1. B R Richardson Timber Products Corporation
Jack Lawler returned to his desk with a fresh cup of coffee. In front of him was a file of
his notes from his two visits to the B R Richardson Timber Products Corporation. As
Lawler took a sip of coffee and opened the file, he was acutely aware that he had two
tasks. In a week, he was to meet with the company president, B R Richardson, and the
industrial relations officer, Richard Bowman, to present his findings with regard to the
lamination plant and his recommendations for what might be done. Lawler knew he had a
lot of preparation to do, starting with a diagnosis of the situation. It wouldn’t be easy. He
took another sip of coffee, leaned back in his chair, and recalled how this project had
begun.
Making a proposal
It was about 2:30 pm when the office intercom buzzed. Is secretary said there was a
Richard Bowman calling from Papoose, Oregon. Lawler know that Papoose was a small
community about a hundred and fifty miles south, a town with three or four lumbers mills
lying in the mountain range of western Oregon. When he picked up his telephone,
Bowman introduced himself as being in charge of industrial relations for the B R
Richardson Timber Products Corporation; he was calling because a friend of his in a
regional professional training and development association had recommended Jack
Lawler; and Bowman had heard of Lawler’s management training and consulting
reputation. Bowman said he was searching for someone to conduct a “motivation course”
for the blue-collar employees of the lamination plant. Morale in the plant was very low,
there had been a fatality in the plant a few months before, and the plant manager was a
“bit authoritative.” Given the gravity of the plant situation, Bowman wanted to conduct
the course within the next few months. Lawler asked if the plant manager was supportive
of the course idea. Bowman replied that he hadn’t asked him but had gotten approval
from B R Richardson, the founder and president of the firm. Lawler then said that he
really didn’t have enough information on which to design such a course nor enough
information even to determine whether such a course was appropriate. He suggested a
meeting with Bowman and Richardson the next week; he would be able to stop in
Papoose in the late afternoon on his way home from another engagement. Bowman
immediately accepted his proposal and gave Lawler directions.
Taking another sip of coffee, Jack Lawler continued to reminisce, visualizing the road
winding past two very large lumber and plywood plants and over a small hill, and
recalling his first sight of the B R Richardson Corporation. IT was much smaller that its
neighbors, consisting of a one-story office building; a medium-sized lumber mill; open
storage yards; an oblong, hangar like structure; dirt connecting roads; lumber and log
piles scattered around; and cars and pickup trucks parted at random. The office building
entry way was paneled with photographs showing the company buildings as they had
changed over many years.
Bowman greeted Lawler, led him to a carpeted and paneled conference room, and
introduced him to Ben Richardson. “BR” was a man in his late fifties, dressed in western
apparel. The subsequent conversation was one in which the company as a whole was

2. outlined; Lawler described his preferred way of working (essentially, diagnosis before
training or other action); BR and Bowman shared their concerns that the plant manager,
Joe Bamford, was getting out the work but wasn’t sensitive to the workers; information
was presented about the plant workers; and Bowman then took Lawler on a tour of the
lamination plant. The meeting ended cordially, with Lawler promising to write a letter in
a few days in which he would outline his thoughts about going forward.
Jack Lawler opened the file in front of him on his desk and smiled as he found the copy
of the letter he had sent:
Mr. Richard Bowman
B R Richardson Timber Corporation
P O Box 66
Papoose, Oregon
Dear Mr. Bowman:
When I departed from your office about a week ago I promised a letter outlining my thoughts on
some next steps regarding the laminating plant. Let me sketch some alternatives:
1. One is for me to put you in touch with someone in your immediate region who could
design and/or present the “motivation” course for the laminating workers that you
originally had in mind
2. Second is for me to be engaged as a consultant. Recall the experience I described with the
plywood plant in northern California in which I facilitated an approach called “action
research.” You’ll remember that it basically involved a process wherein the concerned
parties where helped to identify noncontrolled problems and plan to overcome them. This
would begin with a diagnosis conducted by myself.
3. Third, you’ll also recall that I teach part-time at State University. This relationship lead to
two ways graduate students might become involved:
a. I believe I could get a colleague in personnel management training to create a
student team to design and conduct the motivation course
b. I can have a student team in y change seminar do a diagnosis of the laminating
plant and provide you with their analysis and recommendations.
I believe I was clear during my visit that I think a diagnosis is needed first, regardless of next
steps. When you and Mr. Richardson have thought about these alternatives, give me a call. I’ll be
prepared to outline what I see as the costs of alternatives 2 and 3
Thanks for the opportunity to visit. I enjoyed meeting you and beginning to learn about your
company
Sincerely,
Jack Lawler
Partner
Oregon Consulting Associates

3. Visiting the plant
Lawler remembered that six weeks went by before Bowman called. He had shown
Lawler’s letter to B R Richardson, and they agreed that a more adequate diagnosis
probably was a useful first step. Bowman was quite clear that Richardson did not want to
invest much money but also wanted Lawler’s expertise. In the ensuing conversation,
Bowman and Lawler worked out an initial plan in which Lawler would bring several of
his graduate students for a one-day visit to the company to gather information. Lawler
then would analyze the information collected and make a presentation to BR and
Bowman. Using the graduate students would substantially reduce his time as well as
provide the students with some useful experience. They agreed that he would bill for
three days of his time plus the expenses incurred when he and the students visited.
The next week when Lawler went to campus to teach his evening seminar, called “The
Management of Change,” at the Graduate School of Business, he shared with the class
the opportunity for some relevant fieldwork experience. He and four students could do
the observing and interviewing in one day, leaving very early in the morning to drive to
Papoose and arriving home my midevening. The information gained would be the focus
of a subsequent class in which all seminar participants performed the diagnosis. When he
asked his seminar who was interested in the information-gathering day, six students
volunteered. When particular dates for the trip to Papoose were discussed, however most
of the six had conflicting schedules. Only Mitch and Mike, two second-year MBA
student were available on one of the days that Lawler’s schedule permitted.
Having constituted the field team, Lawler suggested that the seminar invest some time
that evening in two ways. He wanted to share with the class some information he had
gained on his first visit to B R Richardson Timber and suggested that the class could help
prepare Mitch and Mike for their experience in the field. Hen he drew an organization
chart on the blackboard to show the various segments of the corporation and the
lamination business, including the personnel and main work groups. He further drew a
layout of the laminating plant on the board. Exhibits 1 and 2 show these sketches. While
doing this, Lawler spoke of his understanding of the technology, work flow, and product
of the laminating plant as follows:
It’s a family-held corporation. It’s composed of four small companies, divisions really,
three in Papoose – a logging operation, a lumber mill, and the laminating plant – and a
mill over in eastern Oregon. The head office, the mill, and the lam plant are on the edge
of Papoose, which is a very small logging town about six or seven miles from the
interstate highway. The lam plant looked like a long airplane hangar, the type with a
curved roof. Rich Bowman took me on a tour, safety helmet on, and explained the
activities as we went along.
Now, the end products are long, laminated wood roof trusses or beams like you
sometimes see in supermarkets and arenas. These are built up out of many layers of two-
by-fours, two-by-sixes, and two-by-eights glued together end to end and then side to side.
So in one end of the plant come lift trucks of lumber, which is stacked up to a height of
twelve to fifteen feet. According to orders – and all beams are made to customers order –

