Strategic Leadership Session 10

Managing change at Faslane

This case study showed an example how different approach to the Faslane (HM Naval Base Clyde) management, have changed entire UK submarine fleet. Faslane had been run by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Royal Navy, but by 2000 they decided that changes are needed to take place in the organisation in order to significantly reduce the cost and improve operational effectiveness of their naval bases.

First change was establishing partnering arrangements with industrial firms, it promised great amount of savings during the contracted period. The main drive for contracted firms behind reducing the costs of Faslane was that profit was entirely a share of the savings. The more they save for organisation, the more they get paid.

The big drawback in Faslane was customer support service, as it was seen less important than buildings and fleet. Part of the change, was to change the work ethics and to emphasise more on customer service. This was seen as a challenge as working environment have been the same for years and know had to face dramatic changes.

Other important changes have been made as:

•          Changing the employees mindset
•          Reduced bureaucracy
•          Changing the management structure (from 7 layers to 4)
•          Started working with local councils
•          Encouraged team work and communication between employees and management

Comparing Faslane to Lynch strategic leadership module we can see that:

•          Faslane changed their developing and communicating the organisations purpose by changing the infrastructure, promoting honesty and open discussions, changing the approach to customer service.
•             Improved sustaining competitive advantage over time by changing employee mindsets, cutting down the management layers, building joint business ventures.
•       Defined and delivered to stakeholders by building trust of the organisation, understanding the importance of good allies and proving the good management.
•             Set ethical standards by changing the money spending, bringing new jobs, building trust and honesty in the community.
•          Managed human resource and organisational decisions by changing layers of management and creating 2000 new jobs.

Faslane was very interesting case study and thought us a lot about organisations management and how can smart changes affect everything. It can be compared to IDEO case study as in both organisations team work played a big role. And showed us how keeping employees happy can produce great outcomes. Faslane case study was complete opposite to the NHS, as Faslane saw their drawbacks and took actions to tackle them, where in NHS it was just left how it is. If we look at Madonna’s case study we can see similarities that she made changes at the time they were needed and it helped her to succeed in her career.

Quite recent article about Faslane: http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=18698