Case Study - Industrial Setting
An industrial plant (4,000 employees) faced strained relationships with head-office, inter-departmental rivalries and overhead reduction. Through a comprehensive Grid program, widespread buy-in to change was achieved. During the first six months, 800 managers and technical staff completed Grid training. Participant attitudes were measured pre and post implementation.
Perceived Changes in Team Performance
Percent of respondents rating team performance "high" (7 or
8 on an eight-point scale), n=606.
| PRE | POST | INCREASE | |
| "Levelling with other team members" | 45.9% | 67.7% | + 47.5% |
| "Team work effort" | 50.2 | 74.2 | 47.8 |
| "Problem liveliness in team discussions" | 27.2 | 53.0 | 94.9 |
| "Quality of decisions made in team" | 38.8 | 65.6 | 66.5 |
| "Profit-loss consciousness in team" | 41.2 | 71.7 | 74.0 |
| Average | 40.7% | 66.2% | +62.7% |
Perceived Changes in Boss's Behaviour
Percent of respondents rating their managers "high" (7 or 8
on an eight-point scale), n=606.
| PRE | POST | INCREASE | |
| "Boss's work effort" | 67.1% | 78.5% | +17.1% |
| "Encourages suggestions" | 53.1 | 64.7 | 21.9 |
| "Gets me to have high goals" | 54.4 | 65.8 | 21.0 |
| "Follows up with me on action" | 53.8 | 64.5 | 19.9 |
| "Listens carefully to me" | 60.6 | 71.3 | 17.7 |
| "Aware of themselves" | 63.9 | 72.8 | 13.9 |
| "States views clearly" | 58.2 | 69.3 | 19.1 |
| "Self-confident" | 72.8 | 78.7 | 8.1 |
| Average | 60.5% | 70.7% | +17.3% |
Operating Figures
(Increase/decrease -- fiscal year over year following implementation)
* Employee surveys conducted prior to implementation and within one year of completion.
* Source: Harvard Business Review, Business Classics 1991
(Case Study - Industrial Setting in .pdf format - requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Case Study II - Retail Operations
Case Study III - Grid with Coaching Follow-up - OilCo.