HRMT 300 (001) ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Winter 2020: Professor Jai Goolsarran

Assignment on Leadership at Nucor Corporation (7.5%)

Student name and number __________________________________________

We showed that many of the so-called “necessary evils” of life in corporate

America are, in fact, not necessary. The people of Nucor stand in sharp, even
defiant contrast to the status quo. We’re big on informality, caring, freedom,
respect, equality, and the simple truth. We have little tolerance for politics, the
pettiness, the fixation on rank and status, and the insensitivity to employees’
legitimate needs that people in most big companies endure as a matter of
course.” Ken Iverson, Plain Talk, 1998
Please provide your word-processed answers immediately below the questions asked.

1. Please access this link on the Internet/Web and state, in your own words as far as is
possible, three important insights you have personally gained, as a student of
organizational behaviour, from reading the review of the book, Plain Talk (1998) by Ken
Iverson, the “founding father” of Nucor Corporation. Please present your answers in
three separate and numbered paragraphs, bearing in mind that in this assignment, we are
trying to discover what exactly is leadership in organizational contexts. (6 marks)

https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Ken-Iversons-Plain-Talk?gko=a0a8b

I was able to learn what it take to be a good leader:

Having “drive”
Effective leaders are those who know how to function tactically and strategically as well as
being able to lead their team towards a specific goal. Because their efforts are not aimed at
the mere attainment of personal gain or for the purpose of control, the goal of a good leader
is to make sure things happen!

Autonomy and sense of responsibility

Good leaders are also those who allow their team to develop autonomy and ensure added
value according to their own personal strengths.
Being able to recognize the strengths of individuals within their team and allow them to be
responsible and accountable not only increases employee confidence in themselves and their
leader, but will also increase their performance.
A good leader will be able to manage the members of his team by offering them support and
giving them constructive comments in order to develop their talents and potential.

Authenticity; An important quality that any good leader must have authenticity is their ability
to remain true to themselves, their beliefs and their values. In fact, the good leader should
not just remain true to himself, but should also be able to adequately transfer his values and
beliefs to his team.
The good leader must not only be able to communicate effectively his own values and beliefs,
but also those of the organization, as well as its overall objectives

Have good communication skills

Even if it seems obvious, communication skills are considered by most to be the most
important attribute of a leader. The good leader must have this essential skill to be able to
achieve his ultimate goals

2. There are two ways of producing steel. What are these two ways? And which one has
Nucor Corporation embraced? (2 marks)
There is 2 way to produce steel:
1. in a blast furnace, from iron ore and coke with reduction of carbon in a converter;
2. in an electric oven, from recovered steel. We are talking about recycling steel or electric
steel.
Nucor Corporation embraced to do it in Electric oven with recycling steel

3. The steel industry is very competitive. Explain one reason why this is so. (2 marks)

It is very competitive because of the overcapacity. And there is a increasing competition from
emerging economies.

4. What is the business strategy of Nucor Corporation in terms of the types of business
strategies typically discussed in business school? (2 marks)

5. Do some research on the Internet/Web on the topic of “High Performance Work

Practices” and state your finding below. And do you think that Nucor has embraced high
performance work practices, and if so, please provide one example of such work practices
at Nucor Corporation to support your answer. (2 marks)

High Performance management is a system,. It is a set of integrated management practices that

aim to achieve two main objectives: maximize the potential of employees and increase their
level of satisfaction. The tools to achieve that is ;
- effective performance management system. (For remuneration purposes,
For administrative reasons, to discover development opportunities or Just to measure overall
performance)
- Clarify the work to be done
- Set goals and establish a performance plan
- Coach regularly and frequently
- Perform a formal performance review
- Train your assessors
- Identify the sources of performance ineffectiveness
- Recognize and reward performance

6. Nucor Corporation is a very successful company. Provide two bits of information about
the company from the case material that would support this claim. (2 marks)

Nucor had a objective its workers and managers to aim to become the best and most efficient
steel producer in the world, in order to secure the company's prosperity in a sector
undermined by foreign competition. Behind this vision, there is a deep belief that all workers
should be rewarded at fair value, and that their jobs will not be threatened as long as they
are productive.
7. How many levels management are there at Nucor Corporation? And to what specific
topic in Chapter 13 (in the section dealing with Elements of Organizational Structure) of
your textbook would this relate? (3 marks)

