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Out of pocket costs Southern division of Birch (where Thompson division
buy its linerboard and corrugating medium) : 400 * 70% * 60 * = 168.
Out of pocket costs Thompson division 400 (400*70%) = 120.
So the costs for the Birch company if accepting the bid of Thompson are
288 (168 + 120).
The costs for the Birch company are the lowest by accepting the bid of
Thompson.
Besides the lowest costs, there are more reasons why choosing the bid of
the Thompson division is in the best interest of the company.
That is because early in 2002 the Northern division designed a special
display box in conjunction with the Thompson division and the Thompson
division already spent a lot of time in making the box. If the Thompson
division isnt able to sell the box, there is a lot of time and money waste.
Besides this, the Southern division had been running below capacity, had
excess inventory and the Thompson division was also unable to operate at
capacity, so it is efficient to use this inventory for making the box, so there
is less under capacity in the Birch company.
So it is in the best of the Birch company to choose for the bid of the
Thompson division.
3) Should the vice-president intervene?
On the one hand, the vice president shouldnt intervene. The top officials
believed that in the past few years the concept of decentralization had
been successfully applied and companys profits and competitive position
had improved. So if the vice president intervene this will distort the
concept of decentralization. Besides this, the volume of the transactions
was less than 5% of the volume of any of the divisions involved, so this a
small volume.
But on the other hand, if the vice president doesnt intervene the Northern
division will choose for the bid of the West Paper company, because at this
bid the costs for the Northern division are the lowest and the managers of
the divisions are free to choose form which supplier they want to buy and
the division will be judged by their own profit. Choosing the West Paper bid
is not the optimal bid for the Birch company. Future transactions could
receive similar problems, so it is necessary for the vice president to
intervene now, to prevent future problems and costs of choosing the
wrong bid.
It is possible for top management to order the acceptance of another bid
and in this case the vice president should do this and choose for the bid of
the Thompson division.