The Treadway Tire Company Case

Based on the case of the Treadway Tire Company, the company had a serious problem regarding the high turnover at the Lima Tire Plant.

Problems at the Treadway Tire Company

• Compared to short shifts (8-hour), long shifts (12-hour) would cause worse performance and decrease productivity since hourly workers often came late to work or called in sick.

• The foremen did not have enough authority, but too many responsibilities were allocated to foremen, including things out of their control.

• Because forecasted performance goals were difficult to achieve, the daily report of actual performance versus forecasted performance brought high pressure to line foremen, which caused the tense relationships between them and hourly workers.

• The company did not provide reasonable training opportunities for line foremen, so they lacked of adequate abilities to accomplish the duties of their job.

• The general supervisors and area managers did not effectively communicate with foremen regarding their difficulties anddid not play a proper mentor role.

• The potentialpromotion chances for foremen seemed limited, which enlarged the possibility of high turnover. Hiring more college graduates would increase turnover rate as well. According to the Exhibit 3, the turnover rate of external foreman hire is 75%, greater than that of internal foreman hire (40%) in 2007.

Alternatives to the problems

Hourly Workers:

• The company should provide shorter shifts for hourly workers, such as the three 8-hour shifts instead of the two 12-hour shifts.

 Pros: Shorter shifts can provide better working conditions for workers, and this will be a more productive work schedule, partially solving moral issues.

 Cons: Shorter shifts will increase headcount, thus raising the total hiring costs. However, low productivity and quality issues caused by long shifts may result in larger losses.

Foremen:

• The company should make performance goals achievable for foremen and lengthen the evaluation period rather than assessing their daily performance.

 Pros: Making performance goals achievable can better motivate foremen to work hard and easily allow them to enjoy the achievement of being recognized. Stretching the evaluation period can reducepressure on foremenand provide more flexibility to the foremen so that they get sufficient time to solve some unexpected problems and make some adjustments.

 Cons: It is difficult to set an identical, achievable goal.Thiswill createadditional work to set up achievable goals and evaluate foremen’s performance.

• The company can choose to decentralize the authority