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"Panasonic tells how a typical Japanese multinational learned to restructure itself according to this flexible "American" approach while preserving some essential Japanese attributes. Panasonic is the main brand name for Matsushita Electric Industrial Company; author Francis McInerney consulted for Matsushita's American subsidiary in the late 1990s—when the firm's troubles became most apparent."
Time to buy Lucent? It's still not clear Analysis: It's back in business, but business isn't all back
Dow Jones Marketwatch.com, November 06, 2004
Jeffrey Bartash
North River Ventures analyst Francis McInerney, one of the shrewdest observers of the high-tech scene, points out that Lucent is managing its cash inflow much better.
Receivables -- money owed for products shipped -- have fallen to 56 days from 119 days five years ago. And inventories on hand have been cut in half to 31 days from 64 days four years ago. That frees the company's cash up for better uses.
"Lucent still has some distance to go to get to Cisco's benchmark for the sector, but these improvements are huge, in the right direction, and show management has its head screwed on right," McInerney wrote in a recent report.
