L. J. Summers Company Case Study

Case 24:  L. J. Summers Company

J. B. Ritchie and Paul H. Thompson

Brigham Young University

Jon Reese couldn't think of a time in the history of L. J. Summers Company when there had been as much anti-company sentiment among the workers as had emerged in the past few weeks.  He knew that Mr. Summers would place the blame on him for the problems with the production workers because Jon was supposed to be helping Mr. Summer's son, Blaine, to become oriented to his new position.  Blaine had only recently taken over as production manager of the company.  Blaine was unpopular with most of the workers, but the events of the past weeks had caused him to be resented even more.  This resentment had increased to the point that several of the male workers had quit and all the women in the assembly department had refused to work.

The programs that had caused the resentment among the workers were instituted by Blaine to reduce waste and lower production costs, but they had produced completely opposite results.  Jon knew that on Monday morning he would have to explain to Mr. Summers why the workers had reacted as they did and that he would have to present a plan to resolve the employee problems, reduce waste, and decrease production costs.

Company History

L. J. Summers Company manufactured large sliding doors made of many narrow aluminum panels held together by thick rubber strips, which allowed the door to collapse as it was opened.  Some of the doors were as high as 18 feet and were used in buildings to section off large areas.  The company had grown rapidly in its early years due mainly to the expansion of the building program of the firm's major customer, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of Summers' business.

When L. J. Summers began the business, his was the only firm that manufactured the large sliding doors.  Recently, however, several other firms had begun to market similar doors.  One firm in particular had been bidding to obtain business from Summers' major customer.  Fearing that the competitor might be able to underbid his company, Mr. Summers began urging his assistant, Jon, to increase efficiency and cut production costs.

Conditions Before the Cost Reduction Programs

A family-type atmosphere had existed at Summers before the cost reduction programs were instituted.  There was little direct supervision of the workers from the front office, and no pressure was put on them to meet production standards.  Several of the employees worked overtime regularly without supervision.  The foremen and workers often played cards together during lunchtime, and company parties after work were common and popular.  Mr. Summers was generally on friendly terms with all the employees, although he was known to get angry if something displeased him.  He also participated freely in the daily operations of the company.