4. the lumber is sorted and then hand placed on a machine that cuts deep notches in the ends
of the lumber. These go along one wall of the plant where the notched ends, called
fingers, are glued together to make really long pieces.
These then go on along with roller conveyor, to the other end of the plant almost, where
they are cut to the correct length, and sets of these long pieces are grouped together – the
right number of the right length to make up a beam. This set then goes to a work station
where there is a metal jig. The pieces are put in the jig one at a time, the glue is applied,
and they are tapped down by hand. When the bean is fully assembled, clamps are put on
every little way. This rought, clamped beam, running anywhere from twenty to, say,
seventy-eight feet in length and from one to three-plus feet high, obviously very, very
heavy, is marked, then picked out of the jig, by two small hoists and stacked up to
cure(dry). The curing piles have cross sticks and must be fifteen to eighteen feet high in
some places.
These beams cure and eventually are picked out of the stack with the hoists and
maneuvered so that they are fed into the planer, which is set to plane the rough beam to
exact thickness dimensions. After planing, the beam is stored until the finishing crew gets
to it. This crew cuts the beam to length, patches minor surface blemishes, and wraps
plastic around it for shipping. These beams then sometimes go directly onto a truck for
shipment or into the yard until a load is ready.
The plant is noisy from saws, conveyors and hoists, and especially the planer. There are
glue drippings, sawdust, and ends everywhere. The aisles tend to disappear in tools and
piles. Above the plant offices of the manager, supervisor, and secretary is a lunchroom
and another office for the scheduler. The company’s head office is about fifty yards away
in one direction and the mill about the same distance in another. The yard is graveled,
with lumber of all kinds piled up and card parked around the edges.
The class was encouraged ti visualize the laminating plant and its working conditions.
Lawler then divided the class into two groups around Mike and Mitch for the task of
preparing for their visit to B R Richardson Timber. It was important to clarify what
information it might be useful to seek and how informal interviewing on the work floor
might be accomplished.
On the next Wednesday, the trio drove to Papoose. When they arrived at the Richardson
head office, they were met by Richard Bowman. Lawler initially interviewed Juanita
Yates while Bowman took Mike and Mitch to the lamination plant and introduced them
to Joe Bamford, the manager, at lunch time, Lawler and his students drove into Papoose
and ate at a care. They summarized what they had learned in the morning. Each of them
had been jotting some notes, and Lawler encouraged ever more. He reminded Mike and
Mitch that they would dictate their information during the drive home but that notes were
needed as cues. At 4:30 pm, the three met at Bowman’s office, turned in their safety
helmets, thanked him, and left. The first hour of the drive was filled with the sharing of
anecdotes from each other’s day. After a dinner stop, they took turns in the back seat
dictating their notes.

5. Reviewing the Notes
Jack Lawler’s reverie was broken by the office intercom. His secretary announced a long-
distance telephone call from a potential client. After the call, Jack turned his attention to
the Richardson file. He realized that his forthcoming meeting with Ben Richardson and
Richard Bowman would take place before his graduate seminar met to diagnose the
laminating plant situation, and so he had best get to work himself. He decided to review
the notes he and his students had created.
Jack’s Notes
Current Lam Schedule: Breakout crew 2:00 am to 12:00 noon. Finish end 3:30 am on
Joe typically works 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Ben Richardson (Juanita): “In the beginning he was very authoritarian, still is somewhat.
Seen as a perfectionist.” “not quite a workaholic.” “Has been, for several years,
politically active – that is to say, locally.” “When there is a cause, he throws his energies
and resources behind it.” Example, Workers’ compensation currently is a thorn in his
side, and he has encouraged Rich to fight. “In the last few years, Ben has listened a little
more and seems slightly more open.” The last couple of years has had consultant Chuck
Byron from Eugene, who had pushed the idea of a management team. Rich is the first
real outsider hired as a professional. Ben has a “conservative philosophy.” Will not have
safety meetings on company time. Appreciates and rewards loyalty and dedication.
Example, December 1978 Christmas party – a couple of twenty-year men were given
$1,000 checks and plane tickets to Hawaii for themselves and families – it surprised
everybody.
Who’s influential (Rich) : Juanita Yates, office manager and secretary, has been with Ben
ten years. When Ben is away, he calls her once or twice a day. Second-most influential is
Wayne Teeterman, also ten years with Richardson. Heads construction and truck shop.
Formerly ran the sawmill. Ben’s ear to the mill. Rich is a distant third in influence.
Mostly via Nita. “Ben sees Joe, manager of lam plant, as an enigma – almost canned him
a couple of times.” However, Joe is seen as dedicated, mostly because of the long hours
put in.
Overall business pretty good (Rich): “ Ben keeps thinking the other shoe will drop one of
these dys.” “Ben used to be able to predict the lumber market. This is getting more
difficult.” Right now the economy is stable enough regarding lumber and lumber
products. Richardson mill sales of clear-cut high grade are pretty much cutting to order.
Laminating plant growing ever since it was started. It’s very profitable, busy, and active –
probably has the largest margin of all Richardson companies.
Laminating plant (Rich): Laminating plant has six-to sever-week delivery dates now.

