Road to Hell

, flntegrmtiwe ffase &
.J"he RoaC

tc F{ell

John Baker, chief engineer

of the Caribbean Bauxite

Barracania. The success of this ti;:1,:ly regionalization policy led to excellent relations with iire goventmeitt.

Company of Barracania in the West Indies, was malring his final preparations to leave the island. llis promotion to pro-

This relationship was giver; an acldccl importalce when Barracania, 3 years later, bL.ilame independent
-al
occasion that encouraged a critir:ai and challenging atti-

duction manager of Keso .Mining Corporation near
Winnipcfu-one ol Continental Ore's fast-expanding
Canadian enterprises-had heen announced a rnonth before, and now everything had been tidied up except the last vital

interview with his successor, the able young Barracanian,
Matthew Rennalls. it was crucial that this interview be successiiil and that Rennalls leave his office uplifted and encouraged to race the challenge of a new iob, A touch on the bell would have brought Rennalls walking into the room, but
Baker delayed the moment and gazed thoughtfuily through the window. consiclering just exactly whar he was going to say and, more particulariy, how he was going to say it.
John Baker, an English expatriate, u,as 45 years olcl irnd had served 23 years rvith Continental Ore in Easf Asia, several African countries, Europe, and lor the last 2 years, the \A/est Indies. FIe hadn't carecl much for. his previous assignment in I.lanrburg ancl was delighted when the West
IndirLn appointrnent 'barne through Climate was not tbe

only attraction. Baker liad always prefen.eci working over(in what were telmeci "tire developing countries',),

seas

.

tude toward the role that foreign ir,.:rests would play in the new Barracania. Therefore, Hutch;ls had little difficulty in

convincing Baker that lhe suc':es:jul career clevclcpment

of Rennalls was of primary impori.ince.
The interview with I{utchir:i was norv ? yeiirs okl, and Baker, leaning back in his ct{-,ce.chai1 revielvecl his success in groclming Rennalls. What aspects ol,fhc latter,s cllaracter had helped and wlrat had hindered? What about

his own personality? How had that hclpecl or hinderctl?
The first itenr to go on the credit sicle would, u'ithout question, be the ability of Rennalls to mastor the rechnical aspects of tlrc job. From the start, he had shown keenness and enlhrrsiasm and often inrpressed Baker wilh his alrility in tackling new assignrnents as well as the constltrclirie comnlents lre invariabiy made i.;r departnrcntal discussi