarding local relationships 8. Lack of training for many key positions GMT had originally been targeted to begin service to subscribers on FebruaryY l, but it was now a month behind target because of several major problems. (Page 1) Instead of reporting to Jenkins, like originally assumed, he was assigned to Jeff Hardy, Cellulose's director of budgets and plans. Hardy had never had any system operating experience, so was unable to offer him any initial advice or guidance that was specific or helpful. Their relationship was somewhat awkward in the beginning because Peterson has never been formally told by either Jenkins or Hardy of the reporting relations hip; it just seemed to have occurred. (Page 3 and 4)The initial construction of cellular towers, performed by a subcontractor, was already several weeks behind schedule and that would never meet the turn-on target. Efforts to get the subcontractor to improve his construction rate failed, and GMT was race vying an increasing number of complaints from local citizens about the way the sub annotator was cutting through privately owned trees and property. (Page 4) CLC Peterson had difficulties with getting his chief engineer, Curt Andrews, to do t he planning and organizing necessary to ensure that equipment and supplies arrived whew n they were needed.Page 4) Peterson discussed this problem with Hardy several times a ND raised it again in Los Angels, button no avail. Curt Andrews had worked his way up an d he had gained a reputation within Cellulose for being technically frustrate. After thro e Of four months in Hanover, Peterson came to realize that Curt did not have either the administrative ability or the prior knowledge needed to start up a brand new operation. (Page e 5) Peterson raised the possibility that Curt be reassigned and replaced by a person who h ad more operating and startup experience; the people he talked with in Los Angel s insisted thatCurt had the potential to handle a startup; all he needed was more coaching and help from Peterson. Furthermore, Cellulose had just relocated Curt and his family fro m Tampa to Hanover and Peterson suspected that the company did not wish to put him the rough another move. (Page 5) Peterson took steps to help Curt improve the planning and coordination. One step he took was to have Curt call weekly construction meetings to which everyone in the o organization was invited. However, Peterson felt that Curt did not become involved enough in t hem; he found himself getting most Of his reposts directly from Curt's two su bordinates ToddJones, supervisor of the radio engineering department, and Mike Delano, supervisor of SMUT'S construction department despite his attempts to get Curt more actively involve deed. (Page 6) Another step was establishing an inventory control reporting system; but gaga n Peterson found that Curt resisted the effort. Peterson continued to have difficulty getting Eng these reports from Curt completed on time. Peterson suspected that Curt was somehow re sinful that Peterson did not trust him implicitly.The inventory control problem became s o great that on two occasions GMT ran short of the radios that were required to equip cell is e; if the radio installation team ran out of radios during the installation process the entire p recess had to be set up all over again, wasting valuable time and money. One these two cocoas ions when Curt did not plan for the radio shipment correctly, Peterson was lucky enough to g et overnight shipping. (Page 6) During this period, Peterson agai n discussed the problems with Curt asking to have him transferred but Hardy was again reluctant to take any cacti on. Page 7) Curt had problems working with Todd Jones. Many of their conflicts were over the selection and specification of antenna equipment. Over time these issues had come so frequent that Todd told Peterson on several occasions that he felt he was beet ere qualified than Curt and that he wanted Curt's job. (Page 7) Curt also had several problems w irking with Melissa Mizzen, Peterson secretary. Most of the arguments between Curt an d Melissa were over errors in applications prepared by Curt, but typed by Melissa. Peterson s suspected that Curt resented having his errors pointed out by a woman. Page 7) 0 Jim Weston, a earldom college graduate, who was brought in as director of marketing was an aggressive and ambitious man who Often rubbed people the wrong ay in his hurry to et things done. Jims market plans were not detailed enough and they require deed careful review . (Page 7) Tremor Burns, a roadside college graduate was hired to run the customer seer vice department. Tremor had many ideas, some of which were impractical and his constant flow of new ideas eventually became a problem for everyone, including Todd Jones a ND even Peterson himself; Peterson had to talk to Tremor about it.Tremor and Curt so n developed problems working with one another; Peterson believed that some of these did faculties occurred because of the many suggestions Tremor made about equipment selection an d procedures. The relationship between Tremor and Curt had become quite strained, Peters on suspected that some of these difficulties may have been caused by Curt's defensiveness over not having a college degree, and his resulting annoyance at Tremor's constant flow of critic schisms and suggestions. (Page 7) Peterson promoted his secretary, Melissa, to manager of Accounting and Cacti ovations In February with a raise in her salary.Cellulose headquarters thought that t he resulting increase over her previous salary was excessive and Los Angels only approve d an increase that was 20% less than what Peterson had originally offered to her. Peterson f let that Melissa and he knew the quality of her work had suffered as a result. (Page 8) D Peterson had offered Tremor the job at a competitive salary that Tremor had AC accepted. Todd Jones, who was making 25% less, learned about the amount of Tremor's salary and complained at the difference. Peterson had to discuss the problem with Trove r to let him know that his salary had become known within the company.Tremor