6. Timber purchases (Rich): Timber purchases from Forest Service and BLM. One to two
years’ cutting is now available. Last year needed to cut only half of year’s sales because
of fortunate other purchases. Last year, half of timber requirements were from private
ground. “Costs of cutting, however, go up, and it makes Ben nervour.”
Laminating plant lumber (Rich): “Approximately 70 percent of laminating plant lumber
purchased outside – 30 percent from Richardson mill. “This material is in the middle of
the quality range. Outside purchases are primarily from Oregon companies –
Weyerhaeuser, Bohemia, Georgia-Pacific, and smaller ones. Joe does the purchasing for
lam plant. “He likes to do this.”
Recent changes (Juanita): “Turnover has consistently been high and continues. For the
company as a whole it is around 72-76 percent. In the lam plant there was 100 percent
turnover last year” (among operators). “Right now this year it is down 50 percent.”
Rolf (Juanita): Rolf was formerly industrial relations manager. A year ago April, he was
appointed supervisor in the lam plant. Rolf’s predecessor in lam plant was ineffectual;
gone from company. Rolf did not do a good job with personnel. Fatality in lam plant
happened two months before Rolf went down there. It was in the breakdown area-several
people quit at that time. There has been a constant concern for the height of stacking in
the lam plant. “Joe has had a positive impact on morale – started a softball team in a
community league.”
Reward system (Juanita): “Nine paid holidays, hourly wage, liberal vactaion plan, life
insurance, no pension, no bonus except for those people who report directly to Ben (Nita,
Wayne, Joe and Rich). Joe has not had a bonus yet.”
Incentives for safety: Joe and Rolf have introduced incentives for safety. Competition for
groups about list time, Joe gave a fishing outfit last month for the first time that a safety
target was met.
Hiring (Rich): Hiring was traditionally done by division managers. At present, Rich has
taken over that. He now goes into background more deeply.
Interaction with middle management (Rich) Normally when Ben is in Papoose, he and
Joe interact a couple times a week, which is about the same as Ben interacts with other
division or company managers.
Ben’s style (Juanita) : “He focuses on a proble,. He will write a list and go over it with
the manager item by item. Pretty much forcing his way. Later he will pull out that list ot
check up with/” He often wants Rich toplay intermediary between top management and
the lam plant. Rich tries to resist.
Rolf (Rich). “His goal is to get into sales. Ben has given okay, and he is supposed to look
into local sales. Joe has agreed but has not given Dirk time to mitment to the company.”
He has a degree in forestry.

7. John Walton (Juanita): In charge of quality control. “Very loyal to the company. Very
dedicated to quality. Member of national organization. Never gets very distressed. Seems
well liked by crews. Not afraid to pitch in when they are a man short or behind.”
Jim Fuller (Rich), “Ben doesn’t like him. “Had EMT training recently sponsored by the
companies. Ben questions Jim’s commitment. Jim get into lots of community activities,
has been a disc jockey on Sunday mornings, and is very active in community
organizations with youth. “Not perceived as a real strong leadership type, but
knowledgeable and pretty well liked in the lam plant.”
John Rondo (Rich): “ Dedicated, works hard. Pushes the men, too. Ben sees him as
having future management promise.” From an old logging family in the area. “Much
more leadership oriented.”
Ron Baker (Rich): “Failing as a finishing supervisor. Orginnally from California. Worked
in Roseburg area as carpenter; does excellent work by himself. He is a flop and probably
won’t last much longer.”
Bob Bennis (Rich): Finishing supervisor. “Not really a pusher.” “ Time has made his
knowledgeable about the work.” “Willing to be directed.” He has had a number of family
conflicts and has been in financial trouble. “Overall, a nice guy.”
Bob Griffith (Rich): Planer. Came to Richardson out of the service. Started in gluing, then
in break-down, then gluing. Finally, planer’s job opened up, and he took it. “Still learning
the job. Generally a good worker; some question about his leadership.”
Supervisors summary (Rich): “In general, the supervisors all kind of plod along.”
Jim Fuller (Juanita): Is lam plant safety committee representative.
General reputation in community (Rich): “ Not good from employees’ point of view.
Matter of turnover, accidents, and the fatality. Seems to be turning around somewhat over
the last year. The company as a whole economically, has a successful image. It’s made
money, survived downturns and so forth.”
Summer: During summer, fill-ins are hired for vacationers – sometimes college or high
school students. The supervisor spots are filled in by key men on the crew.
Communication: Bulletin board outside of lam office has safety information, vacation
schedule, and production information. Blackboard in lunchroom has jokes,
congratulations, etc.
Reports: Daily production is scheduled by Dirk. Daily report from lam plant to office is
compared against that. Production and lam’s information reported daily. Joe keeps
records on productivity by lam plant area. This supplicates Susan’s records. Quality

8. control turns in three sheets a day: on finger-joint testing, glue spread and temperature,
and finished product tests. Also Walton keeps cumulative information on block shear
(where a core is drilled and stressed) and delamination tests made (where product is
soaked and then stressed).
Records: A few years ago, 18,000 board feet was the high for preglue. May 9, daily was
16,406 board feet. Swing shift is consistently higher that the day shift preglue. Gluing,
Ben expects 30,000 feet. On May 9, it was 27, 815 feet.
Overtime(Juanita): “Is approximately 6 percent over the year. Right now lam plant is
higher that that.”
April (Juanita): Bids for the month were $8,166,000. Orders received for the month
were $648,600. Shipped in April: $324,400. When $400,000 is shipped, that is an
excellent month, according to Nita. Joe does all the bidding. Sue actually may to the
calls, however. “The margin is significantly higher than the sawmill or planning mill.”
History of lam plant (Juanita): “In 1968 Wayne Lauder started it. He had lots of prior
experience.” “The property that Richardson stands on had just been purchased. Wayne
came to Joe with a proposition. Ended up with Wayne having stock in the Papoose
Laminators Company.” Original crew was eight to ten men. “In fact Wayne taught Ben
all Ben knows about the laminating plant.” “Got into lamination business at a very good
time.” “In the early days, there were no accidents and no turnover.” “Wayne had hired
old friends, largely married family types.” “Walton is the only one left from those days.”
In the spring of 1973, Wayne went to South Africa on a missionary call. Between then
and Joe, there have been four managers and four or five supervisors. Ben has an image of
Wayne that successive managers cannot live up to. Joe, in Ben’s eyes, has done better
that anyone since Wayne. The supervisor’s job was started under Wayne; since then it is
not clear what they do. At one time, there was in experiment to move the lam office up to
the main office so that the supervisor was forced to see the manager up there. This did not
work. With Joe, the office moved back to the plant.
Sue (Juanita): Secretary in lam plant. Now hand-extending the data. Could use a
computer. It is programmed; she has computer skills. “Computer never used for lam
bidding since Sue came two years ago.” Phone coverage is awkward. To get copies of
things means Sue has to come to the office.
Market conditions: Market conditions have been good since Joe became manager.
Joe’s ability (Juanita): Highly questioned around planning. Example: “Sue away; he
know it beforehand; it was a day he wanted to be away. This left the head office trying to
get someone to cover the phone.” “Clearly sales is Joe’s strong area. Get excellent reports
back from customers. But Joe doesn’t follow up, so payables are very weak. We still
haven’t got a ninety-day payment and are likely to ship the next load to the customer
anyway.

