[turretslug]

Classic brand prostitution. The new-broom accountants arrive at a successful, reputable company and cheese-pare and out-source crucial parts/production processes. Quality takes a nosedive, but the public continue to think "Duracell (etc., etc.), they're good, even though they cost more." There's a good deal of inertia here, a decade or more if they're in luck. Sooner or later, the worm turns, the reputation stinks and sales fall off a cliff. By then, the accountants have secured the bonus, the gold watch, the pension and the consultancy- but the shop floor is on the dole queue.