1. How successful do you think Helen Bowers’s new plan will be?
Helen Bowers focuses mainly on maximizing company output which involves severe work, rules and behavior. Unfortunately, employees are not agree with Helen’s new conditions and the production of the company is being negatively impacted. Indeed, the elimination of the profit sharing plan and the reduction in pay, for example, decrease employees’ mood. You can’t change a company’s organization as radically as she did because it creates a lot of employee dissatisfactions.
Actually, the positive results of a company are essentials to be successful but, to my mind, Helen is using the wrong way to reach the bottom line. To be successful, a manager must know how to maximize profit without interfering with the employees.
To answer the question, Helen Bowers’s new plan won’t be successful and I would advise her to reinstate some of the policies that her father used.

2. What challenges does Helen confront?
• Taking over the company (in general) - after Helen’s father’s death she is in new situation, she becomes owner of the company and she has to learn how to manage with employees and to set new goals for the company.

• Making changes in company (from “family” environment to “job” environment) - changing the whole atmosphere, attitude and relations on line boss (Helen) - employees is a long-term process. Helen is changing them for less friendly and more formal and it is a challenge to do that without making employees disorientated and without losing their trust and respect.

• Competition with Japanese firms - it’s a new goal set by Helen. Japanese companies who moved into market can be a good opportunity or a threat - all depends on how Helen will lead her company.

• Reducing unexpected personal costs - changes which Helen made supposed to bring just profits, meanwhile they brought also losses.