Sigtek Case Analysis
The Total Quality initiative launched by Telwork for its subsidiary Sigtek represents a common practice for Corporate America; "remaking themselves into significantly better competitors" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 59). For Sigtek, the manufacturer of "printed circuit boards for signal handling" (Harvard Business School. 1990) the task was to transform an organization that "began to face serious competition in its marketplace" (Harvard Business School. 1990), showed declining revenues, and demonstrated considerable mismanagement in implementing strategic operations. The Telwork-Sigtek Total Quality program as with all ostensible change dynamics has as the "basic goal to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging market environment" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 59). Yet, these change efforts in most cases fall dramatically short of their intended marks, a reality which is explicated via the Kotter change model; an eight phase process outline which limns the direction and steps necessary for an organization to undergo a successful transformation effort. Viewed through this lens the Total Quality initiative at Sigtek was doomed to failure for its lack of adherence to the Kotter dynamic.
Background
Sigtek was an up and coming technology firm with specialization in the manufacturer of printed circuit boards. Their revenues had expanded to 60 million dollars and the growth pattern suggested that "Sigtek would be a 100 million dollar company within five years" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 1). Yet, Sigtek began facing growth headwinds including increased competition leading to declining sales of 40 million the following fiscal year, and a new owner Telwork which "made it clear that it planned to influence how its new subsidiary operated" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 2). An espy of the competitive landscape of Sigtek revealed that the pressures on the company which adversely impacted revenues and profits needed to be met with a bold change initiative. The Telwork Total Quality program had as its goal "to improve product quality and encourage better management practices" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 2) all necessary for Sigtek to meet the competitive challenges confronting them.
Critical Events in the Change and Implementation Initiative
Kotter's eight step model recognizes that successful change programs pursue a peripatetic "through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time; with skipping steps creating only the illusion of speed and never producing a satisfying result" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 59). Sigtek's journey begins with the first step in Kotter's model, the establishment of a sense of urgency within the organization as to the stark nature of the "competitive realities" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 60).
Establishing a Sense of Urgency
From the outset of the Sigtek initiative, John Smithers and others charged with presenting and implementing the program faced an uphill challenge in their delivery. The organization "characterized as autocratic and largely unresponsive to workers concerns" presents a culture which is anathema to Kotter's belief that "establishing a sense of urgency" (Biech, E. 2009. P. 2) is the most critical stage in the process of transformational change. Urgency matters according to Kotter because "change by definition, requires creating a new system" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 60) and the top down vertical structure of Sigtek prevents the "aggressive cooperation of many individuals" without which there is no "motivation, people won't help and the effort goes nowhere" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 60). Despite Smither's success in his capacity as engineering services manager, he believed that an obturation to success of the program was a "culture characterized by the extreme polarity which existed between the two sides of the organization: engineering and manufacturing operations" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 3).
The lack of urgency created by "deep organizational gulfs" (Harvard Business School. 1990) and a largely ignored employee base, fed over to the leadership, namely Charles Bradley a "largely absentee president" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 4) and Richard Patricof the operations manager, both of whom "embodied all that was wrong with Sigtek's leadership" (Harvard Business School. 1990. P. 11). As such the change platform quickly lost steam as it could not meet Kotter's second step, "forming a powerful guiding coalition" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 59).
Forming a Powerful Guiding Coalition
Step two of Kotter's process looks to the organizations members to join a committed team of leaders engaged in a forward looking agenda. "In cases of successful transformation efforts, the leadership coalition grows and grows over time" (Kotter, J. 1995. P. 62). At Sigtek, Smither's recognized "how resistant the culture could be to change" (Harvard Business...
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