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Harnischfer Case Study
Harnischfeger Case Study Given the business conditions Harnischfeger was facing in its primary industries in 1984, are these economic assumptions justified?
Describe clearly the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984 as stated in Note 2 of its financial statements.
The changes that the company made were to taking a significant amount of write offs and sales of different subsidiaries. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
What is the effect of the depreciation accounting method change on the reported income in 1984? How will this change affect profits in future years?
Deprecation caused the losses for the firm to increase and the earnings to decline. In future, these shifts will improve the balance sheet and accelerate earnings. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
What is the effect of the depreciation lives change? How will this change affect future reported profits?
Depreciation lives change, will make the financial picture in the current year look worse. This will have a positive impact on future profits by improving the balance sheet and earnings per share. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
Yes. This is because the company is dealing with a slowdown it faced in manufacturing and over purchasing its equipment. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
In Note 7, Harnischfeger describes the effect of LIFO inventory liquidation on its reported profits in 1984. Describe what is meant by LIFO liquidation and how liquidation affects a company's income statement and balance sheet.
LIFO liquidation means the company is selling their latest equipment first. The affects this is having on the balance sheet is to improve the company's liquidity position. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
Note 8 states Harnischfeger's allowance for doubtful accounts. Compute the ratio of the allowance to gross receivables (receivables before the allowance) in 1983…
The changes in the pension plan were focused on changing the assumed rate of return, lowering the company's contribution and restricting employee contracts. The effects on the company are it will make the firm more competitive by decreasing the cost structure. In the case of employees, this will increase what they are paying for their pension contributions. ("Harnischfeger Corporation," 2012)
How did the pension plan changes affect Harnischfeger's financial statements in 1984? Are these changes likely to affect future profits?
The changes to the pension plan improved company's financial position. In the future, this makes the firm's future profit margins stronger. ("Harnischfeger Corporation,"
If it is felt that this is not the case, then another question needs to be answered -- to what extent are the policies and strategies of FedEx management related to the company's performance. Although it has long been held that the company is an economic bellwether on account of their customer base, there are certain aspects of the firm's business model that contribute to their performance, in particular