Keyword or Search: <% Dim MyValue2 Randomize MyValue2 = Int((6 * Rnd) + 1) Set Conn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Conn.Open Session("trsa_ConnectionString2") MySQL = "Select * From HouseAds Where HouseAdID Like '%" & MyValue2 & "%' " Set Conn = Conn.Execute(MySQL) %> "> " alt="" width=130 height=85 border=1 align=top> <% conn.close %>	The best tool By Doris M. Baker Can caring build the bottom line? Some business managers believe that the human resource well-managed can mean as much and more to company profitability as energy conservation or any other valuable resource that deserves close attention. In Europe, one large conglomerate with a textile rental subsidiary has long been managing on the basis that social responsibility by business makes for a more productive work force and, in the long run, more profitability. Team Textile Service Corp. (AB Tvattman), a division of the Swedish giant Electrolux, is trying out its management philosophy at Ineeda Linen Service in the thriving metropolis of Houston, Texas. In Sweden, Electrolux has no choice but to be socially responsible because of strict government regulations and union agreements Plants are not easily closed, people not easily fired. Not true across the Atlantic where free enterprise offers business the option of allowing profit to push aside people's needs. Team Textile brings its philosophy to America because company management believes well-informed, involved employees provide a competitive edge. In Team Textile's Houston plant hangs a symbol of the company's philosophy. On a cloudy blue sky background floats a three dimensional 'T' —the corporate logo. And just so you'll understand what the company intends to convey, there's a bird winging its way to freedom alongside the floating corporate identity. The logo is strong yet yielding. The symbol implies that individual expression is encouraged because it strengthens the organization. America was founded on such ideas, and Americans are helping to implement this concept at Ineeda Linen; but Americans were not the initial catalyst acting on the management philosophy of the Houston plant. Two Swedes — Tvattman president John Jacob Engellau and Ineeda Linen plant manager Gunnar Andreen — initiated the changes that have come to this textile rental firm founded in 1903. Several years ago Engellau began investigating possibilities for expansion in the United States. "After a number of visits to companies in America," he said, "I had a gut feeling that our ways would work here." Engellau chose a business in Texas because he felt that "Texans are very open-minded, and they have money to appreciate something more." He also indicated that Team Textile has an "ambition to build a strong platform in the United States." The company recently purchased Republic Uniform's two facilities, consolidating the Houston plant with Ineeda Linen and continuing operations at the Dallas plant. The Swedish ways put a strong emphasis on informing and involving the employee. "Employees are entitled to know about what the company is doing," Engellau said. "In Sweden at Electrolux, four of our board of directors are elected by the employees. "Our whole system of employment is different. Swedes have a stronger feeling for the company than Americans do. The employees are very informed. There are wider differences in the educational background of employees in the U.S. than in Sweden." According to Engellau, Swedish companies expect employees to offer feedback and management works to encourage it. "If you get people to talk, they have good ideas. But you have to inform them. If they feel ignorant, they won't talk. You first have to give to get," he said. "We have a system for feedback in Sweden. I think the feedback is enormously important." Engellau recognizes that one reason Swedes work well together is because the people of Sweden are more homogenous than Americans. Swedes share similar backgrounds and ideas. Also, because Sweden is so strongly unionized, management often has no choice but to work harmoniously with company employees. Swedish management knows it must work within the framework of government regulations and union agreements, and so has come to regard social responsibility as a given. It is a requirement to consider the employees before making business decisions. For instance, closing a plant or firing an employee is such a drawn-out, involved process that management works to keep plants open if possible and to turn a bad apple into a productive plum. Engellau sums up the situation: "What is not forbidden is obligated." Even though Swedish business has no choice but to be socially responsible, listening to this fair haired humanitarian makes one believe that Electrolux would treat its employees no differently if the Swedish government vanished into thin air tomorrow. Why? Simply because it's good business. "Customers love to pay us," Engellau remarked with a glint of gold in his eyes. "They never complain when people work together. Better teamwork means better profits. When you see the pattern, it's incredible. The best tool — the people — should never be underutilized." Engellau practices a straightforward method to develop better utilization of people. It's called communication and caring. "It's very important to make the employees feel for the company. I always take my time to talk with all the employees. We have these competitors and this and that. Is there anything you want to ask me? Is there anything we don't do well? When I ask these questions, the man who sits beside me is the plant manager. At first Engellau tried to teach the Swedish management style to Americans by"setting forth an example." Such a drastic change in approach, however, requires a full-time example setter, but Engellau could not spend all his time at Ineeda Linen. After a year he decided a new approach was needed and brought in a full-time teacher, Gunnar