MERCK AND DOHME: ARGENTINA Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

MERCK AND DOHME: ARGENTINA Case Solution

- Before starting the discussion over culture, let us understand what a culture is, what the importance of having a healthy culture is and how culture collectively constitutes an organizational culture.

Culture is the way of living, the lifestyle a person has,  the value he follows, the mindset he carries, the philosophy he believes in, the civilization he belongs to and above all the set of ethical value he follows.This is the discussion on culture that constitutes a single person, and a community.Organizational culture is incorporated from these people having different mindsets, backgrounds and set of beliefs, however they are positioned and transformed into the culture which the organization carries. Moreover, an organization’s culture is entirely different from culture regarding how it is generally perceived.

Organizational culture is the system of shared assumptions beliefs and values, which govern show a person should behave and act within the boundaries of organization. The shared values which a person has plays a vital role in forming the culture of the organization.This is because it is the people who make the culture, and it is the culture which makes the business a success or a failure.

In this case, there is a clear picture of the culture which was the part of organization before the arrival of Antonio Mosquera. The case depicts the story of MSD a pharmaceutical firm, which was facing no major issues from the side of the culture however, change was required.

Initially, the culture of MSD was very rigid with a more centralized authoritarian system. There was no freedom of speech,  which indicated that people were not allowed to share their feedback and ideas.There was one way communication in the organization, which meant that it was a top to down approach which is also termed as vertical approach of communication in which “orders “ are dictated to the subordinates,  and the subordinates or the middle managers are not given much importance. The company had no open communication system where employees could discuss regarding work related problems and to share their experience. People had the attitude of not sharing everything with everyone,thus they were reluctant to share any information.Moreover, the middle managers had less knowledge regarding their job since they were promoted from sales executives to this position in a short period of time, therefore they did not have the skills required for a manager. The orders used to be dictated from the top management and the managers only followed those sets of instructions over the period of time without evaluating the outcomes. The hiring system or the human resource management was almost zero, as people were hired from personal contacts and thus,having such employees who had similar ideas. All the decision making authority remained in the hands of the board of directors .The operations used to be separately treated from relation ships, as a result creating hindrance in sharing. The following part depicts the process of change.

This rigid culture had grave consequences on the part of leadership and transformations when Antonio joined the company. Following were the consequences:

1. When Antonio Mosquera joined the company in 1995, he quickly analyzed the areas of changes. The main hindrance to accept the change was the employees’mindset as they were reluctant to change.
2. Antonio wanted team spirit, and wanted the employees to share everything with everyone however, they were reluctant change, hence they initially resisted the change, which led them to being fired.
3. Due to the changes brought about by Antonio, the employee turnover increased.
4. After the changes that were in process, the biggest loss was the exit of two top department directors who had been with the company for a long time. It could be said that this initiative affected the departments, but not for long....................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     This is just a sample partial case solution. Please place the order on the website to order your own originally done case solution.

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