9. Lack of communication (Juanita): “Lack of communication with us about cash flow is
another weak spot of Joe’s. Lack of supervision over key people like Sue and Rolf.
Seems to just let them go. Certainly doesn’t supervise them. Sue gets to get her own
hours.” Example offered by Nita of misbidding because Sue didn’t get the bid back to the
customer. “Joe just wasn’t aware of the timing – hadn’t planned for it.” Another example:
“Sue runs out of invoice paper, which means we have to scurry around.”
Sue’s wages (Juanita): At one time, Sue was ll riled up about wages and upset the
secretaries in the main office. She got no pay increase last year. Ben upset. Joe went to
bat for her. Joe almost put his job on the line for her.”
Sue’s performance (Juanita): “Sue does sloppy work. Not very efficient. Poor letters;
late; missing deadlines. Joe allows or accepts, or perhaps doesn’t know.” Nita is supposed
to be responsible for Sue on quality matters. In general, to make sure that her backup is
there. “Sue now works ten to fifteen hours a week overtime.” Nita cannot see the reason
for this.
Folf’s attitude (FIch/Juanita): Rolf’s attitude is changing. Seems more cooperative to
both Rich and Nita. Nita thinks Rolf is a very intelligent man. Neither are clear exactly
about what Rolf does. Company policy is to send out invoices each workday and that
invoices should be sent and dated on the day shipped. Sue doesn’t send them.
After Wayne, a lot of lam worker were hippies, had long hair, etc. Part of that is
the reason why Rich now hires. Why is Ben down on Jim Fuller? Nita says because of
time lost with accidents. “Ben knows his family and all about the radio station. Doesn’t
think he is committed to the lumber company. There have been financial problems, too.
There were garnishments in the past. He’s quit or been laid off, or was fired about three
years ago. Some things stick in Bens throat. Now Jim is out of debt; they do an awful lot
of volunteer work at the school. Ben sees this and wonders why he can’t give that energy
to the company.”
John Rondo (Juanita): From a local logging family. He is a nephew of Butch (someone
from a logging company). “Notorious redneck.” Once called Ben from a bar when he was
drunk and swore to Ben about his paycheck. “Ben doesn’t forget those things.”
Sue hired by Joe: Does all the paperwork in the lam plant. Doesn’t really have to interact
with any of the men except Joe. Takes care of the purchase orders, invoices, and daily
records.
Glue used in lam plant: Twenty-Two thousand pounds at sixty cents per pound; that’s
nearly $10,000 a month.
Maintenance man: Leon replacing rails and turing chair at preglue. “Had help until noon.
Don’t know where they took off to. “It’s really a two-person job. Also said that they’re
probably six to eight months overdue with this job.

10. Hoists: Planer and helper talking at break that it is awkward and sometimes have to wait
either on the finish end or breakdown side of planning because of competition for hoists.
Believe the roof could hold more hoists. Can’t understand why Ben won’t spring for a
couple more hoists on each side. In the lunchroom, the planer was coaching a break-
down/finish helper on how to undo clamps efficiently. Says that the “whole operation has
to be speeded up.” 1:05 pm – Lunchroom. The planer approached Joe: “Can we get off a
little early? We’ve been working lots of ten-hours days.” Joe responds, “If you get that 57
job done, maybe we’ll see.” As Joe turns to leave, the other finish man, who helps the
planer says. “Hey Joe, I want to talk to you later.” Joe says, “Okay.” The man turns to me
and says, “He thinks we should be working harder. W want to tell him what’s what.”
Rolf put in lam plant by Ben: Probably consulted with Joe, but still he did it.
Goals for lam plant (Rich) : Joe and Be both have some goals in their heads, of course,
and talk on occasion. “Probably not very systematically written down.”
Jim Fuller, preglue supervisor: Swing shift now. Three men work directly under him.
First work position is a lumber grading cut-off saw. A nineteen-to twenty-year-old tends
to work here. “You need a big reach.” Then there is a cut-off saw that feeds a finger
joiner cut. Then the ends are glued. “Young men tend to be in this position, too. Need to
have a lot of manual dexterity and a sense of rhythm. Then there is the radio frequency
curing machine. It gives an eight-to ten-second job at 109; then the hardest job comes
along. The lumber is stopped, set to length, and cut three inches longer than order and
then put in stacks on roller. “You need to check ahead visually, grade lumber, and
everything else.” This position has to be communicated back up to preglue line for
amount.
Production scheduling (Rich/Jim): “Rolf is so-called production supervisor. However, of
Joe has his druthers, he’d do that, too.” Supposed to have orders from Joe to Dirk to Jim.
Needs to be scheduling. This mostly happens, but sometimes he gets a message from Joe
himself. Actually Jim says, “Both Rolf and Joe more or less equally give me orders.” Jim
confirms that the majority of materials come from external sources and suppliers. He
thinks Joe is a “sharp bargainer.” “If he can save $100 per thousand on eight- or ten-
footers, he may buy them. Of course, this means they have to do a lot more cutting and
gluing.” Somehow it’s known that thirty thousand feet a day per shift is what the lam
plant is to produce. It takes two preglue shifts to get that. A few years ago, Jim reports, a
production quota for the plant was eighteen to twenty thousand feet per day. “Joe is really
production-minded, a real pusher.”
Asking about problems(Jim): He quickly responds with “confusion” and elaborated that it
has to do with scheduling. “Sometimes Dirk has to work on the line and get inaccurate
figures, or we don’t get them in time.” Nonetheless, he thinks Dirk is a good man and
tries hard. Another problem has to do with stacking. There is not enough room to handle
items where beams are curing, particularly in the finishing area. He makes a big point
about the difference between architectural and other grades. There are 15 percent of the
former in general, but it takes more layout space in the finish end to handle it.

