Related Case Studies
Supported United Airlines’ efforts to engage employees to implement sensitive operational changes.
To support United Airlines’ efforts associated with its bankruptcy/restructuring work, a business transformation office (BTO) at United was charged in 2003 with meeting aggressive debtor-in-possession (DIP) covenants set by Federal Court. United’s Operations team was the largest and most complex program, overseeing the activity of 11 projects encompassing three business divisions and the entire global network of airports. The team needed to engage employees to think and behave differently to transform how the company worked and reduce costs by $150 million by 2004.
An adversarial management-labor relationship at International Truck and Engine (now Navistar International) threatened critical UAW contract negotiations and extensive capital investment in new product.
Helped United Airlines engage employees to deliver record-breaking performance.
As it worked to successfully exit bankruptcy, United Airlines needed to engage employees to improve performance amid a complex restructuring. Key to the company’s success was launching a new performance incentive program — Success Sharing — to build trust in leadership and align employee actions with United’s overall business strategy.
Supported International Truck and Engine’s efforts to improve key metrics.
A chronic under-performing manufacturing plant at International Truck and Engine (now Navistar International) needed to make dramatic operating improvements and reduce costs and headcount to successfully launch a new model that the company was counting on to invigorate its 100-year-old brand.
Partnered with Baxter International to improve customer service and inventory management.
With multiple, siloed forecasting and planning practices, Baxter experienced thousands of customer backorders, significant inventory surpluses and huge increases in distribution costs. Management needed to engage employees to align all procurement, production, sales and distribution planning against a single demand forecast.
Just three years after narrowly failing to unionize a regional plant at one of the nation’s largest beverage companies, a prominent labor union garnered the necessary union cards to petition for another election. The company recognized that its traditional way of communicating its position through letters, fliers and mandatory meetings (which had resulted in winning the previous election by a mere seven votes) would not be successful this time. Management needed to do better, and sought a new approach.
