Question 1 : Identify the factors that contributed to Kapicic’s successful turn-around of the company
It can probably be seen that there are many factors that contributed to the successful turnover of Kapicic. However, from my point of view, there are three main factors that brought about the success of Kapicic which are his education background, understanding of Chinese culture and the way he influenced his employees.
Firstly, Kapicic was privileged to be born in an well – educated family. His characteristics were mostly influenced by his father’s philosophy which made him to work first, if he wants to enjoy a wealthy life afterwards and his father had always been strict to him. Such rigid disciplines had built up important characteristics and working ethic for his future career. Furthermore, after graduated from the University of Zagreb, Kapicic had started working as marketing and sales manager before he was moved to Beijing. It might be true to say that he had a careful preparation for his life long career in China.
Secondly, living in China for more than 19 years had built Kapicic a substantial knowledge of the Chinese market , culture and people. In an interview, Kapicic once stated :“I strongly believe that leaders need to know their business inside out. They need to understand their people and operations.” (Pg 4, Goran Kapicic at Actavis China). Additionally, Kapicic also understood the concept of face which is very important for doing business in China. For example, he gave Li the largest office of the company even bigger than his own office and he never treated his employees at a lower level. He called them his partner, instead.
Finally , the most crucial factor is the way that he influenced people. Actavis was initially a lost-making firm with a lot of negativity. When taking over Actavis, Kapicic had brought a brand new refreshing leadership style. It is understandable that Kapicic spent most of his effort on improving