Marquard rose from his chair and walked around the end of his desk to the window. He looked to the east across the parking lot toward the front gate house and beyond toward the distant Mississippi River valley. The skies over Southeastern Missouri were gray and overcast. Just like his mood, he thought.
Just a few years after he joined Cherokee, his energy and drive had come to the attention of then company president, Henry Lawton. He took Marquard under his wing to "groom him for better things in the company." He began working with Mr. Lawton and his son George, vice -president of sales. One day, he was introduced to Dick Ellington, head of Research & Development. The Lawtons explained how Ellington handled the test records, how some disappeared and others were changed for positive use by Cherokee's sales division. The Lawtons promised a bright future for Marquard if he played along and kept the confidentiality the matter required.
Marquard had wasted no time in assuring his superiors of his loyalty. In fact he became primarily responsible, with Ellington, for the proper handling of test results and records. Soon after, when Henry Lawton retired upstairs to Chairman of the Board and son George became President, Phillip Marquard was named Vice- President, Sales.
Marquard looked at the clock on his desk. Ten o'clock. At ten-thirty, they would all be meeting in the conference room adjacent to his office. They had to fight the recall provisions and testing, he thought. If that goes through, some of us are in very big trouble.
At quarter after ten, Marquard's secretary, Alice, tapped on the door and stuck her head in.
"Dick Ellington's here, Mr. Marquard," she said, "Bob England and someone else from R & D are with him."
"What?" Marquard looked at her. "I thought it would be just Dick and I and the Lawtons. Ask Dick to come in here, please."
"Right away," she nodded and shut the door.
In a moment, Dick Ellington came through the door.
"Hi, Phil," he nodded to the window and the gray sky beyond, "Some weather, eh? Looks like rain. You know what they say."
"What?"
"Beware the Ides of March."
"I don't think that had to do with the weather, Dick."
"Fits anyway, I think," said Ellington moving closer to the window taking a better look.
"Dick," Marquard started. "Why is there someone with you? Alice says Bob England and somebody else are out there."
"Roger Winthrop."
"What?" Marquard looked surprised.
"The somebody else."
"What?"
"The somebody else is Roger Winthrop. He's a young engineer from R & D. You've met him."
"Roger Winthrop. I know who he is," said Marquard, "but why are they here? We need to meet privately with the Lawtons."
"I know," Ellington nodded, "but I couldn't keep England away. He's very concerned with this ROPS issue."
"What's his problem?" asked Marquard. "Isn't he a company man?"
"Oh, he's a company man all right. Feels very strongly about our products. But he's real concerned with safety. He thinks the 350 is a potential deathtrap."
"He does?"
"Yup. Thinks we should do something about it too. Sent me a memo on it a long time ago." Ellington picked up a paper weight shaped like a tractor from Marquard's desk. He held it up and examined it.
"What does he suggest we do?" asked Marquard.
"Oh, I don’t know. Outfit every tractor with a roll bar, I guess."
"What about the other companies? I don’t think their engineers are taking such a strong position. Are they?"
"No, they are not, to the best of my knowledge, but I think Bob thinks that the engineers he knows across the industry are figuring Congress will take care of it. Maybe they're on the right track." Ellington put the paperweight back on the desk.
Ellington turned and looked squarely at Marquard. "Anyway, you can imagine what I did with the memo. The Lawtons would not have been impressed. For both Bob England's sake and my own, I shit-canned it."
"Probably smart," nodded Marquard, acknowledging Ellington's sense of self preservation. It was not unlike his own.
"I thought so, said Ellington. "I told him I would not send it through channels. I got the other copies he'd put into the company internal mail and R & D's filing system. I didn't even tell you or the Lawtons so you could truthfully deny any knowledge of such a report."
"Hmmh." Marquard nodded approval.
"Well anyway," he continued, with all that's going on now, I thought you should see England for yourself and make your own judgment. Somehow you may need to deal with him."
"Maybe you're right," said Marquard, "Henry and George should know about it too. Ultimately it's their decision."
"I hear that. But we'll be the front-line soldiers when something has to be done." Ellington started toward the door.
"Take them into the conference room." Marquard looked at his watch. The Lawtons will be here any minute."
After a polite tap, the office door opened. Alice looked in and said, "Mr. Marquard, Mr. Henry Lawton and Mr. George Lawton are here. I've shown them into the conference room."
"Thanks, Alice," Marquard nodded to Ellington. "Let's go, Dick."
Henry and George Lawton looked like they came from the same mold, and the same tailor. George, in his fifties, was a younger version of Henry, who was in his seventies. George's neatly combed hair was gray, while Henry's was snow white. Both were dressed in dark gray business suits. Each had an air of being accustomed to power and wealth. Henry smoked a large dark cigar. The highly polished tabletop was clean except for several amber glass ashtrays, an unidentified insulated carafe surrounded by coffee cups and pads and pencils some had brought with them. The Lawtons had nothing in front of them except the ashtray for Henry Lawton's cigar.
Marquard started the meeting. "We are here, gentlemen, to discuss the current state of Congress' efforts to impose additional equipment requirements on our tractors."
