Undercover Boss: A Fictionalized Case Study
Summary
TLDRQuintero Hayashi, the president of Rising Sun Airlines' ground division, goes undercover as a ground crew member to understand the challenges in meeting the ideal 12-minute turn time for planes. He discovers that the crew struggles with efficiency and coordination, and that attrition rates are high due to temporary workers not staying long. Hayashi's observations lead to discussions about hiring more staff, improving training and wages, and implementing technology for better oversight. However, he is still searching for a creative and cost-effective solution to streamline the process.
Takeaways
- đ« Quintero Hayashi, the president of RSA, is facing challenges with the ground crews' efficiency in servicing planes at airports across Japan.
- đ The ideal turn time for servicing a plane is 12 minutes, but the current average is 18 minutes.
- đ Ken, a manager, goes undercover as a member of the ground crew to understand the workers' perspective and identify issues affecting efficiency.
- đ§č Ground crews are tasked with cleaning planes, including clearing seat packages, wiping food trays, and vacuuming seats.
- đ„ Ken's team, consisting of six members, manages to turn a Boeing 787 in 18 minutes, which is above the ideal time.
- đ Turn times vary among different crews, with some achieving as low as 16 minutes, indicating potential for improvement.
- đŁïž 'Ladies Stop Watch' is a nickname for a manager who uses a stopwatch to keep the crew on pace, highlighting the pressure to meet turn times.
- đ Ken observes that the crew's performance improves when they are well-coordinated, suggesting the importance of teamwork and management.
- đ Attrition rates have risen, and temporary workers are hired, but they tend not to stay long, indicating a potential issue with job satisfaction or conditions.
- đĄ Ken is considering various solutions, including hiring more workers, improving training and wages, enhancing supervision, or investing in technology.
- đ€ Despite the undercover experience, Ken is still searching for creative and cost-effective solutions to reduce turn time without a clear answer.
Q & A
Who is Quintero Hayashi and what is his role in the company?
-Quintero Hayashi is the president of RSA, a division of Rising Sun Airlines, responsible for servicing the company's planes at airports across Japan.
What is the ideal turn time for an RSA flight?
-The ideal turn time for an RSA flight is 12 minutes.
Why did Ken go undercover as a member of the ground crew?
-Ken went undercover to understand the workers' perspective and identify why they aren't meeting the ideal turnaround time.
What was Ken's first assignment as a member of the ground crew?
-Ken's first assignment was cleaning planes at Narita International Airport, which involved clearing seat packages, wiping food trays, and vacuuming seats.
What is the average turn time for the crew that Ken joined?
-The crew that Ken joined helps turn a Boeing 787 in 18 minutes on average.
Who is Toshi and what does he think about the crew size?
-Toshi is a recent hire who joined the crew a month ago. He believes the crew needs to be bigger, especially for larger planes like the 747.
What is the nickname given to the manager by the crew and why?
-The manager is nicknamed 'Ladies Stop Watch' by the crew because she shouts up the time to help them keep pace.
What is the attrition rate issue that Ken observed in the crew?
-Ken observed that attrition rates have risen in the past year, with many temporary workers hired to fill in but not staying long-term.
What is the secret to Naboo's success in turning planes quickly?
-Naboo is regarded as an expert in the crew and has tricks to turn planes quickly, although these tricks are not in the manual.
What suggestions did Ken make after his undercover experience?
-Ken suggested hiring more crewmembers, providing better training and higher wages, and ensuring stronger oversight of the teams.
What is the alternative solution proposed to Ken's suggestions and why is it considered?
-An alternative solution proposed was to use technology, specifically wearable tracking devices, to monitor employee performance. This is considered to be a one-time investment that could achieve the same result without a huge budget increase.
What is the main challenge Ken faces in finding a solution to reduce turn time?
-Ken's main challenge is finding a creative and less costly way to solve the problem of reducing turn time, as the suggestions made so far involve significant budget increases.
Outlines
đ”ïž Undercover Boss at Rising Sun Airlines
Quintero Hayashi, the president of RSA, a division of Rising Sun Airlines, goes undercover as a ground crew member to understand why the crew is struggling to meet the ideal 12-minute turn time for planes. Despite increased flight frequency, the ground crews are unable to clean, check, restock, and refill planes quickly enough. Hayashi's goal is to find a solution that could involve hiring more workers, improving efficiency with better supervision, or finding a cost-effective technical solution. He learns firsthand about the challenges faced by the workers and the need for a better understanding of their perspective.
đ« The Reality of Ground Crew Work
The script introduces the audience to the daily tasks of the ground crew, including cleaning planes at Narita International Airport. The crew, including recent hire Masquerading and experienced worker Nambu Oh, face the pressure of tight turn times. The crew's average turn time is 18 minutes, and they discuss the difficulty of cleaning larger planes like the 747 within the desired time frame. The script highlights the high attrition rate and the reliance on temporary workers, who often leave quickly, contributing to the ongoing challenges.
đ The Struggle with Turn Times
The narrative focuses on the crew's efforts to improve their turn times, with 'Ladies Stopwatch' urging the team to keep pace. The crew faces the challenge of coordinating their work effectively to meet the target times. Ken, the undercover boss, works hard to improve his own turn times, but he also observes that competition and recognition for the best cleaner do not significantly impact the overall team performance. He concludes that better coordination and possibly more managers for oversight could be part of the solution.
