...CASE STUDY Vershire Company In 1996 Vershire Company was a diversified packaging company with several major divisions, including the Aluminum Can division - one of the largest manufacturers of aluminum beverage cans in the United States. Exhibit 1 shows the organization chart for the Aluminum Can division. Reporting to the divisional general manager were two line managers, vice presidents in charges of manufacturing and marketing. These vice presidents headed all of the division’s activities in their respective functional areas. The Aluminum Can division’s growth in sales slightly outpaced sales growth in the industry at large. The division had plants scattered throughout the United States. Each plant served customers in its own geographic region, often producing several different sizes of cans for a range of customers that included both large and small breweries and soft drink bottlers. Most of these customers had between two and four suppliers and spread purchases among them. If the division failed to meet the customer’s cost and quality specifications or its standards for delivery and customer service, the customer would turn to another supplier. All aluminum can producers employed essentially the same technology, and the division’s product quality was equal to that of its competitors. Industry Background1 Traditionally, containers were made from one of several materials: aluminum, steel, glass, fiber-foil (paper and metal composite), or plastic. The metal container...
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...Chapter 4 Case 4-1. Vershire Company Questions: 1. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of Vershire Company’s planning and control system. Vershire’s planning system Strengths: When formulating the sales budget, divisional managers are required to predict market conditions and capital expenditures. The frocasting is done at the corporate level and is then sent to the divisional managers for fine-tuning. Corporate controllers visit each plant for half a day prior to the final submission of the budget. Weakness The initial sales forecast uses assumptions which are entirely derived from corporate headquarters’ analyses. The forcasting method is the same for all product lines. Plant managers do not come up with the sales budgets – the district sales manager do. Vershire’s control system Strengths Divisional managers are given full control over their divisions except in the ares of raising capital and labor relations. There is timely communication between the various hierarchies of the company as there are not that many tiers. There is constant oversight on meeting the budget. Weakness Profit is the main measure for assessing plant managers’ performance and determining bonuses. 2. Trace the profit budgeting process at Vershire, starting in May and ending with the Board of Directors’ meeting in December. Be prepared to describe the activities that took place at each step of the process and present the rationale for each. 3. Should the plant managers...
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...Vershire Company Vershire Company & Aluminum Industry Industry of Aluminum: Aluminum. Less spillage or breakage, ease of storage at home or when people travel, maintenance of soft drink carbonation, ease of lithograph and ease of recycling, aluminum production is one of the modern era’s great economic stories. The world’s primary aluminium industry produces over 23 millions ton of aluminium metal per year. The most important markets for aluminium products are the transport, building and packaging sectors, however aluminium also finds application in electrical and mechanical engineering, office equipment, domestic appliances, lighting, chemistry and pharmaceuticals. The United States' aluminum industry is the world's largest, annually producing about $39.1 billion in products and exports. U.S. companies are the largest single producer of primary aluminum. The U.S. industry operates over 300 plants in 35 states , produces more than 23 billion pounds of metal annually and employs over 145,000. Aluminum is one of the few products and industries left in America that truly impacts every community in the country, either through physical plants and facilities, recycling, heavy industry, or consumption of consumer goods. The aluminum industry's performance is noteworthy, particularly in light of the proliferation of alternative materials and global competition. Transportation represents the largest market for aluminum in the United States. In 2000, transportation accounted for 32.5...
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...escribe the strengths and weaknesses in planning and control systemVershire Company!Settlement:a. Pros:1. In 1972 the industry experienced a revolution since the aluminum maker chosetwo kinds of processes in which a piece of metal inserted into the cupand closed at the top. So in 1996 capable of producing more than2,000 cans per minute, because it has more efficient manufacturing processes.2. Authorization limitation on the general manager of the division. Division general manager hasfull control on their business with two exceptions: the increase incapital and labor relations, because both are centered at the central office.3. The existence of the review by the research staff at headquarters preparation statementssubmitted by each division general manager. This is a reportpreparation to incorporate summaries regarding sales,earnings, and capital requests for next year's budget.4. The making of the budget in the form of gross profit, fixed expenses, andpre-tax income made by the order to each plant. Gain is calculatedas the value of sales budget is smaller than an unexpected expense budgetand the budget you have for sure.5. For a review of variance whose value exceeds the budget made by themanagement company, and ask a local plant manager notmeet the target to explain.6. The existence of the fixed costs of testing to determine whether the factory has beenimplementing programs, whether the factory has met the cost of the budget,and whether the results...
