Select One Of The Following Case Studies To Discuss ✓ Solved

Select ONE of the following case studies to discuss. Indicat

Select ONE of the following case studies to discuss. Indicate your selection in your title.

CASE 1: ANGELA MURPHY

Read the case study and imagine yourself in Angela's position. What are the various frameworks, models, or "schools of thought" related to how Angela thinks about her situation? How can Angela develop her knowledge to move between different frameworks? According to Kegan & Lahey, where is Angela—socialized mind, self-authoring mind, or self-transforming mind? Why? Be sure to cite the readings.

Angela is a purchasing and buying professional in the auto industry. She has worked for a small parts supplier for about 5 years. She understands spreadsheets and tracks restocking. One day her manager asks her to study a new supply chain model, Kanban. How might Angela learn more about this new framework? (Kanban background: Toyota applied supermarket stocking logic; Kanban uses pull from demand to control production and propagates demand signals through the supply chain; useful where supply time is long and demand hard to forecast.)

CASE 2: BOB JOHNSON

Read the case study and imagine yourself in Bob's position. What are the ways Bob might develop new learning and appreciation for different learning models and schools of thought? According to Kegan & Lahey, where is Bob—socialized mind, self-authoring mind, or self-transforming mind? Why? Be sure to cite the readings.

Bob Johnson is a 30-year veteran grade school teacher in North Carolina. He has seen increased computer use, standardized testing, and decreased funding for arts/PE. He hears colleagues discuss "teaching to the test" and the 2005 Spellings Commission report emphasizing assessment. How might Bob learn about these changes and become comfortable with new theories and assessment culture?

Paper For Above Instructions

Selected Case

Case selected: CASE 1 — Angela Murphy (purchasing professional asked to study Kanban).

Introduction

This paper analyzes Angela Murphy’s situation using multiple frameworks relevant to supply chain and adult developmental theory (Kegan & Lahey). It identifies the practical and cognitive schools of thought Angela can draw on to understand Kanban, recommends concrete pathways for developing competence across frameworks, and assesses Angela’s likely developmental stage (socialized, self-authoring, or self-transforming) with justification from Kegan & Lahey’s constructive-developmental perspective (Kegan & Lahey, 2010).

Frameworks and Schools of Thought Relevant to Angela

1. Lean and Kanban practice: Kanban originates in Toyota’s production system and is part of lean manufacturing and just-in-time (JIT) approaches that emphasize pull systems, waste reduction, flow, and visual controls (Ohno, 1988; Womack & Jones, 1996). Angela must grasp the operational rationale (pull vs. push), Kanban signaling, replenishment policies, and takt time concepts.

2. Operations and inventory theory: Traditional inventory-control models (EOQ, safety stock, forecasting) contrast with pull-based Kanban methods; understanding both helps Angela compare “push” forecasting approaches with demand-driven systems (Hopp & Spearman, as summarized in operations texts).

3. Systems thinking and organizational learning: Kanban is best understood as a systems intervention affecting upstream and downstream processes; systems thinking helps Angela see interdependencies and feedback loops (Senge, 1990).

4. Professional practice and reflective learning: Reflective practice models (Schon, Mezirow) plus cross-functional collaboration and communities of practice enable Angela to integrate technical knowledge into workplace routines and judgment (Mezirow, 1991).

5. Developmental perspectives on meaning-making: Kegan & Lahey’s stages (socialized, self-authoring, self-transforming) describe how a professional frames knowledge and authority; this affects how Angela will adapt to new frameworks (Kegan & Lahey, 2010).

