Corwin Corporation Case Analysis

The Rose Company is building a new plant to reduce cost, improve the quality of products, and maintain competitive leadership by gaining a slight production advantage. The main obstacles to be overcome are the commissioning of a new plant, new methods and process, and administrative reporting issues. As the newly hired General Plant Manager, I plan to resolve these issues by insisting that all plant communications flow through me, instituting training for plant personnel and setting operational expectations.

1) Estimate the WACC that is appropriate for discounting the Collinsville plant’s incremental cash flows. You should estimate and present each component of the WACC separately, explaining briefly but clearly what assumptions you are making for each of them. In the same spirit, estimate the appropriate all-equity cost of capital for the APV-based valuation.

MTC initially needed to obtain substantial investment capital due to two main factors: a research-heavy industry, and the need to create most of the markets for its products. Although the founders' goal was to become a major manufacturing company, they did estimate that the company would need $50 million in capital before it would become self-sufficient. Their initial financing model was to first recruit a superior technical team, use that to attract additional equity investment and development funding from interested corporations, and then develop manufacturing capabilities. Commercial sales began 2.5 years after inception, and MTC is nearing the break-even point in 1990.

Herein will begin with an overview and introduction from personal knowledge of DixieLands Glory, LLC; a small family owned and operated business for the purpose of owning and managing rental properties. The company was initially operated as Warf’s Rentals; in 2003 the business was renamed and incorporated to become DixieLands Glory, LLC. The business is operated from a small office located in the family’s home, which is located in Linden, Tennessee. DixieLands Glory owns, operate, and manage approximately eighty-five rental units ranging from single-family homes to 4-plexes and mobile home parks. The properties that the company owns are mostly located in the states of Tennessee and Alabama. Of this, about 50 percent are located in the family’s hometown of Linden, Tennessee, with the remainder being located in two other Tennessee counties, and Decatur, Alabama.

The two parties up for question in this case study are the Sanger and Fisker Automotive Companies. Sanger is a privately owned company that currently maintains eight highly reputable dealerships in the Florida and Georgia area, most of which fall into the luxury car category. The Sanger Automotive Company has been able to position themselves as a well-known and trusted car dealer in the area that began with its first Cadillac dealership in 1950. Currently the organizations President is Robert Sanger, son of the founder, whose main goal is to maintain his company’s reputation for delivering exceptional customer service when using any

The owner of Hansson Private Label (HPL) must determine whether or not to accept an aggressive expansion project that would preclude the company from pursuing any alternative investment opportunities for several years. The investment, if successful, would offer numerous benefits to the company, capturing greater market share, strengthening relationships with major customers, crowding out competition and increasing firm value. Nonetheless, the decision carries significant risks and could lead to a substantial decline in firm value, if not bankruptcy, should any number of variables prove unfavorable to HPL. Moreover, the project relies heavily on a contract with a single large

CEO John McDonough decided on making acquisition of Calphalon and Rubbermaid, which influent shareholders’ confidence.

Financial risks include the short payback period. A 3-year payback period would not allow Hansson the opportunity to breakeven. With a negative NPV in the first 3 years Hansson’s decision to invest in the project would be based on his ability to negotiate a longer contract time. The Net Present Value (NPV) would have to be examined in tandem with the other non-financial variables.

MRC, Inc. is a Cleveland based manufacturing company specialized in power brake systems for trucks, buses, and automobiles; industrial furnaces and heat treating equipment; and automobile, truck and bus frames. As till 1957 most of MRC's sales were made to less than a dozen large companies in the automotive industry, it was exposed to the risk inherent in selling to a few customers in a very cyclical and competitive market. To minimize the risk and to explore new business opportunity MRC's management decided to diversify their business operation. After their fifth successful acquisition, the CEO of MRC Archibald Brinton faced with a dilemma of whether to buy American Rayon, Inc.

United Beverages’ CEO is debating with his department heads on the course of action the company is going to take in the future. Their flagship product, GangBuster, has been highly successful for the past 5 years. However, they have been thinking of entering the market for Energy Drinks for kids. Paul Diaz also comes up with a revolutionary idea of the dual-drink, having two separate flavored drinks in a bottle and being able to mix both flavors. Due to the limited resources of United Beverages, they have two weeks to decide whether to expand their portfolio or not?

What are the main duties of each of the positions that comprise Abernethy and Chapman’s engagement team?

* unity of purpose and focus under a common corporate strategy (further supporting the firm’s strategy as it relates to acquisitions and divestitures);

Honicker Corporation is a USA based, successful dashboard manufacturer. It has opportunities for international expansion, but due to the ultraconservative culture it did not happened until they faced a change in management in 2009. Honicker was a rich company, and to expand, they took the short road and acquired four companies around the world: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. There were two commonalities among these companies: they serviced mainly in their own geographical area, and senior management knew their geographical culture and hold good reputation with their stakeholders.

(Lewicki, 2010, p. 585) Fontaine and Gaudin did not prepared to negotiate the full contract. They did not anticipate nor prepare to resolve additional issues. Due to their inexperience, Fontaine and Gaudin were not the correct pairing to conduct the renegotiation, as well, they did not have decision making authority. They had to contact senior level management in order to reach a final agreement. This delay extended the negotiation timeline. Adding to the already stressful situation, the prospect of losing Reliant as a consistent client prosed a potential major issue, especially relating to supply as it would be difficult to identify another client to fill the former demand level. Also, Pacific senior leaders delayed their decision to expand into PVC products, over a year. This delay created uncertainty with the forecast for VCM and derivate products, which had a negative marketing impact for one of the top essential products. Also, contributing to the list of weaknesses, Fontaine’s definition of a successful negotiation differed from the corporate office, in that, he linked a successful negotiation outcome to keeping Reliant as a client by extending the current terms of the contract, solely. However, just as important, Fontaine neglected to take into account all the other potential issues or points of

Planning system weaknesses: To begin with, fundamental assumptions, such as new plants, inventory carryovers, packaging trends, etc., which are used for initial sales forecast, are entirely made by corporate headquarters. However, the divisional managers assume full responsibility for the estimates they submitted to the corporate head office. As a result, they have to make efforts to increase the overall accuracy of forecast and avoid making changes in subsequent reviews of the budget. Moreover, each product line uses the same forecasting method. It is ineffective for the company to make accurate budget since factors affecting each product line are different, such as industry trends, customer preferences and so on. Lastly, instead of plant managers, the district sale managers raise the sales budgets. However, the plant managers are held accountable for this budgeted profit number, which is connected with their performance and is not controlled by them.