EXCEL INDUSTRIES

BY TEAM G.E.
SAKSHI SHARMA

1412502

SHAKTI CHATURVEDI

1412503

SHELBIN DEVASSY

141250

SUDHANSHU KUMAR

1412503

CASE FACTS

Excel Industries is a supplier of window systems.

Acquired Nyloncraft Inc. which is valued at 40 Million USD on April 1988

Nyloncraft Inc. is an injection molding company

Nyloncraft operates a child daycare facility onsite which has received many
accolades .

Excel invests more into the facility, budget shoots up from 200,000 to above
400,000 in two years.

The number of children of employees drops from 45% in 88 to less than 7%

by 90

Highly subsidised and not just babysitting.

CASE FACTS

Subsidy of over quarter million for children of only 10 employees.

Quality daycare in low supply locally.

BURNING QUESTIONS :
1.

What should they do about the daycare centre ?

2.

How should they communicate their decision ?

KEY ACTORS INVOLVED

Excel Industries, Nyloncraft Inc.

James J Lohman (Chairman, President and C.E.O of Excel

Industries)

Parents of the children (Employees and non employees)

Shareholders of Excel Industries

Cities of Elkhart and Mishawaka.

Local media.

KEY ISSUES INVOLVED

Child care in corporate setting.

Working mothers at the workplace.

Company community relations and contracts.

Company shareholder relations.

BACKGROUND INTO THE KEY

ACTORS

EXCEL INDUSTRIES

Manufactures window systems for automobiles

Based out of Elkhart, Indiana.

Acquired Nyloncraft Inc. to diversify its business.

NYLONCRAFT INC.

Is an injection molding company.

Has sales of 36 million.

Based out of Mishawaka, Indiana.

In loss as of 1990.

BACKGROUND TO KEY ACTORS

Elkhart,Indiana

Called RV Capital Of The World.

Population of 43,627 in 1990.

Mishawaka,Indiana

Called Princess City.

Population of 40,201 in 1990.

Old fashioned, manufactures among other things Hummer.

Parents

Only 10 of them are employees of Nyloncraft.

Most of them from the local community.

Little governmental support for childcare.

Local Media

Consists of local newspapers and local news channels like WSBT, Elkhart Truth.

BACKGROUND TO KEY ACTORS

James J Lohman

Chairman, President and C.E.O of Excel Industries.

Initially believed that the learning center was useful,now view has
changed.

Has a tough call to make.

Shareholders

Very little info given in the case.

Reasonable to assume that they are following the developments

closely.

ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS

Women employees must be provided :

1.

Safe work environment.

2.

Maternity benefits.

3.

Sensitized workforce.

The company actually has no obligation to provide daycare, but

we feel the opposite.

Side stepping daycare by recruiting either only males or women

past child bearing age can :
1.

Impact operations.

2.

Impact company image.

Mr. Lohman

As the Head of Excel Industries Mr Lohman should :

1.

Take care of the interests of his employees.

2.

Take the opinions of the female employees before implementing

changes.

3.

Try to gauge what the community reaction would be to news related

to the learning centre.

4.

To ensure shareholders and debtors that the changes are for their
benefit only, even those related to the centre.

COMPANY AND THE COMMUNITY

Any company cant function without community support.

Thus favourable relations are important.

The company is not legally bound to help the community.

Nyloncraft has good relations and the centre reinforces it.

The company has filled a void which the government couldnt

Removing the centre could lead to backlash from the community.

WHAT SHOULD EXCEL DO ?

Available options :
1.

Shut down the centre.

2.

Take the help of an NGO.

3.

Ask the community members upfront to pay more.

4.

Ask the community to voice their opinions to the government.

How can it communicate ? :

1.

Face to face with people directly affected.

2.

Using local media, press conferences

3.

Using letters,pamphlets etc.

Evaluation Of Excels Options

Shutting Down :

Reduces other expenses (which are significant)

Possibility of a backlash.

Take the help of an NGO :

NGOs might have prior experience in this field.

NGO might not have the resources themselves.

Ask community members upfront to pay more :

The community members may not agree

Ask community to voice their opinions to the government :

It will take much effort and time for the government to act.

Evaluation Of Communication
Options

Face To Face With Affected People :

Has a personal touch to it.

Shows genuine concern.

Doesnt alienate the affected.

Will take more time however.

Using local media :

Time effective.

Media tendency to distort message.

Using Letters,Pamphlets :

Shows impersonalism and lack of empathy.

Can however be effective inside the organization.

Our Take

Communication Strategy :

Employees :

As they are a part of the organization and only 10 in number , they can be communicated to by
the senior management face to face.

They need to be told of the time period.

