Search

The article discusses product diversification in an industrial environment. Companies diversify for survival in a declining market or to offset obsolescence, stability in maintaining market share, utilization of resources and plant capacity, adaptation to customer needs, and for corporate growth. However, the primary goal of diversification is long-term profit maximization. The five steps in programming diversification include definition of objectives, situation analysis, resource audit, and product criteria. Topics are benefits from economies of scale, convergent marketing, and the case example of First Paper Company.

The article reports on the proposal of Elliott V. Bell, superintendent of banks in New York, to reduce the interest rates on small loans in the U.S. in order for legal lenders to stay in business. It states that he proposed a 2.5 percent rate cut a month for the first 100 dollars and two percent for 100 to 300 dollars. It notes that his recommendation is considered by other bank companies as a good option to remain in the industry in the midst of tough economic condition.

The article discusses U.S. houseware producer Rubbermaid, with particular focus given to its unwillingness to merge with or be acquired by a larger corporation, regardless of the potential profits. Cited are comments by Donald E. Noble, president of Rubbermaid as of January 1971, who discloses the company's policy of expanding through internal growth. Attempts by industrial conglomerates to purchase Rubbermaid are reviewed.

The article explores the growing pressure to toughen antitrust enforcement in the U.S. to monitor business practices and methods of competition. Businessmen have questioned the effectiveness of laws framed more than three-quarters of a century in regulating large corporations. Among the indicators of enhanced antitrust activity are new investigations, new legislation, and bigger enforcement budgets. INSETS: How Justice and the FTC compete;When companies sue each other.

The article presents an analysis of the stock market in the U.S. According to the author, the news that the new tax bill has been signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson came as an anticlimax. He says that the bill could have helped the U.S. avoid the financial crisis of August 1966 if it was enacted earlier that year. He mentions that stocks in the chemical industry has declined due to the failure of earnings to hit optimistic projections despite increase in capital investments.

The article discusses the importance of stabilizing the U.S. business cycle in order to stabilize industry and to maximize production. Topics addressed include the findings of a government committee led by General Electric Co. chairman Owen D. Young on preventing recurring unemployment, the problem of relating wages to production, and common tendencies on the upswing of business cycles. Also mentioned are trends among various industries in relation to the business cycle's movements.

The article focuses on a job evaluation program that was established as a joint project by the labor union and management at a large corporation in the United States. Low employee morale was attributed to eleven problems at the company, including inadequate wage policies and an ineffective grievance procedure. A point plan, which compares job factors against scale, was established because it has six advantages over other types of evaluation programs. Topics are three reasons why programs fail, the ranking, classification, and factor comparison plans, nine benefits from the plan's setting-up process, conversion of job-evaluation points into a wage structure, and provisions in the company's labor agreement.

The article discusses the aircraft industry in the United States and readjustment during the postwar period. Changes in the war economy that can produce mass unemployment are sudden termination of government contracts and reduced valuation of existing inventories. The aircraft manufacturing industry could be challenged by bankruptcy and liquidation during the peacetime conversion. However, a study by investment firms suggests that reduced war production will not affect net working capital. Topics are the testimony of Ralph Damon before a House subcommittee, the loss-carry-back provision in tax law that could offset financial losses from contract cancellations, five reasons why companies are vulnerable to shrinkage, and seven ideas to strengthen the industry.

The article discusses the significance of private business histories in relation to executive administration. The cyclical nature of business dictates that a working knowledge of a company's history is essential in order to avoid repeat mistakes. Corporations often find themselves faced with marketing, financial and general policy dilemmas with which they've dealt with in the past. Specifically analysts say companies can benefit from a proper evaluation of their materials inventory, relations with labor, and expenditures to avoid future dilemmas.

The article discusses the basis for depreciation charges. Depreciation charges can be based either on cost or replacement values. Analysts say all depreciation calculations present the problems of determining the physical and economic lifetime of a fixed asset. Some experts say depreciation charges should be based on present-day value rather than original cost. All commodities have two kinds of present-day value. They are valued in both the purchasing and selling markets. Experts say this method of evaluation will benefit corporate management and manufacturers.

The article discusses the reorganization and restructuring of U.S. industrial corporations that came about as a result of the depression of 1920-1921, by comparing common fundamental difficulties and attempts at solution. The article differentiates between constructive, manipulative, and curative reorganizations, focusing this article on curative reorganizations. Curative reorganizations come about in an effort to fix problems in light of an immediate or impending financial embarrassment. The article discusses the causes of reorganization (voluntary and forced), principal features of reorganization plans, financial remedies, and provisions for the future. The article concludes that different corporate problems require original solutions, although they share common features.

