THE firms on the tour are sold on change, and the hard sell to workforces now begins.

Mr Steve Edwards, managing director of United Closures and Plastics in Bridge of Allan, embraced the oft-repeated message from California that tired managerial structures must be destroyed, and staff allowed to take day-to-day responsibilities and decisions.

He wants managers to wear the same clothes as the 300-strong workforce, and be ''less restrictive'' in dealings with staff.

Mr Edwards, whose firm is a subsidiary of US-based Crown Cork and Seal, which has a $10bn turnover and over 43,000 employees worldwide, also plans to provide managers with computers to surf the Internet: identified as a vital source of information for improving the business.

He also plans to increase strategic planning, empower staff, and expand team building in the Stirlingshire firm which supplies bottle tops to the drinks industry, especially whisky.

Mr Edwards warned that, without change, Scottish businesses ''will be blown out of the water''.

Mr Bob White, executive manager of the flow meter producer Daniel Europe, of Larbert, said he will create teams to look at the culture within the company. He wants to make ''work more enjoyable.''

The Internet will also be studied and Mr White intends to employ someone charged with generating new ideas. But he conceded: ''I may need a professional outsider brought in to help put over the need for change.''

Taylor Group chairman Robbie Taylor and two colleagues argued they must act now because competition is so fierce, especially in America where Hispanics on low wages still produce quality goods.

The group, moving from traditional foundry operations, has just struck a three-year deal to supply sheetmetal to a Silicon Valley computer firm. But it has been told to cut prices by 3% a year, regardless of annual wage demands or other cost pressures.

Mr Taylor, also chairman of Investors in People (Scotland), said: ''What struck us was the belief Americans have in themselves and their companies. Seeing was believing.''

He pledged to turn his group's annual report into a statement of values rather than merely a record of operations or focus on the board rather than workforce.

Colleague Mike Willis, development director of Livingston Precision, promised to hire on ''attitudes and values'' - to recruit people whose interests go beyond pay and pension.

He added the group will embrace innovation and creativity; hire more people from universities, and make the hierarchy less visible.

The third Taylor representative, Mr Ken Smith, who runs a foundry in Dundee, plans a California-style garden for the workforce - and to ''break the mould'' on their outlooks: ''If you lift them, a lot of things fall into place . . . they will work for you, driving costs down.''

Mr Andrew Woods, of Japanese-owned GR Advanced Metals in Stirling, producing inks and masters for digital printers, said the tour reinforced his beliefs that quality people and change are needed. His emphasis will be on releasing ''latent talent'' from day-to-day business.

The firm cut jobs several years ago, and despite growth and expansion since is still suffering the after effects, notably staff insecurity. Mr Woods said: ''I was impressed by the confidence and enthusiasm of the Californians. At home, people won't put their heads above the parapet because of job security.

''If we get people to adapt to different ways of working, remove their insecurity, they will start to question what they are doing and solve their own problems.''

His call for a working group to continue the ''learning tour'' was endorsed by paper manufacturer Inveresk, which has two sites in Forth Valley, employing 450 people, and by Mr Edward Elworthy, of 70-strong metal fabricator Stephen Clark.