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    Case Study

    Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (A)

    By Christopher Parker and Morgan Gould
    16 pages
    February 1993
    Order this case study
    Reference: IMD-3-0540

    A culture change initiative was begun four years ago at Trenton Foods, a manufacturing facility of Nestle, USA, as part of a strategy to assure long-term competitive advantage. Plant manager, John Brocke, reviews his efforts over the past four years in anticipation of an internal consulting team arriving to address productivity improvements and cost reductions. Brocke grows increasingly uneasy as the consulting team’s recommendations concerning labor reductions and consolidations are presented. Company and employee history in this small, mid-western town figure largely in his concern that four years of trust and credibility may be threatened, if not reversed. How does John Brocke communicate the concern for cost and efficiency – possible job reductions – without jeopardizing the embryonic culture he has worked so hard to achieve?

    Keywords
    Culinary Food, Culture, Operations Management
    Settings
    United States of America
    1992
    Type
    Field Research
    Copyright
    © 1992
    Available Languages
    English
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    Teaching note
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    This case study is part of a series
    • Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (A)
    • Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (B): Implementing change with Nestec's production improvement teams
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    • Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (B): Implementing change with Nestec's production improvement teams
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    All case studies
    Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (A)
    By Christopher Parker and Morgan Gould
    Case reference: IMD-3-0540 ©1992
    Summary
    A culture change initiative was begun four years ago at Trenton Foods, a manufacturing facility of Nestle, USA, as part of a strategy to assure lon...
    Read more
    Reference IMD-3-0540
    Copyright ©1992
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
    Strategy
    Browse all topics
    Related content
    Case Study
    Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (B): Implementing change with Nestec's production improvement teams

    The case traces John Brocke's decision to bring in Nestec's Production Improvement Team, an internal consulting team from Nestle's worldwide headqu...

    Strategy
    By Christopher Parker and Morgan Gould
    Case reference: IMD-3-0541, © 1993
    Read more
    Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (B): Implementing change with Nestec's production improvement teams
    By Christopher Parker and Morgan Gould
    Case reference: IMD-3-0541 ©1993
    Summary
    The case traces John Brocke's decision to bring in Nestec's Production Improvement Team, an internal consulting team from Nestle's worldwide headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. Plant manager of Trenton Foods, Nestle, USA, Brocke had initiated a long-term culture change program four years earlier, and the team's recommended labor reductions seem now to jeopardize his efforts. Andrade, the team leader, enjoys a faultless entry and beginning, but as the "operation phase" is introduced, conflict begins to emerge over suggested improvements, and implementation becomes increasingly troublesome. At the project end, Brocke and the team are in fundamental disagreement whether the project had been a success. Brocke believed that the team was more committed to headquarter's concern about savings than in consulting to his plant, and disagreed with the process employed by the team. He questioned whether his longer-term objectives for gaining competitive advantage had been compromised. How is Brocke to accelerate his efforts at employee empowerment? And, what has he learned regarding processes for implementing change following the Production Improvement Team's departure?
    Reference IMD-3-0541
    Copyright ©1993
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
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    Browse all topics
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    Case Study
    Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (A)

    A culture change initiative was begun four years ago at Trenton Foods, a manufacturing facility of Nestle, USA, as part of a strategy to assure lon...

    Strategy
    By Christopher Parker and Morgan Gould
    Case reference: IMD-3-0540, © 1992
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