A further eight weeks have passed since the discussion concerning Wodd's creation of an accredited Forest Certification Service.

Wodd's Chairman has asked you to a meeting:

"I thought that we had a lucky escape over the Barry Crauder story from a recent news article, but the Government is considering modifying the tax arrangements associated with forestry. Professional forestry companies such as Wodd will continue to pay no tax on forestry profits, but private individuals such as Mr Crauder will be taxed on profits just as they would for any other business. The Government is taking this action because public opinion is against granting generous tax relief to wealthy individuals.

For the moment, this is all highly secret. The minister responsible for forestry has spoken to the chairmen of all of the major forestry companies on the basis that each gives a personal guarantee to respect the Government's confidence. The minister has done so because she is concerned that stock markets will panic when the news of the tax changes are announced next week. If the shareholders incorrectly believe that we will lose the tax shield on our profits then the share price will drop like a stone. We will be able to announce that we are aware of the changes and that we will not be taxed differently because of them.

I have spoken to the Board about this, making them promise not to repeat any of this information. We have called in and briefed the key analysts who advise the main institutional investors in Marland on the forestry industry.

As things stand, we can expect a lot of the wealthy individuals who own forests to divest themselves as soon as they discover that there are no more tax incentives. That will have significant implications for Wodd, both directly and indirectly.

The Board believes that the markets will overreact when the tax changes are first announced and that we will be unable to do much to manage that. One suggestion that has been put forward is that we should increase the dividend slightly as a signal that we are confident in the future strength of the industry. I suspect that the executive directors are just a little too concerned with the fact that they all have stock options that can only be exercised on a date that falls just after the government is due to announce its intentions on tax.

I need your thoughts in order to have an independent viewpoint from that voiced by the Board:

What effect will the tax changes have on our business?

Do you agree that briefing the analysts will mitigate the risk of our share price overreacting when the tax changes are announced?

Will the additional dividend payment help to maintain the share price?

Is granting executive stock options always a sound basis for aligning the interests of the executive directors and the shareholders?"

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The following email has been forwarded to you by William Seaton, Director of Finance:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Email from CFO of Fouce Oil

Hi

This email arrived last night. I need you to help me to think through the various implications of doing what it suggests before I present it to the Board. I need you to focus on the following issues:

Would this proposal make sense from a strategic point of view?

If we did decide to go ahead, what would be the issues that we would have to consider with respect to informing the stock market?

Could you please email me your thoughts within the next hour? I have to brief the Board later today.

Thanks

William

The email referred to can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.

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Reference Material:

You have received the following email from Marcus Svenson, Finance Director:

From: Marcus Svenson, Finance Director

To: Senior Finance Manager

FW: Pricing

Hi,

I am forwarding an email from Sarah Johns.

Sarah has not been with us for very long and this is her first experience of dealing with a currency price movement.

I am really busy, so I need you to respond to her requests. Please email her as soon as possible.

Marcus

From: Sarah Johns, Marketing Director

To: Marcus Svenson, Finance Director

Subject: USD movement

Hi Marcus,

A lot of our biggest customers are threatening to cancel orders unless we reduce our selling prices. Timber and associated products are commodity items that are priced in USD, so I thought that our prices would automatically remain competitive regardless of what happened to the USD. I am particularly confused over domestic sales, because many of the customers who have threatened to cancel are based in this country and we invoice them in M$.

Please help me to understand why the M$/USD exchange rate can affect our competitive position in this way.

I also wish to know why you have chosen to do nothing to hedge against this risk. If you look at the attached article you will see that the USD is an issue in the business news.

Sarah

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The Director of Finance, William Seaton, has invited you into his office.

''This will come as a bit of a shock, but the Board has decided that it would be in our best interests to relocate our Head Office from Kayland to the Middle East. We have interests there, including a regional office, already. We know that the oil industry is welcome and there are several governments which are very open to such foreign direct investment from the West.

Nothing has been decided for certain, but there are compelling tax advantages to us relocating. We would also be subject to slightly less restrictive legal requirements. We can retain our listing on the Kayland stock exchange, albeit as a foreign company.

Things are very much under consideration at the moment, so please don't tell anybody about this conversation.

I want to check that I have thought of everything at the strategic level before we make an irreversible decision to move. I need you to write me a report on the following:

What are the strategic implications of moving our Head Office from Europe to the Middle East?

What are the strategic risks that might arise and how might we deal with them?

I need to have your thoughts soon because the Board is holding a special meeting this afternoon.''

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It is now three days since the start of the oil spillage crisis.

You have received the following email from William Seaton, Director of Finance:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Crisis management issues

Hi,

A quick update on the latest developments.

We have brought Block Associates in to lead the operations on dealing with the oil spill. It has assigned one of its leading consultants to take charge of this for us. We have paid Block Associates an annual retainer for many years, but we have never actually had to call on its services because we have been able to contain any environmental problems using our own resources.

Using Block Associates is going to be expensive. It insists on being free to bring in whatever equipment and personnel are required to resolve matters and to charge that on the basis of cost plus 25%. Our annual retainer is simply the cost of ensuring that it will respond on this basis if required.

We have had some murmurings of discontent already because our own engineers and geologists have made significant progress in identifying the cause of the spillage and they believe that they are capable of bringing it to a successful conclusion. They have suggested that it would be both quicker and cheaper to leave them in charge, while retaining the option to bring in Block Associates at a later date if they fail.

Firstly, what factors should we take into account in deciding whether to leave our own experts in charge of this operation rather than using Block Associates?

Secondly, how should we manage our relationship with Block Associates if we decide that it should be used?

Thirdly, two things: The Board is concerned that Slide's engineers and geologists have already become disillusioned by the decision to consider calling in Block Associates. We cannot afford to lose their commitment or to see them decide to leave Slide in the longer term. I need you to provide me with some ideas as to how we can motivate them to give their best performance for the duration of this crisis AND to inspire them to remain in Slide's employment after the crisis has been resolved.

William

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