Corporate Recovery Plan For Harnischfeger Corporation

Describe clearly the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984 as stated in Note 2 of its financial statements.

I believe that this action was motivated by business considerations, since the accounting practices were not the best. In 1984, Harnischfeger´s reported profits during each of the four quarters, ending the year with a pre-tax operating profit of $5.7 million and a net income after tax and extraordinary credits of $15 million. As such, this made profits look positive.

1. Identify all the accounting policy changes and accounting estimates that Harnischfeger made during 1984. Estimate, as accurately as possible, the effect of these on the company's 1984 reported profits.

1. Describe clearly the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984 as stated in Note 2 of its financial statements. In the 1984 the corporation computed depreciation expense on plants, machinery and equipment by using the straight-line method for financial reporting purposes. These changes were made to provide a more equitable allocation of the cost of the plants.

In 1984, Harnischfeger’s reported profits during each of the four quarters, ending the year with a pre-tax operating profit of $5.7 million and a net income after tax and extraordinary credits of $15 million. So I think that this action was motivated by business considerations, since the accounting practices were not the best. These actions made profits look positive.

While it was foreseen that the company would initially take financial setbacks because of the reorganization, it was not believed that the financial risks would be drastic. However, the impending report that Mr. Elesser has to present to the board will detail a net income that will be nearly 26 million dollars in the red for 2004 (see exhibit 2)3. The blunt force restructuring met resistance on numerous fronts. First of all, the various components of the company did not operate under the same uniformed leadership objectives. Each division was set up to look out for their own interests and markets. When the restructuring plan that focused on a more centralized management process, many of the things that worked for one division did not necessarily work for other divisions of the company. This left some divisions at a severe disadvantage. Another obstacle that worked against the restructuring was the employee unions in which the company had to deal. The unions were not on board with the various downsizing and restructuring methods. In addition, the company had to deal with a couple of different unions which posed a problem with negotiating tactics. Benefit costs were also a significant investment that did not hold up well under the auspice of restructuring.

1. Describe clearly the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984 as stated in Note 2 of its financial statements.

Even in spite of the economic recession in 1991, Nucor still appeared to be one of the fastest growing steel companies in America, even considering the spending levels regarding disposable income among Americans. This is especially true since September 11, attacks, because economic levels in America have tended to exhibit a slight disability. After the attacks on 9-11 markets, as well as the overall financial climate of the United States took on immediate hits. Yet, after President Bush’s tax cuts made in 2002, the country rebounded from a mild recession which dated back to the Clinton administration and has since sought to recover. The steel industry worldwide was mired in one of its most unprofitable periods ever when 9-11 hit. The recovery from the recession, as well as an attempt to pull through current financial hard times due to the war in Iraq have added extra strains on Americans and their ability to spend, which in turn affects the steel industry.

It would also reduce the risk of price increases by negotiating future prices. As shown previously, Harnischfeger was able to successfully reduce its cost to sales ratio. Through targeting new growth, emphasizing the high technology portion of its business and developing the Industrial Technologies Group, would create new business and ultimately increase sales for the company, which is shown in its financials, a 24% increase in sales from 1983 to 1984.

Also, according to its leverage ratios, the company’s debts are not only very high, but are also increasing. Its decreasing TIE ratio indicates that its capability to pay interests is decreasing. The company’s efficiency ratios indicate that despite the fact that its fixed assets are increasingly being utilized to generate sales during the years 1990-1991 as indicated by its increasing fixed asset turnover ratio, the decreasing total assets turnover indicate that overall the company’s total assets are not efficiently being put to use. Thus, as a whole its asset management is becoming less efficient. Last but not the least, based on its profitability ratios, the company’s ability to make profit is decreasing.

Increase in the profits above the actual budget can be attributed to 20% increase in sales in 2009. Although Jean’s profits were above the actual budget, French Division’s earnings were much lower than what it could have been, had they budgeted for the actual volume of sales that they ended up selling. We can partly attribute this decrease in earnings to the fact

Jones over forecasts his inventory and has a low inventory turnover ratio. This drastically increases his accounts payable, as he isn’t able to pay due to low cash inflow. His account’s payable increased by nearly 9 percent in 2006. Nearly half of his current assets are in inventory. Also Jones isn’t able to take advantage of the cash discounts offered by his suppliers due to his slow cash collection process. In order to perform well, the company must improve its inventory system and its cash collection policies.

The purpose of this book is to make us see that nearly all-operating prescriptions for creating large-scale corporate change are nothing but myths and that changes do not happen from one day to another by a miracle, the change from good to great is the result of a successful plan who

There are two possible sources of discrepancies we would like to disclose in this introduction: financial histories and restructuring charges. The first source of some discrepancies throughout the paper is a lack of some financial history. In the 1998 Darden Restaurants Annual Report, there was some inconsistency in whether history from FY 1996 was used or not. For this reason, we have been forced to omit FY 1996 in some

This case report will examine Dreyer’s strategy-the Grand Plan, will explore in depth the reasons why this plan has not achieved the initial expectations, and then will focus on the recommendations to solve the company’s crisis.