I will pay for the following essay Nissan Renault and Carlos Ghosn: Optimizing Operations. The essay is to be 6 pages with three to five sources, with in-text citations and a reference page.Download f

I will pay for the following essay Nissan Renault and Carlos Ghosn: Optimizing Operations. The essay is to be 6 pages with three to five sources, with in-text citations and a reference page.

Ghosn, who was born to Lebanese parents in Brazil, also had to overcome an entrenched Japanese business culture that at that time had seemed to stress perks, seniority and relationships over the bottom line. Given complete control over the company, Ghosn slashed costs and laid off employees, as was expected, but also instituted a sweeping reorganization of the entire company, announced an ambitious slate of new vehicles and promised that if Nissan was not profitable in 2000, he and his entire managerial staff would quit.

Under the leadership of CEO Carlos Ghosn, Nissan is now the most profitable of the world's five biggest automakers in terms of sales with a 10 percent operating margin in the three months that ended in December 2004.That compares with 9.1 percent for Toyota Motor and 0.5 percent for General Motors, according to Merrill Lynch. Ghosn has promised more good news to Nissan investors. By 2008, he says, Nissan's dividend will have doubled to ¥40 per share, sales will have increased by 27 percent to 4.2 million vehicles and the company's operating margin and its 20 percent return on invested capital will have been maintained. ( BusinessWeek, 2004)

The aim of this paper is to analyze and be able to appreciate the measures employed by Carlos Ghosn that enabled the optimization of its operations and ensuring profitability.

2.0 Nissan Revival Plan

In October of 1999, Nissan Motor Company, Ltd. announced a far reaching recovery plan that is designed to achieve lasting and profitable growth for Nissan worldwide. The Nissan Revival Plan combines initiatives to grow Nissan's business and market presence and reduce costs by 1 trillion Yen and net debt from 1.4 trillion Yen to less than 700 billion Yen by FY2002. However, while cost cutting is central to the strategy, Nissan's chief operating officer Carlos Ghosn remarked that the company can not save its way to success. Emphasis must also be placed on product development and sales growth. In the following discussion, I will be delineating the measures employed by Nissin to meet the objectives that were set put in the Revival Plan.

2.1 Optimization of Production Capacity

Nissan's manufacturing plants, including those in Japan, have become burdened by excess production capacity and high fixed costs. Nissan reduced capacity in Japan and simplified its production scheme which resulted to lean and flexible manufacturing base. As a consequence, Nissan implemented the following plant closures:

car assembly plants: Murayama, Shatai Kyoto and Aichi Kikai Minato

power train operations: Kurihama Plant and Kyushu Engine Shop.

Before and during 1999, previous production of 1.28 million units annually represented 53 percent capacity utilization. Under the Revival Plan, capacity in Japan was reduced by 30 percent to 1.65 million vehicles, raising the utilization rate to 82 percent by FY 2002. Ghosn's rationale, which most operations analysts would agree, was that the plant closures will guarantee the future of the remaining plants by allowing them to be industry leaders, both in terms of productivity and cost effectiveness. Nissan took advantage of the reduction in the number of platforms to further simplify the manufacturing scheme. In 1999, Nissan's complex manufacturing structure in Japan includes 24 platforms for production at seven assembly plants.