The 1998 annual report of the Maytag Corporation contained the following excerpt:

During the first quarter of 1996, the Company announced the restructuring of its major appliance operations in an effort to strengthen its position in the industry and to deliver improved performance to both customers and shareowners. This included the consolidation of two separate organizational units into a single operation responsible for all activities associated with the manufacture and distribution of the Company's brands of major appliances and the closing of a cooking products plant in Indianapolis, Indiana, with transfer of that production to an existing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee. The restructuring cost Maytag \($40\) million and disrupted the lives of many of the company’s employees.

Required:
Assume that you are Maytag’s vice president of human relations. Write a letter to the employees who are affected by the restructuring. The letter should explain why it was necessary for the company to undertake the restructuring. Your explanation should refer to the ideas discussed in the section “Emerging Trends in Managerial Accounting” of this chapter.