After Ellington's remarks about Bob England, and since this wasn't the special private meeting he had planned, Marquard decided to take a rather formal approach to the meeting to see England's reaction. If he was a problem to be dealt with, as Ellington suggested, the Lawtons should see him too.
He went on. "Mr. Henry Lawton and Mr. George Lawton will be testifying before the Senate committee in Washington next week. The President has submitted a proposed occupational health and safety law to Congress for its consideration. There will be a number of other industry representatives there. Hopefully, they will be able to bring a little industry background and history to the attention of the senators to show why the proposed requirements are foolish, expensive and unnecessary."
"I don't think we should take that position." Robert England stared at the pad in front of him.
"Why not?" George Lawton leaned forward in his chair, staring across the table at England.
"Because the protective equipment is needed. Too many injuries and deaths are occurring."
"Well now, Bob," Marquard interceded, "We have always maintained that the answer to farming accidents is not to add expensive extras to protect the farmer from himself, but to educate the farmer in the safe use of the equipment in the first place. Cherokee has been a leader in the industry in such education efforts."
Henry Lawton nodded in silent agreement, blowing a cloud of gray cigar smoke across the table. England tried unsuccessfully to stifle a cough.
England straightened in his chair as if trying to muster courage from some unseen source.
"The problem isn't cured by education, Phil," England looked directly at Marquard, avoiding Henry Lawton's stare. "The tendency of the large rear wheel tractors to turn over under power is a lot greater than farmers realize...a lot greater than they have been told. And when it happens, it happens so fast, the operator doesn't know what hit him."
"If the farmer followed instructions for proper use, he wouldn't get in a situation where an accident would happen," countered George Lawton, polishing his glasses with a white
handkerchief. "Most of the time rollovers happen when the farmers are misusing the equipment, getting the rear wheels stuck, pulling a load that won't move, or pulling from too high on the back of the tractor instead of the draw bar where they're supposed to."
Henry Lawton puffed on his cigar, watching England. The smoke hung over the table like a low cloud, as dirty gray as those outside.
"That's right," said Marquard, "if they would follow the manual, there would be hardly any problem. The tractors are safe if used properly. The industry is agreed that teaching the farmer is the best solution."
"But we don't teach the farmer!" England's secret source of resolve seemed to be working. "Nothing in the manual says if you don't use the draw bar in pulling a load, the tractor will flip over backward and kill you! And, believe me, the farmer doesn't realize it."
Henry Lawton removed his cigar from his mouth and spoke for the first time. "I'm sure we'd sell a lot of tractors if we said that," he chuckled and shook his head as in wonderment at England's apparent lack of marketing sense.
Marquard took charge again. "There is a delicate balance between instructions and warnings and effective marketing, that's certainly true. If we make our manuals and ads too morbid, we won't need to worry about safety because farmers will quit buying our equipment."
England looked at him defensively. "But we cannot give the farmer a false sense of security. We cannot expose him to a danger he doesn't even know about. No matter how careful he is, he doesn't appreciate the risk."
"Then you believe, Bob," said Marquard, "that our manuals need improvement. Have you some ideas that our people can use? Can you help with the manuals?"
"I do and I can," England brightened, "but the manuals aren't enough. The actual operator is often somebody who never saw a manual, maybe some kid. Some kind of permanent label, stamped metal or something, should be put on the tractor itself."
England adjusted himself in his chair again and looked at each of the Lawtons and Marquard in turn. "But I still believe rollover protection equipment is necessary."
"Well, Bob," Marquard continued in a conciliatory tone, "I think you'll agree that progress in this area has to be taken gradually, one step at a time. We don't want to buck the entire industry on the ROPS issue. Given industry attitudes, we think that would be at least premature."
As his voice spoke the word, "we", Marquard gestured with both hands to include everyone present at that particular meeting. Whether England was included in his choice of the word "we" was not clear.
"You can see if we moved too fast, we might simply hurt Cherokee's business. That wouldn't help alleviate your problem. Don't you agree?" Marquard smiled at England.
England looked back at the pad in front of him. "I suppose that's right," he reluctantly agreed. He had made his point, and with strength, he thought, but he seemed to have lost out suddenly and decisively in the last few minutes. However, he wasn't giving up yet...only for the time being, at this meeting, at least.
Marquard shifted gears and the meeting continued with discussion of the upcoming Congressional committee meetings, recent industry publications, and the positions which were being taken publicly and privately by other manufacturers. Marquard carefully directed the meeting, asking an occasional question of one of the Lawtons, inviting comments from Ellington and the others, but carefully avoiding the threshold issue on which England felt so strongly.
As Marquard ran the balance of the meeting, Bob England knew Marquard didn't want to hear any more about the need for rollover protection equipment. That message was certainly clear, he thought. He couldn't tell if Marquard was totally against him or perhaps just telling him that now wasn't the best time.
The meeting ended thirty minutes later.
Marquard gathered the notes in front of him. "Gentlemen, that about wraps up those issues. If you gentlemen from R & D will excuse us, we have some other matters to attend to." He rose from his chair.
Dick Ellington, Bob England and Roger Winthrop rose in unison.
