Transition to a desired manpower structure

It is becoming increasingly common to specify preferred manpower structures for company use. Associated with such specification is the problem of achieving the desired state. The transition procedure is important both from the economic and social points of view. A Machiavellian approach to change can result in an unbalanced and dissatisfied workforce; a result which despite short term economic gains is undesirable. By taking into account the behaviour of company and workforce, together with the costs, it is possible to plan a satisfactory transition. The work reported here deals with a method of investigating the transition from the existing state to the target state. Provision is made for the consideration of all likely costs and constraints. By variation of the control variables, managers may investigate the effects of changes in policy. Cost is used as a measure for comparing alternative methods of transition. It is possible to predict the minimum cost transition for a given set of costs and constraints.