Case 2. R. E.

CONSTRUCTION: It's Now or Ne When Engineer Romeo Estabillo

finished his Civil Engineering course at Mapua Institute of Technology, he took the
board examination and passed it in 1981. Wanting to start independently, he went back
to his hometown (Santiago City) to organize his own construction firm. In his first few
years of operation, he accepted contracts for the construction of residential houses. As
he gained experience, his clients grew in number, and even the most prominent
persons in the province of Isabela availed of his services. At the start, he hired two
assistants to help him in his daily routine as a contractor. One of the two assistants,
Mr. Silvino Santiago, was a third year civil engineering student who had stopped
schooling due to financial difficulties. His main task was as draftsman. His duty was
to produce all documents relating to the physical requirements of the various contracts
entered into by his boss. Among these documents are the building plan, specifications,
bill of materials, building permit, etc. His additional duty was to assist Engineer
Estabillo in supervising the foremen and workers at the various construction sites. The
second assistant, Mr. Romulo Mamaril, was assigned to coordinate purchasing,
bookkeeping, and other related administrative activities. At the third year of
operations, Engineer Estabillo was already directing operations in his newly
constructed office inside his residential compound. By this time, two more female
employees were hired to assist in the various tasks performed in the office. By 1994,
Engineer Estabillo reviewed his company's payroll. It indicated that he has in his
employ six full- time civil engineers, two draftsmen, ten administrative personnel, one
messenger and one security guard. The 40 foremen and laborers working at the
various projects were contractual. By June 1996, Engineer Estabillo felt that business
was continuously growing, so he will have to secure the services of four additional
civil engineers on a full-time basis. As he was directly supervising all operations, he
now feels that he may not be able to perform his functions effectively if he will push
through with the plan. He wants to make a decision, but he is apprehensive. He thinks
operations are now more complex that decision-making must be a little scientific.
With this thoughts, he pondered on how he will go about solving the problem.