Abstract
For this assignment, I decided to use a company which I will call CBC, and in which I did an internship for 7 months. This Swiss Group provides chocolate-based products, is present in several countries, and generates a sales turnover of nearly 3 billion €. However, this company faced strong difficulties in managing the necessary change in its structure in order to stay competitive. Consequently, I think it would be interesting to analyze the process used and the difficulties faced in applying the theoretical issues of the course.
We will first describe the company in detail, and then analyze the difficulties that CBC faced. To conclude, we will present suggestions on how the company may improve its necessary change management.
CBC belongs to the Chocolate Industry. On a global scale, the company generated a sales turnover of CHF 4.1 billion for the fiscal year 2006/07 (or $ 3.9 billion). CBC's headquarters are based in Switzerland, and the company is established in 23 countries. The company uses more than 30 production facilities and has 8,000 employees worldwide. CBC has been producing cocoa for more than 150 years, and has been listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange since 1998.
The company has continued its growth and geographic expansion with acquisitions (groups from Switzerland in 1999, from Germany in 2002, from the USA in 2003, etc.), important contracts (major outsourcing contracts with Nestlé, Hershey's and Cadbury in 2007) and with the opening of sales offices (Japan, India) and chocolate factories (USA, Russia, Mexico, China, etc.).
Its activity can be divided by 3 sectors in the chocolate industry. The first activity, is the sourcing or research of good quality cocoa beans worldwide; the second one is the production and sale of semi-finished products such as cocoa butter and chocolate powder; and the third sector is the production and the sale of high-quality finished chocolate, which corresponds to three divisions: “Chocolate for Artisans and Chef”, “Chocolate for Food Manufacturers”, and, “Chocolate for Consumers”.
I decided to use this company to apply the theoretical concepts of the course, because I was employed as a Brand Manager Assistant for the brand B. Indeed, the division in which I worked is the “Chocolate for Artisans and Chefs” division, which we call “Gourmet Service”. This department includes three brands: A, B and C, from three different countries. A is French, B is Swiss and C is Belgian, but all these brands were gradually bought by CBC, and are now managed by the manager of the Gourmet Service.
Tags:Change Management
