Case Study: Chapter 15

2.) What type of global business and systems strategy did Nestle adopt? Was the strategy appropriate for Nestle's business model?
Nestle seemed to have adopted a transitional strategy, having all sites linked in with each other. This new coordinated effort was appropriate for their business model as Nestle is a truly global company that necessitates one supply chain. With this new transitional system, all Nestle sites would be able to streamline operations and allow a more cohesive functionality with all other Nestle sites.

3.) What management, organization, and technology challenges did Nestle have to deal with to standardize its business processes and systems?
Management - The GLOBE team dealt with much criticism from site management about the implementation of the new systems. Many people fear change likely because they feel it will create new problems and believe that if it isn't broke why fix it. But many of them did not realize that although the hodgepodge IS they were currently using was not broken it was not performing as well as it should be.
Organization - Because the GLOBE implementation was such a huge project, Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck knew that a new team was needed. How would a team be constructed? Who would head the project? What kind of goals should they have? These were all questions that Brabeck needed to answer.
Technology - Before implementation the Nestle IS was described as a "Tower of Babel," a massive structure that leaves everyone speaking different languages. Because of this incompatible hodgepodge of systems, Nestle desired to correct their IS and implement a new global SAP system.

4.) What strategies did Nestle management use to deal with these challenges? How successful were these strategies? Explain your answer.
Management - Chris Johnson basically told the managers that it was the way things were going and they could either step in line or he would be fired and the CEO would replace him with one of the other managers. No one envied Johnson so they were quick to accept GLOBE as the future for Nestle. This was effective because it worked but it seems like the company should have done something more to increase employee buy-in.
Organization - He appointed a team leader in Chris Johnson who had his pick from nearly 250,000 Nestle employees who would fill out the rest of his team. He picked up many executives that would be considered "untouchables" because they knew the business so well and were too valuable in their current roles. But as valuable as they were to the team, they would be equally valuable to the GLOBE team. Johnson also developed projections for his team that were both measureable and attainable. I believe that these efforts were effective. Such a large scale important project deserves adequate manpower, budget and time to allow for the system to be properly implemented.
Technology - GLOBE was the solution to their problem. I believe that the implementation of the new system was successful because it allowed for the company to grasp a better control of their incredibly complex supply chain.