Organization structure at a typical 4 layer

1. General Manager
2. Department Manager
3. Supervisor/Professional
4. Hourly Employee
In the book it will be related evaluated divisional structures
Benefits :Building block structure – accommodates growth, Focuses on
markets/products/clients
Limitations: Duplication, inefficient use of resources, Silos of knowledge – expertise isolated
across divisions, Executive power affected by shifting divisional structure

8. Is Nucor Corporation a unionized company? Do explain your answer. (2 marks)

Nucor Steel, is non-union employee. All the chain is a part of the company .I

9. Describe, in listed and numbered fashion, all the key elements of the Production Incentive
Plan adopted by Nucor. Please deal with only one element at a time and present each
element in a separate, numbered paragraph. Do not combine the elements. (8 marks)

- Production Incentive Plan. Under this plan, employees directly involved in

manufacturing were paid weekly bonuses based on actual output in relation to
anticipated production tonnages produced. The bonuses were paid only for work that
met quality standards and were pegged to work groups, rather than individual output.

10. Employee relations at Nucor were based on four clear-cut principles. Which one of
the four principles relates directly to employment security, a high performance work
practice? Do state the identified principle fully and clearly. (2 marks)
1. Management is obligated to manage Nucor in such a way that employees will have
the opportunity to earn according to their productivity.
2. Employees should feel confident that if they do their jobs properly, they will have a
job tomorrow.
3. Employees have the right to be treated fairly and must believe that they will be.
4. Employees must have an avenue of appeal when they believe they are being
treated unfairly.

11. Does Nucor have a no-layoff policy? Whatever your answer, do quote the relevant
statement(s) from the case material to support the answer you put forward.
 (2 marks)
Nucor, however, has refused to follow suit in laying anyone off. Whenever they don’t have
enough steel orders to fill their workweek, Nucor employees have been performing other
tasks: rewriting safety manuals, getting a head start on maintenance jobs, mowing the lawns,
and cleaning the bathrooms, but they’re still drawing paychecks.

12. “Nucor does not use job descriptions”. Is this true? Prove that your answer is correct.
(2 marks)
No they do not use job description because they think that it might limit what an employee
would do at work

13. What is the definition of corporate (organizational) culture that is given in Chapter 14 of
your textbook? Also, please provide two fully-stated observations that Nucor does have
an egalitarian corporate culture. Please present your answer in three separate parts.
(3 marks)

Adaptability – Nucor was able to adapted to the competition

Achievement –They achieved they goal by maintain the employee and being leader in their
field
Involvement- They are involved in the environments
Consistency – Constant in the policy of the company

14. What was Ken Iverson’s radical insight that informed the way he designed the
workforce management system of Nucor? (2 marks)

15. If you read the 2018 Annual Report of Nucor Corporation, what would you find on its
cover page? (Check the company’s website, www.nucor.com under Investor Relations.)
And what is the significance of this? (2 marks)

In the cover page we can find all the employee names that’s mean tat the company belong to
all of them.

16. Go to the company’s website and check the items under “Who We Are”, specifically the
information provided on the corporate culture of the company. How many core
principles are stated there? And quote fully the one that you believe is the most
important one for building a high performance workforce? (3 marks)

theirs 10 core principals

1. Honesty/integrity
2. Partnerships
 3. Optimism
4. Treat People the Right Way
5. PRIDE
6. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
7. CAN-DO ATTITUDE
8. Open Communication
9. WORK ETHIC
10. Innovative/Willing to Change

The one that I believe is the most importat one for building a high performance workerce is :
Honesty / Integrity
The fastest way to learn from a mistake is to own it. The surest way to win our customers’ trust is to deliver on our
promises. Nucor encourages and rewards both.

. Every Nucor teammate lives and works together by the same

core principles. We call it:

THE NUCOR WAY.

17. Now, based on what you have learnt from addressing the foregoing questions, what
would you say to the question of what exactly is leadership, as observed in the case of
Nucor Corporation. (3 marks)

From the case study, we were able to see that Nucor a leader because they were able nurture a
very dynamic workforce. The CEO was able motivate his employees through a number of
unique ways that have greatly rewarded the company with remarkable growth and expansion
in the very competitive steel industry. The company has mastered the art of motivation.