Managing Change

Abstract

As we have seen, the raison d’être of Western multinationals making an acquisition or entering into a joint venture in the region is the opportunity it gives them to enter new markets and increase profits. Even before the deal is struck, the due diligence teams assessing the value of the targeted company will have signposted levers for change — ways to lower costs through efficiencies of scale, increase and expand production, improve quality, speed up distribution systems and so on. Where politically and socially acceptable, cutting down the workforce may also be on the agenda. Such moves will in turn be linked to the introduction of organisational, strategic and, the biggest challenge of all, cultural change.