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H u m a n Values in Plant L o c a t i o n
A n assignment to a new plant m u s t be seen as a family transfer;
therefore, m a n a g e m e n t m u s t consider h u m a n values along with
cost factors w h e n choosing a new site, the author says.
KURT R. STUDENT
APRIL 1976
KURT R. STUDENT
BUSINESS HORIZONS
QUALITATIVE FACTORS
In recent years the quality of life has become
a concern for m a n y Americans who fear our
society is neglecting environmental and human values in favor of technological achieve3. Abraham Kaplan, The Conduct o f Inquiry (San
Francisco: Chandler, 1964).
4. Larry E. Greiner, D. Paul Leitch and Louis B. Barnes,
"Putting Judgment Back into Decisions," Harvard Business
Review (March-April 1970), pp. 59-67.
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KURT R. STUDENT
Q U A L I T Y OF LIFE FACTORS
With this brief discussion of the interaction
between plant effectiveness, management performance and quality of life, let us consider
the four essential quality of life factors:
sociocultural, health, educational and residential. Sociocultural elements are particularly
crucial when the plant is to be located in a
small c o m m u n i t y or a rural area and the
management team is transferred from one or
more metropolitan plants, as is often the case.
No small community or rural setting can be
expected to match the diversity and conveniences that metropolitan living offers. No
wife and no child can be expected to want to
alter dramatically tastes and preferences just
because the husband and father is moved to a
new position in a different kind of home
environment. General continuity in family
quality of life is the key to a satisfactory
relocation. Continuity must be maintained if
the new environment is to provide basic
sociocultural satisfaction to every member of
the management family. The critical question
is therefore: Can the new c o m m u n i t y support
sociocultural continuity and avoid a dramatic
change in living habits, and at what cost in
time and effort as well as in dollars and cents?
No specific answer can be forthcoming
without an understanding of the individual
preferences of those involved. However, my
experience with plant location problems leads
me to suggest the following needs of the
typical management family. Good restaurants
are important. The c o m m u n i t y should have a
theater showing movies of interest to all
members of the family. It is frustrating to
read movie reviews in national magazines or
watch movies discussed on television that
never reach the community. Major network
BUSINESS HORIZONS
APRIL 1976
KURT R. STUDENT
These physicians could be general practitioners, family practice specialists or internists. A community should also have a pediatrician. Small communities need not have a
hospital where surgery is performed, provided
a hospital is located no more than a thirty
minute drive from the community. Even in
cases of emergency surgical care, a thirty
minute wait is usually acceptable.
10
Education
BUSINESS HORIZONS
C o s t vs. H u m a n
Values in P l a n t L o c a t i o n
APRIL 1976
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KURT R. STUDENT
Housing
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being built. If this is the family's first experience in home building, inexperience in negotiating with contractors and builders as well as
sheer naivete can lead to costly mistakes.
Moreover, the builders may have no experience with plans for larger homes, and building
errors are not uncommon. Unfortunately
some builders are unscrupulous and cannot
resist the temptation to cheat the unsophisticated. In too many cases building a home in a
new c o m m u n i t y results in a very unhappy
family. The day-to-day dissatisfaction with
their new home colors their feelings about the
community and its people to a point where
the family has little chance of ever being
really happy in their new setting.
Residential patterns may create additional
pitfalls. Often the company will b u y a tract of
attractive residential land and encourage the
managers to build their homes side b y side.
Occasionally the new plant manager will be
the first to build a home in an undeveloped
area, and his subordinate managers will tend
to build their homes nearby. Because plant
start-up is so demanding and because so much
of a manager's time and interest is occupied
by his work, each manager needs a private life
with different concerns, different values, and,
most important, different personal ties and
friendships. Wives have an equally compelling
need to establish friendships b e y o n d the
husband's work circle. Too often, residential
arrangements in small towns make social
outreach difficult. In one plant community
almost all of the management team live on the
same street within view of each other. Social
BUSINESS HORIZONS
C o s t vs. H u m a n
Values in P l a n t L o c a t i o n
relationships and visiting patterns are discussed almost daily in the plant and in the
homes. All of the managers, and especially the
wives, have come to r e s e t this unwise residential pattern. Consequently, the company
must recognize the problems inherent in
buying residential land for its personnel, and
managers should receive counsel regarding the
impact residential patterns can have on their
social relationships.
PROBLEM PLANTS
Industry's failure to place proper emphasis on
human Values and quality of life questions in
plant location is a major reason why it takes
years for new plants to reach projected profit
and production standards. A plant management team must have an unusually high
degree of motivation and dedication if a plant
start-up is to be successful. If c o m m u n i t y
elements erode this dedication, plant problems as well as personal and family problems
can be expected. Dissatisfactions within the
family and in the c o m m u n i t y at large have
their impact on management performance.
Long hours at the plant combined with hours
in an unhappy home with an unhappy wife
and unhappy children spell trouble and turnover.
I have seen several cases in which a
carefully selected management team did not
remain intact through the start-up, not because of dissatisfaction with the work, but
because of dissatisfaction with the community. Some men request transfers to other
plants, some leave their companies and return
to their h o m e communities to work for other
firms, often for competitors. Some men.remain at the plant, but their dissatisfactions
continue to affect their work and they never
perform up to their expected potential. Meanwhile, the plant becomes known throughout
the company and the industry as a "problem
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BUSINESS HORIZONS