You're sitting in your office perhaps for the last time. In less than an hour is your annual shareholder's meeting. In the last year, your share...

You're sitting in your office perhaps for the last time. In less than an hour is your annual shareholder's meeting. In the last year, your share price has fallen from $62 a share to $9.50 a share. You must address the shareholders, explain what happened, act contrite, accept responsibility, and hope that you can stay employed. Here's what happened:In response to competitive forces, your firm made the decision 8 years ago to locate its newest and largest manufacturing plant overseas. You opened the door to offers from several nations. Each country offered tax incentives, cheap labor, good logistics, and loose environmental regulation. You weren't CEO yet you were the Chief Marketing Officer. You didn't have much to do with that decision but you thought it was a great idea and you saw the value of your options soar over the next few years.Five years ago you became CEO. The new plant was built, the tax advantages were obvious, the cost of labor was declining, the quality of the product was undiminished, and your cost of goods sold had fallen from 48% of sales to 39% of sales. Life was good. Things continued to improve as you shifted more and more of your production to the new facility. There were only minor repercussions as you idled domestic plants and laid off surplus workforce. Eventually, you gave the company a significant financial windfall when you sold the 100 acre property your Phoenix plant sat on to a group who used it to build 1,043 new tract homes. The government of LaLa Land (the country where you built the plant) has been a joy to work with. They've been supportive to the point of being solicitous. No government official ever asked for or received any personal compensation from your firm and you personally have been treated like royalty every time you've visited the plant last time you were there, you were invited to dinner with the country's ruler, the Majarincess of LaLa Land. She was enchanting.Three weeks ago, you received an unbelievable message from LaLa Land. It read:The government and the people of LaLa Land have appreciated the relationship we've established over the last many years. The jobs created and the training given to our people have greatly increased the standard of living in LaLa Land. But in order for our standard of living to continue to increase, it is necessary that we begin to earn a higher return on the raw materials taken from our land and on the labor of our people. Together with parliament, I have therefore decided that it is necessary to nationalize your plant and declare it property of the government of LaLa Land. As of this day, the army has assumed control for the security of the plant and all non-citizen employees have had their visas revoked and are being escorted to their homes to mark their belongings. Those will be shipped to you forthwith. By tomorrow, all non-citizen employees will be en-route out of LaLa Land.Should you wish to enter negotiations to purchase the product of our plant, we will be happy to entertain your bid.Respectfully Submitted,XXXXX

Dear Shareholders,What I am going to inform you is really regrettable or rather many of you won't even love tobelieve me. However, being the CEO, I would certainly say that this is the worst we...