Background

Last year Wakely`s – a British engineering company – was taken over by an American
conglomerate, Stonebridge Inc. Changes in management style have caused tension at the
plant. The union is ready for confrontation and an argument took place on the shop floor
yesterday when some of the older blue-collar workers lost their temper at the extra work
they were being asked to. Read the grievances and identify the cause in each case.
Grievance 1
Language training. As a part of its export drive Stonebridge is investing heavily in language
tuition for sales and marketing staff. Courses take place during worktime. Language tuition is
available for blue-collar staff but in their own time.
Grievance 2
Sam Walker, Stonebridge`s vice president, has reduced the subsidy paid to the factory`s
rugby and football team and club. The Managing Director, who does not drink alcohol, says
the subsidy encourages drunkenness. Golfing weekends at expensive hotels, and foreign
travel are offered to senior executives.
Grievance 3
A female American manager has accused male assembly-line workers of negative behavior
and sexism. She claims they are resistant to new techniques and equipment. They say she
does not respect their skill and is young and aggressive.
A meeting has been arranged to try to find a solution to the problems. Work in groups of
four. Once you have studied and prepared your case, role-play the meeting. Study the
negotiating styles and decide if you will be a red or blue stylist.

Red stylists
● see each negotiation as a separate contest with a winner and a loser
● believe you win by dominating your opponent, beating him/her down
● enjoy using manipulative tricks and bluffs
● want something for nothing

Red stylists
● believe both sides can win by reaching a compromise
● regard negotiations in the longer term
● recognize each party`s interests
● will only trade something for something
This type of graph can be used for comparison of the different data sets in absolute value terms and
over multiple periods. Here, the reader can compare the relationship of total costs to total sales
over the five-year period and will notice that in 2012 and 2013 the level of costs compared to sales
has increased. The visual representation of the two lines coming closer together makes it particularly
clear to the second party that the total costs are rising at a faster rate than total sales.
Here, the reader is faced with a lot of data on one chart with four data sets for each of five years
resulting in a total of 20 columns on this chart. The reader can interpret this information by either
considering the composition of sales by division for any one year or by selecting each division in turn
and considering the change in sales levels for each division over the five-year period. The chart
shows that while the sales of North division have remained fairly constant over the period, there is
an upward trend in sales for South and East (except for a small dip in East division sales in 2012)
and a downward trend in sales for West division.

The charts does not provide the reader with any information regarding the level of total sales or total
production costs and so it is not possible to comment on any trend as to whether total sales and total
costs are rising or falling over this five-year period. It also shows that raw materials, direct labour and
production overheads have gradually been accounting for a larger portion of the total costs while
non-production costs have significantly reduced as a percentage of the total.