11. The most inexperienced crew, in Jim’s opinion, is in the breakdown area (unclamping
beams for planning). There seems to be a bottleneck around the planer. “The crew tries
hard but is somewhat inexperienced. His helpers couldn’t care a damn”. Planning is to a
tolerance of plus or minus 1/16 inch. He gives an example of large beams for Los
Angeles that were over planed and those beams now sit in the yard until they can be
worked into some later order for someone.
Another problem, according to Fuller, has to do with Paul, an electrician who works
under Wayne. Has strong sawmill preference. Can never find him. For example, the the
RF machine is only half rebuilt. “People who do this work for Wayne will probably never
get it done.”
Age of workers (Jim): Mostly young –“means that they don’t really care about working
aren’t very responsible. They take off when they feel like it; hence there is a lot of
personnel being shuffled around. Both Walton and Joe, pitch in sometimes, not that this
makes it really more efficient.” “Personnel is shuffled too much.” Fuller gives an
example. He was hit by a beam and was off for seven weeks. Jay replaced him. There
was stacking in the breakdown area on the main two. Jay tried to move a ceiling are
house; it came back ; two top beams fell and “snuffed him out just like that.”
Maintenance men have to fill in on lines, too. This cuts into maintenance being done on
time. The whole programmed is behind. It’s sort of down to what Fuller calls “ band –aid
work.” Also, major replacements are done poorly. Example: glue area where pipes come
right down in the middle of the preglue line when they should have been run down the
wall. Bruce did this.
Ben’s approach (Jim): Ben used to visit the laminating plant twice a week a few years
ago. I haven’t seen Ben through here for more than a month now. Ben likes to use a big
stick approach.” He gives example of Ben looking at maintenance work in gluing shop
and insisting that the millwright come in on Saturday to get it done, “ or else”.
Those who report to Ben: Rich, industrial relations; Wayne, construction ;Juanita, who is
secretary and office manager; and managers of three companies. Richardson Lumber,
which has 110 employees, was foundered in 1951. Papoose Laminators started in 1968,
and Prairie Wood Products started in about 1976, with Forty-five employees. There is a
logging company too which is for buying.
Mitch’s Notes
Jack, Mike and I arrive at B.R. Richardson. We enter the office through the main building
and are seated in a conference room located at the back of the main office, Which is
located up on a hill over-looking the rest of the plant.
Rich enters; after formal introductions, proceeds to talk about Joe. Or I should say,
describes Joe:

12. Describes Joe in the following way, Says that Joe is aware the training programmed was
a possibility, Stated that Joe had military experience, that he(Joe) believes he knows
about management that there are some possible resentful feelings to ward our instruction
upon the plant, that he is aware of us and the fact that we are from state University.
Rich , Mike, and I leave the main office and go down to the plant to be introduced to Joe.
Rich introduces us to Joe by saying that we are with jack and that we are down looking
around at the plant, etc.- seemed awkward . Communication not straightforward. Not a
lot of eye- to eye contact. Rich is learning up against the wall; he looks uncomfortable
and leaves rather abruptly.
Joe immediately questions us as to what we are doing, why we are here, and what we are
looking for. My perception is that he is resentful. In talking to Joe, I perceive that he felt
the workers were good , that with the proper knowledge of the task they could lead
themselves. He also stated they were “ multicapacity” – that “ they had many function
which they performed,” and that it wasn’t that specialized down on the floor. He
mentioned that his functions were bidding, managing , and engineering. He made a
comment toward work team functions ( “ work team crap”) and then he corrected
himself. He also remarked that “ theories come and theories go.’
At one point Joe stressed the use of communication as a tool in management . he show
Mike and me a little exercise and seemed to be impressed with it.
In looking at the walls of his office, he had approximately five awards or merits for
leadership or worker participation.
His assistant Rolf had a desk right next to his , which was in an office off the side the
secretarial room serving as the entrance to his building .
Joes background included working in many plants, primarily in forestry- that is my under
standing. He said he preferred working at Richardson’s mainly because it was a “small
and nonpolitical plant”. He likes leadership, and he enjoys working there. He stated as we
were walking through the plant that he felt a high degree of frustration about the plant
because the size was too small at times and the seasonal rush (Which is beginning right
now as of May) for summer building puts a crunch on things. He stated that production is
Up 10 percent from last years that there have been schedule problems- they received
some wood in February, and it wasn’t until may that they could use it and laminate it and
get it out the other side, so it’s been stacked talking up space. He stated that if they fall
behind. They have no chance to catch up and that they are working at full capacity right
now.
Later on that afternoon, I went back and talked to Joe. I asked him what his specific
duties were. He replied in the following way: His duties were to take orders, to plan the
shipping , to make bids on orders and manage the plant. His typical day was to arrive
about 7.00-7.15 a.m. to look over the plant, to look at the new orders of the day, and to

13. take care of any emergencies. Lately, he stated that he was making engineering drawings.
When asked is his was common he said is usually was done by the customers, but he felt
it was a service he could render them. He stated “ It’s foolishness because it takes too
much time. “ However, he continued to work on that project. He stated that he liked the
work, that scheduling , he said that after he makes a bid and fills the order it goes to Dirk,
who schedules the work to be done , which goes to Ron, who is either in preglue or the
gluing operation. I’m not sure, but I felt he was talking about the gluing operation. And
he stated that Ron’s job was very specific, that he had to coordinate the people to get the
wood clamped up, to get the glue on, and to get it organized in a rather specified manner.
II think it is interesting to check Ron’s description , which I include later on.)
My personal comment on Joe is that he seemed very friendly with the workers. That it
was a buddy- buddy relationship. At one time, we were in the lunchroom with Joe, and he
was talking openly about the problems of the shop; it was kind of like “ we all suffer
through this, too, don’t we?” He seemed to enjoy his work, he likes to work hard, he was
proud of the fact that production was up, he was supportive of the men down there, and
he was also apprehensive of Mike’s and my presence. I think it is interesting to note the
roles that Mike and I took. Mike took the role of a person interested I design, more or less
and I took the role , as I stated to Joe, that I was interested in seeing what it was like to be
a manager in this situation and to learn any knowledge he might have to offer. Many
times during our encounter, he asked me what I wanted to do when I got through school.
He seemed very interested in my studies and my goals.
Joe’s secretary, while I did not talk to her seemed to play an important role in the
organization. At one point, I was talking to Joe when the secretary answered the phone
and interrupted our conversation to tell Joe about a possible bid. Joe then made the bid
based on the board footage, and the secretary questioned him on this bid, at which point
Joe through a minute and said, “ yeah, I want to keep the bid the way it is.” The secretary
then asked him, “ Are you sure? And Joe said, “Yes,” at which point the secretary
completed the preliminary parts of the bid over the phone.
At one point when we were walking through the plant with Joe, I made mental notes on
safety aspects of the plant this was something in question . some of the things I noted are
as follows.
There seemed to be many mental spacers or clamps by the glue section. This section
wasn’t in use, so I don’t know if this was normal or not. It was very crowded and difficult
to walk around. As we walked through the plant, I saw at least two different types of
band saws with no guarding what so ever a very dangerous situation in my opinion. There
were no safety signs around the plant- at least not outside the lunchroom. One worker did
not have a safety helmet on. I also noticed that the safe3ty helmets that they gave us were
if very low quality. I base this on past experience in wearing them; they were the
cheapest I have seen. I did see a safety insignia on one man’s lunch box. (I wonder how
they meet OSHA standards.) Also because of the crowdedness of the facility, it was very
difficult to move around and with things going on , I could see how it would be difficult
not to get hurt. The workers at one point asked Joe about another workers at one point