"Thanks, guys, said George Lawton, "Keep crankin' over there."
Henry Lawton puffed on his cigar and said nothing, but he smiled pleasantly as Marquard showed them to the door.
As the men left, Marquard spoke softly to Alice and returned to the conference room. The Lawtons were pouring themselves coffee.
"You handled that very well, Phil," said Henry Lawton, "If there was a way to let that fella have his say and ease him down with the least damage, you found it. I almost fired him."
"Me, too," said George Lawton.
"Oh, Mr. Ellington," Alice hurried down the hall after the three men from Research & Development. "Mr. Marquard asked me to catch you. He needs you for another matter. Can you come back for a minute?"
"Sure," said Ellington, "You boys go on back. I'll see you later."
"Dick told me about England, this morning, Henry," said Marquard, "I thought you and George and I should see what he was talking about. When he came on that strong, I figured we better calm him down, give him a little bone to chew on and give us some time to figure out the best way to handle him."
"Well done, too, Phil," Dick Ellington had come back into the conference room as Marquard was talking. "I think he believes you're listening to him, but you need time to convince the big boys," he nodded to the Lawtons and grinned.
George Lawton said, "Well you guys watch England carefully. We all know we can't have required testing for retrofit."
"Right," added Henry Lawton, tapping the ash off his cigar, "and remember that every bit of delay on any of it is better for Cherokee's bottom line."
"We'll watch him," Ellington agreed. "Hell, if he takes the bone Phil offered him, he could be months coming up with new language for the manuals and that could be bogged down in marketing and graphics department for a couple of years."
"But be careful with him," Henry Lawton warned. "We do not want him getting out of hand. He's an agricultural engineer isn't he?"
"Yes," answered Ellington.
"Jesus Christ, I thought so," Henry Lawton chewed on the cigar. "Those guys are really impressed with themselves. They have their meetings, write in their precious journal ...they can be a big problem to the companies who employ them. Hell, I understand that last summer some of them established standards for rollover protection systems. I don't think any of their bosses appreciated that."
"We'll watch him," Marquard echoed Ellington's assurance. "Don't worry about England. You have enough to worry about with Congress. Can you handle those guys?" Marquard smiled at George who grinned back.
"I think we'll be all right, there," Henry Lawton's air of power and dignity came instantly back. "The industry has some pretty strong forces in Washington."
The meeting ended. Marquard ushered the men out and returned to his office wishing he felt better about how to handle Bob England. But he was pleased with the Lawtons’ reaction to how he had done so far. Think positively and take action, he thought, things could work for the best. Out the window, the St. Louis sky seemed to be brightening.
"Well, what do you think?" Roger Winthrop asked England as they walked back toward their offices at Research & Development.
"I think we’ve been told to piss off."
"Really?"
"Really, Roger. We, or I guess I should say ‘I,’ have been told to shove it, to put my ideas where the sun does not shine and leave them there, permanently."
"But what about the offer to have you work on the owners’ manuals with new ideas for warnings and operator instructions? They did ask you to do that, didn’t they?"
"In an offhand sort of way they did, but you watch. If I do make suggestions, they will be bogged down in company red tape for years." They reached the doors to Research & Development. England paused, one hand on a door handle. "Rog, my boy, they just pushed me and my concerns on a back burner, a very back burner." He opened the door and nodded to Mavis at the reception desk as they check their messages and headed down the hall toward the t
esting laboratory.
Ten days later, George Lawton called Marquard from Washington.
"How did it go?" asked Marquard, who had been anxiously awaiting word.
"The hearings went very well, Phil," George's voice came through the receiver. "Dad was great! So were the other senior industry leaders. Our lobbyists say we're in great shape."
"That's what we need to hear," said Marquard. "Our senators and representatives here in Missouri are going to apply some pressure now, too."
"That's right. And they're going to be getting some pressure from Dad and others who did a lot to put them in office. That goes for several Midwestern states."
"Well, let me know if you need anything," said Marquard. "Say Hi to your dad. We'll see you in a few days."
"Okay, Phil, Good-bye."
Marquard relaxed. It looks like we beat it this time, he thought. He knew some requirements were inevitable, but the later the better. And, if the industry shows strong resistance, Congressmen will be more inclined to compromise to get at least some of their proposed regulations. The current move from the White House was for an occupational health and safety act that would protect employees. It would not cover the self-employed farmers, but inroads are inroads and it would be best to stop the effort now. Safety protection for employees was important and the proponents of such legislation would not fight the agricultural industry too hard if it jeopardized the many other areas in which employees needed protection such as in factories, mines, etc.
Marquard stood, pushing his chair away from his desk.
And that compromise, he thought, is where we'll get rid of retrofit and testing. He smiled, looked at the briefcase he would customarily load to take home. He shook his head.
"No," he said to no one, for everyone was already gone. "Not tonight." He left the briefcase beside his desk and walked out of his office.
"Good night, Mr. Marquard," said the guard at the gate house.
"Good night to you, Mike." Marquard exhibited a rare but genuine smile, "You have a nice evening."
The Ultimate Resolution Page 3
