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Prompt: Discuss two situations in the past four years
where you have taken an active leadership role. How do these
events demonstrate your managerial potential? (Anderson)
Wellwork Action Team
After working nearly a year as a production engineer, one
morning I experienced a kind of epiphany. I realized that
our profit center had effectively gained manpower and resources
in the form of increased attention from vendors with whom
we had recently formed strategic alliances. By improving communication
between these vendors as well as between our profit center
and these companies, I envisioned a unified approach that
could improve and expedite our production operations. With
the encouragement of the operations superintendent, I arranged
a brainstorming session for supervisory level personnel from
our operations staff and our new alliance partner’s companies.
From that session, a “Wellwork Action Team” was created with
the specific purpose of improving and streamlining our operations
procedures in order to reduce the cost of increase the quality
of our projects in the field.
After being chosen facilitator for our Wellwork Action Team,
I set for myself two personal goals: first, to maintain enthusiasm
among team members and second, to implement the ideas and
concepts brought forth by our team into our everyday procedures.
To ensure continued involvement, I first convinced myself
that the potential benefits that might be gained from having
this team merited the time and energy of its participants.
Next, I personally committed myself to the project and firmly
discussed my commitment with each of team members. Third,
I led the team in drafting a mission statement and clearly
defining our goals. We identified measurements by which we
could evaluate our progress. Finally, I promised the team
members that we would keep meetings to a minimum and re-evaluate
the usefulness of our team in eight weeks.
From June 1995 to the present, our Wellwork Action Team has
successfully increased efficiency in our oil pumps, reduced
electrical costs by 6 percent, and nearly doubled the production
of three oil wells. As our team continues to evolve, we envision
reducing our wellwork budget from $5.0 million/year in 1995
to $4.6 million/year in 1996 while maintaining oil production
and reducing operating expenses. Our current challenges include
overcoming conflicts in the schedules of our team members
and providing for long-term oil recovery as well as short-term
cost reduction.
Applying New Technologies
When most people envision an oil well, they picture ten-foot-high
rod pumping units, the kind common to Los Angeles and West
Texas because of their durability, availability, and efficiency.
With 300 wells on a mere 10 acre island, however, these units
are impractical for our use; a less efficient, higher cost
and lower-profile type of centrifugal pump is employed by
our company. Recently, a small L.A. firm invented a new method
of using common rod-type pumps without the bulky surface equipment.
This marriage of new technology with old rod-style pumping
appeared to have significant potential for reducing costs
on our island. Although I do not normally design our pumping
equipment, I assumed active project leadership when deciding
to install the first unit and apply the new technology.
Because our operations personnel and vendor partners were
unaccustomed to handling hundreds of 30-foot long rods and
putting them into use, I met with the inventor of the new
subsurface equipment and two related vendors who would supply
the rods. Rather than provide specifications to each vendor
for a bid as is customary, I chose one vendor from the onset
and entrusted him with the project. I assigned him to work
with the inventor of the new equipment and asked them to together
devise a low cost, high quality engineering design for us.
In doing so, the possibility existed for them to overdesign
and overprice the equipment, reducing efficiency and thus
defeating our purpose. Nevertheless, a tremendous upside potential
existed in allowing the vendors to harmonize their efforts
and experience. I hoped to receive a superior product born
from the sweat equity of their two companies.
My strategy was tested in November 1994 when two units were
installed. They have operated without failure since installation
and have reduced operating costs by 38 percent on those wells.
In this instance, my management challenge was to delegate
non-traditional responsibilities to our vendors. I feel that
this experience has improved our business process and taken
us further down the path towards mutually beneficial business
relationships with our vendors. I will continue to work in
this manner, keeping a careful eye out for the abuse potential
created when allowing a vendor to design and price their own
equipment for our applications.
COMMENTS:
These two examples have several positive qualities. First,
they are concise and well structured. Second, although both
situations come from the professional sphere, they balance
well with each other. One focuses more on office policy and
stresses the applicant’s ability to see the big picture in
management. The other deals with an in-the-field hands-on
engineering solution and stresses his inventiveness, attention
to detail, and technological skills. Third, these examples
stress unique background-not many business school applicants
would understand how to design oil-pumping equipment. They
show that he is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Finally,
the essayist gives very detailed proof of tangible results
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