Rugged Back Packs (RBP) RBP is a manufacturing business that specialises in producing travel bags and backpacks. The products are sold by many different retailers. The brand of RBP has become well known for quality and reliability. Each retailer requires a fast response to orders for more inventory from RBP. RBP holds high levels of inventories to enable it to respond to orders from retailers within 48 hours (see Fig. 1). The inventory is kept in a secure warehouse next to the factory. [Figure 1: Inventory control chart] RBP employs around 100 employees in the factory. Most of the employees are skilled operators of the machinery used to make the bags. The factory manager was dismissed last month because productivity levels had fallen and the factory was not achieving RBP's production targets. This manager had many disagreements with the employees and most of the workforce is demotivated, with high levels of absenteeism and labour turnover. RBP's factory is now managed by Maya. Maya is a very experienced manager and she was described by her previous employer as having a high level of emotional intelligence.