This case study describes how ZEISS Vision Care China, a subsidiary of the Germany-based ZEISS Group, was transforming itself into a service-oriented business. After the implementation of the transformation towards an agile organization-which involved digitalization and a radical organizational change-the company was beset with numerous issues in 2021, such as chaotic work processes, the increased workload of all staff, the resignation of critical personnel, and customer complaints. On top of that, some executives expressed concerns during a strategy meeting with Winston Yang, General Manager of ZEISS Vision Care China, regarding the need for such a radical overhaul, especially considering the company's already robust annual growth rate. Some executives even suggested the transformation should be postponed. The unexpected and challenging situation of the company forced Winston Yang to ask himself whether it would be necessary for the company to continue with such a high-risk organizational transformation.
This case describes the regional restructuring story of Bank of China (BOC) Liaoning Branch, a provincial branch. In January 2016, BOC's Beijing head office decided to make a crucial strategic adjustment to its institutional setup in Liaoning Province. Tianbing Jia, the newly appointed president of Liaoning Branch, was tasked with splitting up the branch and relocating it from the city of Dalian to the city of Shenyang in just three months. Jia and his executive team made meticulous preparations for the separation and relocation to ensure everything went smoothly while safeguarding employees' well-being. Thanks to the effective work of Jia and his team, the relocation was completed on time. However, this was just the first step in a complicated restructuring process. Following the move, Jia and his team had to start a new organization from the ground up in an unfamiliar city. This presented another significant challenge: integrating Liaoning Branch from Dalian and Shenyang Branch into a new provincial branch.
Michel Default, Director of Michelin China's Personnel Department, had been responsible for leading Michelin China, a company that manufactures and sells tires, to transform its personnel function since 2017. The ongoing transformation aimed to optimize the company's personnel function to align with both the outside business environment and the needs of the internal employees, with one goal of better helping manage people's careers at Michelin. In addition to the unavoidable resistance, Michel received an email in 2019 from a key account manager seeking an unexpected promotion. The manager also hinted at possibly quitting if he did not get a convincing reply, for the new practice implemented in Michelin China required him to do additional work. Michel would not want to see the company lose the key account manager, especially when Michelin's turnover rate was increasing. Knowing that he had to achieve the right balance between employee satisfaction and company situation, Michel faced a great challenge in his own career in China.
This case recounts the story of Taiwan's electronic component distributors of the early 2000s, which innovatively pursued horizontal consolidation amid unprofitability and an ailing industry climate due to vicious competition. As a result, these companies had to address enormous challenges in effectively managing a post-merger organization. Specifically, it explains the background of the strategic marriage between WPI Group, Taiwan's leading electronic components distributor, and SAC, the third-largest player in the same industry. They joined hands under the umbrella of a holding company WPG Holdings through a share swap deal. The new firm was the result of an innovative industrial holding model formed from the alliance and set a precedent for the regional industry. For WPG's inaugural Chairman Simon Huang, managing such a complex organization would be one of the biggest challenges of his career.
This case describes how Richard Lou, KEMET's Director of China Operations, was offered an opportunity from the U.S. headquarters to integrate the Batam Plant in Indonesia after he had led his Chinese team to successfully integrate the Shanghai Plant and the Nantong Plant. The opportunity gave Richard mixed feelings, for he was aware that the task of integrating the Indonesian plant, which had a very complicated background and had been suffering losses for many years, would be fraught-a make-or-break moment of his career. Should he rest on his laurels or rise to the challenge? Richard had to make a critical decision.
This case relates how Richard finally decided to accept the great challenge, and thus formed an integration team of experts in different functions, and got prepared in every aspect he could consider. However, on their journey to Indonesia, Richard was informed of a death-threat e-mail from someone at the Batam Plant. Should he put himself and his team at risk to fulfill the integration?
This case tells how Richard and the Chinese team decided to act. After arriving at the plant, Richard (the integration team leader), Jack Chen (the newly appointed General Manager of the Batam Plant), and other team members implemented a series of transformational initiatives, such as conducting comprehensive communications, adjusting the organizational structure, making the plant operations more efficient and controllable, training the leadership of the local team, and dealing with the business crisis caused by the strikes organized by the trade unions.
This case series tells a story of post-merger integration, depicting a string of challenges faced by Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. during its cross-border M&A. As a large SOE specialized in R&D, manufacturing and construction equipment sales, LiuGong was one of China's most internationalized companies, setting a prime example for local peers in the construction machinery sector with global aspirations. The case series comprises two parts: Case (A) and Case (B). Case (A) introduces the background of LiuGong's globalization strategy, summarizes the acquisition of the civil construction machinery division of Polish state-owned firm HSW as well as its wholly-owned subsidiary Dressta, and describes the integration process of LiuGong Poland, managed by former HR Director Teddy Wu, who was appointed General Manager of LiuGong Poland at a critical moment. China headquarters deployed him to Poland with a series of missions to carry out. After the acquisition, wholly-owned Dressta continued to operate independently, but its performance fell short of expectations, and a significant part of its operations overlapped with those of LiuGong Poland. One of the first major decisions Wu faced was to determine whether merging Dressta with LiuGong Poland was necessary.