ABSTRACT
The Merc factory was situated in a small industrial town in the south of England. The parent firm, the Vulcan Tyre Company, was a neighbouring and much larger organisation under separate management. The factory was concerned with the manufacture of rubber tyres. It employed some 500 employees, two-thirds of whom were men and one-third women. The factory used shift-working and shared a joint consultative committee between management and the shop floor with the parent company. Before the Second World War the factory had had a bad name for pay and other reasons. By advertisements and other publicity the Merc factory was now attempting to build its reputation on the high quality of its goods. The factory's managing director, Mr G. W. Lane, had a clear idea of the goal he wished the organisation to attain, and apparently inexhaustible energy in driving towards it.