14. asked Joe about another workers ( I think his name was Bob.)It seems that Bob was going
down the highway and was reaching for a speaker wire and hit the center rail on highway
I-5 and totaled his truck. He seemed to be okay with a mild concussion. The workers
were very concerned. A group of about three of them asked Joe how Bob was doing.
I had a chance to talk to Ron , the team leader in gluing. His comment about his job was
that there were long hours, that these were typically ten or more per day, and that he
received overtime for the long hours provided that in total they were over forty hours
minimum would be paid at 1.5 times the normal rate. For Ron, the normal rate was about
$8 an hour, $ 12 an hour overtime. His comments about his job and his attitude toward
the plant were “sweatshop” Richardson won’t spend money,” and “ everyone’s worked at
BR’s at one time or an other before. “ They have plans for expansion of the plant, but
they don’t want to spend the money on it.” At one point, he said he didn’t really know
what he was doing in terms of how to be a supervisor , how to be a leader. When I
questioned him some more, he really didn’t know what the supervisor did, in this case
Rolf. He had just finished his first year, as far as experience on the job.
Ron had a major complaint about his job in that the glue person also had to prepare the
glue and was responsible for getting all the boards and clamps in the right direction. He
seemed to think maybe an extra glue prepare would help. It seems to be a major job for
him. There seemed to be quite a bit of dissatisfaction about Rolf in his mind. He stated
that when overtime or a certain amount of board footage was needed to meet a quota, this
created work unrest, which led to accidents. He said that Rolf was always the one who
initiated or told the workers that they had to work overtime. When asked about the death
that had occurred, he stated that everybody was pretty upset about it that it was bound to
happen. I asked him what happened that day. He said that a guy got hurt, and yet
management still wanted them to work even after the guy died. This seemed to upset
Ron.
Ron mentioned that they (the workers) had a softball team; that he felt frustrated about it
because he couldn’t always play because the games were at six or seven o’clock and
many times they were working until late in the evening trying to make a quota. He also
said that accidents were very high around here, that it was not uncommon to get a finger
smashed or something, and that management didn’t seem to care too much. He stated that
he liked Joe, the manager, that he was okay but that he as maybe more production
oriented than necessary. He stated that the work is very hard and the need for better
methods is evident. He stated that most men had bad backs , hernias and broken fingers
or toes, and he seemed to be kind of embarrassed. He did say that they had medical
insurance.
Ron stated that one of the biggest causes of unrest, he felt, was overtime , and his own
personal frustration was that in a year he had obtained probably, the highest vertical level
on the management structure, that of supervisor. He said that the next job would
probably be to take Joe’s job. He said that wouldn’t happen, so there seems to be a lack
of job mobility in his eyes. He stated that workers do almost anything, any tasks at any
time; that what needs to be done, needs to be done, and they do it. He also said that in the
summertime, when it is warmer, the metal building that they wok in gets really hot, and

15. it’s not uncommon for men to lose five or more pounds in one shift, which would be in
an eight-hour period. When asked if it was possible to ventilate the building a little bit
more, he said it would be hard, that even if they could, management wouldn’t spend the
money to do it.
Ron said he didn’t have enough time for his home life. He also said that Rolf and Joe,
who were the supervisor and manager, would come out and help when they had the time.
He said they would actually end up losing a half-hour of production time that way and
would be better off if they would just stay in their offices. Ron seemed to express a great
amount of displeasure with Rolf, and he said most of the workers agreed that Rolf was a
‘thorn.” When Rolf would give orders, men would get upset and throw things around,
and this would cause accidents. When asked about new members, he said they don’t last
more than a couple of days, and very rarely do they last over a year. Ron stated that one
of the jobs they gave new workers was to band beams in the gluing job with a weight that
was on a pole that is picked up and bounced up and down off the wood. It weighed any
where from forty-five to one hundred poinds; very grueling work. He laughed a little bit
and said that they usually hurt their back the first day, and it takes them a couple of
weeks to learn how to do it, to learn the right technique, but he said “there is no other
way to learn the job, other than just jumping up there and doing it.”
MY own personal opinion of Ron was that while somewhat upset at the conditions down
there, he was dedicated, he did enjoy his role as a leader, and he was looked up to by
fellow workers. He mentioned at one time that the record of total board footage was
broken by his crew, and he seemed very proud of that fact. He did not seem to think that
any of our suggestions would make any waves around there, that “I would not be listened
to.” He was enjoyable to talk to, and he was more than willing to help me obtain the
information I needed.
Marty, who like Ron, has been there for over a year, was “key person” of the glue team.
However, Ron acted as the leader. They seemed to be good friends and went home
together that afternoon. Marty had been there the longest. He had stated that the work is
hard, that there are long hours, and that he had been right next to the man who was killed.
He stated that he was no more than three to six feet from his friend ( I guess he was his
friend) when it happened. He was the one to fill out the accident report for the police and
insurance people. He stated that they wanted to stop work and that the plant, and he
didn’t say specifically who, didn’t want to shut down but wanted to complete the work
that was started. It seemed that most of the workers there did not want to work that day.
That was the extent of my talking to Marty.
When the workers were leaving, it seems they had set up a bet for a keg of beer if the
planer Griffith could plane all the beams that were set out in from of him, which from the
comments of the men, was quite a chore. But Griffith seemed pretty confident that he
could get the work out. He did say that he was looking to go to pharmacy school as soon
as he got his hernia fixed, and when asked about the hernia, he said he got it some time
ago. He said he got it working while picking up some stuff in the got it working while
picking up some stuff in the plant. Again, this seemed to be common.

