Volvo implemented job enrichment programs in the 1970s to address high employee turnover and absenteeism. This included (1) job rotation to expose workers to different roles, (2) small self-managed work groups, and (3) management-employee councils to improve communication and involvement in decision-making. While these programs improved conditions initially, Volvo struggled with productivity and had to revert to traditional assembly lines by the 1990s due to market pressures.

1. Focus On Job Enrichment
Presented by
E-18 Sneha Thanneru E-08 Arzoo Bista E-48 Himanshi Sahlot
E-58 Purnima Vidyarthi E-28 Parag Saxena E-38 Meenesh Pachauri

2. Introduction to VOLVO
Origin of VOLVO group 1927
Headquarter :
Gothenburg, Sweden
Industry: Commercial
Vehicles
Product: Heavy Equipments
(trucks, buses, construction
equipments)

3. The Beginning
 1924 : Founded by Gaustaf Larson
and Assar Gabrielsson
 1927: 1st car- OU4 & in 1929:1st
profits
 1934 : 1st bus- B1 & in 1946 1st
diesel bus- B-56
 1948: Major tractor manufacturer
 Separate division created in
1968

4. Global Entry
 1939-1945 : Supply to the military
 1955 : Exports to the USA
 New production facilities:
 1963 : Canada
 1965 : Belgium
 1973 : USA
 1980 : Bus and truck assembly
plant in Brazil
 1981 : Acquisition of White Motor
corporation
 1986 : Volvo GM Heavy Truck
corporation
 1989 :Christer Zatteberg- new MD and
CEO
 1st loss since 1929

5. New Era
 1992 :Soren Gyll took over
 “Volvo 95”programme
 “Volvo Strategic Development” (1993)
 1994 : JV in China to manufacture buses
 1999 : Volvo Car Cooperation (VCC)
sold to Ford Motor Company ($ 6.45
billion)
 2001 : Acquisition of Renault trucks
 2003 : Net sales- SEK 174.768 billion
: Operating income: SEK 2.837
billion

6. The HR problem
 In 1973 employees were
 41,000 in company owned
plants
 10,000 through dealer network
 15,000 through VOLVO’s sub
contractors
 Major labor unrest(strikes & other
disputes) across Sweden in early
1970s
 Absenteeism and employee
turnover,
 VOLVO had to maintain 14% of
work force as reserve causing
increased HR costs

7. The HR problem
• Sweden’s per capita expenditure on
education made its citizen more educated
so accident prone factory environment
Education was no longer an attractive proposition
• Attracting and retaining talented
workforce
• Immigrant labors Increased diversity at
Challenges workplace affected work culture leading
to disrupted communication system

8. HR solutions
Job enrichment programmes were initiated to train
leaders and employees to improve working
conditions
New recruits had 130 hours induction programme
for familiarizing them with working conditions
Leadership training for group leaders were
organized to focus on communication skills &
worker welfare

9. Cont..
VOLVO Changed its organization structure
in 1972
Head quarters staff employees were
reduced from 1800 to 100
More responsibilities to staff & operations
were decentralized
Each key product line(cars, buses etc.)
was made an independent division &
geographical markets were made profit
centers having operational autonomy

10. Job Enrichment Experiments
JOB ROTATION
MANAGEMENT-EMPLOYEE COUNCILS
SMALL WORK GROUPS
CHANGE IMPLEMENTATION
EMPLOYEE ORIENTED FACILITIES

11. Job Rotation
Workers
Involved Made
were made
shifting of workers well
to go for jobs
employees versed with
completely
from one job other jobs in
different from
to another the
the previous
organization
jobs

12. Small Work Groups
• Teams of three to nine people were
created who divided the work among
them
• Group members took turns to become
team spokesperson
• Promote sense of belongingness
among workers

13. Management Employee Council
Enhance employee participation
Enabled local work councils to
handle issues
Enabled workers in developing plans
for welfare of employees

14. Change Implementation
Involved two work areas- work
design and work environment
Work design – the way they worked
at the shop floor was taken into
consideration and improvised
Work environment- the
manufacturing equipments were
always kept clean

15. End of Social-Technical Approach?
Lack of demand in the 1990’s forced the
company to stop the progress of its job
enrichment initiatives.
Operations at the Kalmar and Uddevalla plants
were suspended which ,however, reopened in
1993.
Volvo’s productivity was far behind Japanese
and US plants.
Experts felt that there was a mismatch between
the amount of money spent on training and the
results.

16. End of Social-Technical Approach?
After a decade, with severe global recession in
the automobile industry, Volvo realized it had to
change with time.
Volvo’s car unit sold to Ford in 1999.
The company had to revert to the assembly line
production system.

17. New HR initiatives

18. The Match Project

19. Full Rulle
Common Importance Grooming Stress on
leadership of new team delegation
philosophy contribution leaders of work

20. Dialog Programme
Interaction
between work Easy problem Better
groups & resolution communication
managers

21.  Thank You