The world’s largest manufacturer of Lego toys, the Danish company, has long been known not only as a producer of plastic construction sets but also as a retailer. The desire for market leadership forces the company to improve the production efficiency and quality of its products. To solve management issues, Lego Group should improve the level of performance, quality management, work conditions, and occupational safety. It is also necessary to improve the systems and structure of the company, which allows successfully achieving the intended goals. This paper aims at identifying and discussing solutions to management issues for the Lego Group.
First of all, a high level of production automation processes is required for high labor productivity. It presupposes well-qualified and trained service personnel that will increase the level of performance. To solve this problem, it is necessary to invest time and money in the training and development of the employees. Additional training is required for all line managers and engineering personnel. A system of training employees in the workplace should be created as well. Conferences and training courses for the employees who have achieved significant results in their work is a perfect motivation (Porter et al., 2016). It is important to provide additional knowledge to inspire workers to continue learning.
Employees who constantly monitor their activities can notice and document the growth of their professionalism. Any work goal can be measured in a simple grading system. If the task does not involve expressing the result in numerical form, it is possible to create a scale for assessing labor productivity (Porter et al., 2016). One of the possible solutions to the problem of decreased performance level is the periodical measurement of employee motivation. Supervisors may regularly monitor changes in the level of motivation of their subordinates. To increase
motivation, they need to find an individual approach to each employee. One way to do this is by delegating authority, goals, and tasks to each employee when developing an overall plan or project. Another way is to provide them with the opportunity to independently develop their strategic objectives and plans.
Automated production requires quality service and fast repairs as well. The engineering and technical service of the company faces the most important task – to ensure non-stop operation of all units, mechanisms, electronic systems, and the entire infrastructure. It is much more effective to prevent a breakdown than to eliminate the consequences of an accident in an emergency mode (Albrecht et. al., 2018). At the Lego Group, this problem can be solved with an effective system of round-the-clock monitoring, maintenance, and diagnostics of equipment. A dynamic system of the company requires a regular examination of ongoing processes. No carefully planned and implemented business model will work effectively without daily monitoring of every key process (Albrecht et. al., 2018). To reduce the response time to any technical problems, mechanics and electricians must be transferred under the control of shift supervisors.
Another important field that needs to be improved is the quality management. The effectiveness of work depends on a clear distribution of duties and responsibilities of all participants. All key employees must be involved in the process of building the business model. To do this, the company should hold strategic sessions, at which a decision should be made through joint efforts in the process of discussion (Porter et al., 2016). The final document should be formed in which all stages of the production process are written in steps, with an indication of the responsible people. All employees must know who is responsible for each step in the process, who controls it. The value of this document is that it reflects the common collective vision of the employees. Involvement in the process of discussing and building a business model allows consolidating the responsibility and increasing the cohesion of the team. This strategy can also build trust in the relationship between managers and employees.
Production flexibility is also an important solution to the company’s issues. Therefore, Lego Group must implement a system that assumes that production flexibly responds to customers’ needs. In practice, the company must have planning horizons with the specific targets. This will allow the organization to use its resources more efficiently (Albrecht et. al., 2018). The implementation of a production planning system will allow for scheduling each order according to technological redistributions and stages, plan its timely financing, as well as material and technical supply (Wellin, 2016). As a result of the implemented activities, managers will receive simple and understandable tools, such as business process regulations and job descriptions, monthly plans, and daily tasks.
To solve the issues of quality management and performance level of the company, the Lego Group management should take a set of decisive measures. They may include the definition and regulation of business processes for organizing production, optimization of the organizational structure of the company, and the introduction of a production planning system. Besides, a system of mentoring and additional training can help to solve personnel issues as well. With the help of new knowledge, employees will receive career opportunities and additional incentives. For all employees, there must be a motivation system related to the overall result, which reflects the key performance indicators of production. All the mentioned solutions are financially feasible and can be implemented without investing too much money and time. Training of the employees, involving them in business processes, and giving them additional motivation are surprisingly cheap measures compared to their results.
References
Albrecht, S., Breidahl, E., & Marty, A. (2018). Organizational resources, organizational engagement climate, and employee engagement.Career Development International, 23(1), 67-85. Web.
Porter, T. H., Riesenmy, K. D., & Fields, D. (2016). Work environment and employee motivation to lead.American Journal of Business, 31(2), 66-84. Web.
Wellin, M. (2016). Managing the psychological contract: Using the personal deal to increase business performance. CRC Press.