Argos Donaldson Case International Management
[pic]
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
CASE ARGOS/DONALDSON
Calderón Burgoa Dafne
López Ayala Mariana
Claude Alavoine
2010/2011
REPORT
The Floundering Expatriate case study provides the right example of problems associated with the global marketplace and when businesses and their leaders transcend physical and cultural boundaries and they fail to adapt to cultural specifics. We consider that this report will allows making an analysis that contains discussion on culture and communication issues along with globalization.
This case takes place in 1995 and talks about the events of a globalization effort by Argos International, a holdings company based in the United States. The key players or main actors of this case are: The CEO and chairman of this holdings company, Bill Loun; Bert Donaldson, who was a rising corporate star in Detroit who was supposed to be perfect person to help facilitate communication between recently acquired divisions in Europe; Frank Waterhouse, the CEO of Argos Diesel Europe ; Ursula Lindt , Waterhouse’s executive assistant and Bettina Schweri, Ursula Lindt’s childhood friend, and responsible for organizing Donaldson’s programs.
The CEO of Argos, Bill Loun believed that he had found someone in Detroit (Bert Donaldson) that would be the perfect person to help facilitate communication between recently acquired divisions in Europe. Bert Donaldson’s resume was impressive. He was a professor of American Studies in Cairo, Egypt for 5 years and while in the United States, Bert made major improvements to the organizational structure by implementing cross-functional teams, achieved considerable cost reductions, and much more. In addition, Bert was charismatic, a hard worker, and very sharp, a proven leader within the U.S. organization. Loun recognized that they really needed someone just like Donaldson in Zurich.
At the same time, Frank Waterhouse really believed that with Donaldson’s arrival in Europe, both of them could climb the corporate ladder
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
CASE ARGOS/DONALDSON
Calderón Burgoa Dafne
López Ayala Mariana
Claude Alavoine
2010/2011
REPORT
The Floundering Expatriate case study provides the right example of problems associated with the global marketplace and when businesses and their leaders transcend physical and cultural boundaries and they fail to adapt to cultural specifics. We consider that this report will allows making an analysis that contains discussion on culture and communication issues along with globalization.
This case takes place in 1995 and talks about the events of a globalization effort by Argos International, a holdings company based in the United States. The key players or main actors of this case are: The CEO and chairman of this holdings company, Bill Loun; Bert Donaldson, who was a rising corporate star in Detroit who was supposed to be perfect person to help facilitate communication between recently acquired divisions in Europe; Frank Waterhouse, the CEO of Argos Diesel Europe ; Ursula Lindt , Waterhouse’s executive assistant and Bettina Schweri, Ursula Lindt’s childhood friend, and responsible for organizing Donaldson’s programs.
The CEO of Argos, Bill Loun believed that he had found someone in Detroit (Bert Donaldson) that would be the perfect person to help facilitate communication between recently acquired divisions in Europe. Bert Donaldson’s resume was impressive. He was a professor of American Studies in Cairo, Egypt for 5 years and while in the United States, Bert made major improvements to the organizational structure by implementing cross-functional teams, achieved considerable cost reductions, and much more. In addition, Bert was charismatic, a hard worker, and very sharp, a proven leader within the U.S. organization. Loun recognized that they really needed someone just like Donaldson in Zurich.
At the same time, Frank Waterhouse really believed that with Donaldson’s arrival in Europe, both of them could climb the corporate ladder