hands of those without skills to effectively carry them out, thus in-
creasing problems. And it took away time required by
management to make decisions for which it was responsible. Thus,
strong areas of the Corporation tended to be neglected because at-
tentions were concentrated on weak ones and those healthy areas
subsequently began to develop problems, partly due to neglect.

Another unsuitable structural characteristic was the heavy em-
phasis placed upon procurement and the relative unimportance ac-
corded to sales. Manpower, finance and equipment were focused
on buying the ‘required ’ items, from the cheapest source of sup-
ply and in adequate amounts. Branches, on the other hand, were
staffed by relatively inexperienced people of much power formal
quality than the purchasing and adminstrative sections of the Cor-
poration. Salesmen were Form IV leavers who, for the most part,
could not find their way into post-secondary educational facilities;
their salaries were very low and their working condition, par-
ticularly upcountry, were hardly conducive too drawing forth their
best efforts. However, salesmen provided virtually the only link
between the Corporation and customers, whom it was designed to
serve. In addition to the problem with respect to raw material and
spare part specifications discussed above, particular problems were
created by this situation when Chinese products were impoited.
There were no provisions in the McKinsey system for branches to
order new products; there were no forms or letters or brochures to
indicate to them that they were even available in Dar Es Salaam
godowns or what they were like. Chinese imports thus began to
pile up in Dar es Salaam godowns, their specific existence
unknown to branch managers. Further, when these items were
secured by branches salesmen did not know how to introduce
them to prospective customers; the stockpiling shifted to the
regions.

Finally, there were certain holes in this system from the begin-
ning. The product divisions were lopsided, with some of them as
large as single National Development Corporation firms in terms
of sales, while others were almost too small to warrant the em-
ployment of costly manpower. None of the units, neither the
product divisions nor the branches, were provided with per-
formance targets and there were no control measures for spending
or ordering. Nor was there an indent control system whereby out-
standing orders would be automatically followed-up. There was

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