Read the case study below and answer the question that follows

Anne Mulcahy: The Keys to Turnaround at Xerox

When Anne Mulcahy was named CEO of Xerox Corp. in $2001,$ many people were surprised $$ but no one was more

surprised than Mulcahy herself. $$I took on this position feeling equal parts excitement and dread,$$ she recalled. On the day

that her appointment to CEO was announced, the stock dropped $15$ percent. $$That was a real confidence builder,$$ she

joked. Addressing a packed auditorium as part of the $2004-05$View From The Top$$ speaker series, Mulcahy described the

strategy behind the company$$s return to profitability, or $$ as it was dubbed by Money magazine $$the great turnaround

story of the post$-$crash era.$$

Mulcahy candidly admitted that she had never planned on becoming the CEO, let alone one who was expected to reverse

the company$$s fortunes after a sustained period of underperformance. Although she had been at Xerox for $24$ years when

she was appointed to the role, she had spent $16$ of those years in sales, and much of her remaining tenure as the head of

human resources and the chief of staff for former CEO Paul Allaire. $$I certainly hadn$$t been groomed to become a CEO,$$

Mulcahy said. $$I didn$$t have a very sophisticated financial background, and I had to make up for my lack of formal training. I

had to make up for it with intense on$-$the$-$job learning.$$

That was an understatement. When Mulcahy took the helm in $2001,$ Xerox was teetering on the verge of Chapter $11$

bankruptcy. The company had over $$17$ billion in debt and had recorded losses in each of the preceding six years. A recent

reorganization of the company$$s sales force had not gone according to plan. Customers were unhappy and the economy

had started to falter. On top of all of that, Xerox found itself in the middle of a protracted investigation by the Securities and

Exchange Commission of accounting improprieties in its Mexico unit. $$I like to say that we were $$early adopters$$ of SEC

scandal,$$ Mulcahy joked.

From the beginning, Mulcahy and her team devised a bold plan for recovery. Almost immediately, she addressed the

company$$s liquidity issues and quickly raised $$2\mathrm{.}5$ billion in cash. Through a $$back to basics$$ approach and a renewed

focus on operational efficiency, the company cut its capital expenditures by $50$ percent$$ reduced its sales, general, and

administrative expenses by one$-$third$$ and slashed its total debt in half. All the while, Xerox strengthened its core business

by maintaining an organization$-$wide focus on innovation. $$Even with all of the cost cutting we did, we didn$$t take a dollar out

of research and development,$$ Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy said that effective communication was perhaps the single most important component of the company$$s successful

turnaround strategy. $$I feel like my title should be Chief Communication Officer, because that$$s really what I do$,$ she said,

emphasizing the importance of listening to customers and employees. $$When I became CEO, I spent the first $90$ days on

planes traveling to various offices and listening to anyone who had a perspective on what was wrong with the company. I

think if you spend as much time listening as talking, that$$s time well spent.$$

In addition to soliciting honest feedback, Mulcahy said both honesty and confidence are critical to effective communication,

especially during times of crisis. $$When your organization is struggling, you have to give people the sense that you know

what$$s happening and that you have a strategy to fix it$.$ Beyond that, you have to tell people what they can do to help.$$ In

return, Mulcahy accepted nothing less than total support from her executive team $$ or from any other Xerox employee. $$I

gave people a choice to make: Either roll up your sleeves and go to work or leave Xerox.$$ Her no$-$nonsense, no$-$holdsbarred

approach left her with a dedicated workforce uniquely aligned around a common set of objectives.

Even when Mulcahy wondered if her aggressive turnaround plan would work, the resilience and optimism of Xerox

employees fueled her resolve $$ and her vision. When employees asked her to describe what Xerox would look like when it

emerged from the turnaround, Mulcahy initially was incredulous.

QUESTION $(25$ Marks$)$

Xerox was on the brink of bankruptcy when Anne Mulcahy was appointed CEO. Discuss the strategic options that were available to Xerox at this point $($the brink of bankruptcy$).$

Guideline: $-$ Reference should be made to the case study

$-$ Adequate theoretical context on the strategic options available to Xerox

Please provide references if possible