The Case of the Plant Relocation
The chief executive of Electrocorp, an electronics company, which makes the onboard computer components for automobiles, is facing increased production costs. Electrocorp’s production plants, use complex hydrocarbon solvents to clean the chips and other parts that go into the computer components. Some of the solvents used are carcinogens and must be handled with extreme care. Until recently, all of your production plants were located in the United States. However, the cost of production has risen, causing profits to decline.
A number of factors have increased production costs. First, the union representing the workers in Electrocorp plants waged a successful strike resulting in increased salary and benefits. The pay and benefits package for beginning employees is around $15/hour. A second factor has been stringent safety regulations. These safety procedures, which apply inside the plant, have been expensive in both time and money. Finally, environmental regulations have made Electrocorp's operations more costly. Electrocorp is required to put its waste through an expensive process before depositing it at a special disposal facility. Shareholders have been complaining about the declining fortunes of the company. Many of Electrocorp's competitors have moved their operations to less-developed countries, where their operating costs are less than in the United States, and you have begun to consider whether to relocate a number of plants to offshore sites. Electrocorp is a major employer in each of the U.S. cities where it is located, and it is widely known fact that a plant closure will cause economic dislocation in these communities. The employees who will be laid off because of plant closures will have difficulty finding equivalent positions, and increased unemployment, with its attendant social costs, will result. However, many