Word: benedetti
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...time, Olivetti sorely lacked the kind of foresight and strategic thinking necessary for a company in modern office equipment. Among De Benedetti's first moves was stepping up research and development--from $28.3 million in 1978 to $130 million last year. He abandoned the manufacture of money-losing mechanical equipment like typewriters. He also began paring down a swollen payroll. From 61,500 employees when he took over, the number dropped to 47,600 last year, and is still declining. As a result, productivity has leaped more than 22% annually for the past two years...
...Benedetti, the moves taken to rescue Olivetti in the late 1970s were only emergency first aid. Now he has to make the company a player in the global electronics field. He foresees a struggle looming in the industrialized world for the automation market, which is expected to more than double in size by 1990, to $100 billion. Says he: "We have to remain No. 1 in Europe and also become a major world leader. It may seem paradoxical to mention survival and expansion at the same time, but in our business there is no future in becoming a second-, third...
...tactics, De Benedetti has sought strategic allies in the biggest computer market of them all, the U.S. In December 1983, Olivetti and American Telephone & Telegraph announced that the U.S. giant would put up $260 million to buy 25% of Olivetti, with an option to expand its share up to 40%. De Benedetti considers the agreement "a brilliant alliance," formidable enough to take...
...Benedetti continues to pursue foreign partners. Last week Olivetti announced that Xerox will now market Olivetti's M-24 personal computer in the U.S. and Canada under the Xerox name. Market experts estimate the U.S. firm may sell some 30,000 of the machines a year. At the same time, Rank Xerox, the firm's British operation, will work with Olivetti to produce and market equipment in Europe and Asia...
...attempt to make Olivetti a world leader in electronics seems like a logical corporate strategy. But what about De Benedetti's interest in both electronics and food? The chairman insists that it is a marriage of perfectly suited partners. He notes that the food industry has a low rate of expansion, but great stability and a consistent cash flow. The electronics business, on the other hand, has just the opposite: a rapid rate of growth, but also high risk. Says De Benedetti: "The two activities, in a sense, are perfectly integrated...