A good company...relative to others in the paper and building products industry
Pros
The company's Market Based Management (MBM) philosophy (brought in after Koch Industries acquired GP in 2006) is based on sound principles of having employees with the right qualities, and a framework that helps leaders make sound economic decisions. No one in the company claims to perfectly emulate the 10 guiding principles of the company, but managers (and some front-line supervisors) genuinely strive to live up and improve the business culture based on them - Most leaders do their best to "walk the talk." * The business is run well and safety is a top priority.
Cons
* MBM philosophy prescribes to decision-rights being delegated to the lowest level possible, but the corp. headquarters centrally controls far more decisions than they realize to field locations where value is actually created. This point, along with the fact that there's very limited transparency in this private company's profitability makes it challenging for its employees to act like "principled entrepreneurs" as the company culture prescribes. * The last of the 10 "guiding principles" of MBM has to do with employee fulfillment. I must give credit for fulfillment to have made the list, but I don't think it is co-incidence that it's the last one on the list. Key opinion leaders of MBM appropriately explain that there's much more to fulfillment than compensation. But in many employees' opinions, the company does not make much investment of time and focus (or money) to make the workplace someplace employees want to be - not uncommon for a heavy industrial manufacturer. Leadership at some mills just don't see the long-term value in putting focus in such areas.
