Word: tires
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Less than two years ago, Akron's Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., the second largest U.S. tiremaker, behind Goodyear, was skidding almost uncontrollably toward bankruptcy. Sales to the U.S. auto industry were sharply off, and some of Firestone's most faithful customers, like Ford, had been turning to France's Michelin for radial tires for certain models. In addition, Firestone was reeling from a 1978 agreement with the Government forcing it to begin recalling up to 10 million of its 500 radial because of possibly dangerous defects. Related consumer and class-action lawsuits against the company sought damages...
...looked like a crisis that could be dealt with only by an expert in the tire industry. But the board of directors unexpectedly went outside the business and chose John Nevin, 54, the silver-haired chairman of Zenith Radio Corp., to head Firestone. Nevin was not a total stranger to Firestone's world. Earlier in his career, he had been general manager of Ford Motor Co.'s parts division. Says he: "I knew tires and tire companies well...
Nevin moved swiftly. During 1980 he cut excess capacity by closing seven Firestone tire plants in the U.S. and Canada, leaving ten, and reduced employment from 107,000 to 83,000. He slashed plant capacity, in part because he believes that tire sales in the foreseeable future will not return to the levels set during the early 1970s. Reasons: radials wear much longer than bias tires, and auto production is unlikely to reach its prior peak levels...
...Linowitz, Senior Partner, Coudert Bros.; William S. Litwin, President, Kero-Sun Inc.; Stewart G. Long, Vice President, Trans World Airlines Inc.; Henry Luce III, President, Henry Luce Foundation Inc.; Robert H. Malott, Chairman, EMC Corp.; Gerald C. Meyers, Chairman, American Motors Corp.; John J. Nevin, Chairman, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.; Frank Pace Jr., President, International Executive Service Corps; Donald S. Perkins, Chairman, Jewel Companies Inc.; Paul C. Sheeline, Chairman, Inter-Continental Hotels Corp.; Forrest N. Shumway, Chairman, Signal Companies Inc.; John G. Smale, President, Procter & Gamble Co.; Thomas J. Watson Jr., Chairman emeritus, International Business Machines Corp.; George Weissman, Chairman...
...from less than $1 million during its first year of business. One Barter Systems missive to some of its 25,000 clients earlier this year: WANTED: $300,000 WORTH OF DRIED MILK OR CORNFLAKES, IN RETURN FOR AN AIRPLANE OF EQUAL VALUE. In another case, Barter Systems helped a tire company trade a jet airplane for $1.3 million worth of coal...