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I. Executive Summary:
Purpose Statement:
General Objectives:
Faced with intensely competitive pressures, what actions should Land O'Lakes adopt in order to stay as industry leader?
Problem:
Unexpected challenges in recent years had included price declines in various farm industries?dairy, feed, layers (chickens that lay eggs), and swine?and increased competitive pressures in the farm input supply industry.
Land O'Lakes had been badly hurt by downturns in its swine and fertilizer segments. Similar downturns had contribu;ed to the bankruptcy of two other large regional cooperatives- Farmland Industries and Ag-way. In September 2002. the financial community pointed out that Land O'Lakes' debt was trading below par shortly after it released its quarterly earnings report in July 2002. The markets Judged the company's performance outlook as neutral to not good.
Alternative Courses of Action
A. To develop high quality and innovative products and the most well- known brands.
B. To expand operations and increase product capacity.
C. To seal mergers and acquisitions joint ventures and asset sales to grow the business.
Recommendation
Jack Gherty's leadership has been an important part in organization's success to this point but rumours exist that he may be moving on in the near ...