16. I had a chance to talk to a couple of the preglue people; there is a total of three. J believe
Jack had talked to the leader, and I talked to the two workers. They pretty much agreed
that a union would be nice; however, BR, the owner, would not allow one to come in He
said, “Work long hours, or you get fired”. There seemed to be a lot of stress as far as
meeting their quota, and they could not go home until they met the quota for the day.
They stated that the job was okay, but that they didn’t have much time for their families.
One said, “ I go home, I sleep I get up, I go to work, and I go back home and go to sleep
again.” When asked about their salary, he said that they’re paying , in his opinion , sixty
cents per hour lower than the unions around here, and he said further, “ The unions will
get a sixty-five-cent-per-hour raise, and we’ll get a forty- five – cent-per-hour raise.”
I also had a chance to talk to some of the guys in the finish area. This seemed to be a
typical eight-hours shift that consisted primarily of watching the beams run through the
planner. They go back and clean up a beam so that it can be packaged and shipped out.
One man’s biggest complaint was that he was upset about the lunch break change, which
he said was upset about the lunch break change, which he said was initiated by Rolf. It
consisted of taking their one-hour lunch break and cutting it down to a half –hour. He
stated that Rolf felt production would be increased by cutting down the lunch break. He
seemed upset about this. I don’t know his name. he lived five blocks away from the plant
and didn’t have time to go home to eat and then come back(on a half-hour break). He
seemed to have a high degree of resentment toward Rolf, and he had no knowledge of
what Rolf does.
I had an opportunity to meet with John, the quality-control man. He seemed like a very
nice man. No real quotes. He was just there for a few minutes. He had had an eye
operated on: I guess a new lens was put in. he seemed to talk with Joe very well. When I
asked Joe about John, Joe stated John was officially to report to him; however, John
reported to rich, and that worked out for the best because quality control should really be
removed from production somewhat. Joe seemed to se no conflict in that.
Mike’s Notes
Mitch and I had a morning interview with Joe. Some of the quotes on management style
were: “ I believe in giving my workers explicit instructions; perceptions differ, and you
have to be sour they understand,” and “I didn’t like the politics of larger plants I’ve
worked in.” Also, Joe mentioned frustration over the lack of plant space. To a worker he
said, “You are frustrated, aren’t you, Bill?’
During our tour , Joe set a brisk pace. He seemed to have quite a competent manner.
When rich approached Joe about talking Mitch and me under his wing for a tour, I think
Rich was intimidated by Joe. Rich had his back against the wall sideways to Joe, and he
shifted his eyes from Joe to Mitch and me during the conversation.
Joe was more than a bit curious in regard to our plant visit objective. I said it was for a
class project. Joe replied, “Oh, then it’s theory’. I explained we covered all the theories

17. equally. Another quote from Joe: “ A day’s production lost is a day lost, “ delivered with
a hint of frustration and impatience.
Joe’s office contained numerous good-worker awards. One prominent sign contained a
message roughly to the effect that “ I am right in the end.” My impression of the plant-
there were no safety glasses on the workers. One worker had no helmet; there were no
band-saw safety devices. Seemed pretty lackadaisical. During our initial interview with
Joe, Darrell, a truck driver, was in the office. He talked good naturedly with Joe, and he
seemed to like Joe in general. Later on in the day I had an interview alone with Dirk. Dirk
is the scheduler Dirk has a master’s in forestry from the University of Washington. Dirk
mentioned that the spends half his time filling in various positions. He says one of the
major problems is the transition between shifts. This is in regard to mistakes. One of
Dirk’s quotes: “There is no communication between shifts. Mainly people don’t want to
take the blame for mistakes”. During the course of the interview, Dirk’s manner was
fidgety; he moved around a bit, but he seemed fairly open. A quote from Dirk: “ The men
change jobs to know what is needed in beams. “ The men change jobs so much that it is
hard to train them. Everyone has to know what is needed in beams. “This implies that
workers weren’t really trained well enough to know what was needed in beams. “
Production people go home after the quota.” That was his perception of the amount of
overtime worked. ”Repairs after gluging are costly and difficult. Double checking is
needed before they are glued together. Average beam is six thousand board feet, or
approximately $840. I currently have seventy-five bastard beams I have to find a home
for.” Then Dirk went on to an example of mistakes made. A tapeclot shrunk two inches.
They used this tape for quite some time be for they finally found the mistakes. He also
mentioned there were frequent mix-ups between the 1 3/16-inch and 1 ¼ -inch strips for
laminated beams. Dirk’s quote on the workers: “ A few are incompetent ; they just get
soft warnings. Management should be harder on them .”
Item on bidding or posting for jobs: seniority or ability ( Whoever they think will do best)
decides who gets the job. On the workers: Morale is low. Safety and overtime are the
main causes. On Rich, industrial relations: “ The only contact I’ve had with him is when
he came down and asked about people.” I asked, “Who, what people?” and Dirk said, “
I’d rather not say.” On safety, he mentioned there are no physicals required. Lather on in
the interview, I asked why he didn’t try to change things, seeing as he has a master’s and
seems to have his head to gather. Dirk mentioned, “ Go up the line. Joe would listen.” I
said , “ Listen ?” and Dirk said , “ Yeah ; Joe would listen.” At this point Bruce a
bubbling and brassy guy who is a miiwright in charge of special projects maintenance ,
came in. The interview with Dirk was about thirty minutes under way; the next twenty
minutes I spent with Dirk, he mentioned Ben Richardson, the president. I asked , “ Do
men like to see BR?” Dirk responded , “ No, BR is bad news in the laminating plant five
times.
Items from Bruce: “ I’ve had thirty projects in the year I’ve been here; I only finished
one. Joe keeps jerking me around. As I get something’s else.” Bruce also mentioned that
he is on emergency call every other week. He splits it with the other maintenance person.
The beams stacks before and after planning were mentioned as being in terrible disarray.
Bruce mentioned that the Roseburg plants had a computer and a big yard with designated
areas to organize their stacks. He said that this company should take a bulldozer and
knock out the field to expand the outside stack area.

