Changing the culture at Jaguar

INTRODUCTION Changes in the to ask for their products and services, Jaguar becomes model, the processes, systems, policies
car industry in the but mainly on their quality.
part of Ford and procedures that support it.
This case study looks at how Jaguar, one of the world's 1980s and 1990s The concept of Total Quality
Organisations involved in the change
most prestigious car manufacturers, has been involved Management (TQM) was developed in In recent years the world car industry has process often focus on strategy and
The car industry has changed dramati- structure and neglect culture change.
in a culture change programme to create new ways of the US after the end of World War Two been rationalised. Instead of hundreds
cally. At the start of the twentieth cen- but was implemented first in Japan. It of car companies world-wide, there are As a result, the existing culture acts
working for the twenty-first century.
tury, the industry was dominated by the changed the balance of world trade and ten major global players. Part of this like an invisible anchor that drags the
Corporate culture reflects the personality of an organi- achievements of Henry Ford who cre- led many companies in the west to rationalisation has seen the development business down.
sation. It includes the shared beliefs and the policies ated a manufacturing system that was rethink their attitudes, policies and of a new Ford group of companies.
In the motor industry in the early
known as Fordism. In Fordist organisa- structure. TQM can only operate when
and procedures that determine the ways in which the In the 1990s Ford took control of 1990s, many employees were not used
tions, the manufacturing system was responsibility and power are delegated
organisation and its people behave and solve business geared towards creating standardised downwards through all levels of the
Jaguar. It recently overhauled the to making decisions for themselves.
Halewood plant to produce the new They expected to be told what to do.
problems. You can quickly get a feel for the culture of products such as the Model T Ford. organisation.
X400 Jaguar and created a new way of This slowed down change when
an organisation just by looking around and talking to The needs of the production line deter-
working. Many of the employees at companies wanted to move on to
the people who work for it. For example, some organi- mined the life of the production
Halewood had previously produced self-managed teamwork approaches.
line worker. Workers
sations are very dynamic and their people are Ford Escorts using traditional manu-
knew In the 1990s Jaguar overhauled its
encouraged to take risks. Others are backward looking facturing techniques, in which they
were not encouraged to show initiative. approaches to work to create an envi-
and rarely take risks. ronment in which employees were
They now needed to learn new
The culture of the organisation provides the meaning, approaches to work which involved encouraged to ‘take ownership’. They
empowerment and flexibility; more would be involved in managing a
direction and clarity (the human glue) that drives the
responsibility was given to the opera- process of continuous improvement
business to achieve its goals. From time to time it
tive at the sharp end of production. that revolved around ‘lean production’.
becomes necessary to change the culture of an What better place to introduce a culture Lean production involves standardis-
organisation to make sure that it fits the environment in change than by starting with a prestige ing work processes to cut out waste.
which the organisation operates. marque like Jaguar? The standard set is the best identified
method of operation at a particular
Strategy moment in time. This standard is
continuously improved.
To manage the change process at the The key to lean production is to
As the world became
Jaguar plant, Ford worked closely with identify which production processes
more competitive, organisa-
a consultancy group called Senn add value. Processes which do not add
tions had to respond quickly to rapidly
Delaney Leadership. Senn Delaney value are cut out so that labour and
changing demands. They could no
exactly what was expected of them and believes that it is important to align the machinery can focus on added value
longer rely on producing standardised
were given set periods of time to carry out culture, structure and the strategy of an activities.
products but had to manage a wider BROWSE THE WEB FOR
particular operations. This system was organisation. The organisation that information on the organisation
portfolio of associated products. This To introduce lean production at
very successful, lowered production costs seeks to change its strategy without
demanded increased flexibility, and the Halewood it was necessary to
and brought the motor car within the active co-operation of a versatile and changing its culture will experience www.jaguar.com
transform existing attitudes in the
budget of the ordinary family in the west. increasingly skilled workforce. resistance to change. The successful
WHAT SHADOW DO YOU CAST? management of change is crucial.
workforce. Employees had to take
Being a good role model will encourage others to do the right thing However, during the 1980s the car In the 1980s and the 1990s, many responsibility for introducing new
(leading by example). Our children will always do what they SEE industry was transformed by new American and European companies The strategy of the organisation working methods and to continuously
us do, and not what we TELL them to do. manufacturing approaches from Japan. adopted more flexible Japanese ways includes the overall business direction suggest further improvements. They
Japanese success was based partly on of working so they could respond and the plan to achieve it. Structure would work in small teams with a
the competitive prices they were able quickly to changing market conditions. includes the organisational design and team leader.
 GLOSSARY OF KEYWORDS

