Critical Analysis - Southern Discomfort & Waterway Industries Lab Report

Critical Analysis - Southern Discomfort & Waterway Industries - Lab Report Example The company needs to improve its performance and Return on Investments (ROI) to stay in the business. Under these circumstances, the company’s management is faced with only two options: Either to stay on in Oconomo with a substantially reduced operating budget, or to relocate the plant to Mexico where future profit margins are more assured. The primary type of change that needs to be brought about in the Oconomo Plant is a conspicuous transformation in people’s culture, attitudes and approach to work. This has assumed significant connotations, because the plant is now going through a very critical phase where, even its very future existence hangs on a balance. If the management is not in a position to convince the labour to accept lower wage rates, the plant may have to be moved to Mexico, thus endangering the jobs of nearly 520 employees. (Wallace 1996). Jim Malesckowski, President of the company has to deal with the challenging tasks of negotiating with a well organised and strong Labour Union while seeking to introduce changes in the work culture and remuneration of the labor force. The Wisconsin plant could be saved by changing the work culture and ethos of the work force and by convincing them that the reduction in wage rate would be beneficial to the labour force in the long run. The major underlying cause for the Union leaders’ resistance to change stems from the fact that they fear that changes would result in downsizing and lay-offs, or even the use of a person for multiple jobs, in order to gain maximum productivity from him. Fear of job losses or labour exploitation may be the underlying reasons for the Trade Union leaders’ reluctance to allow changes in the organization. The management has sought to dispel this fear by informing the Union about cross-training schemes after which a person would be able to undertake job