six thinking hats

SIX PERSPECTIVES OF THE MANESAR INCIDENT

SIX THINKING HATS

White Hat: Looks objectively at data and information. Is neutral and concerned with facts and figures.
Red Hat: Legitimizes feelings and gives an emotional view, hunches, and intuition. Yellow Hat: Is positive and constructive. The yellow color symbolizes sunshine, brightness and optimism. Black Hat: Is logical, negative, judgmental, and cautious. Is gloomy, suggests why it cannot be done. Green Hat: Is about new ideas and creative thinking. Blue Hat: Controls the thinking process. The blue hat is concerned with control and the organization of the thinking process.

BLUE HAT MANAGING THE THINKING PROCESS

A cool blue sky allowing you the overview over the thinking processes which take place. Here's the manager's blue hat. You take a little distance from your thinking and watch the process unfold. Guide it and control it. And draw the conclusions in the end.

The issue:
The plant workers wanted to register a new unionthe Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU)and had already applied for registration, something the management was opposed to.
The 13-day strike at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Indias largest automobile manufacturer, was a wake-up call for the Indian corporate sector. Not only did it illustrate the unity among the companys workers, but with workers and unions across states voicing support, it threatened to flare up into a wider industrial dispute, giving strong signals of a resurgence of trade union activity in the country.

WHITE HAT
Information Available & Needed

Imagine white paper and computer print-outs. Most of the time paper is white. The white hat, just like most paper, refers to information and facts. So when you wear it, stick to the fact and figures. Only objective information is what you

FACTS
June 1) 13-days strike demanding the recognition of the MSEU at the Manesar plant 2) Production loss of 12,600 cars, valued at about Rs 630 crore. July 1) Production stopped for a day at the same plant because of strike by some workers.

August
1) Reported 12.74 per cent fall in sales for August to 91,442 as compared to the sale of 1,04,791 units in the same month last year September 7 1) Loss suffered is estimated at about 8,550 units, valued at about Rs. 425 crore. Source: Economic Times

The consequences
Production is right now at a stop at Manesar Third production halt in three months at Manesar. The company stopped operations for 10 working days in June The firm lost Rs 400 crore because of the strike.

RED HAT Intuition and Feelings

Imagine the red glow of a soaring fire. You're sitting close. Feel the warmth coming from the flames. The red hat refers to your feelings and emotions. Those can be based on complex experiences and aren't always easily analyzed. Usually they're left out of the discussion since they're neither based on facts nor logic. Yet feelings which are heard stop nagging in the back of your head. Thus sharing them helps to clear your thinking.

PROBLEM FROM WORKERS POINT OF VIEW

IF THE FLOOR SUPERVISOR IS RUDE AND EVEN SLAPS US, HE IS AWARDED WITH A PROMOTION BUT IN CASE A LABOURER DARES TO REPLY, HE IS ISSUED A NOTICE ON GROUNDS OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION," SAID RAJENDER KUMAR, A TECHNICIAN

PROBLEMS FROM MANAGEMENT POINT OF VIEW

Unhappy workers have found out a new way to disrupt ongoing work at the plant by creating serious defects in quality of the cars, so they would fail the compulsory vehicle inspection (VI) quality test.

BLACK HAT
Caution, Difficulties, and Problems

Have you ever experienced the feeling your future seemed to look pitch black? Only troubles, mistakes, problems and all sorts of dangers awaiting... You were wearing a black hat. Very useful at times. Now wear this hat to alert you to where you could go wrong.

THE PROBLEMS
Workers indulging in deliberate attempts to reduce output and are compromising customer interests

Revenge for the June strike.

Refused to sign good conduct form which aims at ensuring the production of good quality products. Employees are being charged with sabotage and causing quality problems in the cars produced.

ACCORDING TO CHAIRMAN R. C. BHARGAVA

Manesar labour problem is essentially a political issue and not a problem which involves any significant demand from the workers

GREEN HAT Alternatives and Creative Ideas

What happens in spring when the winter resides? Leaves grow back on the trees and bushes, the first flowers unfold in the young and lush meadows and all is vibrant with the creative energy of life. Your green hat represents your conscious creative efforts. New ideas arise, innovative solutions pop up. No logic required this time. Just let your imagination run wild.

SOLUTIONS
Identified reasons of the conflict.

1. Establishment of separate union for Manesar Plant 2. Code of Conduct- Falling standards of manufacturing. 3. Basic sanitary enhancements demanded by the workforce.

TRADE UNION ESTABLISHMENT

Trade union would be established with prior conditions: -

1. Members of the trade union to be nominated with consent of both workers and management. 2. The leader of this union would be appointed by the management.
If not agreed then management would move to plan B. 1. Technology oriented operations reducing demand of man power.

CODE OF CONDUCT AND SANITARY PROBLEMS

ADOPT CHANGE PROCESS THEORY
Unfreezing Change through cognitive restructuring

Refreezing

YELLOW HAT
Benefits and Feasibility

Remember a bright and sunny day. Walking outside in a gentle breeze, how easy it gets to feel optimistic about life. Your yellow hat represents the positive and logical aspects of your thinking. So it's not about your hopes! Your statements have to be backed up by reason as well. Looking for benefits, added value and observing how realistic your expectations will be.

RAY OF HOPE
With the standoff between the management and labour that started on August 29 continuing, the company had brought in 50 ITI-trained and experienced workers at the plant taking the total workforce to 1,100 people.
MSI has about 2,500 workers the Manesar plant, out of which nearly 1,000 are permanent. Hopefully the management will take lessons out of the incident Hopefully incidents like this wont occur in the future

THE CURRENT SCENARIO

On August 21, MSI lifted a month-long lockout at the Manesar plant, but only a few hundred workers were allowed to enter. Hike in the wages of the workers.

Hire new workers.

Fire workers who participated in violence. Regularizing the workforce. To implement an effective and continuous communication with all Workers.

New plant in Gujarat.

THANK YOU!