Steelcase, Inc. Case Study
Summary of CaseSteelcase, Inc is one of the largest manufacturers of office furniture and provides services to create high-performance work environments that promote effective employees. The company employs 21,000 people worldwide in 15 different countries. Steelcase products and services are sold and serviced through a network of over 700 independent office furniture dealers. Many of these dealers deal directly with the end-user therefore the success of Steelcase, Inc relies heavily on the work of the dealers.
One of the areas of the office furniture industry that has gained popularity recently is efficient management of current furniture, otherwise known as furniture management services. These services work with end-users to provide maintenance, moving, warehousing, inventory control, etc to existing office furniture. Steelcase works with Furniture Management Coalition (FMC) to provide these management services to Steelcase end-users. FMC employs 30 people in the United States. The company is headed by a Vice President and a management staff of 6 people. One of the key positions at FMC is that of the field operations manager. The vice president of FMC identified five problems that he asked be addressed specifically related to the position of field operations manager (FOM). Many problems arose because the FOMs are spread throughout the United States and are in charge of multi-state territories. The problems included:
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Original Case Study Article |
Initial Problem Statement
There was a clear lack of communication and inconsistencies among one of the most key positions within the Furniture Management Coalition. Because the Field Operations Managers are so spread out throughout the United States, how can we find a solution that can be maintained on such a large scale?
Performance Analysis Tools, Analysis, Results
The consultants felt the performance analysis should involve an appropriate “mix” of solutions to ensure that all systemic factors and inter-dependencies that affect group and individual performance are considered. In order to ensure that all possible variables are considered they choose to utilize a variation of Gilbert's Performance Improvement Matrix. The grid explores both environmental as well as individual factors that affect performance.
In addition the consultants met with FMC management and analysts to develop a series of focused questions to help define the scope of the analysis of performance. The questions are as follows:
In addition the consultants met with FMC management and analysts to develop a series of focused questions to help define the scope of the analysis of performance. The questions are as follows:
- What does the FOM job really look like?
- What things are the FOMs not doing as well as they should to achieve desired results? What things are they already doing well?
- What currently gets in the way of good performance?
- What issues should be dealt with first?
- What is the best—quickest and most cost-effective—mix of solutions to help increase FOM performance?
Cause Analysis Tools, Analysis, Results
To determine the causes of the performance gaps, the analysts created a survey to find out the typical behaviors of FOMs and what those behaviors should be. The questions on this survey included the following:
The survey results highlighted various areas that needed improvement and key barriers that might be causing those performance gaps.
- Rate the frequency and skill with which they felt individual FOMs performed each of the desired behaviors as listed on the model.
- Prioritize the barriers and enhancers by indicating the extent of agreement or disagreement with work environment statements derived from interview information based on a scale of 1 to 6, in which 1 = strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree.
The survey results highlighted various areas that needed improvement and key barriers that might be causing those performance gaps.
Intervention Selection and Development
After identifying the performance gaps and the causes for them, the analysts and consultant devised a plan to match potential solutions with those gaps and their causes. This created a varied mix of solutions that should increase the likelihood that the desired behaviors would be performed based on their performance model. There were various solutions for the different performance gaps, but each was designed so that expectations were clarified, processes were documented, and appropriate measures and incentives were implemented.
Evaluation
One year after implementation, the consultant and analysts interviewed all of the effected team members and stakeholders including the vice president, the FOM leader/manager, the newly appointed FOM team leader, and several elected FOMs who were considered exemplars. They asked questions such as "What worked? What didn't work?" and "What behavioral differences or other things have you noticed since the solution was implemented?"
Ultimately, the results of the survey showed that the vice president and leader felt the intervention and its outcomes were satisfactory, but the FOMs were not as satisfied because they were still "putting out fires," though not as many as before. They also found that some of the other job roles and responsibilities were still being confused.
Ultimately, the results of the survey showed that the vice president and leader felt the intervention and its outcomes were satisfactory, but the FOMs were not as satisfied because they were still "putting out fires," though not as many as before. They also found that some of the other job roles and responsibilities were still being confused.
Critique - What Would You Have Done Differently?
Because the company is so large and expands over such a large area, there were different problems in different areas, so the case study had many performance gaps and interventions. This made the case study a little hard to follow because I had trouble trying to see exactly what they did. As a case study itself, I would have been more specific about the different things they did to improve performance. However as an intervention, I think they probably had the right idea on targeting different areas to improve multiple things at once.