Tyco

Are there any magical solutions or potions that can transform any company into a successful organization overall? No, (at least I have not heard of any) but in my opinion a great deal of achievement lies in the planning function of management. Successful implementation of management's plans is also just as important as the plan itself. Both planning and implementation of those plans create victories for any company in my opinion. Unlike many companies that have made headlines with corporate scandals, Tyco International has managed to overcome their tragedy by restructuring and planning. With their new Ceo, Edward Breen, Tyco has planned new goals and strategies. Implementing these goals is now the responsibility of the whole company. I will explain in brief: their planning function of management; the impact that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility has had on planning; and the three factors that have influenced strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning.

Tyco's managerial success stems from a long history of planning strategies and implementation of those strategies. In 1960, Tyco was founded by Arthur Rosenburg, Ph.D. and had begun a long journey of growth through acquisitions of various businesses. By 1968, Tyco had acquired 16 companies. Tyco's history in brief:

It has always been Tyco's policy to acquire profitable companies and to operate them at continually increasing profitability for the benefit of its shareholders. For that reason, after Tyco's 1973-1982 period of rapid growth, management focused on strengthening the company from within. To do so, Tyco organized its subsidiaries into three business segments (Fire Protection, Electronics and Packaging), and created an operating plan that focused on strengthening market leadership and being the high-quality, low-cost producer within its markets. The plan's objectives were:

To achieve significant market share in each of its principal product lines;

Establishment of each product line as the leader and high-value producer in its field;

To maintain, throughout all Tyco business segments and product lines, a reputation for product quality, reliability, and customer service.

Tyco accomplished this by:

Decentralizing company operations into a more cost-effective, independent profit center operating system;

Selling unprofitable units and existing business, and divesting itself of companies not fully owned by Tyco;

Reducing administrative overhead by consolidating under Tyco Corporate appropriate business functions like: taxes, legal, financial reporting, insurance and human resources;

Reducing subsidiary operating costs by providing them with opportunities to take advantage of Tyco's global corporate economies of scale through such activities like inter-company purchasing of raw materials.

In 1986, Tyco returned its focus to sharply accelerating growth. During this period, it reorganized its subsidiaries into what became the basis for the current business segments: Electrical and Electronic Components, Healthcare and Specialty Products, Fire and Security Services, and Flow Control. The Company's name was changed from Tyco Laboratories, Inc. to Tyco International Ltd. in 1993, to reflect Tyco's global presence. Furthermore, it became, and remains, Tyco's policy to add high-quality, cost-competitive, lower-tech industrial/commercial products to its product lines whenever possible.

The Company also adopted synergistic and strategic acquisition guidelines which established three base-line standards for potential acquisitions:

An acquisition candidate must be in a business related to one of Tyco's four business segments;

It must be able to expand the product line