The Jaguar/Halewood with external customers on a day-to- Respect: treating each other with basis of pride and dedication. This a common goal - to make a success of
day basis. This provided the basis for a respect, dignity, courtesy and having gained union support for the change Halewood.
Difference Programme new organisational culture. pride in the workplace. and showed everyone what the benefits Benchmarks: The highest stan- Lean production: Elimination of
would be. By involving everyone in the culture dards currently achievable within waste by concentrating on value
To transform working patterns at On a day-to-day basis Halewood Open communication: openly com- change programme it was relatively an industry, organisation or plant. added activities.
Halewood, a Halewood Difference people would focus on: municating with each other regardless Management and union workshop
easy to establish a shared vision.
Programme was introduced based on a of level. Management and unions identified a Continuous improvement: Managing change: Systematic
Quality: consistently delivering world Through the workshops, employees
new vision and set of guiding values joint approach to take the initiative Ongoing cycle of making regular and planned attempts to change
class quality products and service. Teamwork: working together for the built up real enthusiasm for the empow-
and behaviours: forward and embrace the new values. small scale changes to operational the organisations strategy,
good of Halewood as members of erment process. Employees were
Customer focus: striving to exceed activities. structure and culture.
The Jaguar Vision one team. Supervisors’ workshops motivated by the fact that they had a
customer expectations.
Jaguar targets industry leadership in Supervisors were to play a key role in Culture: ‘The way we do things Rationalisation: Simplification
Adaptability and flexibility: showing role to play in the change process. For
quality, value for money, customer care Accountability/Responsibility: being introducing the new ways of working. around here.’ The pattern of doing process to avoid duplication of
a commitment to embrace change. example, one employee commented
and human resource management. accountable and responsible for their Supervisors’ workshops therefore con- things in an organisation based on effort.
favourably on the initiative when
Compatible with these targets the personal conduct and their tasks. The Halewood programme stimulated a centrated on how they could help to norms and relationships.
more open and democratic relationship lead the change process. he stated, ‘I always thought the company Strategy: Making the major
vision for the Halewood body and
between managers and employees as wanted me to leave my brain at the gate’. Culture change programme: decisions in an organisation,
assembly plant is: ACCOUNTABILITY employees became key decision makers. Pilot workshops Programme for changing culture involving long term plans and
• a world class vehicle manufactur- Five pilot workshops of thirty participants from an existing pattern to a new major resourcing decisions.
ing facility producing Jaguar cars taken from all levels of the organisation Taking the more desirable one.
for the discerning luxury car buyer, Making the change were trialled. The emphasis was on break- initiative forward Total Quality Management
providing maximum job satisfac- ing down divisions within the organisa- Fordism: A systematic way of (TQM): A system for ensuring
tion and security You can't force a new culture on an tion so that a new model of teamworking The success of the X400 production making large quantities of quality at every stage in the
unreceptive workforce. Introducing relationships could be established. system at Halewood is based on three standardised products for the production of a product rather
• a safe environment in which highly
changes in culture involves a detailed pillars. mass market. than end-of-line quality inspection.
motivated employees demonstrate Selection and training of internal
programme for introducing new ideas
a pride, passion in the product and facilitators 1. An emphasis on quality at every Hierarchy: The layers of Vision: Picture of the way an
in a participative way.
an earnest desire to drive continu- stage in the production of the new command within an organisation. organisation can move forward to
Needs and assessments measurement To cascade the Jaguar (Halewood)
ous improvements cars. a more desirable future.
The first stage was a series of one-to-one Difference message across the organi-
• a management that respects its interviews and focus group activities for sation, sixteen internal facilitators from 2. The culture change programme - cre-
employees and is committed to best representatives from all areas of the all areas and levels of the organisation ating an empowered, entrepreneurial
practices in terms of fairness, organisation. These identified the were selected and trained. and committed workforce, and
recruitment, communications, cultural strengths and the barriers to 3. Establishing centres of excellent
Two day workshops for all employees
training, education, diversity and change at Halewood. These sessions practice across the organisation
The final stage of the roll out of the
individual employee welfare were designed to find out how employ- which act as benchmarks for
culture change programme was a series
ees thought and felt about their work improving performance in areas
• management and employees work- of two-day workshops led by the inter-
culture, and to provide the feedback to carrying out similar operations.
ing together to achieve shared nal facilitators. These sessions gave all
outline the strategy and the key mes- New facilitators will take the change
goals, volume and job growth 3,000 employees a clear understanding
sages for the culture change programme. process forward even further. They
opportunities of the difference between working on a
Management workshops are being coached by existing
• the leading manufacturer in the Ford Escort and creating the new
The next phase involved a series of three facilitators and throughout the organi-
community, fulfilling environmen- Jaguar X400. They also heightened
day sessions for managers to build up a sation employees are being formed into
tal responsibilities and proactive in awareness of the Jaguar Difference
commitment to the change programme. empowered teams to drive lean
supporting local initiatives. values and behaviours.
production forward.
Union workshops
Guiding values and behaviours set out Union leaders took part in workshops The early phases of the new pro- The Halewood plant will provide the
Encouraging accountability will reduce the blame culture and
a picture of how people within the encourage responsible behaviour. Embracing the challenge of so they could better understand the new gramme were very encouraging. It was benchmark for improvements across
plant would work with each other and climbing the ladder will result in higher perspective. Jaguar approach to building cars on the immediately obvious that everyone had the Ford organisation in the UK.

QUESTIONS BROWSE THE WEB FOR

information on the organisation

1 Which company owns Jaguar?

2 What do you understand by the
3 What is lean production? Why
4 How has the culture change
5 How is the culture change
www.jaguar.com
What other car businesses does term Fordism? When was this is lean production most likely programme at the Halewood programme likely to give Jaguar a
this company own? approach to car manufacturing to be successful with an plant involved the participation competitive edge over rivals?
most successful? empowered workforce? of the workforce? How might
this have helped to overcome
barriers to change?

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