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Presentation/PPT
27/08/2022
Vesuvius is located in Ayrshire in Scotland and is part of the Cookson group, a large diversified
conglomerate with plants located in 21 countries, that that makes specialist ceramics and
other components for the steel industry.
Realising the competitive nature of life as part of a multinational conglomerate, Vesuvius
wanted to be seen as a high performer in the group. Thus, in the early 1990s, it reviewed
its operational policies and procedures and, in particular, those concerning the use of human
resources. In the mid-1990s it embarked on a change programme built around the business
excellence model derived by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EPQM). This
involved building a culture in which production staff were to be grouped into self-managing
teams, who would take full responsibility for improving performance in all the tasks they
undertake. The chosen vehicle for this initiative was the adoption of ‘teamworking’ and to
facilitate this there was a radical break with the past, in which many barriers needed to be
overcome. For example:
• across a three year period the diverse wage rates for different production activities were
replaced with a simplified single wage structure that effectively resulted in a salaried
workforce
• multi-skilling was introduced to give labour-flexibility across all jobs and production workers
were re-trained to enable them to do all jobs within their respective teams
• teams took responsibility for all the tasks they undertook, from materials used, problem
solving and quantity and quality of output
• two-way communication meetings between management and workers were instituted
and although this gave rise to initial apprehensions on the part of trade unions, these
eventually subsided when it was made clear that there would be no job losses
• foremen, who had hitherto performed a first-line supervisory role, were initially apprehensive
about job security and also needed to be re-trained to become ‘facilitators’ rather
than overseers.
While these changes all took time to implement, the management of Vesuvius is well pleased
with the outcomes. For example, enthusiasm, job satisfaction and satisfaction with health
and safety, as measured by employee opinion surveys, has increased significantly. Financial
turnover has also increased by nearly 50 per cent over a five year period, market share has
grown, the number of customer complaints has decreased and costs have been lowered.
Indeed, so convinced is the management of Vesuvius that these outcomes are the result of the
introduction of teamworking, that it has been extended to all other functions and departments
Source: Adapted from Arkin, A. (1999a) Peak practice, People Management, 11 November: pp
57−59
After reading the above case material, to what extent do you feel that the decision to
adopt teamworking at Vesuvius was an appropriate one?
What do you feel was the main factor that prompted the managers at Vesuvius to
pursue this initiative?
What of the outcomes of the initiative; in your view, have the outcomes been worthwhile
in view of the considerable disruption and expenditure that was likely to have
been incurred?
From whose perspective, the company and its managers, or the employees who had
to adopt the changes, have you answered questions 1, 2 and 3?
Now answer the questions again, but this time answering them from the perspective
of the party you ignored the first time through.
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