Case 3-5 Digital Equipment Corporation

Case Summary
Digital Semiconductor was a business unit of Digital Equipment Corporation. John Gavin, the DS group controller, wanted the finance department to find ways to add value and better support the division because the DS business strategy had many changes over the past five years and the division was still operating at a loss.
History:
The semiconductor division which was a part of Digital Equipment Corporation expanded rapidly in the 1970s. Digital was financially very successful in 1988. However, Digital faced huge losses in 1990 through 1994. In 1997 Digital returned to profitab…