Ahold: Royal Dutch Disaster Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

The case traces the history of Ahold, the third largest food retailer in the world, with a detailed description of the events of 10 years before its collapse. After the new CEO, Cees van der Hoeven, took over in 1993, Ahold launched a program of rapid expansion with a target of 15 percent growth in earnings per share for the year. The strategy took the form of penetrating new geographic markets and diversification into related industries. While van der Hoeven, seemed to achieve their goals, in fact, it sows the seeds of its own destruction. Although the obvious reason for Ahold in the fall, was the discovery of fraud at one of its affiliated companies in the U.S., the actual reasons were much more complex. The company survived, thanks in part to the existence of "poison pill", but was radically restructured in the next two years, with many companies van der Hoeven currently dismantled. The case provides an opportunity to discuss many of the common causes of failure of the company: 1) poor strategic decisions, 2) in the expansion, especially through ill-advised acquisitions, 3) the dominant general manager driven by greed and arrogance, and 4) weak internal controls, especially for remote operations, 5) ineffective boards. The case can also be used to comment on the existence and effect of "poison pills" and other restrictions on the normal capacity of shareholders, corporate governance reform, and many are currently in place or proposed.;, And how far the operation can be effectively controlled "Hide
by Stuart Hamilton, Alicia Micklethwait Source: IMD 17 pages. Publication Date: August 15, 2006. Prod. #: IMD235-PDF-ENG