The article offers information on the different impacts of television (TV) in the U.S. It states that television becomes a strong social habit in the country, wherein it attains and lengthens leisure time of the Americans. It says that TV also declines weekly attendance of theaters to from 90 million in 1948 to 45 million in 1955 and has sharply slump reading. It adds that television marketing has strong selling power that persuaded public buying, which stops the incipient economic slump.

"In the decades ahead any organization which ignores or underestimates the potential of women--or overlooks any source of talent for that matter--will be making a fatal mistake." So said the chief executive of one of the largest U.S. corporations recently. Discrimination against racial minorities has held the attention of federal civil rights enforcement officials in recent years, but now they are turning the spotlight on the employment situation of another "minority" (51% of the population). This has become particularly important for employers since the issuance a year ago of an order requiring government contractors to initiate affirmative action programs, with goals and timetables, to end sex discrimination. But as the quotation above implies, business has a more important reason than fear of penalties for treating seriously the issue of equal rights for women. In this article a woman who has helped launch affirmative action programs in several large companies shows the steps which organizations must take to foster equal treatment of the sexes. These steps include not only goal setting, job restructuring, and training and development of female employees, but also elimination of discriminatory behavior on the part of managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of the U.S. government's procurement process on the area of management decision making in private business. During the period 1954-64 the government delved into the affairs of its primary contractors and subcontractors and insisted on a greater participation in the decision making process. It achieved this role through its natural interest in contractors' cost and by means of Congressional enactments and contract clauses, to obtain cost information. Congressional interest in the way contractors have managed their businesses has been directed toward the protection of the government from fraud, excessive profits and unfair dealing.

In this article, Edward C. Bursk, Editor of HBR, writes from a dual point of view: (1) as a reporter, reflecting what a number of prominent businessmen have told him they feel about the present "desperate" plight of advertising; and (2) as an interpreter of events who has always strongly believed in the overriding importance of the selling function in the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article comments on the possibility of creating a class society in the United States. The labor movement has not been given credit for promoting productivity gains, but has been blamed for inflation. Wages and salaries are increasing faster than productivity, which could lead to government action to stop further inflation. Management's attitude for voluntarily limiting salary increases--on a level equal to that proposed for workers' wages--shows a double standard in executives' willingness to sacrifice for the common good. Business has a role in maintaining a moral, social climate that supports democracy, capitalism, and the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as preventing class alignment, factionalism or divisiveness that could lead to the acceptance of socialist doctrines.

The rapid increase in the literature on the economic aspects of research management is certainly a good indication of the current and growing interest in the improvement of research and development programs. This literature is very diversified. It contains, in addition to many books, research reports, and proceedings of conferences, several hundred articles published during the last few years in various journals. In all of these publications increasing attention is being paid to the vital economic aspects of research management - for example, the selection of projects, control of costs, preparation and size of budgets, duplication of effort, and appraisal of a research program. Here I shall deal mainly with these aspects of managing R & D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article refers to the "statistical view" and "modern inspection view" methods of quality control in the United States and examines the total quality control method that has a theme of "make them right the first time." Total quality control begins with the design of products, continues through the industrial cycle, and ends when products are in the possession of satisfied customers. This type of quality-control function requires quality assurance at optimum quality costs. The function operates in four control categories: new design, incoming materials, product or shop floor, and special process studies. Total quality engineering, inspection, and test are subfunctions that support a feedback cycle of quality analysis. Topics include cost accounting and the cost segments of quality.

The article refers to the Mother Hubbard Suit filed in 1940 by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and discusses research on marketing "divorcement" in the petroleum industry. The outcome of a case started in 1950 by the Antitrust Division, which charged seven integrated oil companies with conspiracy to restrain competition and create a monopoly, is expected to impact the direction of public policy. The issues are: jobber margins; vertical integration; divorcement of marketing from the production, refining, and transportation of petroleum products; the distinction between subsidization and price discrimination when supply is abundant; and "net-back" to the refinery. The study found that divorcement leads to higher prices and inefficiency.

The article mentions the problem of employee turnover and human relations training courses in the United States. Some losses in the work force can be explained by the free economy that expands and relocates, young workers who return to school, and married women who resign their jobs due to family responsibilities. The relative cost of labor turnover can be reduced by improved employment and selection procedures, adequate job training and orientation, better wages and working conditions, and the development of human relations training for supervisors. Topics include employee surveys, two improvements that should be made in human-relations training programs, and sociocultural reasons for labor mobility.

