Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship 35th Annual Conference

Case Analyses

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Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship 35th Annual Conference
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NUCOR CORPORATION 2008-2009

Thomas M. Box Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS 66762 Phone: 620-235-4582 Email: tbox@pittstate.edu Warren D. Miller Beckmill Research, LLC Drawer 1158 Lexington, VA 24450-1158 Phone: 540-463-6200 Email: wmiller@beckmill.com

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ABSTRACT Nucor Corporation 2008-2009 is a strategic management case appropriate for first-year MBAs or seniors in an undergraduate capstone course. The focus of this case is the strategy of the most successful steel-maker in the United States as of 2008/2009. It has a difficulty level of five. Secondary issues include Porter’s Five-Forces Framework of industry analysis and the effects of the global economic slowdown in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 on Nucor’s business. The case is designed to be taught in a single 75-minute class and is expected to require two to three hours of outside preparation by students. In order to facilitate students’ understanding of the economics of accounting figures, we have rearranged the balance sheet so that “earning assets” equal “permanent funding sources.” For real wealth to be created, the average return on earning assets must equal or exceed the weighted average cost of capital demanded by permanent funding sources. Nucor has been the most successful American steel maker for more than 35 years. It has a unique company culture and is recognized as the technology leader in its field. In an industry that is heavily unionized, Nucor’s work force is non-union. The company is also a textbook example of Porter’s Cost Leadership