TMA / UCLA Team Case Presentation

This article summarizes a real-world case, Accuride Corporation, presented by a TMA team at the UCLA Anderson School of Management on October 26, 2010. It illustrates how a Chapter 11 filing can buy a company some time, but that fundamental changes in the organization must be made to avoid a return of insolvency, as the company’s high fixed costs and low margins, even in good years, were not seriously addressed by management, but could have been, as discussed in an Alternate Ending to this story.

IT and ERP Factors in Turnarounds

In a financially driven turnaround, IT & ERP factors are frequently pushed to the side, with the belief that they take too long, or cost too much to help the turnaround. This article details why this is not always true, and when, where, and how you can, in an operational turnaround, leverage quick, effective action in the IT/ERP area to achieve short-term and lasting performance improvements.

How Inventory Distorts Cost Information

Inventory is an integral part of every product oriented company, whether it is a distributor, assembler, or vertically integrated production operation. It is normal for otherwise capable business, financial, production, and material management people to make major decisions that are intended to reduce cost that fail to take ALL costs into consideration, and so run awry.

An Unthinkable Turnaround Story

The discussion of Semco SA, in his remarkable book, The Age of the Unthinkable, Joshua Cooper Ramo provides remarkable insights for those interested in the rapid performance improvements required by turnaround work. Semco SA is a truly amazing, break-all-the-rules turnaround. Set in Brazil, in the 1990s, when inflation was running 1,000% /year, in an economy where 1 in 4 companies went bankrupt, and the government had seized 80% of all cash, Semco made some remarkable changes and resumed profitable growth at a 40%/yr rate. We should all know about this one.

Opportunities As the Tide Turns

A related article identified the growing opportunities for investors and business leaders to benefit from the problems resulting from off-shoring of manufacturing. This post includes links to other articles expanding on and supporting this view.