ArbreCorp Ltee is a sawmill operation in Quebec that is owned by a major forest products company but operates independently of the parent company. It was built 30 years ago, and completely updated with new machinery five years ago. ArbreCorp receives raw Jogs from the area for cutting and planing into building-grade lumber, mostly two-by-four and two-by-six pieces of standard lengths. Higher grade Jogs leave ArbreCorp's sawmill department in finished form and are sent directly to the packaging department. The remaining 40 percent of sawmill output are cuts from lower grade logs, requiring further work by the plan ing department.

ArbreCorp has one general manager, 16 supervisors and support staff, and 180 unionized employees. The unionized employees are paid an hourly rate specified in the collective agreement, whereas management and support staff are paid a monthly salary. The mill is divided into six operating departments: boom, sawmill, planer, packaging, shipping, and maintenance. The sawmill, boom, and packaging departments operate a morning shift starting at 6:00 a.m. and an afternoon shift starting at 2:00 p.m. Employees in these departments rotate shifts every two weeks. The planer and shipping departments operate only morning shifts. Maintenance employees work the night shift (starting at 10:00 p.m.).  

Each department, except for packaging, has a supervisor on every work shift. The planer supervisor is responsible for the packaging department on the morning shift, and the sawmill supervisor is responsible for the packaging department on the afternoon shift. However, the packaging operation is housed in a separate building from the other departments, so supervisors seldom visit the packaging department. This is particularly true for the afternoon shift, because the sawmill supervisor is the furthest distance from the packaging building.......

Discussion Questions 

1. What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong? 

2. What are the main causes of these symptoms? 

3. What actions should executives take to correct these problems?