The article refers to a controversial marketing campaign introduced by American Television Dealers and Manufacturers and proposes several commandments for ethical advertising in the United States. An advertisement offended the public at a time when the Federal Communications Commission approved a CBS color system and an excise tax was established on television receivers. The radio and newspaper advertising copy was criticized for violating good taste. Five commandments proposed by the National Better Business Bureau include the ideas that advertising should not undermine parent-child relations or coerce parents into buying the product.

The article reports on the issues concerning the Railway Labor Act of 1926 and Taft-Harley law which are aimed towards preventing labor disputes in the U.S. It states that the number of strikes had increased under the Railway Labor Act in 1948. It mentions that the amendment of the Railway Labor Act and the Taft-Harley law might reduce the frequency of labor disputes.

The article focuses on the failure of the U.S. Railway Labor Act to prevent a rail strike. It notes that the voluntary arbitration and fact-finding features of the Act were not able to prevent the strike staged on May 10, 1950. It is said that compulsory arbitration can be added to the labor law to ensure a strikeproof law. The strike at issue, participated in by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, concerns a union demand for a second fireman on multiple-unit diesels.

The article reports on the recommendation of Senator John Bankhead and Representative Henry B. Steagall to the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) regarding the termination of importing businesses in the U.S. According to them, the continuous adoption of foreign buying could lead to postwar surpluses which could further result to big business losses. It highlights some ways to resolve the problem, particularly the relocation of CCC's international purchase activities to the Office of Economic Warfare.

The article offers information on the Reconstruction Finance Corp. (RFC), the U.S. government's program to end deflation and revive trade and its implications to every businessman. It discusses the strategy of the RFC which involves defensive and offensive measures, what the RFC will do for several industries, including the building industry, railroad industry and small businesses, and how credit will be obtainable from the RFC. It also describes how the RFC will stimulate business.

The article focuses on the move of a coalition of consumer and activist groups to organize a series of anti-inflation rallies in various U.S. cities in November 1974, which will include an attack on increased corporate profits. It says that protesters aim to urge the government to freeze prices, increase corporate taxes, and pay for more public employment. Wendell Young, president of Local 1357 of the Retail Clerks union, cites that the tremendous profiteering should be exposed to the public.

The article offers U.S. business and industrial news briefs as of November 1963. The stocks of companies including automobile producers Chrysler and General Motors and retailer Sears Roebuck have almost reached their individual high prices in in the Dow Jones industrial average stock price index. According to a study by the U.S. Salvage Association, a number of ship accidents could be avoided by using stronger steel in construction. Door-to-door cosmetics sales company Avon is thriving.

The article focuses on the effect of the national election in the U.S. to labor unions. It states that labor conflicts are being resolved since the election, in which almost all of them considerably on management's terms. It says that because of the results of the election, the Farm Equipment Workers (FEW) was forced to terminate the strike against International Harvester. Meanwhile, a victory among the Democrats would have boosted the morale of labor unions.

The article features the book "Mr. Executive: Keep Well, Live Longer," by Peter J. Steincrohn that provides suicide tips as shock treatment for businessmen in the U.S. It states that most executives' work may be stubborn and obtuse in relation to keeping a healthy life and staying alive. It mentions the impact of tension in a businessman's health and notes the importance of relaxation, exercise, and an annual medical checkup on the executives' health.

The article focuses on the move taken by the U.S., Great Britain and Russia to keep their uranium-enriched production facilities running and avoid shut down through enriched uranium production for non-military purposes. It says that the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) considers to cutback weapon-grade fissionable material production. It states that British AEC will sign a contract to supply enriched uranium to Japan Atomic Power Co.

The article presents news briefs related to business in the U.S. as of September 1933. The bituminous coal code, which will take effect on October 2, 1933, is expected to help prevent the strike of soft and hard coal miners. The automotive industry has complained with the provisions of the steel code for all-rail freight rates. The low rates announced by Muscle Shoals have benefited both the public and private utilities.

The article reports on the approved plan by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee which objects to head off corporate losses.

This section offers news briefs related to business in the U.S. as of August 27, 1938. Trade associations are expected to play a significant role in the planned anti-monopoly investigation by the Commerce Department. The farm program is being promoted by Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace on the backdrop of high surpluses of farm products. The initial goal of a survey of the steel industry by the Justice Department is to achieve wholesome results.