Nestle Case Study

Nestle Nestle, founded in 1867 by Henri Nestle, took its beginning from nutrition as its cornerstone. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé Chairman described Henri Nestle on an account as “Instrument in turning his Company towards international expansion from the very start”, and that he “…embodied many of the key attitudes and values that form part and parcel of our corporate culture: pragmatism, flexibility, the willingness to learn, an open mind and respect for other people and cultures.” For more than 100 years, The Nestlé Corporate Business Principles are at the basis of the company’s culture- the conviction that in order to attain long-term success for our shareholders, they do not only comply with all applicable legal requirements and assure sustainable activities, but also create considerable value for society which they dub as Creating Shared Value. Having gone through massive changes that began in First World War due to the increase in demand for dairy, Nestle Company started acquiring local subsidiaries in foreign markets and altered its approach to global expansion in the 1900’s. By definition, first-order incremental change involves adjustments in systems, processes or structures; sustain the organization and order. From observation, it can be analyzed that Nestle went through both first and second orders change. By examples, the following steps Nestle did fall under the first-order change:
Relocation of executive offices from Switzerland to the United States
Diversification to advance growth for the company by acquiring shares from the cosmetic company L’Oreal
Purchase of a US pharmaceutical manufaturer, Alcon Laboratories Inc.
Second-order change leads to transform the organization’s nature and not develop it. Nestle Company acquired local subsidiaries from foreign markets and expanded globally.
I personally agree to Brabeck-Letmathe’s incremental approach to change by restructure. Nestle had to expand its reach to the US, and one possible way

References: Palmer, Ian., Richard Dunford and Gib Akin. (2009). Images of Managing Change and Sustaining Change, pg. 358. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Schabracq, Marc J. (2007). Changing Organizational Culture: The Change Agent’s Guidebook. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England. Thompson, JM. (2010). Understanding and managing organizational change: implications for public health management, 16(2):167-73. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181c8cb51.