How Angela Can Move Between Frameworks

To move fluidly between technical, systems, and developmental frames, Angela should pursue a blended learning strategy that combines study, practice, reflection, and feedback:

• Structured learning: Complete targeted courses or workshops on Kanban and lean supply chain management (Ohno, 1988; Liker, 2004). Use reputable primers (Rother & Shook, 2003) and case studies from the automotive sector.
• Cross-functional exposure: Work in or shadow manufacturing, planning, and vendor teams to see Kanban signals and replenishment in action. This situational learning reveals system-level consequences (Senge, 1990).
• Small experiments and pilots: Run a controlled Kanban pilot for a subset of SKUs to observe lead-time, stockouts, and responsiveness. Iterative PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycles build experiential knowledge (Womack & Jones, 1996).
• Reflective practice and mentoring: Keep a learning journal, discuss dilemmas with a mentor, and engage in peer learning to translate operational learning into judgment (Mezirow, 1991).
• Translate models into metrics: Map Kanban parameters to business KPIs (lead time, service level, inventory turns) so Angela can reason across technical and business frames.
• Seek developmental coaching: Use feedback and coaching designed to surface competing commitments and assumptions (Kegan & Lahey, 2009) so Angela can change not only technique but also underlying meaning-making.

Assessment of Angela’s Developmental Stage

Based on the case description — five years in a small supplier role, functional competence with spreadsheets and restocking, and a manager-directed assignment to study Kanban — Angela most plausibly fits the socialized mind or is on the cusp of becoming self-authoring (Kegan & Lahey, 2010). The socialized mind orients to external expectations, roles, and norms: professionals at this stage interpret problems through organizational rules and requests and seek validation from supervisors and peers. Angela’s immediate reaction to a manager’s request and her present operational focus suggests reliance on externally-given frameworks and stepwise learning (Kegan & Lahey, 2010).

To become self-authoring, Angela would need to move from simply fulfilling the manager’s instruction to taking authorship over how she understands Kanban, integrating disparate models, and making principled trade-offs (Kegan, 1994). Indicators of self-authoring would include Angela designing and defending a Kanban pilot based on independent analysis of demand variability, system constraints, and supplier relationships; articulating her own criteria for success; and negotiating change across stakeholders rather than merely implementing instructions.

Becoming self-transforming would require an even higher meta-perspective: seeing the limits of any single framework (e.g., lean vs. agility), holding multiple frameworks simultaneously, and generating novel synthesis across paradigms (Kegan & Lahey, 2010). For Angela, that would mean not only implementing Kanban but critiquing the assumptions of pull systems, integrating digital demand sensing, and shaping organizational strategy accordingly.

Practical Steps to Support Angela’s Development

Concretely, managers and Angela can accelerate both technical mastery and developmental growth by: assigning cross-functional mentors, authorizing small pilots with clear learning objectives, providing structured reflection sessions, and offering developmental coaching that surfaces assumptions (Kegan & Lahey, 2009). Combining practical Kanban training (Ohno, 1988; Rother & Shook, 2003) with systems-thinking workshops (Senge, 1990) will enable Angela to shift from procedural competence to principled judgment.

Conclusion

Angela’s task—studying and potentially implementing Kanban—invites both technical learning (lean/JIT, inventory theory) and developmental growth (moving from socialized to self-authoring meaning-making). A deliberate program of coursework, hands-on pilots, cross-functional exposure, reflective practice, and coaching will help her learn the frameworks and develop the capacity to choose among and synthesize them. According to Kegan & Lahey, Angela currently appears socialized or early-transitioning toward self-authoring; targeted developmental support can accelerate her progression to autonomous, integrative professional judgment (Kegan & Lahey, 2010).

References

• Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. L. (2010). From subject to object: A constructive-developmental approach to reflective practice. In N. Lyons (Ed.), Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry. Springer.
• Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard University Press.
• Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. Harvard Business Press.
• Ohno, T. (1988). Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Productivity Press.
• Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T. (1996). Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation. Simon & Schuster.
• Liker, J. K. (2004). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw-Hill.
• Rother, M., & Shook, J. (2003). Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate MUDA. Lean Enterprise Institute.
• Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. Doubleday/Currency.
• Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass.
• U.S. Department of Education, Commission on the Future of Higher Education (Spellings Commission). (2006). A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.