Nestle

Nestlé Case Study

Abstract

Nestlé, founded in Switzerland, is the world’s leading manufacturer of nutritional, wellness and health products. Nestlé believes that it is possible to create long-term sustainable value for its shareholders. The main change-agents of Nestle were CEOs Maucher and Brabeck-Letmathe who had success in their own rights. Maucher focused on financial improvement through acquisitions and Brabeck-Letmathe concentrated on sustainability through the company’s core individuals. Hence, this paper will discuss the organizational changes Nestlé underwent. It will identify the first-order and second-order changes and elaborate on the rationale of such change. It will discuss whether the changes made were approached from an incremental standpoint as emphasized by Brabeck-Letmathe. Lastly, it will identify three examples of front-line lessons that were evident in the case study.

Nestlé

1. Discuss the organization change that Nestlé has undergone.

Today Nestlé is a company much different than its founder originally intended. Founded upon the desire to help new mothers provide nutriment, in the form of milk, for their newborn; Nestlé has become the world’s largest food company. Nestlé is known as the world’s number one makers of chocolate, with annual sales of $47 billion per year; operating in 80 counties and employing 224,000 people (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2009). To reach this acclaim status, Nestlé has undergone numerous changes.

In the beginning Nestlé only operated by selling to countries outside of its home market through sales representatives. However, in the 1900s Nestlé changed its approach and began acquiring local companies in foreign markets. Nestlé launched into America’s marketplace, when World War I triggered an increase in the demand for dairy. Capitalizing on this great opportunity, Nestlé inaugurated its existence in the United States by procuring numerous existing factories. By World War II, Nestlé...