Shareholders :

Mr. Lohman must directly address their concerns.

The shareholders can be informed via a press release or a written formal letter from Lohman
himself.

The stress to be on how the actions of Excel benefit them and wont cause backlash.

Non Employees :

They can be addressed via a town hall meeting and be told of the current situation and the
companys efforts.

This meeting will have the PR manager and the manager of the centre.

The tone and focus should be on engaging the people directly.

Our Take

What should Excel do ? :

Search for another agency to take over.

Work out a suitable cost sharing agreement with the agency.

Try for a tiered service eg. Baby sitting only,Baby sittin plus skills and
charge accordingly.

Increase the expenses in a phased manner.

MEMO
To: Mr. Jim Lohman, CEO, Excel Industries
From: Mr.ABC, PR Manager, Excel Industries
Date: 15th August90
Subject: Communication Strategy
.
The Day Care Centre run by Nyloncraft Inc. has been under pressure to shut down owing to our inability to fund it and the very small
number of our employees who are actually using the facility. The facility as you know is being used by children of our employees and
employees of other organisations which amount to 162 children in total. So, an immediate shut down of the facility may not go down well
with our employees as well as with the community of Elkhart.
I therefore request you to meet our employees in person and brief them of the situation at hand .A meeting ,with the neighbourhood
leaders of Elkhart and the non-employees whos children are enrolled in the facility, in the town hall to discuss the issue is also
recommended. You would also need to tell our shareholders the reason for closing the facility through a press release.
When meeting our employees do mention them of our inability to fund the facility as Nyloncraft Inc. is already running in loss and do tell
them that an alternate facility is being sought out for their children. We should also give them a time period of two to three months in
which they could search for other suitable options from their side. In the town hall meeting, we should mention that we are facing
problems with running the facility and that we are on the lookout for a suitable buyer to run the facility and in case there are no buyers, we
are planning to involve NGOs or the government to help us with the situation for which we need the help of the Elkhart community as a
whole. To the shareholders, it would be good news that we are closing down one of the cost centres and at the same time they need not be
worried about public outrage to this matter as a suitable option is being sought out by engaging the community of Elkhart.

Mr.ABC

James J Lohman
Excel Industries,
Elkhart,IN
XX/08/1990
To
XYZ
{Parent Address,Organization}
Elkhart,IN

Dear XYZ,
We would like to thank you for having continued faith in our organization. Excel Industries as a company greatly cares
about the community of Elkhart. We pride ourselves in providing you and your children with our daycare centre. The
daycare centre is part of our commitment to Elkhart, we believe in giving back to the community and ensuring in
holistic development of the community.
Presently our centre is facing difficulties in running operations and cost over runs. We shall not be able to provide
childcare to the levels we believe are essential to the growth and development of your children. Rest assured we are
trying our best to find another agency which can run the centre as well as we did if not better. We have given
ourselves two months to do the same. To address your concerns better and to let you know of our efforts we are
going to conduct a town hall meeting on YY/08/1990. We hope to see you in attendance.
Yours Faithfully,
James J Lohman

James J Lohman
Excel Industries,
Elkhart,IN
XX/08/1990
To
XYZ
Nyloncraft Inc.
Elkhart,IN

Dear XYZ,
At first let me thank you for being part of the Excel Industries family. We believe in the importance of each member of the team and you are no different. It
is because of individuals like you that the company continues to do well. We care for our employees, especially for our child bearing employees for we
believe that good child care is essential for the growth and development of children into socially responsible and productive individuals. Our learning centre
is a testament to that, Iam sure you are aware of it and I wish to discuss certain problems we have been having with respect to our learning centre.
The Nyloncraft Inc. learning centre was developed to be a state of the art care centre, keeping in mind the wellbeing of its employees a goal to which we
shall always be committed. The centre has won accolades from leading business journals. The centre is our commitment to give back to our employees and
the society in general. Currently, we are faced with operational difficulties. The costs and subsidies incurred on operating the centre have gone up to excess
of 400,000 USD. This has had an effect on our profitability post acquisition. We find ourselves unable to provide care to your precious little ones the way we
have been doing thus far. We believe that your children deserve the best possible care, which we wont be able to provide. Keeping the interest of your
children in mind, Excel Industries is in touch with a few agencies to ensure your children continue to get the best care possible, the contacts for them shall
be provided to you. We value the centre highly and are doing our best to look for agencies who can run the centre even better or as good as we did. The
whole process shall take two months. We shall keep you updated on latest developments, feel free to address your anxieties. Excel Inc. will do its best to
ensure that your kids, our countrys future get the best possible care.

Yours Faithfully,
James J Lohman
C.E.O Excel Industries

THANK YOU