A Japanese corporation purchases a western Pennsylvania auto plant, and brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson is tasked with the difficult task of mediating the assimilation of two opposing corporate cultures. There is a Japanese plant manager on one end of the spectrum, and a sycophant on the other, both of whom want his job. On the other hand, a number of long-time union members who are dissatisfied with the new requirements of Japanese quality control are struggling to adapt.