Leadership - John Deere

It is common knowledge that John Deere is one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment. Many people looking from the outside think they have a well-oiled machine, which make superior agricultural products. According to Sprinkle and Williamson (2004), the entire industry took a severe downturn in the 1980's. In reaction to this cycle, Deere presented innovative ways to inspire employees and raise moral.

Like many companies, John Deere used a standard hourly compensation for their employees. John Deere decided to install a team-based gain-sharing plan that it believed would encourage more cooperation, innovation, and higher levels of motivation from its employees. (Retrieved 10/12/07) Much like the Good Sport scenario, management needed to find a way to promote teamwork and employee participation. Management reached out to the design group at Good Sport, the development and design teams found ways to use existing processes to manufacture the new product by using existing parts and manufacturing with little additional cost or change to production methods. Because the corporate culture at Good Sport promoted teamwork, solutions developed resolved the issues between departments.

In John Deere's case, management realized they had a wealth of knowledge and experience within their front line employees. In many companies, the employees usually hold trade secrets in the production process. The John Deere employees were no different. Management needed a way to open the doors for a new work relationship with the employee. To do so, they adopted a new compensation plan. This plan, the Continuous Improvement Pay Plan (CIPP), shifted focus