Question

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. is one of Korea’s largest industrial producers. According to an article in BusinessWeek Online, the company is not only the world’s largest shipbuilder but also manufactures other industrial goods ranging from construction equipment and marine engines to building power plants and oil refineries worldwide. Despite being a major industrial force in Korea, several of the company’s divisions are unprofitable, or “bleeding red ink” in the words of the article. Indeed, last year the power plant and oil refineries building division recorded a $105 million loss, or 19 percent of its sales. Hyundai Heavy Industries recently hired a new CEO who is charged with the mission of bringing the unprofitable divisions back to profitability. According to BusinessWeek, Hyundai’s profit-driven CEO has provided division heads with the following ultimatum: “…hive off money-losing businesses and deliver profits within a year—or else resign.” Suppose you are the head of the marine engine division and that it has been unprofitable for 7 of the last 10 years. While you build and sell in the competitive marine engines industry, your primary customer is Hyundai’s profitable ship-building division. This tight relationship is due, in large part, to the technical specifications of building ships around engines. Suppose that in our end-of-year report to the CEO you must disclose that while your division reduced costs by 10 percent, it still remains unprofitable. Make an argument to the CEO explaining why your division should not be shut down.

Answer 1