Quaker Steel And Alloy Corporation Case

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Quaker Steel and Alloy Corporation has a small-town feeling to it despite it large size. As a company with deeply seeded Quaker roots, the firm keeps the interest of the Holderness community in mind at all times. Quaker Steel instills this sense of community in all of its employees by requiring all managers above the third-line supervisor rank to work in Holderness for at least a year. This requirement also fits well into the informal environment of the company, which leads to ease of cross organizational personal relationships within the firm. The open and friendly environment that the company has planted in its culture leads to better discussion and analysis of differences of opinion in organizational decisions. The lead by example mentality also helps to make the Quaker Steel environment, combined with its emphasis on lack of hierarchy and fairness, make the firm a desirable one to work for. These characteristics are unusual in the steel and metal producing industry, which in turn make it difficult for other managers from within the industry to adjust to the firm. This is the reason for Quaker Steel s preference to promote from within the firm, leading to significantly lower than average employee turnover ratios and a stronger sense of community in the company as well as the Holderness population. Another important factor within the firm s culture is the responsibility lines concept, which leads to informal lines of authority, translating to a deep commitment to quality and customer service. However, this lack of formal lines of authority coupled with the strong emphasis on personal relationships between the employees leads to situations such as the one Frye describes in the case. The situation is one in which one sales person can get technical and customer service assistance for his or her customers from the headquarters in Holderness quicker than a salesperson

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