Andreen, plant manager of Ineeda Linen since 1981 and long-time employee of AB Tvattman in Sweden. Since the advent of Andreen, the Swedish management methods are gradually taking hold at Ineeda Linen, as company employees attest. Though life is not all roses at Ineeda Linen and gold is not lining the sheets, some employees express positive feelings about the company; some feelings are mixed. A top management employee who has served in the textile rental industry for over 20 years says of the Swedish management style, "I think the Swedes are much more progressive and aggressive than Americans. I have definitely found a home working in this environment. Gunnar teases me that I understand Swenglish now. I've adjusted very well." He compared his experience with the American and the Swedish way of doing business: "The American business philosophy says, 'If we are profitable, then the company can buy new equipment.' The reverse is true of the Swedes. They say, 'Let's give the people the tools necessary to do a professional job, and then they will do it." Team Textile heavily invested in Ineeda Linen by installing an all new million dollar washroom and a matrix computerized soil counting system. "When I came here, the cars were on the back of wreckers most of the time," the high-level management employee said. "We leased new cars because salesmen cannot perform if worrying about the vehicles. "Once you give the employees good tools, then you can get more demanding about what to expect from them. We've also remodeled the place and given employees a new cafeteria. We made a large investment in haul baskets to simplify the work." He described his impression of the Swedish management philosophy: "It's not so much 'do it because I said so, but do it because this is what the customer wants.' Anytime you tell people why you want something done, they will bust their buns to do it. "They (the Swedes) try to get everybody's ideas and then make decisions. Then they say, 'This is our plan.'" Not all the credit for improving the operations of Ineeda Linen can be attributed to Swedish ideas. Quite the contrary. The company has established various incentive programs for both production and route personnel to reward team accomplishment. These ideas have been brought to the company by employees who at one time worked for American-owned textile rental companies. Perhaps this explains, in part, the comment of a company salesman who has been in textile rental sales for more than 15 years and with Ineeda Linen about one year "If I didn't know this company was owned by Swedes, I wouldn't know any difference." He also expressed some skepticism about the request for feedback: "I think they ask my opinion on a lot of things, but I don't know if they use it." A long-time lneeda Linen salesman said he felt better about coming to work since the management change. "There's more consideration for the employees, more sick days, a different commission system. Maybe they changed the system a little too fast, but I think we are on the right track." An employee who has sat in both the management and union saddle during more than 20 years of company service expressed his views on how employees have responded to the new management: "If you have ice cream for dessert for years, then it's taken away, people get angry at first. The discipline and security have tightened up. "The big thing I've noticed is the Swedes are striving to get the full benefit from employees and the plant. There's not as much waste now. "I feel much better about my job and the company because I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I really believe we are turning this around into a successful business." He said he's noticed "myself doing some extra things; just trying to give an extra effort to succeed." Another employee feels the successful management methods being implemented have nothing to do with the management being Swedish. "I'm not convinced it's a difference between Swedes and Americans. I don't think they are that different. Rather it is an old time approach versus a progressive approach. "I see Swedes as quicker to take risks than Americans. My theory is their culture encourages this. They don't have to be cautious because the State will take care of them. For those I've met at or near the top, business is like a big wonderful game. They enjoy the hell out of what they are doing. Moving from the white collar comments into the rank and file another angle emerges. A production worker feels things hay changed but is not certain what the change means. "Supervision is a lot different nowadays than before. There's been lots o changes in supervision. The seem to have to prove to management that they can accomplish what is needed. "When the new management first came here, they hindered you. Not since Gunnar has been here, though." The worker felt "things are handled about the same. But feel closer with the old management because they were here longer." Comfortable with the familiar people are forever resisting change — and how does one know if a progressive management approach will work as well for the melting pot of America with all its diversities as it does for the Swedes with all their similarities? The weakness of the approach at Ineeda Linen in the production area is recognized by management. Under consideration are various alternatives including quality circles to get employees more involved in the decision-making process. So the experiment needs more time to determine if Ineeda Linen employees will develop the devotion to company felt by their Swedish counterparts. But until the jury's in, John Jacob Engellau poses two thought-provoking questions: "Is it really so much work in the end to make such a concept work that t is not worth it? Will we find the differences in the U.S. are so great that they will hinder our growth? "We foresee interesting developments." is all he will say for now.