What is the best structure for a good low cost provider maintenance program? Would that be centralized or decentralized? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each.
Centralized
This is where maintenance programs, policies and procedures or developed and managed and controlled from. You typically find this in a corporate office with a vice president or director of maintenance who has the responsibility and authority to insure that all policies and procedures are implemented and managed with local shop managers following direction of the programs. All local people have no more authority than to expect and honestly demand performance at the highest level on internal customer service and vehicle uptime. Here, maintenance is not a democracy.
Decentralized
This is where the policies and practices are still performed at a centralized corporate location, but are managed locally by local managers, transportation managers, finance departments or the operation managers, etc. Maintenance might be a democracy.
Centralized pros
The local shop manager has the responsibility to follow all such programs under the directions set forth not varying for any local management of other influence by those who believe that by P&L responsibility of themselves. The performance level, in my opinion as well as many of my peers, is that under this structure, there is a higher level of performance because the demand is higher at the local level and those who believe they should be in charge always challenge the performance. Not only do the local people need to provide the highest level of internal customer service, they have to, or should, communicate in such a way that the local power position people will complain more than not because of the perception that they do not have any “control” over the shop. That upstream communication has to be sifted out at the top because the local level managers are in direct control of his bosses perceived performance and ability to manage from a distance at the corporate level.
Centralized cons
The centralized leadership has to have a tight grip on most, if not all, the activities. He or she also has to have direct control and spend a good portion of his time or regional managers minute-to-minute activities and ensure that his decentralized people now are centralized, “in control” and do not vary from the structure, quote or step out of line. They also have to play no local favoritism, follow directions, be a salesman, support structure and perform at the highest level themselves. Upper level centralized management cannot hide behind emails or local management’s lack of experience or decisions made around budgets as opposed to good structural non-bending practices.
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