EMPOWERMENT and PRODUCTION WORKERS: A KNOWLEDGE-BASED PERSPECTIVE

GROUP 2:

Nauman Talha

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT TRUE EMPOWERMENT OBSTACLES TO TRUE EMPOWERMENT ACHIEVING TRUE EMPOWERMENT A SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE SUMMARY&CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION

The advertisement: a production worker stops the line. Is it empowerment? What should be done?

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT Knowledge-based principles Craftsmen created and controlled their workplaces

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

Frederick Taylor:

This yields to inefficiency!

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

RESULT:

DISEMPOWERMENT

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

TAYLOR`s two critical components of manufacturing:

1)Innovation had to both extend beyond direct

application on the factory floor and be integrated with actual manufacturing principle.
LIMITED KNOWLEDGELIMITED INNOVATION

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

TAYLOR`s two critical components of manufacturing:

2)Although he undervalued the intellectual potential of workers, Taylor appreciated the wealth of experiential knowledge.

MODERN DAY PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE EMPOWERMENT

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

The attack on waste: SPC,JIT,TQM

Reduce participation in the processes of innovation

ORIGINS OF THE NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT

Conflict between time and freedom

Solution:Production,experimentation

and absorption

TRUE EMPOWERMENT

First and foremost, KNOWLEDGE is the potential to do work

TRUE EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment:

A Misplaced emphasis on motivation rather than knowledge development

TRUE EMPOWERMENT
Full participation on Innovation around Knowledge

The truly empowered production worker!

TRUE EMPOWERMENT

GENERAL ELECTRIC says that:

All of GOOD ideas come from hourly knowledge workers Every worker in an organization can become a knowledge worker if given the opportunity to do so

TRUE EMPOWERMENT
If Knowledge Development is blocked

INNOVATION is blocked!!!

Obstacles to TRUE EMPOWERMENT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT (C.I.)

Learning by doing with little option for other knowledge development processes, HINDERING EMPOWERMENT

Obstacles to TRUE EMPOWERMENT

Major technological changes are found to not being a result of C.I. limited scope!! C.I. has a

Obstacles to TRUE EMPOWERMENT

As C.I., TQM hinders empowerment by emphasizing on reducing error & doing the

things correctly first time!!!

Achieving TRUE EMPOWERMENT

Instead of C.I. Expansive System Development (ESD)

Achieving TRUE EMPOWERMENT

ESD A bi-directional flow of knowledge between

production
& designers

workers

Achieving TRUE EMPOWERMENT

Instead of FIRST implementing TQM, Total Quality Learning (TQL) can be implemented

TQL may build-up essential knowledge on

each worker

A Successful Example

New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI)

Gives its workers time to exercise non-prodn activities conducive to empowerment!!

A Successful Example

In NUMMI, when the work load is low

Instead of reducing no. of workers, workers perform knowledge-creating activities (such as Kaizen)

SUMMARY and CONCLUSIONS

The benefits of empowerment are usually

long-term

Empowerment cannot exist without

knowledgeable workers

Empowerment is not complete until

participation in the innovation occurs

SUMMARY and CONCLUSIONS

Taylor understood the centrality of knowledgedisempowerment

EMPOWERMENT

KNOWLEDGE

INNOVATION

THANK YOU!!

QUESTIONS..