Verified Document

Southern Discomfort: Wisconsin Specialty Products Of Lamprey, Essay

Southern Discomfort: Wisconsin Specialty Products of Lamprey, Inc. Fair wages vs. outsourcing: What is fair or unfair?

The Wisconsin Specialty Products Division of Lamprey Wisconsin may be forced to close its plant located in the U.S. because its wages and benefits for its unionized workers have become too much of a financial drain upon company finances. It is considering re-locating to Mexico to save money on both wages and benefits.

Changing market conditions

Competitors have already edged out Lamprey on price

Now they are edging out Lamprey on quality as well

Lamprey cannot afford to keep the plant as is. It cannot justify raising prices to consumers and must improve its product.

Slide 3: Analysis

Problem

Unionized workers are resistant to lower wages and to cross-training workers (which would mean fewer employees would be needed to do the same required jobs and result in layoffs -- but fewer layoffs than if the plant closed).

Dialogue between union and management has broken down. Union leaders are 'digging in their heels' and refusing to concede any points.

Slide 4: Analysis

Problem 2

The new global economy (including improved transportation, trade agreements, and technology) has made it feasible to outsource highly skilled manufacturing jobs.

Globalization facilitates outsourcing and fewer skills are needed within manufacturing given improvements in technology. From a business standpoint, shifting operations to Mexico may make sense but there are concerns...

When faced with the alternative, union members may be willing to make concessions.
Currently, there is a crisis of authority and management lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the union. Authority of leaders must be accepted rather than imposed: While "managers have authority because of the positions they hold" ultimately "subordinates comply because they believe that managers have a legitimate right to issue orders" (Daft 2013: 246). Currently, the union leadership does not seem to respect management.

Slide 7: Recommendations

Recommendation 2: Re-frame products

The problems with Wisconsin Specialty Products are not necessarily due to high labor costs alone but may also be rooted in problems with the company's inability to differentiate the product from its competitors. It has long sold itself as a 'quality' rather than a 'cheap' product but has been losing this market advantage in recent…

Sources used in this document:
References

Daft, R. (2013). Management. Cengage
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Plant Relocation Confidential We Have
Words: 796 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Plant relocation *** CONFIDENTIAL *** We have discussed previously the issue of relocating one of our plants. I have received back from the consultant a report that outlines what she thinks are our best options. This report will present her findings. Fact Summary: The consultant identified Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa as potential sites. Her findings are summarized in the following table Mexico Philippines South Africa Wages $3/day $1/day $10/day Living wage? Maybe Union strength Minor Moderately strong Scandal risk High Low Moderate Environment Regs Some Few Some Environment Cost Low Low Moderate Env. Scandal risk High Low Low This

Ethics of Plant Relocation to 3rd World
Words: 1908 Length: 4 Document Type: Case Study

Ethical Dilemma and Corporate Responsibility Board of Directors RE: Response to Ethical dilemma created by the relocation program I am writing this memo to inform the directors that this company is faced by an ethical dilemma. The ethical dilemma presented in this report is based on challenges of balancing corporate loyalty and corporate responsibility. This report advises the Project Management office (PMO) on the possibility of applying Workers Adjustment and Retaining Notification (WARN)

Ethics and Plant Closure Situation Analysis --
Words: 831 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Ethics and Plant Closure Situation Analysis -- ABC/DVD Manufacturing, Inc. must decide whether to close its plant in Anytown, MA. The plant closure would result in the lay-off of 50 employees. Management has asked for a brief outlining the ethical issues surrounding plant closures, and the questions apparent on profit vs. ethical behavior. At the heart of the decision are several questions that must be considered prior to a decision. Each question

Outsourcing and Relocation As Our
Words: 1453 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

The likes of service oriented companies like America Online (AOL) is a prime example of how relocation and outsourcing has changed the way service oriented businesses function in this global economy. AOL continues to be one of our nation's most intelligent economic organizations as they take advantage of the outsourcing for the majority of their customer oriented operations. When an AOL customer calls in to have his password reset

Business and Political Argument Against
Words: 2773 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

The government has rather low environmental expectations. In fact, the consultant found that they are about as lenient as the Mexican restrictions, though the Philippines presents no public relations nightmare as protestors are not rallying against health concerns, as they were in Mexico. Although the conditions in the Philippines may seem even more ready for outsourcing then the conditions in Mexico, the ethical costs of operating the company in the

Ethical Problem With Exporting Pollution
Words: 306 Length: 1 Document Type: Essay

That particular ethical concern may be harder to define precisely, simply because it may be too restrictive and no different from the types of decisions considered appropriate in the U.S. In that regard, provided it violates no domestic or foreign laws and that it is not undertaken for the purpose of shifting the environmental risk (Rosenstand, 2008), the relocation is no different from situating a similar plant in any local

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now