Good Management 9-18-24

Good management requires credibility. Employees need to know that their managers know what they are doing. Good managers need to understand the operations they are supervising and the tools and methods needed to improve productivity. Good managers should be driven by achievement. These achievements can include meeting production and shipping schedules, properly matching parts purchasing to production schedules, properly inspecting incoming parts and ensuring that assembly is performed properly.  Managers are usually required to train employees to use new tools and methods. The establishment of Lean Management that required the formation of teams and classes in mainframe access can take weeks and requires certified trainers. Teams evaluate current processes and develop better processes. They eliminate processes that have become obsolete. 

 Selection of Good Managers requires that they have the right temperament, work experience and are likely to love what they do.  All Managers are unique and should rely on their strengths. The type of business determines the type of Manager needed. Warehouse Managers should have warehouse management experience. Restaurant Managers do better if they regard their employees as family. Happy employees provide an inviting atmosphere. I adopted treating my own staffs as family and it worked in my Personnel Departments. I also encouraged my staffs to shower employees with respect. I injected humor constantly and my past employees told me that was the most fun job they ever held. These were employees who worked very hard and loved it.  I always viewed employees as independent agents who were free to be themselves. I never micromanaged them. I treated them as adults to encourage them to be adults. I was flexible. When they identified problems, I would project lead them to solutions.

US Manufacturing has been hollowed out since the 1990s when off-shoring began. If we intend to re-shore manufacturing, we need to prepare to design our manufacturing processes to include automation and modern management techniques.

The quality of US manufacturing managers is mixed. At companies that required and implemented automation, the complexity increased, but the results were better.

At companies where quality suffered, making corrections are needed. Strategic Plans require that Corporate Boards of Directors understand the current state of the business. Boeing lost sight of the need to keep Engineering close to Manufacturing. Their push to increase deliveries to drive revenue created this problem. Now Airbus is the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft.

GM and Ford should have ignored the Federal Mandate to convert to EVs without solving their performance problems. Now these companies are facing higher costs and lower revenues. Consumers are not buying EVs because the Price is too high.

The Price of the new Apple I-Phone 16 Pro Max 1TB is $1,599. The average monthly Cell Phone Service bill is $144. The price of the Cell Phone Watch is $25 and is the best solution to connecting kids with their moms. Addiction to Social Media is a problem. Cell Phones for doing business is required. AI implementation in the Cloud requires that the US builds 1000 new natural gas power plants and dozens of new nuclear power plants. Consumers have no money and neither do the Poser Companies.

Employees know that the quality of the Management is worse than before. DEI needs to be ignored in re-forming Boards of Directors. It should require prior executive experience in their companies and industries, an accurate understanding of the US economy, close monitoring of company operations, through understanding of technical capabilities, a good lawyer and lot of common sense.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader