Black and Decker

1. Main problem in the company

Black & Decker is a major company that manufactures industrial machinery. The company has been very successful from 1910 until present in North America and in Europe. Starting in the 1990’s the company aimed to take advantage of the new possibilities in emerging countries. The main problem is the company meets difficulties in Latin America and in Asia. Black & Decker wants the best management system for the Eastern-Hemisphere. In this case we try to find a solution to improve the results of the company in the eastern hemisphere: Middle East, Africa, India, Pakistan and Asia-Pacific countries.

Bill Lancaster is the president of Black & Decker-Eastern Hemisphere. He was promoted after successful decisions in Australia and in USA. He is responsible for the success of the company in this area. He believes that the company needs to implement the new American management methods in Asia into order to seek success. Before making a decision Bill consults the directors in the company.

2. Analyse the underlying causes of the problem

Firstly, before 1990’s the headquarters of Black & Decker were all in the United States. To fulfil its global strategy the company decided to create a headquarter for Europe in London and the headquarter for the rest of the world was still in the United States. Contrary to Europe and North America, Black and Decker is not in a leading position in Asia (only number 5). Therefore, Black and Decker decided to create a headquarter for Latin America in Miami, United States and for Asia in Singapore. But this last headquarter in Asia is responsible for a very large area, from middle east, Africa, India, Pakistan until Asia-Pacific countries and the culture is very different in all of these areas. All directors from different

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