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...Chapter 4 Case 4-1. Vershire Company Questions: 1. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of Vershire Company’s planning and control system. Vershire’s planning system Strengths: When formulating the sales budget, divisional managers are required to predict market conditions and capital expenditures. The frocasting is done at the corporate level and is then sent to the divisional managers for fine-tuning. Corporate controllers visit each plant for half a day prior to the final submission of the budget. Weakness The initial sales forecast uses assumptions which are entirely derived from corporate headquarters’ analyses. The forcasting method is the same for all product lines. Plant managers do not come up with the sales budgets – the district sales manager do. Vershire’s control system Strengths Divisional managers are given full control over their divisions except in the ares of raising capital and labor relations. There is timely communication between the various hierarchies of the company as there are not that many tiers. There is constant oversight on meeting the budget. Weakness Profit is the main measure for assessing plant managers’ performance and determining bonuses. 2. Trace the profit budgeting process at Vershire, starting in May and ending with the Board of Directors’ meeting in December. Be prepared to describe the activities that took place at each step of the process and present the rationale for each. 3. Should the plant managers...
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...Analysis of Vershire Company Point of View The point of view of the consultant is taken to provide an objective analysis and recommendation to improve the management control of the company. Statement of the Problem How can Vershire Company improve the way it manages its forecast-budget and the incentives that it gives its plant managers? Analysis The company was fairly stable at that moment in time. It was competing among the other major competitors in the packaging industry. However, it had flaws in spite of its top position in the market at that time. First, the sales manager that is in charge in making the sales budget does not consider the perspective of the plant manager. This oversight could lead to unrealistic forecasts. Even if the sales manager is knowledgeable in the workings of the plant, it is still necessary to include the insights of the plant manager, since the latter is an expert in the mechanisms of the plant. Also regarding the forecasting method, the head office staff almost manages everything regarding the whole forecasting. Yes, there are insights from the sales managers that are considered, but the central market research staff consolidates everything in more detail and in a general manner. Furthermore, the plant managers are being incentivized in a wrong manner. They are being assessed according to profit. Housed in an engineered expense center, a plant manager should only focus on the costs incurred by the factory. The mantra of the company, “the...
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...Vershire Company, a packaging company that manufactures aluminium beverage cans, is known as one of the largest in its industry in the United States. It has several divisions one of them being the Aluminum Can division wherein two line managers report directly to the Division General Manager. Divisions were almost autonomous in conducting business except for raising capital and labor relations, both functions being done at the head office to realign each division’s efforts into the company’s objectives. The company was divided into divisions which were then divided into departments, namely Marketing and Manufacturing, to be able to practice control over smaller units that were easier to evaluate according to function. In budget preparation, sales forecasts were made at the corporate headquarters to ensure that all divisions had the same assumptions and that forecasts were reasonable and achievable. This would then be given to division general managers who would cross check this with data prepared by his subordinate district sales managers. This would then be submitted to the corporate level for approval. Once approved, budget was broken down into plant level sales budgets. Plant budgets were then submitted to the division head office for approval. One problem in Vershire’s set-up was the unequal delegation of responsibilities, with plant managers having to account for more than just plant operations. Manufacturing departments were treated as profit centers. To illustrate, a...
