Ontario Manufactured Parts More than 50 years ago, a young machinist arrived from Denmark and started making machine parts in the backyard garage of his rental house. He had attempted to get a job with a major manufacturing firm, but his European machinist credentials were not recognized. His only hope for employment as a machinist with any Canadian firm was to start as an apprentice. He was insulted and chose to start his own business. Now he is the chairman of the public company, Ontario Manufactured Parts Limited (OMP), the successor of his garage machine shop. OMP is orga- nized according to product lines or factories that serve customers; the factories are placed into three groups for management purposes. There is also a head office and a sales/research centre. Each of the 37 factories produces a limited and related number of prod- ucts under the direction of a general manager who reports to a group vice- president. The factories vary in what they produce, and they are often located near a major customer or customers. Some factories have the capability to pro- duce parts that are produced in one or more other factories. This ability to produce the same part in different factories allows for flexibility in assigning products to factories, especially when there are large and urgent orders, and ensures higher factory capacity utilization rates. All factories have accountants who, under the direction of the factory accounting manager, are responsible for the full accounting cycle, including all transaction recording, financial and operating statements, accounts receivable, accounts payable, asset acquisition, budgeting, performance measurement, etc. The factory accounting manager submits budgets and financial statements to the headquarters accounting consolidations unit. The consolidation unit aggregates the factory budgets and financial statements by respective group, and then for the entire company. Each factory is under the control of a factory general manager, and they are placed appropriately in three groups: automotive, appliances, and aerospace. The group vice-presidents are responsible for the profitability of the group and the respective factories. The latter responsibility for the factories is shared with the factory general managers. A major part of the responsibilities of group vice- presidents is to keep their factories busy and profitable. Thus, they need to