Case 2 Brief - Silvio Napoli in Schindler India

Mistakes from the Beginning I believe that Silvio was the wrong choice as general manager of Schindler’s Indian subsidiary from the beginning. When we look at the Hofstede comparison model between Silvio’s culture (Italy) and India’s culture we do see a bit of differences. (Exhibit 1) Italians are much more focused on themselves vs. a team and when compared to Indian culture this is a drastic difference, also focusing on uncertainty avoidance Italians are very hesitant in jumping in the unknown especially when compared to the Indian culture. I believe these points lead to an immense reason why specifically Silvio will naturally struggle because of his ingrained culture when working with his fellow Indian co-workers. This could also point to some of Silvio’s frustration on understanding the rational of why his managers accepted glass walled elevator orders, a deviation from plan – an unknown. From the Top Down From Bonnard’s view, Silvio has failed to execute the plan that he presented in terms of sales, but he has gathered a high level leadership team – so all is not lost. Bonnard won’t accept any excuses on Silvio’s family matter because let’s face it this is “Corporate Switzerland” and at that level the bar is set extraordinarily high. When sitting down and reviewing the events that have taking place I think Bonnard should assess Silvio’s team, review the sales strategy, and understand the contributing factors that are causing Silvio to not reach that bar. I would hope that Bonnard will have Silvio take a step back and first begin to understand his team a bit more, learn from them on Indian culture and then continue to reinforce the Schindler India strategy - standard products and service will make the business successful and going by India’s very basic elevator market are basically the only things that will make the India branch profitable. (Exhibit 2)

Deviation from Plan = Disaster Being a startup without a partner in India, Silvio has to reinforce

Cited: (Exhibit 1) Geert Hofstede. http://geert-hofstede.com/italy.html (Exhibit 2) “Silvio Napoli at Schindler India.” Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School, 6 November 2006.