đĄ Seeking Innovative Solutions
After his undercover experience, Ken presents his findings to the board. He suggests hiring more crew members and providing better training and wages to improve retention and efficiency. However, the board is concerned about the budget implications and suggests using technology, such as wearable tracking devices, as a one-time investment to monitor employee performance. Ken is left contemplating whether there might be more creative and less costly solutions to the problem, indicating that the experiment has not yet yielded a clear answer.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄPresident
đĄGround Crew
đĄTurn Time
đĄUndercover
đĄEfficiency
đĄAttrition Rates
đĄTemporary Workers
đĄWearable Tracking Devices
đĄManager
đĄCoordination
đĄBudget Increase
đĄCreative Solutions
Highlights
Quintero Hayashi, president of RSA, goes undercover as a ground crew member to understand the challenges faced by workers in meeting the ideal turnaround time for planes.
The ideal turn time for planes is 12 minutes, but the current average time is 18 minutes.
Ground crews are struggling with the increased frequency of flights and the need to clean, check, restock, and refill planes quickly.
Ken, an undercover crew member, helps turn a Boeing 787 in 18 minutes with a six-member team.
Crew member Toshi, who joined a month ago, discusses the difficulty of cleaning a 747 quickly with a small team.
The crew identifies the need for a larger team, especially for bigger planes, to improve turnaround times.
High attrition rates and the hiring of temporary workers are mentioned as issues affecting the efficiency of the ground crews.
Crew member Naboo Oh is recognized as an expert by his peers and is trusted with cleaning the toilets due to his skills.
Ken observes that teams perform best when fully coordinated and that competitions can improve turn times.
The use of wearable tracking devices is suggested as a technological solution to monitor employee performance.
Ken's undercover experience did not yield any creative, less costly solutions to the problem of reducing turn time.
The transcript highlights the importance of understanding the workers' perspective in finding effective solutions to operational challenges.
The crew's performance is evaluated based on the fastest and most efficient cleaner on each turn.
Ladies Stopwatch is a nickname for a manager who keeps the crew on pace by shouting the time.
The transcript suggests that better training, higher wages, and more crewmembers could improve the situation.
The crew's attrition rate is a concern, with many temporary workers not staying long-term.
Ken's observations lead to a discussion about the need for more managers and stronger oversight of the teams.
The board is presented with the dilemma of increasing the budget for more crewmembers versus investing in technology.
Transcripts
Quintero Hayashi is the president of RSA
ground the division of Rising Sun
Airlines responsible for servicing its
planes at airports across Japan RSA
flights are more frequent than ever
before but the ground crews are
struggling to clean check restock and
refill the planes fast enough to keep up
the ideal turn time is 12 minutes the
average time be seen minutes today Ken
is expected to present the board with a
proposal should they hire more workers
or with the existing workers be more
efficient with better supervision or
perhaps there's a more cost-effective
technical solution but for Ken the real
problem is that nobody in this room
understands the workers perspective
that's why he went undercover a week ago
as a member of the ground crew to see
for himself why his employees aren't
meeting the ideal turndown
[Music]
masquerading is one of many recent hires
his first assignment was cleaning planes
at Narita International Airport clearing
seed packages wiping food trays and
vacuuming sees with his six-member team
he helps turn a Boeing 787 in 18 minutes
during their break 10 meets Toshi we
joined the crew a month ago it gets
better
you learn how to do it faster and I
never as fast as the manager once is the
manager we won't see her till this
afternoon ladies stop watch overseas
another crew in the morning ladies stop
watch that's what we call her she shouts
up the time to help us keep pace we can
turn a half-full 787 and 12 minutes for
just the six of us can't clean a whole
747 that quickly it's not possible so
the crew needs to be bigger yeah
especially for the bigger planes but it
won't be my problem much longer why is
that this was the only job I could find
when I moved to Tokyo I'm not exactly
trying to make a career out of it
not like Namur over there Kent Moses
over as he approaches Naboo oh he's an
older man and the crew seems to regard
him as an expert these turns are tough I
was working as fast as I could and it
still took me 18 minutes I was done with
the bathrooms and eight people could go
faster the more experienced people do
but fewer of us are around now ken knows
attrition rates have risen in the past
year and lots of temporary workers have
been hired to pick up the slack but like
Toshi they never stay long why have you
stayed this is the only job I know how
to do and I'm good at it
the manager says I'm the only one she
trusts with the toilets what's your
secret there are tricks but they aren't
in the manual if you're still here next
week I might let you in on one or two
the other crew average 16 minute turn
times let's see if we can get you down
to that as the crew turns plane after
plane ladies stopwatch points out the
best cleaner on each turn the person who
finishes the fastest and with the fewest
mistakes
the bula wins most often ken keeps
working hard and their turn time
improves by a few minutes but he doesn't
think the competition makes much of a
difference to his teammates and some of
them seemed annoyed by ladies stopwatch
five minutes
finish strong you cleaned planes for
four days well I believe that what you
saw confirms what I've been saying all
along we need to hire more crewmembers
and give them better training and higher
wages let's make sure our Toshi's learn
the ropes quickly and our nobuo stay
with us know what ken observed is that
the teams perform best when they are
fully coordinated stop watches and
competitions are terrific ideas we need
to hire more managers and ensure
stronger oversight of the teams but
you're both talking about a huge budget
increase we've made promises to our
shareholders why not use technology to
achieve the same result make a one-time
investment in wearable tracking devices
to monitor employee performance and
knows none of these suggestions are
quite right he thought his undercover
boss experiment would give him new ideas
for reducing turn time but the only one
he'd had so far was to clone Naboo Oh
aren't there any more creative less
costly ways to solve this problem
[Music]
you
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