4.8 The plant manager noticed a need to lesson the amount of waste material, which occurred in the production process. A task force was set up, composed of the plant manager herself and two of her supervisor, to examine the problem. They met for three months and regularly published the task force objectives and findings on the plant bulletin board.
The plant manager found, to her surprise, that workers on the shop floor exhibited limited interest in the task force and ignored the bulletin board entirely. At the end of the three-month period, the task force came up with several excellent recommendation, which require changes in work practices. Most of the workers implemented the recommended changes very reluctantly, and some even secretly worked to sabotage the new practices. Eventually, all recommendations were withdrawn.
What went wrong? How should the plant manager have handled this case?