Individual Assignment I: Case Analysis
Case: WALD PRESS
Executive Summary
Wald Press, a large New York based printing firm for many years had close association with Campbell brothers, a Manhattan based publishing house, which supplied it with the major portion of its work. Campbell Brothers couldn't supply Wald Press with enough work to keep it operating at reasonable output level during depression of thirties. Thus Wald Press obtained contracts from other publishing firms. When Campbell brothers' sales increased again, they wanted Wald Press to drop outside contracts as they would supply them with enough of work. Wald Press is in dilemma as to drop or not to drop outside contracts.
Word Count: 100
Situation Analysis
Wald Press, a large New York based printing firm for many years had close association with Campbell brothers, a Manhattan based publishing house, which supplied it with the major portion of its work. During the depression of the thirties, the publishing house had drop in its sales and could not supply Wald Press with enough work to keep it operating at a reasonable level of output. Wald Press obtained outside contracts to cure that. Wald Press told them that their work was being taken for an indefinite period of time and that they would not abandon it when business condition improved. In 1946 Campbell Brothers' sales increased and they wanted Wald Press to drop outside contracts and take all their remaining work. Outside contracts were not so profitable and would also have more finished goods inventory but were less exacting and an average outside book took 15% less time to produce than the average Campbell Brothers' book.
Billing on outside contracts amounted to $277,625.09 in 1944 and $242,348.55 in 1945. In the same years, production costs on these contracts were $324,625.55 and $232,698.49. In 1944, billings to Campbell Brothers totaled $1,172,862.06 and in 1945 they were $1,555,944.25. The Wald Press as a whole was making money, and therefore it seemed obvious that the profits came from work done for Campbell Brothers only.
But there was a risk of other bad time for Campbell Brothers and so diversification in form of outside contracts contributed to avoid the risk of operating Wald Press below the reasonable level of output. Also image of Wald Press was at stake if it drops outside contracts. Though Campbell Brothers reassured Wald Press that their sales were high and as seen from the data provide is that
Deere & Company (Deere) has been experiencing a decrease in its profit margins for one of its aftermarket resale products, specifically the gatherer chain, over the past couple of years. Currently, the cost-price ratio is at 80% compared to last year’s 50%. The purchase cost for the gatherer chain has been steadily increasing, while the aftermarket price has been decreasing. Deere has been budgeting its price to match that of a major competitor, which has been causing the decrease. The company’s main supplier of its gatherer chain is Saunders Manufacturing, with which Deere has established a long term relationship. The owner of Saunders has a reputation of being a tough negotiator, and is someone who is known for not willing to share financial information about the company. However, the U.S. Department of Commerce has provided financial estimates in Saunders’ industry as follows: material spend, 42%; direct labor, 16%; indirect labor, 6%; Overhead, 20%. These percentages are helpful to Deere because they can be used in the negotiation process with Sanders. Since Sanders will not share any specific cost information, Deere is able to use these estimates as a way to justify Sanders reducing its prices. Using these estimates during the negotiations might also incentivize Sanders to provide accurate numbers for its specific manufacturing costs.
“The 1946 Union of Electrical, Radio and Machinist Workers’ Strike Against The Phelps-Dodge Copper Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey” reading gave insight to the Phelps-Dodge strike of 1946. Although the strike was officially about wages, it really had to do with issues regarding considerations of power (Bruno, 345). Laborers who worked at the Phelps-Dodge Copper Company shared a common bond through social and communal interaction. This helped the United Electrical Workers (UE), the union that represented these workers, as there is strength in unity. It was a good thing that the UE represented these workers as Phelps-Dodge had an infamous reputation for busting unions and ignoring its workforce (Bruno, 348). This is similar to the attempts to
MacLaury, J. 1998. “A Brief History: The Department of Labor.” The United States Department of Labor.
Yellin, Samuel. American Labor Struggles New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co. 1936; Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1970.
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Newsboys would buy bundles of papers from the companies for a set price, and then sell them on their own. Whatever they didn’t sell was their loss.
Hutchins, B.I. and A. Harrison. 1903. A History of Factory Legislation. London: P.S. King and Son. [References to 1966 ed. By London: Cass.]
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