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...Vershire Company & Aluminum Industry Industry of Aluminum Aluminum. Less spillage or breakage, ease of storage at home or when people travel, maintenance of soft drink carbonation, ease of lithograph and ease of recycling, aluminum production is one of the modern era’s great economic stories. The world’s primary aluminium industry produces over millions ton of aluminium metal per year. The most important markets for aluminium products are the transport, building and packaging sectors, however aluminium also finds application in electrical and mechanical engineering, office equipment, domestic appliances, lighting, chemistry and pharmaceuticals. The United States aluminum industry is the worlds largest, annually producing about $.1 billion in products and exports. U.S. companies are the largest single producer of primary aluminum. The U.S. industry operates over 00 plants in 5 states , produces more than billion pounds of metal annually and employs over 145,000. Aluminum is one of the few products and industries left in America that truly impacts every community in the country, either through physical plants and facilities, recycling, heavy industry, or consumption of consumer goods. The aluminum industrys performance is noteworthy, particularly in light of the proliferation of alternative materials and global competition. Transportation represents the largest market for aluminum in the United States. In 000, transportation accounted for .5 percent of all US...
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...VERSHIRE COMPANY ANALYSIS RUDDY FERBIANTO MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL-BATCH62 Vershire Company has several division and one of the largest one is the alumunium can division. This division is one of the biggest can manufacturers in United States. However, the market characteristics in which the customers loyalti is low and entry barriers does too. One of the Vershire’s strategies is to have lean production system along with tight control over their plants,budgets, and performance to have process efficiency. There are several strengths and weaknesses in Vershire’s planning and control system. Strengths | Weaknessess | * The divisional managers are required to make 5 years-expenditures and two years-market forecast in order to be able to predict the future decisions and goals. * Between corporate controllers, divisional managers, and plant managers have good work-process relationship. The corporate controllers visit each plan to have input from plant managers. * Divisional managers are given full control over their divisiona excepts in the areas of raising capital and labor relations * The orgnizational structures are quite direct in decision making system. Starts from plant managers to division managers and then straight foward to corporate level. Even, corporate levels can go directly to plan managers. | * The sales forecast is made in corporate level using asumption. The divisional managers do not have any participation in making sales forecast...
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...of college. She is anticipating a large expense on books but is hoping to save some money on purchasing school supplies by looking at discount retailers instead of the college bookstore. Misty has found two companies, Company A and Company B, with some great back to school deals on school supplies. Company A is offering ten percent off each dollar spent on school supplies with no minimum purchase required. While that sounds like a great deal, Company B is offering twenty-five percent off all school supplies purchased after spending an initial one hundred dollars. While both options offer a great discount, Misty wants to determine which would save her the most money. Before moving any further, Misty must determine what her total bill for school supplies might be by identifying the items she will need to purchase and then totaling the final cost. Once that has been ascertained, she will need to calculate the possible savings on each plan to determine which one will be most cost effective. Task B In order to calculate the savings, Misty is going to let (y) represent to total cost of her school supplies after all discounts have been applied. She will use (d) to represent the discount percent she is going to receive from the company. As prices from each company are comparable, she has calculated the total cost of her school supplies to be $230.00 which will be represented as the variable (x). The following is an...
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...of college. She is anticipating a large expense on books but is hoping to save some money on purchasing school supplies by looking at discount retailers instead of the college bookstore. Misty has found two companies, Company A and Company B, with some great back to school deals on school supplies. Company A is offering ten percent off each dollar spent on school supplies with no minimum purchase required. While that sounds like a great deal, Company B is offering twenty-five percent off all school supplies purchased after spending an initial one hundred dollars. While both options offer a great discount, Misty wants to determine which would save her the most money. Before moving any further, Misty must determine what her total bill for school supplies might be by identifying the items she will need to purchase and then totaling the final cost. Once that has been ascertained, she will need to calculate the possible savings on each plan to determine which one will be most cost effective. Task B In order to calculate the savings, Misty is going to let (y) represent to total cost of her school supplies after all discounts have been applied. She will use (d) to represent the discount percent she is going to receive from the company. As prices from each company are comparable, she has calculated the total cost of her school supplies to be $230.00 which will be represented as the variable (x). The following is an algebraic...
