Case Name :      General Motors Pension Plan

Authors :           Christine I. Wiedman, Janet Carter

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            905B19

Discipline :        Accounting

Case Length :    13 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

An investor in General Motors Company (GM) has received the company’s annual report, and is concerned with the increasing number of negative headlines in major newspapers regarding the company’s business strategy and financial reporting. He must analyze GM’s business and financial position and decide whether or not to sell his shares in the company. This case can be used to: facilitate a discussion about the implications of pensions on company operations and the potential burdens for corporations providing generous defined benefit plans; consider the issue of accounting for pensions and pension disclosure, including the reasonableness of assumptions and the effect on operating income; and to discuss the reasons for downgrading bonds and the implications downgrading can have on a company.