Publications
Publications
- February 1990
- HBS Case Collection
Wood Structures, Inc.
Abstract
Ostensibly a case about employee turnover in a small construction component company, Wood Structures, Inc. is actually a snapshot of the whole company. In particular it addresses issues of leadership, morale, and teamwork (or the lack thereof) in a company dependent on a highly seasonal and cyclical industry. Operating in "final fighting mode" owner/founder Bill Alcorn has difficulty setting a long-term course. He also feels ambivalent about delegating authority to a management group he fears may not have the same commitment to the company that he has. The case can serve as a good vehicle for diagnosis and action planning around several sets of tensions: plant to plant and shift to shift rivalries; management-labor, management-union versus rank and file; and management in a difficult industry.
Keywords
Citation
Barnes, Louis B. "Wood Structures, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 490-061, February 1990.