At the same time, the good managers know that their organizations have significant intertia, and that there's a lot they can't change quickly. They don't start issuing decrees and edicts. The look for something concrete they can do to start things in the right direction.
Anthropology can help.
It tells us that the troops will be interested in whatever management's hot buttons are, if only in self defense. This is a consequence of some people having more authority than others. Tom, I heard about the XYZ problem. In other words, not punishing or praising, just expressing interest. With any luck, the result of this visit will be that the next time the engineer is about to release some product, he or she will take extra time to check things out, to make sure there's less chance of a management visit.