Ray Wilson is Quality Manager of the Tiffin, Ohio, plant of North-West Electric, a manufacturer of electrical components. Some North-West locations have implemented various forms of broad-banding and delayering in response to job-based pay structures. He heard about the experiences of Tiffin's sister plant in Kinston, North Carolina, at a recent quality conference. This made him consider his own situation. His staff is generally effective, but they do not always do well in the highly ambiguous environment of the plant because their defined responsibilities do not incorporate a great deal of flexibility, and many of them are reluctant to step outside their roles. There are four levels of employees between him and his hourly staff; Ray sometimes feels overly insulated from the happenings on the shop floor. Now, Ray has to decide whether or not to try this approach with his own staff, and what specifically to do if he does make changes. If Ray decided to delayer his organization, what would he be doing?
a. Reducing the number of job levels to achieve flexibility in assignments
b. Listening to his people more
c. Taking more of an active role in managing his people
d. Broadening everyone's job descriptions