Corporations: According to Plan

Diversification has come to have a magical sound. But it takes doing. A company may wind up with an unwieldy assortment of unrelated products and a top management spread too thin. Three years ago, competitors predicted as much for Los Angeles' Litton Industries, an electronics firm that, largely through whirlwind acquisitions, had soared to annual sales of $83 million in only five years of existence. Instead, Litton has just reported a 30% increase in sales (to $245 million) from last year, and after-tax earnings of more than $10 million. And last week, in another manifestation of corporate coming of age,...