Dick Spencer

Case Overview

This case study concerns Dick Spencer, Vice President for Tri-American and plant manager of the company's branch at Modrow in Canada. Tri-American employs 22,000 in its organization worldwide, with 1,000 employees at the Modrow branch. The company is focused mainly on aluminum processing and fabrication. Due to the company's decentralized structure, each plant manager has considerable autonomy; however, this structure also contributes to a sense of competition among plants within the company.

The Modrow plant has recently undergone expansion and modernization, at significant expense. However, this expense is expected to be offset by profits resulting from the modernization. In particular, the aluminum siding division has been budgeted as a large profit item for the plant. The research and art departments recently collaborated to develop a series of twelve new siding patterns to introduce into the market.

The plant manager at Modrow is Dick Spencer, a Vice President with a 14-year tenure at Tri-American. Originally a star in the sales department, Dick sought to move into management as a way to advance his career. He developed a reputation for ruthlessly cutting costs and eliminating staff, a reputation that preceded him at the plant. His actions during his first year at the plant did little to change his reputation and he encountered numerous problems there.

As background, Spencer received his MBA from a well-known American university before joining Tri-American in the sales department. Landing a major account in his first year at Tri-American put him near the top of the sales-volume leaders. Several of his coworkers attributed his success to his looks, charm and ability on the golf course. Spencer made a connection with the president of the company, and ultimately used that connection to transfer out of sales into operations. He worked in the home office