Nestlé Tries for an All-for-One Global Strategy

Nestlé Tries for an All-for-One Global Strategy Case Study Questions

2. The type of global business strategy that Nestlé originally had in place was decentralized. The company was operating on 80 different information technology units in many different countries. They realized that this system was not working and turned to centralizing their company’s operations. I think that this strategy was very appropriate for Nestlé because they were not able to take advantage of negotiating deals with suppliers, keeping all data organized and having one source of information that was accessible around the globe.

3. When it came time to implement the centralized data strategy named Global Business Excellence (GLOBE) Nestlé ran into a lot of challenges. Management around the globe at their different offices resisted the idea of centralization. They believed that they would lose decision making power if things became uniform throughout the company. They also did not know how this would work with their sectors since many of the countries were very different and had to abide by certain laws and regulations. There were organization challenges as well. It was difficult to organize this huge project when there were some budget restrictions coupled with strict deadlines. Things had to be reworked until processes were able to be completed one at a time within reasonable timelines. Chris Johnson who was the lead on this project had to make sure that not only was he meeting deadlines but that he was able to keep within a budget which proved challenging. Technology played an enormous role in this operation. Everything needed to be changed to a new system that would centralize data. Challenges arose because there was not a lot of time to train employees on this new SAP program but it still needed to be rolled out.

4. Nestlé’s management used a couple of strategies to deal with challenges. They were able to have meetings with managers and listen to concerns as well as voice solutions. They also had to use a little bit of a more forceful tactic when things were not going smoothly. Chris Johnson just laid it on the line, if the management was not going to fall in line with this new implementation then he would be fired and one of them would have to take over. Using this tactic made managers realize that this was going to get done with or without them so they just had to get used to the idea. When organizational challenges came about meetings were held and changes were made to timelines and budgets accordingly so that the project did not get pushed off track. The technology eventually fell into place with little complaint or problems from the global sectors. Overall I think that this implementation was necessary and will benefit Nestlé greatly in the future. By having all information centralized companies tend to run smoothly. Nestlé was also unique in that it kept strict guidelines however was accommodating to global sectors that needed a little wiggle room.