Awesomely Simple: Essential Business Strategies for Turning Ideas Into Action

4.12. CASE STUDY: BRINGING A COMPANY BACK FROM THE BRINK

As a serious student of business, I was keeping a close eye on the developments at Xerox as it struggled mightily to avoid bankruptcy in 2000. When Anne Mulcahy took over the reins as CEO, it was, in her own words, not exactly the "dream of a lifetime" to inherit a company with nearly $19 billion in debt and a share price that had been cut in half. Rather than doing what many turnaround CEOs would do (slash, burn, and cut), she decided to make a phone call. Even though she did not know him personally, Mulcahy was able to get Warren Buffett on the phone and eventually join him for dinner to discuss what he recommended as the best course of action for turning around Xerox. His advice was ...