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The Non-Product Consolidation Operation is a small branch of Generic Equivalent Corporation (GenEQ), a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Its team of the mixed competencies of Myrtle, Naomi, Rachel, Ralph, and the inept manager, Lawrence, is charged with packaging and shipping products to overseas firms. The lack of capable management obliges the team to spend a considerable number of resources trying to rectify mistakes, such as misrouted packages and lost invoices. In the wake of a merger, the corporation's president sends a vice president of finance to determine the future of the branch office.
This tale is at turns cynical, light-hearted, and satirical. Its humor contributes greatly to its page-turning entertainment value. There are many familiar roles and situations. For example, highly capable and under-appreciated, Naomi would run the branch with much more efficiency if Lawrence were not in the way. Ralph's function is to make sense of corporate jargon and interpret it for the other employees. Myrtle is the fountainhead of the company's grapevine. Lawrence is so out of touch that he delivers ridiculous cliche's and bad news at the retirement party of a long-term employee, but without any awareness of the employee or the bad news that he gives, as if it is a standard part of a farewell speech. The scene is satiric enough to keep the reader laughing for a long time.
The arrival of the corporation's vice president is fresh air. This outsider's role may be to either display the leadership to rehabilitate the branch or close it down. The reader hopes that, finally, appropriate rewards and punishments may result, even as doubts creep in. Ropa's book is delightful and likely to be familiar to anyone who has worked in corporate America.