Riverwood Plant Manager

RIVER WOODS PLANT MANAGER

Heritage Appliance Company recently announced plans to construct the River

Woods manufacturing plant, replacing the company’s original, flagship facility

adjacent to the company headquarters in Edgemont. In announcing the new plant, the

company stated that to the extent possible it would be staffed by Edgemont plant

personnel and that the excess personnel would be transferred to other Heritage plants

in neighboring states.

Heritage management views the River Woods facility as the plant of

featuring new methods of production and lower processing costs and

requirements. In a recent press release, the Heritage CEO noted that

replacing one of the least automated plants in the industry with a plant

forms of production not previously seen in appliance manufacturing.

the future

manpower

they were

using new

Heritage Appliance is also using the River Woods plant to pilot a new decentralized

management structure. In the past the firm’s marketing activities were directed from

the home office by a vice president. Manufacturing operations and certain other

departments were under the control of the company’s senior vice president. In this

centralized, functional, arrangement none of the company’s four plants had a general

manager. Instead, each department in a plant reported on a line basis to its functional

counterpart at the home office (e.g., director of production, director of engineering). In

contrast, the new River Woods plant manager will be responsible for the management

of all functions and personnel, except marketing and sales.

There is general consensus among the top management team that the long-term

viability of the firm depends on the success of this initiative. However, some have

expressed concerns about the difficulty of the task facing the River Woods general

manager. They point to the shift from the functional lines of communication and

accountability to a plant-level focus, as well as the challenges of upgrading the skills

of the...