MKT 555 – Case Study The Maculan Group: International Growth Through Acquisitions Maculan Group: International Growth Through Acquisitions discusses the rapid expansion of an Austrian construction company The Maculan Group. After decades of growth, the company declined and crashed quickly in 1994. While there are many factors that could be blamed for the company’s collapse, this paper will identify three avoidable problems, discuss them, and then present a solution that would have benefited the company and perhaps prevented collapse. The three problem areas of interest are cultural, governmental and communication. CULTURAL After its beginnings in the domestic market of Austria and maintaining a very conservative growth strategy, the Maculan Group experienced two decades of growth that turned them into a major construction player in Eastern Europe.
AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS of attempting to come to grips with alleged monopolies, no one expected the 1980s and 1990s to become a rev olution in industrial organization and a boom for Wall Street's mergers and-acquisitions specialists. Yet American industry was on the verge of its greatest change since the days of Gould and Vanderbilt. To add some humor and sarcasm to the financial trendiness of the 1980s, an off-Broad way play with a distinctly Brandeisian tone went on nationwide tour. Other People's Money was a satire of all of the favorite corporate raider devices of the decade, including poison pills, shark repellents, and greenmail. Based upon past experience, the slowdown in economic growth and the ebbing of the conglomerate trend suggested that large corporations were
Belot Enterprises Case 1. Auditor David Robinson’s suggested compromise on the review of the Belot’s interim financial report (second quarter-from April1 through June 30) is appropriate. Because Belot Company has been struggled to survive in a mature and intensely competitive industry for several years, and the company has planned to implement an organizational Nail the Number campaign from April1 through June 30 to boost its quarterly operating income by 100 percent so that Belot Company will not be eliminated by its parent company, Helterbrand. During those three months, Belot Company has made many changes on its operation activities, such as products line, sales program, cost-cutting initiatives, and its accounting measurement, etc. Belot’s accounting general manager, Zachariah Crabtree decided to change the accounting method from “conservatism” to “precise point estimate” to record the company’s major discretionary accruals during its second quarter financial report; therefore, the company operating income dramatically has been increased 140 percent higher than the second quarter of prior year.
In-depth research and analysis needs to be conducted on other companies that have created similar successful programs. They need to determine what the breakeven point will be, and when these new products will start generating a profit and then make the decision on whether or not it’s worth the investment. Issue 5 Lack of planning CanGo is in rapid development, but at the same time lacks of any sort of planning. CanGo's management team cannot seem to reach a viable solution for the future development of the company. Recommendation 5 CanGo needs to make a comprehensive analysis and then decide on a long-term development plan.
Throughout the years, the United States has gone through a many different generations. In the article, “The Echo Boomers”, the author states that the people who were born between the year 1982 and 1995 are already having a huge impact on the economy. They are the biggest generation in the US history and they are most studied by sociologists. The author claims that the Echo Boomers represent the changes in the society over the years. Although people may criticize this generation for being demanding workers, they fail to recognize the advances made in technology.
Possibility of fund’s success causing strains in the relationship with its consulting firm’s parent. - NewPort Partners (buyout firm) : One of the oldest buyout funds. Acquired an enviable track record. Past 3 years 2 new initiatives – technology investment program and an internationalization effort - had gone badly astray.Most recent fundraising effort has fallen well below its initial target. - Search Fund : Initiative by former roommate who had identified few wealthy individuals ready to support search for undervalued company.
Challenges faced by the Welch when he took over the position of CEO: • SBU-based structure of the organization under the leadership of Reg jones • Multilayer structure of the organization with departments, divisions, groups and SBUs topped with organizational layer of sectors • U.S Economy in recession- High Interest Rates, highest unemployment rate since the depression • Global competition faced by the company- more often in the form of Japanese. GE at present was unable to face it to their full potential • Bureaucracy structure of the organization leading to inefficiency and often delay, costing the company its edge The Changes made under Welch’s leadership: • CEO challenged each to be “better than the best” • Two tier approach of fixing- the hardware “company’s processes and structure” and the software ”management style, culture and structure” • Risk taking behaviour expected out of business heads and let go of the old GE culture Hardware Approach- Overall restructuring, downsizing, de-staffing and delayering o Goal to be #1 or #2 competitor in the respective industry or to disengage translating to – “fix, sell or close” strategy o Transition to three circle concept- core, high-technology and... GE’s Two Decade Transformation: Jack Welch’s Leadership When Jack Welch took over General Electric at the beginning of the 1980’s he began a massive re-envisioning of the company that allowed it to become so profitable despite the seemingly impossible to manage view it was given due to being so diverse and enormous of a conglomerate. To start, he sold over 200 businesses and bought over 350 at the same time, and on top of it all he segmented each part of the overall company into three portions. Welch continued this same line of thought when he slimmed down the work force by over 100,000 employees and made an active effort to retain those he believed to
Case Study 2 Hudson Shoe Company Hudson Shoe Company John Hudson, president of Hudson Shoe Company has been faced with a terrible dilemma. Hudson Shoe Company, started many years ago by John Hudson’s father was built on quality and intergrity and has had continual growth as so. However, after recent pursuit of entering the foreign market John Hudson has been pressured into sacrificing the integrity and loyalty towards smaller local customers who helped build the company from the beginning to meet the demands of the larger international business that has proved to be extremely profitable. However, after making many adjustments, changes, and sacrifices John has lost many of his smaller local business and is on the verge of losing his major domestic mail-in chain in the United States. You see, with the continual growth and sales within his foreign market John not had the man power, time, or financial means to satisfy his smaller local businesses.
Old Spice The power of advertising has never had a reach so far as it has over the last decade. Billions of dollars every year are thrown the ways of writers and directors to create an appeal to audiences everywhere in hopes consumers will purchase their product and stay on board for repeat business. This is especially critical for companies such as Proctor and Gamble to do with older brands such as Old Spice. Having been around for over seventy years, Old Spice was in need of a campaign that would not only appeal to the purchasing audience, but also to revamp the image of such a staple in the hygiene industry. The advertising drive of 2010 featured the hit slogan “The man your man could smell like” (OldSpice, 2010).
His strategy was to "fix, sell or close", for example, when Welch took charge of the company his objective was to fix the problems delaying GE from operating to its fullest potential, sell the company if it is more of a liability than an asset, or close the organization and start from scratch. Mr. Welch entered the organization insisting that GE needed to become more “lean and agile” resulting in a 50% reduction in the staff which consisted of the deadweight or low-performers that were unproductive or unprofitable. Unfortunately, Welch came into the realization that his current management staff was unable to lead the corporation to success, therefore he proceeded with organizational downsizing. In essence, Welch's methods were extremely effective and his decision to downsize has given GE increased levels of profitability and an increase in sales revenue. He also redefined the budgeting process of the company by evaluating external competitive criteria like looking at sales in market share or if they had