voluntarily Off red to accept a salary cut of 20%, knowing that he had to learn some of the technical aspects of the cellular industry from Todd and Curt. (Page 8) Cellulose headquarters had delayed in making several key decisions and ha d several changes in equipment originally specified. As a result of these delays, Cellulose m's prime supplier of radios could not deliver on time, and Cellulo se had to go to an a Iterate source whose equipment was later found to be defective, thereby requiring renegotiate action with the first supplier.Headquarters had made a change in the power supply ratings in Deck ember which Hardy did not inform Peterson of until January. Thus the equipment that GUM T had in inventory could not be used and additional design changes had to be made. T 0 further implicate the situation, headquarters made a subsequent decision in January y to have all power supplies include backup batteries, rather than the generator system the at had originally been specified; the new power supplies did not arrive until the end of February y, (Page 8 and 9) Peterson constantly has a problem with his inability to get either support or CLC ear direction from Hardy.The one suggestion Hardy made, involved marketing to as many customers on the system as possible, but he did not have a set plan or action to do so. (Page Hardy's four visits to Hanover had been characterized a s â€Å"nitpicking' without r solution of any of the major problems that Peterson felt he had to deal with. (Page 9) Pet errors suspected that some of Hardy's indecisiveness was caused by Hardy's uncertain relation ship with his own boss, Rice Jenkins, and his little operating experience in cellular. Page 9) CLC Hardy and Peterson did not agree on how to handle the local governments, el adding Peterson to renegotiate with the local fire department after he solidified the p Ian to use the fire department's communication tower as a GMT cell site in a neighboring town . Hardy was too concerned with the budget and ROI, and not with the benefits that Cellulose and the public would get from this deal. (Page 12) Peterson felt somewhat uncomfortable in his relationships with both Cantor a ND Green because of an encounter he had had with them during his orientation period.Peterson did not care for Green's imperious and egotistical manner and feels a distinct dislike f or him. When Peterson challenges Cantor's statements, he finds she becomes agitated and visibly upset. (Page 12 and 13) One of the issues Cellulose had was the difficulty GMT was having with the e local utility in getting it to â€Å"make ready† its telephone lines according to the promised such duel. Although the meeting with the local general manager had gone well and he had promise deed better service, the utility continued to fall behind its makers schedule. Page 13) Peterson has a poor supervisor who's unsure of his skills and ability to lead their relationship was â€Å"ambiguous and awkward in the beginning† because Peters on was never informed about the reporting relationship, Hardy failed in giving clear direction n or support to Peterson. Decision making authority and power Peterson is given the responsibility of getting this initiative running, but he does not seem to have the decision making authority to make things happen quickly and efficiently. For example, he needs to get pe rmission to chi angel subcontractors and replace an engineer.No practical experience in industry Peterson cannot successfully lead without proper insight into the industry important positions to get the project off the ground are not able to handle the Eire roles (Curt) Relations to class concepts: 2. What are the underlying causes of these problems? The underlying causes of these problems are there is no communication ammo angst the company and its employees. Many of the employees do not have the proper training and knowledge for the positions they are in and do not put in enough effort, or they believe they are over quail fled than others.L] No one knows who directly to report back to, creating awkward relationships and a bad path of communication. Due to his inexperience (and possible youth) Peterson lacks respect from thou SE he manages. The overall inconsistency, especially in regard to decisions made by upper m management, has led to confusion. In regard to the upper managemen t's view of Curt, they believed that he coo old handle the job based on past performance in different areas (halo effect). Page 5) They also were influenced by the same bias in regard to resisting terminating the contract wit h the subcontractor. The majority of the team, but especially Curt, seems to suffer from excessive individualism. While Peterson did try to increase supervision of Curt and implement regular meetings, this plan may have backfired. It appears to have evoked negative feelings from C rut which have continued to affect his job performance. Perhaps offering him incentives for meeting certain expectations would have been more helpful.No leadership skills with Hardy or Peterson, neither have much experience in area, which leads to lack of confidence because of lack of expertise Lack of communication/direction/ authority between the staff and the WHQL (Peterson cannot handle all hires/ fires/wages on his own without authorization, but is supposed to be the manager) Dec ision making is not in place for the schedule and needs of the project (Deck Sino making tree or other method of planning not in place radios and power supplies short takes or not ordered in time for different steps of the process to take place) Lack of structure and skill sets in roles (Stevens moved from customer service over to do construction coordination, has a degree in social work) Confidential info was disclosed (salary info) so morale and relationships are n to as they should be in an office environment How effective has Peterson been in taking charge of the Hanover Startup, in t arms of managing the new operation and of providing leadership? Peterson has been effective in taking charge and turning around Hanover star tap so it will be ready in time for turn-on date.