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Posts Tagged ‘Report’


Posted on May 16, 2012 - by

You are a professional business consultant. Write the report called for in the Mountainside Industries case?

Please note carefully the task you are being assigned, and also the circumstances.
You should not repeat or summarize the information given in the case description, since
the person you’re writing to obviously knows all about it already — in fact she’s the one
who told it to you. Just focus on giving her advice about what to do now.

Note also that this is an external report — that is, you are not part of the firm but are an outside consultant who has been called in to help.

MOUNTAINSIDE INDUSTRIES

Mrs. R. K. Hill, owner of Mountainside Industries, has called you in as a consultant. Believing that tighter coordination among the divisions of her company was necessary, she created the post of general manager a year ago and hired Don Henson, an experienced accountant, to fill it. Things have not worked out well, however, and she is now seeking your advice.

After studying the situation, you have come up with the following information. Write her a report — accompanied by a letter of transmittal — advising her about what to do now.

When Don Henson came to Mountainside Industries a year ago, he understood that his assignment was to bring about tighter coordination among its four divisions. The company had earlier experienced great success, but in recent years competition has become much more serious, and now Mrs. Hill, the owner, recognizes that the company must make its operations more efficient if it is to survive.

Presently in its 37th year, Mountainside Industries is the result of mergers among four originally separate small cottage industries — candy, toys, crafts, and furniture — in four widely dispersed Appalachian mountain locations. Using the philosophy of a “benevolent owner,” Mrs. Hill originally allowed each of them to continue to operate pretty much as it did before the merger. Within the last few years, however, she has found that two of the divisions (crafts and furniture) have repeatedly placed large orders with the same supplier without each other’s knowledge and thereby failed to take advantage of quantity discounts, and that the candy and toy divisions have been duplicating their marketing efforts and failing to use some obvious opportunities for combining their products. Mr. Henson’s job was to correct these and similar problems.

Mrs. Hill notified the divisions about Mr. Henson’s appointment but then left the work to him, without interference. After making initial visits to each of the divisions, he communicated thereafter by letter and telephone. Since he noticed, as Mrs. Hill had told him he would, that major purchases were being made without central coordination, he quickly instituted a policy requiring each divisional purchasing office to submit all purchase orders for $1,000 or more to him for approval before sending them to vendors. His letter to the divisions explained the reasons for the new procedure.

At the end of the first year, however, his office had not received any purchase orders at all. Investigation showed that many in excess of $1,000 had in fact been issued all along during the year.

This is the point at which Mr. Henson came back to Mrs. Hill for advice about how to get cooperation from his subordinates.


Posted on September 6, 2011 - by

Pt. 7, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


David Fink, policy and communications director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, discusses the importance of stable housing for children at a forum held by the Connecticut Commission on Children on January 13, 2009, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.


Posted on September 3, 2011 - by

Pt. 5, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


David Carter, chancellor of the Connecticut State University System, discusses the value of investing in children in tough economic times at forum held by the Connecticut Commission on Children on January 13, 2009, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.


Posted on February 19, 2011 - by

Report: iPhone Users Worth More Than Android Users

iPhone owners bring in more money in just about every category.

View full post on Fool.com: The Motley Fool


Posted on January 21, 2011 - by

Pt. 1, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


Dr. M. Alex Geertsman, chair of the Connecticut Commission on Children, opens “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children,” on January 13, 2009, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.


Posted on January 3, 2011 - by

Pt. 4, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


Elaine Zimmerman, executive director of the Connecticut Commission on Children, outlines how Connecticut’s children are faring in the recession, January 13, 2009, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.


Posted on December 31, 2010 - by

Pt. 12, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


Responses to the presentations made at “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children,” a forum held by the Connecticut Commission on Children, January 13, 2009.


Posted on December 16, 2010 - by

Pt. 11, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


Responses to the presentations made at “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children,” a forum held by the Connecticut Commission on Children, January 13, 2009.


Posted on December 7, 2010 - by

Pt. 2, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on CT’s Children”


Elaine Zimmerman, executive director of the Connecticut Commission on Children, outlines how Connecticut’s children are faring in the recession, January 13, 2009, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.


Posted on December 1, 2010 - by

Pt. 9, “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children”


Joseph McGee, vice president for public policy and programs at the Business Council of Fairfield County, talks about the need to preserve reading programs at “Smart Investments in Hard Times: A Report on Connecticut’s Children,” a forum held by the Connecticut Commission on Children, January 13, 2009.