The Rover Group - Company and Cars is a comprehensive history of the company and a guide to its products. Centring on the period of the official existence of the Rover Group, the book also examines the events leading up to its formation in 1986 and its controversial aftermath, following its dismemberment in 2000. The book is backed by first-hand accounts from Rover employees, as well as a foreword by Jon Moulton, the man behind several bids to acquire elements of the company. Including production histories and full specification guides to its cars, The Rover Group is a compelling insider's account of one of the most controversial periods in the British motor industry. The book covers: the beginnings of Rover and its place in British Leyland; Land Rover's expansion in the 1980s and how it led to the foundation of the Rover Group; Rover under British Aerospace and the sell-off to BMW; Rover's struggle under German management and BMW's disposal of the Group and finally, the aftermath of Rover's collapse - MG Rover, Land Rover and MINI. Fully illustrated with 270 historical and original colour photographs.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: The target of this case study is to present and analyse the drastic false estimations made by BMW in planning and realising the Rover transition as well as its consequences. The worked out mistakes should be generalized in order to give opportunities of their avoidance for future M&A cases. After working out the M&A basics in the 1st chapter, the 2nd chapter deals with the reasons of BMW Management to buy another international manufacturer and gives a clue why the choice fell just on Rover. It opens with an overview of the economic development during the 6 years time period of the Rover takeover. After this, the economic and political environment is shown, also the market situation in the automobile segment in the year of the takeover, followed by the business course and goals of BMW as well as their alternatives. This chapter closes with the strategy and enterprise philosophy of BMW and with a list of the of the Rover Group s assets in 1994. In the 3rd and 4th chapters of this case study the mistakes of the BMW management attempting to integrate Rover into the BMW portfolio are shown and analysed, as well as its consequences for BMW and Rover. The 5th chapter will end with the conclusion, why the Rover takeover went wrong. Zusammenfassung: Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die strategischen Ziele, die Tragweite und die möglichen Folgen von M&A-Transaktionen in den Bereichen Finanzen (Investitionen und operatives Geschäft), Unternehmensführung- und Organisation sowie der Unternehmenskultur anhand dieses Unternehmenskaufes zu untersuchen. Dazu wurde die Arbeit in 6 Teile untergliedert. Im 1. Teil werden die allgemeinen M&A-Grundlagen beleuchtet, insbesondere die Ziele, Erscheinungsformen, rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen als auch die Vor- und Nachteile von M&A-Transaktionen. Im 2. Teil wird das Umfeld von BMW im Jahre 1994 analysiert, die strategischen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten dargestellt und untersucht, warum gerade die britische Rover Group der für BMW geeignete Übernahmekandidat zu sein schien. Im 3. und 4. Teil wird die Transaktion und ihre Folgephasen untersucht und die Gründe für das Scheitern der Übernahme herausgearbeitet. Die Zusammenfassung und kritische Bewertung der dem BMW Vorstand unterlaufenen Entscheidungsfehler bei der Auswahl und Führung von Rover erfolgt im 5. Teil. Die Arbeit schließt ab mit dem 6. Teil, in dem die finanziellen Auswirkungen der Transaktion kommentiert und anhand von 10 Säulen- [...]

In the years since the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and Opportunity first began transmitting images from the surface of Mars, we have become familiar with the harsh, rocky, rusty-red Martian landscape. But those images are much less straightforward than they may seem to a layperson: each one is the result of a complicated set of decisions and processes involving the large team behind the Rovers. With Seeing Like a Rover, Janet Vertesi takes us behind the scenes to reveal the work that goes into creating our knowledge of Mars. Every photograph that the Rovers take, she shows, must be processed, manipulated, and interpreted—and all that comes after team members negotiate with each other about what they should even be taking photographs of in the first place. Vertesi’s account of the inspiringly successful Rover project reveals science in action, a world where digital processing uncovers scientific truths, where images are used to craft consensus, and where team members develop an uncanny intimacy with the sensory apparatus of a robot that is millions of miles away. Ultimately, Vertesi shows, every image taken by the Mars Rovers is not merely a picture of Mars—it’s a portrait of the whole Rover team, as well.

This comprehensive pictorial overview of Rover cars covers 1945-2005 models. It describes and illustrates all the great classic Rovers up to and including the SD1, British Leyland models with Rover badges, the models designed in conjunction with Honda, the later British-designed cars and, finally, the little-known City Rover.

At a time when the manufacturing industry in Britain is coming under increasing focus, "Globalisation & Manufacturing Decline" provides a clear framework for positioning the key drivers and influences on automotive manufacturing in Britain today.

Providing an understanding of what is meant by quality and its unique position in a manufacturing environment to improve competitive business performance, this text defines all the fundamental ingredients required to introduce an improvement in quality. Concise and easy to read, the theory is backed up by numerous industrial experiences, illustrating the practical obstacles when implementing any quality change. Focusing on the essentials of quality (strategies, principles and techniques) designing for quality is also discussed and new techniques for assessing the risks and costs of non-conformance are introduced. The result is an insight to quality engineering that will prove invaluable to engineering students and professionals.

MG Rover went into administration in April 2005 when its proposed deal with a Chinese company (SAIC) collapsed and it did not have sufficient cash to continue trading. The subsequent closure of MG Rover's plant at Longbridge in the West Midlands resulted in the direct loss of almost 6,000 jobs and with potentially serious consequences for the local economy. This NAO report examines the support provided to MG Rover by the DTI and other public bodies before and during the Company's collapse in 2005, and on the effectiveness of plans to deal with and mitigate the consequences of the firm's closure. Amongst the conclusions drawn, the report identifies weaknesses in the DTI's contingency planning and questions the cost-effectiveness of the DTI's loan of £6.5 million designed to sustain the business for a week while the administrators sought to sell the Company as a going concern. The report goes on to make a number of recommendations to improve future decision-making, contingency planning, and the delivery of training and support in the event of a large-scale company failure.