Question

You are the CEO of a major US equipment manufacturer that sells its industrial construction equipment worldwide. You have seen shrinking profits in the past 5 years due to competition from Chinese equipment manufacturers and your Board of Directors and shareholders are looking to you for profit improvement. You have been approached by the Mexican government to open a factory in Juarez (just across the border from El Paso, Texas) and the Mexican government will subsidize the facility construction if you can create 200 new jobs. Opening this facility in Mexico will mean a reduction of union workers in the US plant, but will save the company $20 million a year in labor costs. On the other hand, the US government is considering a Border Adjustment Tax on parts you produce in Mexico and bring back to the US plant for final assembly. The total costs of this Tax is unknown but it could be up to 40% of the value of items produced in the new Mexican facility.

On top of this, you are looking to expand your global sales presence into third world regions such as Central Africa, South East Asia, Central America and other regions that need construction equipment to expand their infrastructure and improve their local economies. Your Global Sales and Marketing teams have advised that Chinese manufacturers are also targeting these same regions. This same team also advises that the market potential in these regions could expand sales by 50% and profits by 15% over the next 3 years.

Keeping in mind that it is the fiduciary responsibility of all leaders of for-profit corporations to maximize shareholder value, start a thread that begins with your decision to open, or not to open, a facility in Mexico and explain, in detail, your reasoning.

Answer 1

In my opinion we should open a factory in Juarez due to following reason:-

1. Our organisation will get profit from mexican goverment in the form of subsidary.

2. Opening this facility in mexico will save company $ 20 million a year in labour cost.

3. We have to increase our production to expand our global sales into third world region,this pupose will be well served

by opening new factory in Juarez.

4.The cost of border tax adjustment could be eliminated at greator extent by 15 percent profit and expansion of sales by 50 percent in third world regions, which will prove benificial while competing with chinise product.