On Monday, November 16, 1998, the day before Daimler-Benz would officially merge with Chrysler, Dr. Kurt Lauk, head of commercial vehicles Daimler-Benz "division (CVD) reflected on the organizational changes that he had sent for the previous two years to to cardiovascular disease more competitive in the era of industrial globalization. To combine highly decentralized organizational structure of Daimler, Lauk top worldwide reorganization and integration of manufacturing operations of the company. He encouraged individual units within CVD to look for opportunities for cooperation that would implement the separation of global economies of scale. Lauk While contributing to a global point of view, CVD, he believed that the business units could compete effectively only if they were allowed considerable autonomy to respond to their own unique market conditions. Lauk proud of the achievements resulting from these directives. However, the best interests overshadowed his satisfaction. Although heart disease was profitable overall, its Power Group has continued to lose money. Moreover, Lauk Daimler was concerned about the progress in the construction of adequate distribution channels in Asia. Finally, Lauk considered the impact of the merger with Chrysler on CVD and the general uncertainty as to how a more centralized organization will affect the cardio-vascular diseases. "Hide
by Michael Hannan, Joel Podolny, John Roberts Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business 26 pages. Date Published: September 1, 1999. Prod. #: IB27-PDF-ENG