A rare opportunity.A somewhat cynical friend enticed me into a small wager a couple of years ago by stating that he was willing to bet that Goodyear would no longer be headquartered in Akron five years hence. I thought this was highly impossible given the roots the company has in this community, the ties the company has with The University of Akron Enrollment in fall 2006 was 23,539 students.[1] The school offers more than 200 undergraduate degrees [2] and 100 graduate degrees [3]. The University's best-known program is its College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, which is located in a and its polymer program and a host of other reasons that made this wager a sure thing. After years of being on the wrong end of bets that are sure things, I should have known better. You can probably get good odds now that the blimp blimp: see airship. company might not be anywhere when the time expires on this wager. What has happened to the world largest tire manufacturer since it bought that title when it acquired Dunlop in 1999 borders on the unreal. The way their stock price plummeted would make you think they were one of the here today-gone-tomorrow high tech companies. Their stock was listed around $80 a few short years ago and recently it went below $4. The company didn't pay a dividend for the first time since 1937. Some analysts are predicting Chapter 11. Goodyear will idle 15% of its North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. tire manufacturing capacity and shift work to lower cost countries. It also eliminated 700 jobs in a restructuring of headquarters, and you know there will be more. You hate to say it, but those furloughed may be the lucky ones. You don't have to go far in this town to run into someone whose retirement plans have taken a serious beating because their retirement funds are connected to Goodyear's stock. This is the real tragedy of what's transpiring tran·spire v. tran·spired, tran·spir·ing, tran·spires v.tr. To give off (vapor containing waste products) through the pores of the skin or the stomata of plant tissue. v.intr. 1. . But it can change. The task confronting Robert Keegan as president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. is daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin , but to paraphrase par·a·phrase n. 1. A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning. 2. The restatement of texts in other words as a studying or teaching device. v. an old saying "he knew the job was dangerous when he took it." Keegan has begun negotiations with banks and lenders in modifying loan terms to improve financial flexibility. We will probably start hearing talks about the shedding of non-core businesses. Keegan is probably the most important president the company has had in its storied history. He can direct a complete reversal and reestablish the company as one of the bedrocks of U.S. business. This is an opportunity his predecessors never had. |
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