The PGP Company Dashman Case Study
The PGP Company Case Study
This case presents a very common situation that every person that joins a company faces, especially when he wants to modify already existing processes and/or the culture where he is suddenly immerse. In this case we can make evident common issues that arise easily regarding communication, change management and effective decision making in an organization.
The Facts
Mr. Ghosh has recently been hired as the VP of the purchasing department. He wants to centralize the company’s purchasing procedure which was otherwise decentralized and dependent on each of the executives who handled purchasing in the individual plants. Mr. Ghosh sends a letter to the executives trying to impose a new procedure on the amount of purchase that the plants can make on their own, stating that the executives should clear with the head office all purchase contracts which they made in excess of Rs. 1 lakh. His letter doesn’t have the desired effect because despite getting positive answers from the executives, none of them actually follow the procedure.
What went wrong?
In first place, sending a letter and not discussing the path to take regarding the purchases with the executives could have been taken as an affront. Sending a letter to communicate a reduction of “power” and a change in a process to people is clearly not the best way to act in this kind of situations.
Mr. Ghosh should have met in person with each one of the executives of the plant to listen their points of view and discuss a strategy with them. Considering he was new to the company, and that any action that he take could be point of disagreement, he should have managed the situation with better communication.
Additionally, in general, people is averse to change, especially when they consider the way they are doing things is the correct one. When introducing a new procedure, a change in the process, or in general, any change, the person in charge should do it in a way that enable the other people to
This case presents a very common situation that every person that joins a company faces, especially when he wants to modify already existing processes and/or the culture where he is suddenly immerse. In this case we can make evident common issues that arise easily regarding communication, change management and effective decision making in an organization.
The Facts
Mr. Ghosh has recently been hired as the VP of the purchasing department. He wants to centralize the company’s purchasing procedure which was otherwise decentralized and dependent on each of the executives who handled purchasing in the individual plants. Mr. Ghosh sends a letter to the executives trying to impose a new procedure on the amount of purchase that the plants can make on their own, stating that the executives should clear with the head office all purchase contracts which they made in excess of Rs. 1 lakh. His letter doesn’t have the desired effect because despite getting positive answers from the executives, none of them actually follow the procedure.
What went wrong?
In first place, sending a letter and not discussing the path to take regarding the purchases with the executives could have been taken as an affront. Sending a letter to communicate a reduction of “power” and a change in a process to people is clearly not the best way to act in this kind of situations.
Mr. Ghosh should have met in person with each one of the executives of the plant to listen their points of view and discuss a strategy with them. Considering he was new to the company, and that any action that he take could be point of disagreement, he should have managed the situation with better communication.
Additionally, in general, people is averse to change, especially when they consider the way they are doing things is the correct one. When introducing a new procedure, a change in the process, or in general, any change, the person in charge should do it in a way that enable the other people to