How Sandy Sigoloff's 'cook book' averted a world-record bankruptcy

Article Abstract:

The Wickes Companies of San Diego, California was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in April 1982, with the $4 billion retail operation facing the prospect of entering into the largest bankruptcy proceeding in history. Its new chairman, CEO and president at the time was Sanford Sigoloff, who assembled a top-flight reorganization team from countries all over the world to develop a plan that would allow the firm to survive. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Los Angeles is expected to approve the reorganization plan in September 1984, two and a half years after the initial reorganization plan was filed, making it the fastest large reorganization approval in U.S. corporate history. The creation and implementation of the plan and Sigoloff's role in its development and application are described.

BUILDING MATERIALS & GARDEN SUPPLIES, Retail industry, Retail trade, Bankruptcy, Wickes Companies Inc., Sigoloff, Sanford C.

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Revamping organization to handle international growth

Article Abstract:

Jurgen Heraeus, CEO of W.C. Heraeus GmbH of West Germany, a 100-year-old precious metals refiner and marketer, has developed a plan of acquisitions and divestment which he hopes will allow the company to double in size in only six years to $2 billion in annual sales by 1990. The company has traditionally been perceived as a conservative firm that preferred to keep a low profile, much as the family that founded it has chosen to be perceived. Upon being named to the top spot at the company in January 1983, Jurgen Heraeus decided to restructure the firm along more modern lines, creating six divisions for better control and implementing an improved planning mechanism and information-exchange system in management. The benefits produced by the changes are described.

PRIMARY METAL INDUSTRIES, Planning, Germany, Metal industries, International aspects, International business enterprises, Multinational corporations, Executives, Business planning, Metal industry, Industrial management, Decentralization (Management), Germany, West, Heraeus, Jurgen, W.C. Heraeus GmbH

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Harley-Davidson takes lessons from arch-rivals' handbook

Article Abstract:

Vaughn Beals, CEO of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Co., was able to rescue the company, the last U.S. manufacturer of motorcycles, from imminent collapse by implementing manufacturing strategies borrowed from the Japanese manufacturers which had come to control the U.S. market. Since his appointment to the position in 1981 following a leveraged buy-out of the company from AMF Inc., he has seen the firm's market share grow to 15 percent in 1984 from a low of 9 percent in 1983 after having reached 21 percent in 1979. The effects of the company's complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission that Japanese motorcycle makers were dumping products on the U.S. market and the management strategies that helped turn the company around are described.

Motorcycles, bicycles, and parts, Motorcycles, Harley-Davidson Motor Co., Beals, Vaughn

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