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61. As the turnaround proceeded at Alcoa’s industrial magnesium plant, Simonic decided that cutting staff was essential to
meeting the new goals. First, all temporary and contract workers were laid off. As leaders were explaining the facts that
had led to a decision to lay off an additional 100 workers, an hourly worker revealed a breakthrough that his team had
made to significantly reduce the downtime required to turn a magnesium smelting furnace around. This process involved
switching over to a new crucible once the other was filled (a form of the Japanese manufacturing technique called
SMED—single minute exchange of dies). The new team approach required more labor but cut the downtime from the
usual one-and-a-half-hour turnaround time to just one hour. Simonic called off the impending layoffs. When the new
process was implemented on all nine furnaces in the plant, the savings reached $10 million. This was more than the wages
of the 100 employees, who were allowed to keep their jobs.
62. The apparent causes of plant problems consisted of a complex mix of lack of accountability, poor quality control,
inadequate leadership, and low morale, especially among hourly employees.
63. The first steps that Good Samaritan took included the following:
1. Establishing an inspiring vision: To provide an exceptional patient experience marked by superior health outcomes,
service, and value.
2. Enrolling leaders in the vision.
3. Creating alignment, ownership, and transparency to support the vision. Quoting Gandhi, the president recognized that
“you must be the change you want to see in the world.” He recognized that transforming an organization cannot be
delegated. Leadership needed to create a sense of urgency, explain the “why,” and overcommunicate by a factor of 10.
64. The two severe problems that were faced by Alcoa’s industrial magnesium plant were an unacceptable rate of serious
injuries that averaged 12.8 per year and five years of unprofitable operations.
65. The new leadership model conceived by the Crosbys and the plant leaders involved major changes in goal-setting and
decision-making practices. It required the following:
1. New clarity in goal-setting
2. A consultative instead of a pure consensus approach to decision making
3. Coming to grips with the need to cut costs pragmatically
66. GSAM actively participates in Access DuPage, an innovative community health approach through which GSAM
primary care physicians and specialists provide care to the uninsured population and GSAM provides all diagnostic tests