Case Study The Fitzgerald Machine Company is a 25MM per year

Case Study:-

The Fitzgerald Machine Company is a $25MM per year custom metal fabrication shop. It has a work force of 30 machinists and 15 office personnel. Don Bradish was hired from Peptine Corporation three months ago as Fitzgerald\'s production scheduler. His background includes an undergraduate industrial engineering degree and three years of purchasing experience with Peptine immediately after college. He is a good fit for Fitzgerald\'s needs. He was hired by Jane Fitzgerald, Vice President of Operations and daughter of the company president.

Recently the company has been having difficulty meeting delivery schedule deadlines. Don was hired to improve the company\'s performance in on-time deliveries. So far, he has been learning the systems of the operations and studying possible solutions, but he has not yet determined the best course of action to recommend.

On Friday, June 21, a $300,000 order, which had been in the shop for nearly two months, was scheduled for shipment. On the Wednesday before scheduled delivery, the customer called and asked that delivery be delayed due to a labor dispute and work stoppage at his location. Although he expected the strike to be settled within one week or less, he was concerned that delivery of the order from Fitzgerald during the strike might cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the labor dispute. Don discussed this request with Jane, and they agreed to accommodate the customer\'s request on the condition that the customer agree to being billed on the originally scheduled delivery date and to pay on the originally contracted payment terms. The customer accepted those terms.

On Friday morning, June 21, the production manager reported to Don that the order would not be completed as scheduled and would probably require at least one more week to finish. Concerned about the impact of this delay on his job status, Don decided to investigate the cause of the delay before informing Jane of the problem. Before he could complete his inquiry, Jane called to inform him that she had just mailed the invoice for the order as agreed. She also suggested that Don negotiate with the customer a storage fee for the order, which would be paid in addition to the billing arrangement.

Don wondered what he should say to Jane next.  

NOTE: Each answer and response should a minimum of 10 sentences in length and provide detail and examples.

Justice approach

1. How fairly does each of the options balance the benefits arid burdens among the various stakeholders (Don, Jane, customer and production manager)? Use examples for the benefit and burden.

2. Which stakeholders bear the most burden if Don withholds information from Jane? Apply the justice approach.

Solution

Q1) The options with Don are presented below along with the benefits and burdens among the stakeholders -

1. Informing Jane of the delay in production immediately and discussing possible actions in depth which might include informing customers and taking back/cancelling the invoice generated and sent.

Benefits and burden for stakeholders

Don -

Benefits include avoiding any further issues by withholding information, immediate action to call back the invoice, responsible and ethical action from Don\'s end.

Burden includes the wrath of Jane as she already sent invoice to customer, difficultly in conveying to customer as due to their earlier demands.

Jane -

Benefits include getting to know about the issue immediately based on which an action can be taken without delay.

Burden includes the wrath of customer to whom invoice is sent as per the earlier agreement and the demand for payment as per the earlier date.

Customer -

Benefits include avoiding paying Fitzgerald upfront because of delay of delivery of goods from their end.

Burden includes possible delay in delivery of the goods even after the strike ends resulting in loss of production.

Production Manager -

Benefits include leaving decision to higher authority and following their instructions.

Burden includes inquiry by the management with possible explanation on the reason for the delay.

2. Finding a solution which could reduce the delay such that the order is available to deliver by the time the customer requires it to be delivered after the end of strike.

Benefits and burden for stakeholders

Don -

Benefits include getting time to fix the issue by finding out the cause and working on expediting the production before customer requests for delivery of the goods.

Burden includes wrath of Jane and pressure to fix the issue to avoid further delay.

Jane -

Benefits include getting time to fix the issue by finding out the cause and working on expediting the production before customer requests for delivery of the goods.

Burden includes difficulty in finding the issue and fixing it which might lead to delay status being updated to customer resulting in lost trust.

Customer -

Benefits include avoiding payment in advance and avoiding storage costs of the goods which cannot be utilised due to the strike going on.

Burden includes possible delay in delivery of the goods even after the strike ends resulting in loss of production.

Production Manager -

Benefits includes opportunity to fix the delay issue by working closely with Don.

Burden includes increased pressure to produce the goods before customer strike ends.

Q2) The stakeholder that would bear the most burder if Don withholds the information from Jane is Jane

By believing in Don and his team, Jane demanded the customer to pay for the goods on the earlier scheduled delivery date and also has sent an invoice to the customer. She also expected customer to pay for the storage of goods for the period of delayed delivery. If the information is withheld, she will be under an incorrect assumption leading to embarassment in future.