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...determination. Southwest’s operations involves low cost methods to get customer to places while the culture focuses on promotion of its satisfaction-based culture- both internally and externally; people seem to love giving into the company more than they love the company’s returns. A big airline is most likely to be the competitor. It is very likely that the corporation can introduce a system of short-haul, cheap flights via a standardized fleet with ease. The billions in revenue generated from other divisions can provide the capital required; they can even have the option to operate at a loss for a while. The question, then, turns to one of sustaining this division by attracting customers from companies like Southwest. Besides setting low prices and attempt to maximize efficiency, the question becomes: can the division’s efficiency outstrip that of Southwest’s? As stated, Southwest’s culture inspires employees to work, thus productivity and efficiency increases. This is the key behind the company’s success: fostering culture and turning the results into profit. Can a big company replicate or build the culture? Replication is difficult because usually big wigs are reluctant to change their own culture of following rules to the letter like traditional big companies to an upbeat style of Southwest. Instead of satisfying customers, maximizing shareholder value takes priority and this choice could be detrimental to the divisions’ cause (shareholders may also not be happy at the prospect...
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...CORPORATE CULTURE SECRETS OF FIVE COMPANIES EMPLOYEES LOVE How innovative companies are creating ways to build company culture while seeing tangible benefits. INTRODUCTION Creating the right culture for your company could be the best investment you ever make – and often, it doesn’t cost a dime. The world’s most innovative companies find hidden value by operating outside of established business culture. Time and time again, competitors are left asking, “How did they do that?” CORPORATE CULTURE SECRETS OF FIVE COMPANIES EMPLOYEES LOVE The answer is simple: Culture. The right culture fosters innovation, finds talent in unexpected places, and empowers employees at all levels. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but the following examples from leaders of innovative company culture will help you adopt a mindset that inspires greatness. /02 CORPORATE CULTURE SECRETS OF FIVE COMPANIES EMPLOYEES LOVE FOSTERING INNOVATION WHILE DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff will just take care of itself. Tony Hsieh, Founder and CEO, Zappos.com /03 FOSTERING INNOVATION WHILE DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES Ideas From Everywhere (IFE) is a program for CareerBuilder employees, launched nearly 8 years ago as part of a company decision to adopt a strategy centered on innovation. In essence, employees are encouraged to submit their ideas for new businesses within the company. Their fellow employees are then asked to vote for the best idea...
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...Although the imminent success in the last few years,some issues have brought the company down. The pending issues that are troubling the company are the employees conditions abroad, the buying of reebok and it's sales drop last year 2012. In the website oxfam, which analyses the conditions of workers abroad, it is stated:" we asked Adidas to implement worker's rights in Indonesia". (Oxfam 1). The complaints relate to the the ongoing problems of not matching wages with the rising prices of food and supporting work abroad. This can become a greater issues because most manufacturing is done abrasive and foreign countries could rebel against western companies hence slowing down productions or damaging products. Source: https://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/workers-rights/adidas/talking-with-adidas/ Another issue is the acquisition of Reebok, although buying another company cuts competition it also bring greater responsibilities. According to article on sportsdailybusiness.com Adidas has not gained any profit from Reebok rather loss. As it states in the article that since the acquisition in 2006, Adidas has struggled to raise to power the brad, commercial irregularities have been caught and it has suffered through the NHL lockout. Buying companies may eliminate competition but can bring great loss to the company if the other company itself is doing midly poor. Source: http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2012/11/09/Finance/adidas-Reebok.aspx Lastly but not least...
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...Examination Paper ESI Companies is a small company in Bartlett, Tennessee. ESI Companies is proud of their credit of providing tactical security specialist, and solutions to relieve threats to the environment. They install and build security systems in courthouse, detention facility, transportation hub, office building, and production plant. The company has partnered with private industry, law enforcement, military agencies, and correctional and detention facilities to keep their operating environments safe and secure from the threats of criminal activity and terrorism. Organizational Structure ESI Companies small business organizational structure is or can be a partnership. They are comfort of knowing their professional posses the needed skills and expertise to assist with the customers design and build techniques with courthouse, detention facility, office building, production plant, and others. They also partner with customers for facilities renovations, and maintenance of their security system regardless of any unique and challenging security needs. ESI Companies requires the customer partner in the design and implementation of their standards of operation intended to reduce the risks of security catastrophes. ESI Companies believe in working together to design, implement, build, install, and support state – of – the – art electronic surveillance and security equipment for the business run smoothly and successfully. Management and Leadership ESI Companies employs culturally...
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