Read the case study entitled, "Shutdown at Eastland" on page 89 in your text.

Question

How would you have handled this situation?

In this assignment, propose a plan to close the assembly plant in Eastland, Michigan. In this plan, be sure to explain the following:

Terms of the close - what notice would you give, what benefits would you provide, etc.?
Describe all of the affected stakeholders and how their interests will be considered.
Who do you propose should take primary responsibility for those laid off as a result of the plant closing?
How will this news be communicated to the workers, press, and community?

Knowing nothing about what the Shutdown is about, I would suggest looking up different laws regarding what a company must do in the event of a shutdown and massive layoffs.

I would look at how other companies addressed the situation. Read disasterous shutdowns and what went wrong and come up with a way to avoid those problems.

Matt

MattsRiceBowl has good ideas on how to research this problem -- and it is a problem. Make sure you look at it from all sides -- the company's side, the employees' side, the city's side, and the side of the stockholders of the company. Who will be hurt the most? Was the decision really necessary? Why?

This is an example of a good time to use the five W's -- WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHY and HOW(I know, how doesn't start with W, but it does end with one!) and add WHICH and WHEN.

When you have an answer to most of those question words, you will be ready to begin to prepare to write your paper.

Happy researching!