MS6510 wk5 assignment ranju lewis

Case

Study

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Townsend Rock Industries

The company operates quarries, plants, and distribution sites in the southeastern and mid

-

Atlantic United

States and serves commercial,

industrial, residential, and governmental construction companies. It owns

and operates quarries and distribution centers in Canada, the Bahamas, and Argentina.

Its headquarters are in Jacksonville, Florida, and the company has production and distribution

facilities in

Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Canada, the Bahamas, and Argentina. Currently, it employs twenty

-

five hundred employees, in positions ranging from executive

-

level administration to engineers, geologists,

and technicians. Within each geo

graphic location, there are employees of different levels (executive team,

senior management, middle management, and salaried and hourly employees). The executive team is

located in Jacksonville, Florida, and most of the corporate and administrative functi

ons are handled from

there as well. However, there are also some production plants and distribution facilities in other parts of

Florida and in Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia. These operations are more likely to hire lower

-

level

managers and hourly worker

s. The facilities in Canada, the Bahamas, and Argentina have both middle

management and hourly production workers.

The company is regarded as a leader in the cement industry and is known for its fair and equitable

treatment of employees. The company's mi

ssion is:

. . . to be an excellent construction materials company providing long

-

term growth and a superior

return on investment. Through employees committed to continuous improvement, we will provide

quality materials and superb service for our customer

s; operate safe, environmentally responsible

facilities that are well maintained and cost effective; and develop mutually beneficial relationships

with our suppliers and the communities within which we operate.

TRI was started as a family business in the

1930s, and, over the years, it grew by acquiring competitors

and other firms in related services. Employees perceive the management team to be fair, and there have

been no efforts to introduce a union. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ.

The co

mpany leadership in the early days focused more on production and servicing customers and less on

the efficient organization of its various business functional areas, which has resulted in a number of

inconsistencies throughout the operations of the compan

y. Five years ago, the company needed to improve

plant and facilities management. So the management adopted a software package that helped it optimize

key areas in production processing. This resulted in increased production and improved consistency across

shifts and produced a return on investment (ROI) for its shareholders.

Recently, it has implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to improve coordination of

internal business functions (e.g., production, human resources [HR], inventory man

agement, operations,

finance, project management, distribution, and supply chain). During the implementation process, however,

the company realized that there were a number of inconsistencies, particularly in the HR areas of

compensation, benefits, and rew

ard systems, that needed to be corrected going forward. So the company

has hired an HR consulting firm to assess this situation. These decisions are critical to the future and

continued success of the company since they have an impact on employee and publi

c perceptions as well

as in the company’s culture