general, and administrative expenditures declined $378 million or 29% in 1998 compared to 1997 and declined to 15% of net sales in 1998 from 18% of net sales in 1997. These decreases were primarily the result of restructuring actions taken in 1996, 1997, and 1998, which resulted in reductions in headcount, closing of facilities, and write-down and disposal of operating assets during 1996, 1997, and 1998. Additionally, changes during 1998 in the Company's distribution channel policies and business model, including contraction and focus of the Company's product line and simplification of the Company's internal and external distribution channels, led to a reduction in selling expenses during 1998.

SPECIAL CHARGES

1996 AND 1997 RESTRUCTURING ACTIONS

In the second quarter of 1996, the Company announced and began to implement a restructuring plan designed to reduce costs and return the Company to profitability. The restructuring plan was necessitated by decreased demand for the Company's products and the Company's adoption of a new strategic direction. These actions resulted in a charge during 1996 of $179 million. During 1997, the Company announced and began to implement supplemental restructuring actions to meet the foregoing objectives of the plan. The Company recognized a $217 million charge during 1997 for the estimated incremental costs of those actions. All material restructuring actions contemplated under the plan were essentially complete at the end of fiscal 1998. The combined 1996 and 1997 restructuring actions consisted of terminating approximately 4,200 full-time employees; canceling or vacating certain facility leases as a result of those employee terminations; writing down certain land, buildings, and equipment to be sold as a result of downsizing operations and outsourcing various operational functions; and canceling contracts for projects and technologies that were not critical to the Company's core business strategy. The restructuring actions under the plan resulted in cash expenditures of $293 million and noncash asset write-downs of $95 million from the second quarter of 1996 through September 25, 1999. Of the combined 1996 and 1997 restructuring charges of $396 million, approximately $3 million was determined to be excess during the fourth quarter of 1999. The remaining balance of $5 million as of September 25, 1999, in accrued restructuring costs for the 1996 and 1997 restructuring actions is comprised of payments over the next two years on leases and contracts that had been terminated prior to fiscal 1999. The Company expects the remaining accrual will result in cash expenditures of $5 million over the next two years.

1999 RESTRUCTURING ACTIONS

During the fourth quarter of 1999, the Company initiated restructuring actions resulting in a charge to operations of $21 million. The net restructuring charge of $18 million recognized during the fourth quarter of 1999 reflects the $3 million of excess reserves related to the 1996 and 1997 restructuring actions. The total cost of these actions of $21 million is comprised of $11 million for contract cancellation charges associated with the closure of the Company's outsourced data