Case : Deutsche Brauerei
Scheweitzer directors Team (Greta, uncle Lukas)
For the “Deutsche Brauerei” case you are one of the two team leaders. Your
team plays the role of Scheweitzer directors studying the overall situation of the
company. The other team plays the role of a committee within the board of
directors in charge of studying the business of the firm in Ukraine including the
performance and remuneration of Oleg Pinchuk.
At the end of session 5, both teams will interact within a role playing
representation in order to make an introduction of the case to the class. The
objective is to let the class know what the situation of the company is, and what
will be discussed and analyzed in session 6.
At the beginning of session 6 the main analysis and discussion will be developed.
You will continue playing the role indicated in order to present a deeper analysis
of the situation and decide over the alternative actions.
During the representation and in the final report your team is expected to aboard
the following “Deutsche Brauerei’s Directors role team questions”:
1.
What accounts for Deutsche Brauerei’s rapid growth in recent years?
Specifically, what policy choices account for this success? How has the
company been doing? What is its strategy?
2.
What is Deutsche Brauerei’s credit policy toward its distributors in
Germany and Ukraine? Is the company’s credit policy appropriate? Is it
profitable? If not, how would you change it? If so, what arguments would
you offer to the board of directors in its defense?
3.
What does the financial forecast tell us? The sources-and-uses-of-funds
statement? The financial ratios?
4.
Why does this profitable firm need to borrow?
5. What would be your conclusion from a break-even and operating leverage
analysis?
6. What risks is the company assuming? What returns are possible?
7. Let’s return to the issues at hand: financial plan, dividend declaration,
compensation. As Greta Schweitzer, how would you vote on your Uncle
Lukas’s proposals regarding (1) the financing plan for 2001, (2) the
dividend declaration, and (3) compensation for Pinchuk? If different, what
should Greta Schweitzer propose instead?