Word: far-flung
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When Investors Douglas Ruhe and William Geissler bought United Press International in 1982, they hoped that the worldwide information gatherer, which has lost money for more than 20 years, would break even in 1984. The actual news, however, has been disappointing. Tied to a far-flung bureau system with high communication costs and over shadowed by the Associated Press, U.P.I, is still staggering...
...Lorean saga is far from concluded. His legal expenses are reported to be close to $1 million, he faces suits from creditors seeking $25 million or more, and his once far-flung estates are tied up in legal wrangles. The British government, which put $156 million into financing his now bankrupt automobile factory in Northern Ireland, is demanding an accounting of $17.65 million that investigators say was apparently funneled into private bank accounts. And in Detroit, John De Lorean's home town, he is still the subject of a federal grand jury investigation paralleling the British probe into...
...far-flung Sears was very much on the mind of its founder, Richard W. Sears. A supersalesman, he saw no reason why Sears could not sell anything. He even set up a banking department with savings and checking services in 1899 that paid 5% interest on deposits, then folded the operation in 1903. But that was later. In 1886, then a restless 23-year-old railroad-station agent in North Redwood, Minn., Sears bought a consignment of gold-filled pocket watches that had been rejected by a local jeweler, resold them to other station agents at a $2 profit apiece...
When Telling became chairman in 1978, Sears was more like a far-flung feudal kingdom than a smooth-running company. Store managers ordered goods in a haphazard way and sometimes ignored merchandising strategies planned at headquarters. Telling cut costs and raised sales by imposing discipline and direction from the Sears Tower in Chicago. To add spark to the company, he eased out complacent old-line executives and appointed younger, fresher lieutenants to key positions. Says Telling: "It was very lonely. What I did had to be done, but I knew I wouldn't be very popular...
Some 30 Afghan agents took up positions in Saudi Arabia, working for small companies that handled the shipment of cargo to Asia. There they were put in charge of sending out electronic equipment, sewing machines and fertilizers, as well as religious materials going to far-flung Muslims in Malaysia, Indonesia and, of course, Pakistan. To these regular shipments, the Afghans would sometimes add a few cases of arms, specially coded for quick detection by their colleagues. "We began modestly, because we were new to the game," one recruit says. "But as we got the hang of it, we were gradually...