Anchol

Ancol Ltd.

by

Steven L. McShane

University of Western Australia

Perth, Australia

Copyright © 1998 Steven L. McShane. This case is based on actual events, but names

and some facts have been changed to provide a fuller case discussion.

This case may be used by current adopters of:

S. L. McShane Canadian Organizational Behaviour, 5th ed. (Toronto: McGraw-Hill

Ryerson, 2004); S. L. McShane & M. A. von Glinow, Organizational Behavior, 3rd ed.

(Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2005); S. L. McShane & T. Travaglione, Organisational

Behaviour on the Pacific Rim, 1st ed. (Sydney: McGraw-Hill Australia, 2003)

Ancol Ltd.

Ancol Ltd.∗

By Steven L. McShane, The University of Western Australia

Paul Simard was delighted when Ancol Ltd. offered him the job of manager at its

Jonquiere, Quebec plant. Simard was happy enough managing a small metal stamping

plant with another company, but the headhunter’s invitation to apply to the plant manager

job at one of Canada’s leading metal fabrication companies was irresistible. Although the

Jonquiere plant was the smallest of Ancol’s 15 operations across Canada, the plant

manager position was a valuable first step in a promising career.

One of Simard’s first observations at Ancol’s Jonquiere plant was that relations between

employees and management were strained. Taking a page from a recent executive

seminar that he attended on building trust in the workplace, Simard ordered the removal

of all time clocks from the plant. Instead, the plant would assume that employees had put

in their full shift. This symbolic gesture, he believed, would establish a new level of

credibility and strengthen relations between management and employees at the site.

Initially, the 250 production employees at the Jonquiere plant appreciated their new

freedom. They felt respected and saw this gesture as a sign of positive change from the

new plant manager. Two months later, however, problems started to appear. A few

people began showing up...