Reference no: EM132655243

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Case: Southern Discomfort

Jim Malesckowski remembers the call of two weeks ago as if he just put down the telephone receiver: "I just read your analysis and I want you to get down to Mexico right away," Jack Rippon, his boss and chief executive officer, had blurted in his ear. "You know we can't make the plant in Oconomo work anymore-the costs are just too high. So go down there, check out what our operational status would be if we move, and report back to me in a week.

At that moment, Jim felt as if a shiv had been stuck in his side, just below the ribcage. As a president of the Wisconsin Speciality Products Division of Lamprey, Inc., he knew quite well the challenge of dealing with high-cost labor in a third generation, unionized U.S. manufacturing plant. And although he had done the analysis that led to his boss's knee-jerk response, the call still stunned him. There were 520 people who made a living at Lamprey's Oconomo facility, and if it closed, most of them wouldn't have a journeyman's prayer of finding another job in a town of 9,900 people.

Instead of the $16 per-hour average wage at the Oconomo plant, the wages paid to the Mexican workers- who lived in a town without sanitation and with an unbelievably toxic effluent from industrial pollution- would amount to about $1.60 an hour on average. That's a saving of nearly 15 million a year for Lamprey, to be offset in part by increased costs for training, transportation, and other matters.

After two days of talking with the Mexican government representatives and managers of other companies in the town, Jim had enough information to develop a set of comparative production and shipping costs.

The plant in Oconomo had been in operation since 1921, making special apparel for persons suffering injuries and other medical conditions. Now almost a century later competitors had edged past Lamprey in terms of price and were dangerously close to overtaking it in product quality.

Although both Jim and the plant manager had tried to convince the union to take lower wages, union leaders resisted and could barely restrain their anger while discussing it. Yet probing beyond the fray, Jim sensed the fear that lurked under the union rep's gruff exterior. He sensed their vulnerability, but could not break through the reactionary bark that protected it.

While writing the report for his boss, it had become apparent that Lamprey could put its investment dollars in a bank and receive a better return than what it's Oconomo operation is currently producing. Tomorrow he'll discuss the report with the CEO. Jim doesn't want to be responsible for the plants dismantling an act that he personally believes would be wrong as long as there's a chance that costs can be lowered.

After reading the Case Southern Discomfort,

1. Who are the stakeholders in this case? List all stakeholders that are directly and indirectly affected by the change. For each stakeholder indicate : What is their interest? In what way are they affected by the change?

2. Assume you want to lead the change to save the plant. Describe how you would enact the first four steps of Kotter's model (create a sense of urgency, build a guiding coalition, get the vision right and communicate for buy-in). Consider and Include the influencing tactics discussed in the lecture about Power & Influence.