Cost vs.

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

The author is a management psychologist f o r Rohrer, Hibler

& Replogle, Inc.

Overlooking human considerations in plant

site selection can be very costly. Surpisingly,
some managements forget that figures do not
control men and forecasts do not produce
results. People make organizations work, not
vice versa. People are the means by which an
organization produces the results which are
the reason for the organization's existence.
A new plant's success is largely in the
hands of the twenty to thirty people who
make up the new plant's management team. It
is their drive, ambition, initiative and judgment which determine whether the plant's
projected results will be achieved. Performance remains a function of both ability and
motivation; when motivation to work is optimized, productivity increases. Consequently,
managers with demonstrated ability will not
achieve expected results in a new plant if their
environment creates dissatisfactions that adversely affect motivation. The Swiss novelist
and playwright Max Frisch has written, "We
sought workers, and human beings came
instead." One might paraphrase Frisch and
say, "We sent managers to run the new plant,
and human beings came instead."
When a new plant fails to reach projected
profit and production standards, the cause

APRIL 1976

can frequently be found not in the investment

decision, but in management's failure to give
p r o p e r consideration to quality of life factors
in site selection. This failure may be attributed to the decision process itself.
One can usually observe sharp differences
between top management's approach to decisions in capital investment and decisions on
plant location. Establishing a new facility is
usually considered only after the less costly
alternatives of modernizing or expanding present facilities have been thoroughly explored.
Intricate mathematical models have been developed to guide management in making
capital spending decisions. These models require reliable and valid information, although
such information can only be obtained
through time-consuming, complex and costly
measurement techniques. In most cases, staff
is made available, and neither time nor cost
are a constraint. Frequently, members of top
management become personally involved in
the analytical efforts as well as in decision
making. Since such decisions usually require
board of director approval, top management
is motivated to be totally familiar with all
aspects of the proposed investment. The
climate in which capital decisions are made
stresses deliberation, thoroughness and appropriate attention to detail.

KURT R. STUDENT

Once the capital expenditure has been

approved, the effort shifts to site selection.
Interestingly, one can usually observe a shift
in the decision climate as well as a shift in
effort. Top management quickly reduces its
direct involvement and delegates responsibility for site selection recommendations to a
second echelon executive. In most cases management makes the final site selection directly
from the recommendations. Since top management is less experienced and less involved
in site selection processes, it may underestimate the time and the staff needed to make
sound recommendations. Frequently a site
selection ~ o u p eonsists of specialists in taxation, facilities engineering and personnel. The
personnel specialist is assigned to the group to
assess c o m m u n i t y attitudes toward business
and to study the local labor market. If time
allows, he explores some of the quality of life
factors. However, site survey groups tend to
function with little or no staff support and
have insufficient time to study the critical
factors. If location consultants are used, they
too are pressed for results and must function
under time constraints. The sense of urgency
which surrounds location decisions is understandable. There may be compelling competitive and strategic reasons for building the
plant and getting it into operation quickly.
Inflation makes delay increasingly costly;
consequently financial considerations place a
premium on speed once capital has been
allocated.

QUANTITATIVE LOCATION CRITERIA

The fundamental location criteria have
changed very little in the past two decades.
Labor costs, transportation costs, utility
costs, tax incentives and other dollars-andcents criteria are the most commonly used
factors. The location decision seeks to combine these factors to give the lowest cost per
unit output. Maurice Fulton has observed that

while plant location decisions continue to be

based on economic factors aimed at profit
maximization, environmental, ecological and
social influences are growing in significance. 1
I thoroughly endorse the goal of profit
maximization in plant location, b u t I question
whether this goal can be achieved b y most
current decision processes which exclude nonquantitative, intangible quality of life considerations. Optimization models and other management science techniques such as linear
programming can analyze the interrelationships between economic variables, but it does
not take a computer program to tell executive
management that men and w o m e n will be
neither well motivated nor effective if they
are sent to a c o m m u n i t y that is not satisfying.
Allen Sweeney acknowledges the limitations
which the m o n e y measurement principle imposes on business decisions:
As the old saying goes, " M o n e y isn't everything."
A c c o u n t i n g reports include only those events which
can be reduced to a m o n e t a r y basis, and thus m a y
ignore some of the m o s t i m p o r t a n t facets of a
business. Recognition of this fact is the beginning of
the wise and intelligent use of accounting information. 2

Similar caution appears necessary when

using monetary data in plant siting decisions.
Cost data are readily available from many
quarters, and a site study group can get them
quickly from state and local development
agencies. Published rate schedules and governmental statistical data are other convenient
sources for cost data. However, quality of life
factors are less accessible and far more difficult to evaluate. Many quality of life factors
are intangible and unmeasurable and can be
examined only by making experiential judgments based on an in-depth study of a
community. It is difficult to make compara1. Maurice Fulton, "New Factors in Plant Location,"
Business Revie~ (May-June 1971), pp. 4-17,
166-168.
2. Allen Sweeney, Accounting Fundamentals for Nonfinanclal Executives (New York: American Management Association, 1972), p. 24.
Harvard

BUSINESS HORIZONS

Cost vs. Human Values in Plant Location

tive analyses with qualitative data; the results

are never as clear cut as when only quantifiable data are used. Who then can blame a site
study group for relying on quantitative (cost)
data and giving only passing consideration to
intangible quality of life issues?
The philospher Abraham Kaplan relates
the story of a drunkard searching under a
street lamp for his house keys which he had
dropped some distance away. When asked
why he didn't look where he had dropped
them, he replied, "It's lighter here." In his
insightful book, The Conduct o f Inquiry,
Kaplan suggests that much inquiry, whether
in physics, civil disorder or law, has the
characteristics of the drunkard's search. 3
Plant sitings, too, are frequently based on
inquiry similar to the drunkard's search. The
contention that nonquantifiable factors must
play an important part in plant location
decisions finds support in recent research on
another management decision. Larry Greiner,
Paul Leitch and Louis Barnes found that in
judging unit performance, quantitative criteria
were less important than assumed. 4 They
reported that the most effective judgments
were made by management groups which used
considerably more qualitative than quantitative criteria in making their decisions. More
statistics, computers, information specialists
and more centralized information systems
were no substitute for management intuition
in using qualitative factors in the decision
process.

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.

APRIL 1976

ment, industrial production and economic

~ o w t h . Quality of life as used here is an
eclectic term for a number of separate factors
which together affect one's life.
Research being conducted by the Survey
Research Center at the University of Michigan
has indicated that the following cluster of
items have the ~ e a t e s t influence on overall
quality of life: oneself (one's competence,
efficacy and accomplishments); one's family
(spouse, children and relatives); financial resources; housing; fun in life (usually associated with family); friends; and the use of
time. 5 It should be obvious that c o m m u n i t y
factors have a direct bearing on five of these
seven item clusters. Although differences in
culture, social class, family rearing, education
and personality create diversity in human
preferences, the Michigan group found that
the seven factors held for the population as a
whole as well as for major sub~oups. This
research underscores a point which does not
always receive full recognition from management: assignment to a new plant must be
viewed as a family transfer. The company
must understand the implications of not only
transferring a manager but also of moving a
spouse, children, and occasionally relatives,
and it must remember that the wife's views
are crucial in matters of life style.
Management often harbors another misconception regarding quality of life factors.
Contrary to conventional wisdom which tells
us that men and w o m e n can learn to like
almost anything, dissatisfactions with community life remain salient for years. Dissatisfactions with schools, housing and c o m m u n i t y
services receive almost daily reinforcement;
consequently, these dissatisfactions do not go
away easily.
The interaction between work satisfaction, satisfaction with a new c o m m u n i t y and
the motivation to leave or seek other employment is another important consideration. Vin5. Stephen B. Withey, "Assessing Quality of Life,"
Economic Outlook USA (Spring 1975), pp. 10-11.

KURT R. STUDENT

cent Flowers and Charles Hughes found that

when employees are sent to new locations
that are not highly attractive, they have little
motivation to stay should their work become
dissatisfying. 6 Any manager who has had
experience with a plant start-up knows the
high potential for work dissatisfaction during
start-up activities. The hours are unusually
long, the work unusually hard and frustrating.
Sixteen-hour work days and seven-day work
weeks can be the norm for many months. The
new management team is usually under strong
pressure for results in spite of inadequate staff
support, incomplete offices and support facilities, unclear policies, no precedents and no
history of past practice in labor-management
relations, and other associated handicaps.
Some work dissatisfaction is expected even
among the most dedicated managers during
plant start-up. If the manager, and especially
his wife and children, have special difficulty
in accepting life in their community, these
dissatisfactions create serious personal and
organizational problems.

"'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."
Finally, it must be acknowledged that the
correlation between a satisfying quality of life
for the management team, management performance and plant effectiveness is neither
direct nor automatic. Many factors play a role
in these relationships. Nonetheless, there need
be no conflict between important human
values and organizational goals in the matter
of plant location. With proper attention to
both economic and human values, an effective
plant can be located in a community which
6. Vincent S. Flowers and Charles L. Hughes, "Why
Employees Stay," Harvard Business R e v i e w (July-August
1973), pp. 49-60.

provides opportunities for a satisfying life

style for the assigned management team as
well as for the plant personnel recruited
locally.

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

Cost vs. I:luznan Values in Plant Location

television should be available. Many families

place importance on educational television
and public service broadcasting, and these
channels should be available. Shopping for
basic necessities should not be a problem. I
worked in a c o m m u n i t y which has no national chain supermarket, only two small
,_groceries where prices are high and selection is
limited. As a result, most wives drive thirty
miles over poor roads to a larger c o m m u n i t y
with several supermarkets where nationally
advertised brand name foods are available.
The wives hate the trip b u t they reason it is
easier to do this than to change the families'
well-established eating habits and food preferences.
The c o m m u n i t y should have a library with
business reference material and business magazines as well as general reading material. Many
communities point with pride to a golf
course, b u t offer few other facilities for those
who do not play golf and seek other recreation. Frequently communities have organized
recreational programs for the youngsters b u t
practically no recreational outlets for adults.
Transportation, particularly accessibility
to airports, is important. Must one drive two
or three hours to a small regional airport
where connections to major cities are few and
far between? In such cases it may take almost
an entire day just to meet relatives and friends
who wish to visit the family. I have observed a
cavalier attitude on the part of top managers
who encounter no such problems because
they use the corporate airplane to fly directly
to almost any community. When the grandparents wish to visit their children and grandchildren, they have no such luxury, and such
a trip can create considerable family difficulties.
Those men and w o m e n interested in civic,
social or political activity may experience
difficulty adjusting to the climate of a small
community. Politically, such communities are
often one-party towns where only well-established native families are accepted and
trusted. Plant management people are fre-

APRIL 1976

quently viewed as outsiders who will stay

only a few years. Where such attitudes exist,
achieving continuity in the level of community involvement will not be easy.
Finally, how far is the drive to watch
college or professional sports, go to a museum, see a play, watch a ballet, hear a
symphony, visit a zoo, or just walk through a
public garden? For those who would question
the importance of such matters, I offer an
eloquent answer from an unexpected source.
Michael Manley, the prime minister of Jamaica and a leading Third World statesman, heads
a post-colonial country with all the problems
one would expect from a history that includes
three centuries of slavery and a century of
colonial exploitation. However, these problems do not keep Manley from raising his
sights to a concern for the quality of life of
his people when he writes:
The d e v e l o p m e n t of the individual w h o can enjoy n o t
only being entertained by a football or boxing m a t c h
b u t who can also explore the h u m a n condition, and
his own, through reading, looking at sculpture and
painting, listening to music, or coming to grips with a
play or a dance recital, is vital to a fully developed
experience of life. 7

Can American industry afford to be any less

interested in the life experiences of all its
members when making plant location decisions, as well as in all its management processes?
Health Care
G o o d health is taken for granted and health
care elements are often not given the weight
they deserve in evaluating a community for
plant location. Expert opinion differs broadly
regarding what constitutes good health care,
but it is not difficult to agree upon minimum
criteria for medical and hospital care. A
community should have physicians who provide ambulatory, outpatient or clinic care.
7. Michael Manley, The Politics o f Change: A Jamaican
Testament (London: Andre Deutsch, 1974), p. 58.

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

Having a hospital in the community, even

a new one with excellent facilities, is no
guarantee of good c o m m u n i t y health care.
The Hill-Burton Act and other federal funding
encouraged the building and modernizing of
hospitals in small communities. However,
experts agree that much of this funding was
unnecessary and inappropriate. Many such
hospitals are very underutilized; beds are
empty, whole wards are closed, and expensive
equipment stands idle because the communities do not have the professional personnel to
operate the facility. A hospital also needs
registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and
nurse aides as well as physicians to provide
care. Skilled technicians must also be available
to staff such ancillary services as radiology
and pathology. I have worked in a plant
c o m m u n i t y with a modern hospital but no
resident anesthesiologist. As a result, no surgery could be performed without bringing in
an anesthesiologist from fifty miles away. In
another plant c o m m u n i t y wives must drive
more than an hour over poor country roads to
take their children to a pediatrician for
routine care. As one might expect, they are
angered when they recall the convenience of
the medical office centers in their former
suburban locales.
The ages of the local physicians is another
important factor. If all the physicians in the
c o m m u n i t y are in their sixties, the future of
community health care is in jeopardy. Small
communities have ~ e a t difficulty attracting
young physicians when older practitioners
retire, and the resulting maldistribution of
medical professionals is a growing national
problem.

These health care elements should be

candidly discussed with the hospital administrator and with members of the local medical
society. Public information available in any
public health library or medical library should
be studied before such interviews are conducted. The services and facilities of any
hospital can be determined from the guide
issue, published each August, of Hospitals
magazine. If a hospital meets minimum criteria of organization, structure, services and
facility, it is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, and hospitals in communities being considered for plant
location should have such accreditation. In
states that have hospital licensure laws, the
hospital should be licensed. The hospital
should also be certified to provide services for
Medicare and Medicaid patients. The local
medical directory is a public d o c u m e n t and
lists the training, residency, board specialty
certification and age of all local physicians. If
a physician is a member of the American
Medical Association, his background will also
be listed in the AMA's directory of specialists. 8

Education

The education of their children is of universal

importance to men and women, and it is
certainly a major concern for the American
management family. Yet in one southern
plant community, both the primary and
secondary schools are badly overcrowded and
more than half of the primary classes are held
in makeshift metal trailers with little or no
ventilation. Not surprisingly, the children
complain of unbearable heat and classes are
often cancelled. A member of the team that
selected this plant site said they simply
8. I am indebted to Howard S. Zuckerman, assistant
director of the Program and Bureau of Hospital Administration at the University of Michigan, for his assistance in the
discussion of health care.

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

assumed that the local schools were adequate.

Education is too important for mere assumptions. The school system of any c o m m u n i t y
considered for a plant location should be
studied carefully. As in the case of the
sociocuhural elements, the key consideration
is continuity in the educational experience of
each child. This means that if a child attended a school where the quality of education is considered average, the family expectations for the new school will be different
from the expectations of a family whose child
transfers from a school that is truly outstanding. Generally speaking, those children
who
transfer
from
' '
schools will have had
average educational expe
and their parents will be
rather
demanding
in
evaluating
the
new
school system.
"Stone walls do not
a prison make," nor
walls make a school. Tt
tional process is largely
of intangibles, thus it i,
establish guidelines for 1
and secondary schools. (
truly dedicated teacher
more impact on a child'~
than such technical tan g, m ~ ~ t.la~
size, special programs and library facilities. Nonetheless, it should be remembered
that social services, and especially education,
are directly related to the state and local tax
base. Morever, it is often said that the
willingness of a community's citizens to pay
taxes is a measure of the strength of that
community. In education, the percentage o f
state funding for local education is a very
important factor. States which have an income tax tend to have a more equitable
distribution of funds than states without such
a tax. The latter states rely heavily on local
property taxes to fund education. A large
percentage of local tax funding usually means

APRIL 1976

that poorer areas must struggle to support

even inadequate education while affluent
areas have good schools and little interests in
helping the poorer communities.
A detailed analysis of a school system
should include such matters as per capita
outlay for education, the student to teacher
ratio, spending per student, students per
room, teacher pay scales, the library budget
for both new and replacement books, the
availability of special programs such as music
and art, intramural athletic p r o ~ a m s , extracurricular programs and the condition of
_
the facilities themselves. These figures
-len be compared with figrepresentative of the
chools from which the children will transfer. Such
a comparison will quickly predict whether the
hildren will experience a
of displacement or disjunctheir new schools and
their parents will question
aality of education in the
~mmunity.
have f o u n d a rather high
.egree of stress and tension
in families that are not
satisfied with the educational standards of their
communities. Particularly affected
are those parents who plan to send their
children to college when few native families
have similar aspirations for their children.
Such parents are often debilitated from worrying whether a son or daughter will be
accepted by a top rank college after graduation from a high school with questionable
standards. Unlike executive families, middle
management families can rarely afford private
education. In one case, a family sent their
only child, a high school age daughter, to live
with relatives so that she might receive the
kind of education the family deemed necessary. This arrangement proved to be unworkable, and the manager requested a transfer.

11

KURT R. STUDENT

The transfer could not be quickly arranged;

consequently, this highly regarded man left to
join a competitor whose plant was located in
a much more desirable community.

Housing

12

It hardly requires repeating that satisfaction

with housing is a significant quality of life
consideration. Buying or building a home is
one of the first important interactions between a family and a new community, and
this experience has broad implications for
h o w well the family will accept life in their
new locale. For those families who have lived
previously in metropolitan or suburban areas,
differences in home availability and residential choices can be traumatic. Such families
expect to find an active housing market with
real estate brokers anxious to show a selection
of homes. They also expect to find bankers
anxious to provide mortgage financing. Instead, they may discover that the c o m m u n i t y
has no active housing market and that homes
are bought and sold only informally through
established friendships. They discover it is
difficult for an outsider to even learn which,
if any, homes are for sale. They also find a
small bank with limited financial resources
and a reluctance to make loans to strangers.
In a number of plant communities managers
report they had to choose b e t w e e n two
homes, neither of which was really desirable.
Many communities have only small homes,
and larger homes so c o m m o n in suburbia are
often not available. In too many cases, home
selection becomes a very unsatisfactory Hobson's choice.
If the family wants to b u y or build a new
home, the potential problems are even larger.
Frequently, homes are not built for sale, b u t
are built only on demand to order and
specification. In such cases, timing is a serious
problem and a family may be separated six
months or more while their new home is

"Because so much of a manager's time and

interest is occupied by his work, each manager needs a private life w i t h . . . d i f f e r e n t
personal ties and friendships. Wives have an
equally compelling need to establish friendships beyond the husband's work circle."

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

APRIL 1976

plant." The company soon finds it difficult to

attract new managers to the plant, and corporate personnel are even reluctant to take
short assignments at the plant because of low
morale and a generally unattractive work
setting.
Many of the human problems in plant
siting can be avoided through attention to the
following guidelines:
Executive management should recognize
the importance of noneconomic, intangible,
quality of life factors in plant location, and
senior executives should be as involved in the
location decision as they are in the investment
decision.
A personnel specialist or a consultant
should be a contributing member of any site
selection committee. This specialist should
make an in-depth study of each potential site
community and should develop detailed reports on the four quality of life factors for
each community.
After the plant site is selected, the detailed report for the chosen c o m m u n i t y
should be made available to every manager
being considered for assignment to the new
plant. Each manager and spouse should then
meet with the specialist and discuss the
family's mobility and its interest in the new
community.
Only after these discussions should the
company sponsor a visit to the c o m m u n i t y
for both the manager and spouse. The visit
should not be a grand tour. It should allow as
much free time as needed for both of them to
study the c o m m u n i t y themselves and to
pursue any specific issues in the company's
report which they consider particularly critical.
The manager should be offered a position
in the new plant only if both the manager and
spouse are satisfied with what developed
during their visit to the community.

13

KURT R. STUDENT

I would make a final, and admittedly

controversial, recommendation. A "critical
mass" in community size is necessary before
one can expect a community to meet the
quality of life expectations outlined. This
mass appears to be about 10,000. A company
planning to locate a plant in a community
with less than 10,000 people should proceed
cautiously, particularly if personnel are to be
transferred from metropolitan areas. If the
community is small, it should be within an
hour's drive to a major metropolitan center
Preferably, this drive would be on expressways or the interstate highway system. A
comfortable driving proximity to a major
population center would assure access to
those quality of life elements that one cannot
expect to find in a c o m m u n i t y of less than
10,000.

EUllllhl/~h'll'lll A former executive observed recently that despite forty years of

behavioral science research, most companies
continue to manage the daylights out of their
physical and financial resources while considering their human resources as a luxury or a
frill. 9 Fortunately, changes are being observed. Management is beginning to acknowledge that its people are a conspicuously
underutilized resource and that a greater
emphasis on people can u n d o u b t e d l y have
positive results. My experience with plant
location problems strongly supports this new
concern for human resource management.
Striking a balance between cost considerations and human values in plant location is
not altruistic; it is astute management and
makes b o t t o m line sense.
9. Marvin R. Weisbord, "What, Not Again! Manage
People Better?" Think (January-February 1970), pp. 2-9.

14

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It is imperative in carrying out organizational adaptation to changed

circumstances to grasp what people go through w h e n significant change
occurs. It is axiomatic that all change involves loss . . . . Even w h e n change
is attractive and desired, some sense of loss is inevitable. Loss is
a c c o m p a n i e d b y sadness, aggrievement, anger, physiological disturbance,
e m o t i o n a l pain, tension or irritability. Many habitual patterns are
disrupted. In change, the person is exposed to crisis-in-transit. He is subject
to b o u t s of fatigue as he alternates b e t w e e n m o u r n i n g the loss of his
familiar attachments and handling the i m m e d i a t e demands of the changed
situation. He is in the position of a m a n whose house has collapsed. To
build anew, he must clear away the debris and construct a new h o m e on
the old foundations.
--Ralph G. Hirschowitz
Personnel, May-June 1974
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