In 1960, the Wilson Brothers, Bob and John, started Wilson Brothers Limited. This Canadian company manufactured and distributed various lines of prepared food products for the Canadian market from a number of plants, with the head office located in Brandon, Manitoba. Bob was just 23 years old at the time, and John was 21. In the first year of operations, the sales volume for Wilson Brothers Limited was $300,000. By 2000, Wilson Brothers Limited had six operating plants in Canada. They had also expanded to the western US market and had several plants in Europe. Wilson Export Division was responsible for exporting product to Japan and China. In 2000, the total sales volume of the Company was over $6 billion. The company was a Canadian business success story, both at home and abroad. In addition to the spectacular volume increases, the company was very well managed financially. It had no reason to go public to raise capital as it financed all of its expansion through earnings.

There were several reasons for the Company's exponential growth. First and foremost, the brothers valued hard work. They each worked ten to twelve hours per day, even in the latter stages of their careers. Consequently, their senior and middle management group worked similar hours. Secondly, each brother was a skilled salesman in the traditional sense. Their handshake was their bond. Thirdly, they had tremendous "cultural sensitivity." Whenever they expanded to foreign markets, they recruited a local executive to be CEO at that location so that the local culture was respected and integrated to business practices (fostered). They assigned a Canadian executive to be VP Finance so that financial reporting was consistent across all Company operations.

The brothers were proud of the exponential growth of the Company and were particularly proud of their Canadian roots. This pride and work ethic permeated through the organization from top management to the line employees in the plants. The success of this Canadian organization attracted executive and management talent from across Canada.

Setting them apart from their competitors was the speed with which strategic decisions were made and the flexibility by which these strategies could be implemented. Strategic decisions were made only by the brothers. From the Vice Presidential level down, all operational choices made were in support of the implementation of the plans developed by the brothers. Employees from coast-to-coast were extremely proud that the Company could go from conception of a new product idea to launch of the product in the marketplace in a matter of weeks. Similar decisions made by their competitors could take months or even years.

The brothers controlled as many elements of the food supply business as they could. For example, they ensured that the plants always had an adequate supply of ingredients on hand for production. They also formed their own trucking firm, Able Distribution Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilson Brothers Limited. In this way, they were able to guarantee on-time deliveries to customers. More than 70% of the demand for the trucking firm came directly from food business deliveries, independently operated out of Truro, Nova Scotia.    

THREATS TO THE BUSINESS

Today, the Wilson brothers know that regardless of the success their company has enjoyed over the years and their attempts to control aspects of the business, it faces significant threats to profits on a daily basis.

 

THE RANDY CAVANAUGH CASE SCENARIO

John is a supervisor on a loading dock in the Toronto plant operation of Wilson Bros. Je has just taken a course from you, the Director of Human Resources, on 'How to Discipline Employees Effectively'. He is very keen to try out some of the techniques he learned in the course.

After returning to his job the following week, he thinks he encounters a perfect insubordination situation. It is the middle of winter, and the dock is very icy. He asks Randy Cavanaugh, one of the loaders, to move a set of skids from the edge of the dock. Randy refuses. Remembering some of what he had learned in his course, Randy says, "Randy, this is a direct order. You are to remove the skids from the edge of the dock. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action up to and including discharge!"

Randy refuses again. John is totally exasperated. He calls you for advice.

You have a choice. You can support John in his quest to manage his employees with some firmness and control, or you can recommend some other course of action. Your credibilit will rest to a degree on your response.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:

1. Is suspending or terminating Randy for insubordination in this scenario the correct course of action?

2. What factors, other than insubordination, need to be taken into consideration?

3. What right is Randy exercising on the dock that day? Did he exercise that right properly?

4. Imagine that you have to write a formal report about this incident for the management of Wilson Bros.

 

Provide the executive summary of this report. Your executive summary should explain the rights involved, provide a detailed description of the steps that should have been followed, and include a set of recommendations to ensure a case such as this doesn't happen again at Wilson Bros.  NOTE: Since this is the executive summary of a workplace report, you should not mention the course notes or textbook; however, you need to reference laws, statutes, or cases discussed in the course notes or textbook to support your arguments. Cite references
 

 

1. Use headings to separate one question from the next.
2. Refer to laws, statutes, cases, module notes, and/or textbook examples to support your answers.