W h y s o m e c o m p a n I e s m a k e t h e
Download 3.69 Mb. View original pdf
|
- Navigate this page:
- S cot t Paper
| R . J . R e y no l d s As RJR began to slip and found itself under siege from antitobacco forces, it reacted by throwing itself into ill-considered acquisitions, such as Sea-Land. It bought poured over $2 billion trying to make it work (all the while, its tobacco factories were falling apart from underinvestment), then sold it at a loss five years later. With each new CEO, it got anew strategy. Later, after losing its number one spot to Philip Morris, RJR threw itself into a leveraged buyout, designed primarily to enrich management rather than build the S cot t Paper Fell into reactionary diversification as its core business came under attack from Procter Gamble and Kimberly-Clark. With each new CEO, Scott got anew road, anew direction, anew vision. With fanfare, Scott undertook radical change efforts in the late but never answered the question, What 256 Appendix Ab can we be the best in the world at Fell into restructuring mode. Hired known as Al, who cut 41 percent of the workforce in one fell swoop and then sold the S i lob Vacuum left after death of Sidney Cooper. Next generation pursued growth for growth's sake. Whereas Circuit City would go into a region, build a distribution center, and fill every surrounding town with a store, Silo irrationally jumped from city to city, one store here, another store there, creating a totally unsystematic hodgepodge agglomeration of stores, with no regional economies of scale. Did not stick with a consistent concept or layout. Silo acquired by Cyclops, then Cyclops acquired by Dixons. Management fired by new Fell into a pattern of selling the future (The future never looked brighter) and hyping the potential of new products. But results failed to match the hype. stock became volatile and speculative-up and down, up and down again-as it sold the sizzle, but never delivered the steak. Later, like a gambler at Las Vegas, it threw its chips on "savior products" such as Rogaine baldness cure. Persistent product problems, with Halcion and others, exacerbated the swings. Eventually succumbed to restructuring disease and merged with Download 3.69 Mb. Share with your friends:
|