He was best known for his tenure as chief executive officer, president, and chairman of the board at the International Harvester farm and heavy equipment manufacturing concern from 1977 to 1982.
[11][12] Although these accomplishments were lauded by the press as a sign of McCardell's management expertise, the company had been setting records in key financial indicators for 20 years.
[15] McCardell departed Xerox for International Harvester in August 1977, just as the company's profits began dropping.
[6][18] Despite McCardell's actions, IH's profit margins were still only half those of competitors like Caterpillar Inc. and Deere & Company.
[18][26] The company put its utility vehicle division up for sale to help cover the losses,[26] and by the end of April 1980 was forced to take out loans which increased its short-term debt from $442 million to a staggering $1 billion.
[1] Rising interest rates, demand weakened by the early 1980s recession, and high manufacturing costs pushed the company's total debt to a whopping $4.5 billion.
[6] On December 23, 1981, the company reached an agreement with 200 of its lenders to refinance $4.15 billion of its debt in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.
[28] On January 20, 1982, the UAW rejected Harvester's request for concessions because McCardell had just given $6 million in bonuses to salaried employees.
[1] International Harvester was also sued over McCardell's $1.8 million forgiven loan, and was unable to have the suit dismissed.
[30] On May 3, 1982, one day after the UAW ratified the concessionary contract, Archie McCardell was fired by International Harvester.
[6] Speaking to a group at Harvard Business School six months after leaving Harvester, McCardell was asked his assessment of his performance; he said that despite some regrets, "I think I rate myself superb.
[37] He also ran a company which took tourists on scuba diving trips, and owned several other small businesses.