Subject category:
Strategy and General Management
Published in:
1999
Length: 16 pages
Data source: Field research
Abstract
This is the third of a three-case series (399-024-1 to 399-026-1)The portfolio streamlining stage, in which the 35 former business units were reduced to 23, was completed in January 1997. It was then necessary to align the organisational structure around the new strategic goals of Daimler AG and to make the business processes leaner and more efficient. Various bodies were set up to achieve this by implementing the restructuring process as quickly and in as controlled a fashion as possible. Even before the process optimization stage, the Chairman of the Board of Management Jurgen E Schrempp created an informal team, called the ''ideas team'', which co-operated directly with him and worked on portfolio streamlining and the new management and organisational structure as a preparation for the Board of Management. As the supreme decision-making body, the Ordinary Board of Management meeting set up a Steering Committee comprising members of the Board of Management to take important decisions on the change management process. Schrempp also sat on this committee during the management organisation restructuring stage. It was responsible for the entire restructuring process, including process optimization, and was available for clarification of high-level questions. This case study is intended to give students a deeper understanding of the essential factors that were conducive to success and of problems arising in connection with the implementation of an all-embracing re-engineering project. In addition to organisational factors, it also discusses such factors as time, staffing, co-determination by employees'' representatives and information and communication management.
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Abstract
This is the third of a three-case series (399-024-1 to 399-026-1)The portfolio streamlining stage, in which the 35 former business units were reduced to 23, was completed in January 1997. It was then necessary to align the organisational structure around the new strategic goals of Daimler AG and to make the business processes leaner and more efficient. Various bodies were set up to achieve this by implementing the restructuring process as quickly and in as controlled a fashion as possible. Even before the process optimization stage, the Chairman of the Board of Management Jurgen E Schrempp created an informal team, called the ''ideas team'', which co-operated directly with him and worked on portfolio streamlining and the new management and organisational structure as a preparation for the Board of Management. As the supreme decision-making body, the Ordinary Board of Management meeting set up a Steering Committee comprising members of the Board of Management to take important decisions on the change management process. Schrempp also sat on this committee during the management organisation restructuring stage. It was responsible for the entire restructuring process, including process optimization, and was available for clarification of high-level questions. This case study is intended to give students a deeper understanding of the essential factors that were conducive to success and of problems arising in connection with the implementation of an all-embracing re-engineering project. In addition to organisational factors, it also discusses such factors as time, staffing, co-determination by employees'' representatives and information and communication management.