18. Item from Bruce: “ Antiquated machinery. Maintenance is costly and time –consuming. “
Bruce commented on BR: “ Joe thinks labor is cheap ; we don’t have that many benefits.
An example of BR’s attitude : one of his right band men got in a flap over the 3.30 a.m.
shift parking down here instead of in the muddy, rutted parking lot an eight of a mile up
the road. Christ , They had a caterpillar running up there, and they didn’t even smooth it
out. Anyway, this guy tells Rolf, the super , if these guys are too lazy to walk down from
the workers’ parking lot, they can go work somewhere else. “ This was mentioned right
in front of some of the men. Bruce went on to say, “ It really makes us feel wanted . “ I
then asked who was this guy, BR’s right –hand man, and Bruce said. “ I don’t want to
say…. What the hell. I’m quitting this heap in a while anyway. It was Wayne Teeterman,
BR’s special projects director.” During most of Bruce’s spiel , Dirk appeared to be quite
happy with what bruce was saying; I’m sure he was glad he didn’t have to say it himself.
It was mentioned the sawmill didn’t have a lunchroom. So the laminating plant felt
favored. Also, Rolf mentioned that the bathroom was one of the best in BR’s operations.
Bruce on Rolf: “ He, Rolf ,is a nice guy. Nobody respects him, through.”
Dirk and Bruce mentioned that there are only six or seven men who have made it ten
years in all of BR’s five companies.
Dirk on Joe: “Joe does too much. He keeps it all in his head. He is efficient, It would
take two people to replace him. He’s overworked , he doesn’t like the hours, and he’s just
trying to keep his job.” Bruce concurred on the above points.
Bruce : “ Stacks of beams are too high. Two of them fell last week. Damned near got me
and another guy.” I noted that the accidental death last year and its details were repeated
to me three times during the day.
Bruce mentioned that he recently organized a softball team. “ The first thing this plant
has ever had. It’s hard practicing and playing games with all the overtime. WE went to
BR ti ask him for $700 to start it up. He gave us $250. There’s fourteen teams in our
league and the minimum anyone else has gotten is $700.
Dirk mentioned that the workers peak out at $ 8 an hour after one year. He seemed to
think that money was a big motivating factor.
In response to my query why there was no union, Bruce and Dirk mentioned that
hearsay has it that when union representatives came, BR said, “ Finance, if you want a
union, I’ll Just close the place down.”
Dirk: “Communication is the main problem. Joe schedules some changes, and I never
hear about them.”
Bruce, on the foremen meetings with BR: “Hell, the forcemen will have their say, and in
the end BR will stand up and say, This is the way’s it’s going to be because I pay the
checks.”
About five minutes before the session ended, Joe came in and with a friendly greeting
said, “There you are,” to Bruce and directly to Dirk. Dirk got up as if getting ready to go
back to work. Bruce stalled. Bruce then said that he didn’t know how BR made any
money on the operation. Dirk giggled lightly and noodde his head.
In the afternoon , I spent an hour and a half to two hours with Rolf, the superintendent.
About an hour of this talking was Rolf trying to prove his competence by divulging

19. intricate, technical , and totally useless details. Of the plant, I got some tasty stuff
anyway, and here it is:
Me: “ What does Joe do?”
Rolf: “ So doggone many things, I don’t know’. Then he went on to mention he is a
genrealmanager in charge of scheduling and raw materials procurement and to rattle odd
two or three more. I said, “ What’s your working relationship with Joe?’ Rolf said, : I
implement his schedules. Dirk, the head of the finishing and planning department, and I
get Joe’s schedules. Joe will skip me whenever he want’s to make changes- goes right to
planning and finishing. Then I have to go see what’s going on.” L asked him if he
thought him. Rolf said, “ No, we get along well. Joe saves time by going directly to the
workers. We spend a lot of time after the shifts going over and discussing what happened
and planning for the next day and weeks ahead.”
Rolf mentioned that there are often schedule changes when customer’s trucks pick up
their orders. I wondered if maybe they could get tougher with the customers, and Rolf
said, “ No., we’d lose them.”
Rolf mentioned that the company deals with brokers not contractors. He said that
customers sometimes cancel their orders.
On Bruce’s idea of bulldozing a pasture to expand finish –beam storage, Rolf said that in
the winter it was tough enough to keep the field clear with the current area.
Rolf on equipment: “ BR gives us the junkiest stuff to work with,” He went on to
mention one particular piece of machinery that has four wheels and five feet of clearance
(I don’t know what it is called): “ It has no brakes and no shut –off; you have to idle it to
kill it”.
On Joe: “ Joe’s good; he and I go to bat for the guys.”
Me: You must have a pretty little bat; I hear BR is a tough guy to get through to.”
On Dirk: “Effective ,will improve with time, he doesn’t always see the opportunities for
utilizing stock beams. He has his master’s degree in glue technology.’
On John: “ Quality control marginal .” That’s all he said.
On Nita, BR’s secretary: “She doesn’t always use her power right.”
On sue, Joe’s secretary: “She does the work of two people. Has lots of customer respect;
they often comment on her.”
On Joe: “ He’s too intelligent for the job. I don’t know why he does not get something
better. I guess he likes to work.”
On Rich: “ Rich does his job well.”
On the workforce: “ There are three types of guys. One is eight to five and a paycheck –
never volunteers or does anything extra- 50 percent of the workforce, Second are the ones
who use worker’s compensation to get time off all the time ; this is 20 percent,. Workers
compensation is the biggest deterrent to an effective workforce,’ he went on to comment.
“ And third, the ones who try, 30 percent.”
Rolf mentioned that 15-20 percent of the work hours were spent trying to unsort the beam
piles, pre-and postplaner.
Rolf mentioned that architectural beams, 7-12 percent of the output, took three times as
long to process as the plain beams.
On Joe again: “ Joe does a good job of scheduling and customer relations.”
On BR: “ BR is secretive; he should keep the guys informed.”

20. Rolf often has to juggle men around on their tasks and catch a lot of flack for this. I asked
his criteria for deciding which men would go on which jobs. They were (1) how well the
man will do the jobs and (2) how easy it is to replace him at his original task.
Rolf said overtime is a big problem. It’s necessary to go through the jobs in order. Men
never know how long they’ll have to work. Lock-uops have to be finished. He mentioned
that a good lock-up will take an hour, a bad one, one and a half to two hours. ( A lock-up
is essentially gluing and clamping the beam into a form)
Rolf said he used to spend three hours a day on the glue crew. Hw Doesn’t do this
anymore; he has a good crew. Eighty percent of the glue crew are good workers, in Rolf’s
opinion. He mentioned that two of the bad ones quit because they didn’t want overtime.
Also, Rolf noted that it was possible to avoid overtime by scheduling good or easy lock-
ups. This was done when the glue crew had been putting in too much overtime.
Rolf stated that the overall problem with the operation was that everyone knows that “
BR doesn’t give a shit about them.” I asked him if there was anything he liked about
working for the company, and he said, “ I Like working for Joe.” We ended the interview
with Rolf saying,” Overall, its not a bad place to work; the checks don’t bounce.”
Preparing the Diagnosis
Jack Lawler leaned back in this chair and stretched. It had all come back. Now he needed
a plan for working . It seemed that the first step was to determine what ideas, models, or
theories would be useful in ordering and understanding the information he had. Then he
would have to do a diagnosis and finally, think about what to say to Ben Richardson and
Richard Bowman . Buzzing his secretary to say that he didn’t want to be interrupted,
Lawler rolled up his sleeves and began to work.
BR Richardson Timber Products Case
1. Analyze the information gathered by Lawler and his team and identify the issues
facing the Company. ( 10 marks)
2. Assume the role of Lawler and write a report to the management team of
BRRTPC presenting your findings and your recommendations. (15 marks)
3. Examine the client –consultant relationship in the case. Assuming that the
management accepts your recommendations, draft out an agreement for the OD
work you will undertake at BRRTPC. (15 marks)